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.
My guess is that after the expected Medicare part B and D cost increases for next year this 3.2% will be a joke and more closer to 0%. 3.2% HUH! We all know how foolish this number is. Just renewed car and home insurance with an average 13% total …
Our local library card gives us full and free access to M* via a log on to the internet from anywhere, with no ads or any other issues to deal with. It is a great service I have used for years. Also Firstrade has full access as noted above, if you…
@rforno. As soon as the rates decrease I intend to sell USFR. Until then using this etf makes it easy to keep up with the rate increases with little effort. If the rates remain stable I see no reason not to buy at this time. I do not like auto roll…
@YBB. This is a personal issue where I have set up all my bills to be paid on the 1st of each month. USFR typically pays dividends around 5 days before the end of the month and I can use the dividends to pay bills on the 1st. TFLO pays dividends in …
If you live in a high tax state it makes more sense to go with the etf's vs the mmkt funds as the former is 100% state tax free, where the govt mmkt's are not usually, because of their repo holdings. I use both the etf USFR and also S/T bills becau…
The best way to get the % of US obligations for most funds is to go directly to the fund sponsor site for it .usually in late Feb for the last tax year. For example. For USFR google "Wisdom tree 2022 tax" and their funds with US obligations will be …
@finder. Consider USFR a Floating rate etf with a 7 day duration, 5.28% 30 day sec yield which I expect will increase in the next week. All US treasury bills. No state tax. Easy peasy. Can be bought and sold anytime. Pays monthly.
@ Balu. All share classes sold are NTF from my experience. However with A class shares you would have to pay a load as dictated by the fund company. Firstrade unlike other brokerages does not waive these loads. Also no money market funds are availa…
@Balu. You are correct about he STR fees you noted. If you are a.long term investor as I am ,this is unimportant. As we all know PRWCX/TRAIX is a gem and would be held long term in most cases.
@ MSF. Thank you for your suggestion. I have not as yet tried what you noted about an in kind transfer but I have thought about doing this. I have a gut suspicion Firstrade may not do this nontaxable conversion as they are usually not able to handle…
PRWCX is NOT closed. I purchased TRAIX which is the institutional form of prwcx last week at Firstrade which has a minimum of $ 100. to purchase. Sorry ,but not a myth! If you have an account with them you would have to look it up in your account. I…
Other brokerages may have these funds on their platform. I was pleasantly surprised to find FNSXX the highest paying prime fund available with a $0 minimum in my Wellstrade account.
Depending on the brokerage ,typically the transferred assets have to stay in the new home for 2 months but can be up to one year so that the bonus is not lost. As with investing, due diligence is necessary to get all the information needed prior to …
Another possibility for a "safe harbor" option, if someone is etf savvy is the treasury floating rate ETF, USFR paying 4.79% now. It is all treasury bills with a duration 0f 0.02. In addition it is state tax free with 100% t-bills. This has worked w…
My experiences. At Fidelity same as above. Quicker phone help with more seasoned reps with Premium. Dedicated rep disappeared. With Etrade surprise ,surprise, surprise. A dedicated rep who has a direct # and calls back usually within 15 min. He han…
@ MrRuffles. If the acct is large, I think greater than 50K ask to be assigned to personal rep and ask for their phone #. Call that person and leave a message. They will facilitate resolution of any problems that might occur I always got a callback …
Had to keep the Vanguard acct as Etrade like many other firms ,does not carry most Admiral funds. We put up with the negatives as others have noted but save a lot on the ER.
I opened an acct with them 5 months ago and am pleasantly surprised that now, all funds including institutional ones are NTF. I was with ALLY invest and the experience was Horrible. E-trade assigned us an adviser that handled all the issues in the t…
I have been quite happy with OUSM a small cap quality dividend ETF which is similar to VDIGX in its philosophy. Volatility is also muted compared to the indexes.
Thanks Lewis. Article is a real eye opener. So , no common sense. It is a pity that this democracy will fail due to incompetent and greedy government practices. Our march to 3rd world status will be complete when the middle class is obliterated. It…
What is the point in knowing the effective tax rates anyhow, as they are meaningless for the vast majority of the ultra rich folks and corps that pay little if any taxes. I cannot remember which ones. but in the past year or so, I recall some S&…
The tax rates as noted above, are meaningless for the affluent and corps ,as our government allows armies of lawyers and accountants to make a mockery of the rates ,with loopholes for every expense. As Buffet said, "Something is wrong when my secre…
Currently using USFR for a partial cash position. 2.68%-30 day sec yield. very low duration of 0.02. Will be able to catch rising rates with virtually no decrease in price which will occur with longer dated treasuries. Since purchase earlier in week…
I second the above from MikeM. As along time holder of RPHIX, since Dr. Snowball first reviewed it here on MFO and a more recent owner of CBLDX, David you truly have managed to be an ace in the past year with both funds in the 1st quartile as assig…
As noted in the original post, these are for "quick" comparisons to get a general idea of the funds status vs other funds in the comparison. Then further evaluation on other sites or the fund company data pages for more information is what I do ,fo…
Do not own yet . Still perusing. I would imagine that buying about the same amounts of each would make sense. Would then buy each just before the hedges renew for that series.
@Balu Balu. If you go into M* and read the 4th paragraph of JHDAX (series 2), in the top analysis summary ,the writer advises buying both series 2 and 3 as it "Lowers market price path dependency or the investments sensitivity to short periods of …
It not take long. I found out today that I could no longer purchase my. Vanguard Admiral funds any longer at Firstrade. Only sales are now permitted in those funds without a fee. Wanted to update my previous posts. May have to transfer the funds bac…
Is it just me or have others felt that the reps are quite young vs the other brokerages. In the few times I have had to contact Vanguard in the past year the reps sound like they just got out of high school. My other brokerage reps are much more mat…
