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.
@davidsherman RSIVX/RSIIX appear to no longer be available at Vanguard. A couple of weeks ago, they were listed under Riverpark funds, but I could not place an order presumably due to the change in advisor. Now they have disappeared from the Riverpa…
We had a medallion signature guaranty run around with Vanguard. We had a joint taxable account that we were splitting into two individual trust accounts as part of an estate plan. Vanguard required a medallion signature on the transfer paperwork (ev…
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Really appreciate it.
@MrRuffles - we are members of our state nonprofit association and I have been poking around on their website, but no good leads yet.
@sma3 - I have called Vanguard. They told me they do no…
VTMFX (Vanguard Tax Managed Balanced, 50/50) is about 80% of our taxable account. I used to collect funds (so many interesting ones mentioned here) and fiddle around with portfolio adjustments, and then I realized that VTMFX beat me every year and …
Everyone in MA is allowed to vote by mail this year, no questions asked. We all received a postcard in the mail to send back to request a mail-in ballot. Although I love going to a polling place on election day, I will mail in my ballots (primary …
VTMFX (Vanguard Tax Managed Balanced) is 50% of taxable account and VTTVX (Vanguard Target 2025) is 80% of 401(k) because for all my fussing around and collecting intriguing new funds mentioned here, I don't do any better than these two. Might as w…
I think you have the math backwards in the second sentence of the original post. You've written downside/upside which would get you 0.895 for the DSENX example. I think you mean upside capture divided by downside capture (upside/downside = 1.12).
@jlev
The 529 can pay for any college expenses, including room and board and (if well documented) books, computer, etc. So, if you have tuition assistance available, you can still use it for all the other college expenses.
@Sven - Actually, you don't file form 8606 for Roth IRA. That's for regular IRA so you can keep track of any contributions you made after taxes if you are in the nondeductible category. There's no filing requirement to report the amount put into a R…
I've done this for both my kids, starting as soon as they had earned income. I opened Roth IRAs for each of them. Whatever they earned (including dogwalking, babysitting, etc. with careful documentation), we made a matching contribution to the Roth.…
And things didn't change very quickly. In the mid 80's, when I was in grad school, I was told by a crusty professor that I had prevented some deserving young man from attending MIT because I had stolen his spot. I hope things have changed enough tha…
@Johann - if you are going to say that a figure has been discredited, please give some citations.
Here is a link to a recent article in Environmental Research Letters (http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/048002) that says "The …
Hi,
Having trouble renewing MFO Premium. Got an e-mail saying my account had expired. Clicked the link and the login didn't recognize my password, so I clicked the new password button. Got an e-mail, clicked the link to confirm the request. Got …
Hi Sven,
I thought Deluxe no longer covered Schedule D and Turbotax forces you to move up to Premier. Or is it the case that the forms exist, but there is no interview to walk you through filling them out and you have to do it manually?
Anyway, I …
Forecast here in the Boston area was spot-on -- I'm about to go out and shovel 2 and a half feet of snow. Light and fluffy and incredibly beautiful snow!
Hi Accipiter -- Yes, paper and pencil work well, too. I just like to have the calculation back up. I once made a 2 dollar math mistake on a state return and got fined $40. So, I felt like it was worth it to have the spreadsheets all set up.
Hi S…
I have always used the downloaded program. On the Intuit website, it sure looks like the price increase applies to the online versions as well (i.e., Deluxe no longer handles Sched. D, etc.). Plus there is a little * that says the price of the onl…
Hi Scott,
Can you elaborate on your horrible experience with HR?
I've had issues with Turbotax in the past with mistakes in the handling of K-1's and foreign income, but nothing I couldn't over-ride. I assumed HR would be similar.
Yep, it stinks. Basically a 67% increase in the cost of tax software for my taxes. I'm voting with my feet. I've used Turbotax for at least 20 years. This year I will switch to H&R Block.
If you are ever in Harvard Square in Cambridge, look up at the third floor window above the Curious George Bookshop -- Dewey, Cheetham and Howe in gold letters! It's the production office for the show. The brothers have a garage in Cambridge tha…
Hi,
Congratulations on your windfall. I had an inheritance to invest a few years ago and I decided to use the portfolio suggestions at Maxfunds (www.maxfunds.com), click on the PowerFund Portfolios link. They have a more aggressive one and a more …
Hi,
Some info since I just went through this process opening Roth IRAs for my teens at Vanguard -- 1 k minimum in VGSTX and the Vanguard Target Retirement Series. We chose Vanguard Retirement 2045 (VTIVX) which is 63% domestic stocks, 27% internati…
I use the two suggested portfolios from MaxFunds (http://www.maxfunds.com/funds/powerfunds/holdingsdata.php?port=2&pg=ph2) for allocation among categories. One is more conservative (I use it for kids college funds --needed in 5 or so years) and…
Reply to @hawkmountain: Hi hawkmountain-- I thought that one could only contribute earned income to a Roth IRA and only as much as earned. My teenagers certainly don't earn 5k in a summer job. Is there a loophole?
lrwilliams
Hi David,
At one point, you did suggest a three fund portfolio of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging (FEO), T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation (PRWCX) and T. Rowe Price Spectrum Income (RPSIX) which I tracked as a portfolio on Morningstar. Starting with…
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all the great advice. I agree that we should not try to manage the money ourselves. We do have an investment policy. We do have a cash reserves account equal to one year's worth of operating costs that is invested in money…
I would really like to see the handle of the poster of the first message in a thread along with the title. Right now, I can only see the handle of the last person to post a comment.
