Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
So I got the VG callback and the mystery was partially resolved.
The rep cited the fact that my Security Questions were locked as the reason why I was unable to Login this weekend.
She stated that VG action ^ normally occurs after failed attempt…
OK, so I called VG and was not disappointed in their, as expected (and previously experienced), insanely horrific customer service.
First there was the obligatory LONG wait to finally have a voice TRY to step me through my issue despite the fact …
Thanks @Mona. I did that as well.
There are also a few other (reputable?) sites like Downdetector and ThinkAdvisor and none of them reported any VG login issues over the weekend.
So it appears my issue was an isolated one that it seems might ha…
Hey, and if any readers think the stress of this fiasco is overblown, consider this little ditty.
After John Mellencamp had what was described by his docs as "a mild heart attack" his friends all came a callin'.
John was doing surprisingly well, …
Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions!
Well the stress (has somewhat) ended but the mystery is not yet solved!
Here's what I did beyond all of the suggestions on this thread - absofreakinglutely nothing new or unusual!
I tried EVERY su…
Thanks @yogibearbull.
Any idea how/why all three of your lockouts occurred on a Friday?
My remedy as noted above will be a little more extreme than changing userID. I just don't want to have to ever again deal with this level of an issue in retur…
Thanks YBB and @Mona.
@yogibearbull, did you receive a similar message as I above-posted ^ when your issues occurred?
I had a friend log onto their VG a/c using my PC. No problemo. Must be a similar issue that YBB described.
Whatever the iss…
Thanks!
Here's the crap I'm getting.
Give us a call
Call us at 877-662-7447 to access your account. We're available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Eastern Time.
For individuals with speech or hearing limitations, please utilize relay s…
Hi Derf,
ARDBX has an inception date of 05/16/2022 so it does not yet have a 3 year history.
2023 performance - top 8% return in Foreign Small/Mid Blend category
2024 performance - top 11% return in Foreign Small/Mid Blend category
https://www.mor…
@stillers,
Please indulges us with your "pay no tax" strategies.
With your RMDs being 16 years away and retirement starting in 2012 or at age 45, I am all ears.
Congratulations.
Thanks!
Let me correct your dates. Sorry if my post was confusing on …
Next to nothing? Why stop there? For us, it's been nothing.
Not to beat a dead horse, but as a retired bean counter I've posted many times that tax planning is, or should be, a lifelong process.
When we started our professional careers in 1980…
I've gratuitously managed the ports of a lot of friends and relatives over the past ~40 years. I do it because they need the help and I can provide it. My goal is usually, depending on their age and my relationship to them, to educate them on the …
Seems to me to be two completely different skill sets-
• A): Insuring that numbers are being computed and accounted for properly, according to established accounting principles.
• B): Manipulating numbers in an attempt to increase their values a…
I see mostly men posting about the lack of financial interest from their wives. Individually find out the root cause for yourself and your role in it. As Yogi said, others can guess but can be wrong. If you need help, ask another woman for the ca…
I see mostly men posting about the lack of financial interest from their wives. Individually find out the root cause for yourself and your role in it. As Yogi said, others can guess but can be wrong. If you need help, ask another woman for the ca…
Great post @yogibearbull.
Me and the missus have been together since we were kids. Back in the 70's-80's, she easily (and proudly for her) would have been on a Top 10 List nationally of spouses who had ZERO interest in all things financial, especi…
Well, I read that whole post. Then I read it a second time.
After two readings, the only part I even half-way understood was:
"If you wait too long, you are too late."
Why? Because it wakes up the infamous YB echoes of:
"It ain't over 'til it's …
AI Overview:
Kelly Community Federal Credit Union (KCFCU) in Tyler, Texas has been described as one of the most financially sound credit unions in the United States. KCFCU offers monthly and annual financial reports that include financial performan…
As a follow up on annuities, I excerpted the following from YBB's Personal Finance Blog:
ANNUITIES from insurance companies may anchor parts of the income stream. Types range from basic single premium immediate annuities (SPIAs) to fancy with guara…
I made a lengthy post this morning regarding callable CDs. If anyone is interested in responding to that, I would appreciate it.
I've had a CD ladder for about 12-13 years. I am 100% against callable CDs. They just don't fit our strategy as callab…
Great stuff by @msf on annuities. I agree they are a viable option at this time. Guessing they were even more so about 6-12 months ago when rates were at/near their peaks.
That said, annuities have always been a 4-letter word to us. Too high fe…
What OJ said!
4% guaranteed interest is our threshold vs bond OEFs. 5+% is pretty much nirvana.
We SOLD ALL bond OEFs when CP CDs reached these ^ levels and have not (yet) turned back. We have a 5-yr, CP CD ladder still yielding a wee bit over 5%…
Call Protected CDs of 1-5-yr maturities of just under effective yields of 4.3% are currently available on Fido's Secondary Issues market. To discerning CD buyers, the CP CD buying scale was recently tipped to Secondary Issues being preferable many …
Food for thought: Several analysts and T/A's I 've read/heard since the sell off stated that VIX spikes of Wednesday's magnitude in bull markets are generally regarded, based on market history, as buying opportunities.
Aside: IMO, given the cur…
https://www.barrons.com/articles/stock-market-outlook-2025-d03ad66a?mod=past_editions
Excerpt:
Wall Street—as is its way—is expecting a solid, if unspectacular, year. Market strategists, on average, predict that the S&P 500 will hit around 650…
I'll just address LV OEF PRFDX. It has never been on our radar as there are many better choices in its category. FWIW, if interested, in the LV cat, our choices are OAKMX and DAGVX. DAGVX has paid its YE divie. OAKMX is scheduled to pay this week…
FWIW...As a follow up to some posts of mine and others from a while ago about SCs and AUERX...
We ultimately decided back then on HFMDX over AUERX and are also considering adding HFCGX. Hennessy is to us the place to be in SCs.
We avoided this very issue by taking the opportunity when it was there to build a 5-yr CD ladder averaging 5+% that completely replaced our bond sleeve. In consideration of the (current high) probabilities of rate cuts in Dec, March and May, we wil…
Here's hoping you waited for my reply?
Ah, so finally some real, however badly dated (June 2020) and at first swipe, marginally useful support. If you were an auditee of mine, I'd just STOP my review here and kindly ask you to, you know, try again…
So to try to get some, you know, FACTS, about what one poster is incessantly claiming about prior performance on this thread,
I phoned Marshfield today.
Here's what a, LT, experienced Marshfield representative told me TODAY, quoting her pretty mu…
@Graust:
Thanks, man, that helps my case.
Despite all that, MRFOX's outperformance of the S&P is nowhere near the outperformance (that was reported here, that I did not verify) of the Marshfield Equity Composite period.
So the performance…
@stillers - look up performance of Marshfield equity composite...Mr Niemszewski was managing the fund back in late 89' (do your own homework, not like I spent 10 hours researching this)...absolutely blows away SP500...from 12/89 thru 6/2020 composit…
Positive vibes on this fund is for a couple reasons. Long term record going back 30 years with same strat is outstanding vs sp500. Up/ downside not even close. Very experienced fund MGMT, not just one star manager. Doesn't hold any of the glamour…
@BaluBalu
SCV AUERX has been on our watch list for about a year. Probably shoulda bought it back then. The ER has always been a bit of a turnoff for us but the performance, like you said, has been very good for the past 5 years.
Considering it…