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.
I've got to go along with davidrmoran here - assuming there are valid arguments that acrylamide in coffee is not a potential carcinogen, this is not the guy to cite.
I don't think anyone here has said Prop 65 doesn't have problems. I've said tha…
Investors who call the raising of tariffs from $50B to $150B a "doubling down" may wish to reevaluate their returns.
Here's a book to get them started: The Beardstown Ladies' Common-Sense Investment Guide
They ran into a bit of scandal in the mid…
AndyJ is right - you got your wires crossed. That message was supposed to have gone to a shoe phone in a secure phone booth (with a false floor) in the basement of a secret government building under a cone of silence.
How about a fund like RPHYX? What if something unexpected comes up and you need a little more cash than you were planning to spend in the next six months.
While I agree that generally funds shouldn't be sold quickly, why put yourself in a straigh…
Just started skimming through the full study. Lots of nice data, reasonable inflation/return assumptions. Could have fun with this for days if not weeks.
"Never used my BoA credit cards, not good enough. Is one not then dealing with a cc company, no longer BoA, really?"
Many financial institutions outsource their branded credit cards to other banks. As is pretty well known here, "Elan Financial Se…
Remember that this calculator is using an accelerated withdrawal (i.e. shorter lifetime) calculation. That's because the calculations are based on a single lifetime (Table 1), rather than the usual uniform lifetime (Table 3) figures.
So when you …
Interesting study. The summary linked to is a bit vague, though.
For example, it talks about an SS/RMD ("Spend Safely in Retirement") strategy to supplement SS after age 70 with RMDs. But it's not clear about what rate of return is assumed:Our…
" less likely to rip you off if he/she has to look you in the eye"
Now there's a sad commentary. Not wrong, but sad. That there's a great enough chance of getting ripped off that it's worth the time and effort of meeting in person just to reduc…
I see AB's PR division has gone into overdrive.
"Unique" because they have fulcrum fees? Fidelity has been doing this with many of its funds for a long time. "Several prominent managers have selectively used fulcrum fees: Putnam, Vanguard, Janus,…
It's nice to know that BofA has the ability to print out screenshots.
It seems BofA lied to me about that when we applied for a credit card. BofA could only handle the application over the phone or in person, not online. Since I'd never get a c…
A medallion guarantee is like a cashiers check. The financial institution is putting its neck on the line to honor whatever is being guaranteed. It sounds like you're asking them go guarantee periodic, unknown amounts of money. So they want you…
What I meant with my summary was fairly innocuous: while there can be a small benefit to doing some transactions in person (e.g. working through paperwork face to face as opposed to talking it through over the phone), that benefit is usually not so…
My experience today with BofA/MerrillEdge may be of interest.
A few months ago, I closed out an IRA at another brokerage by transferring it to ME. I submitted the paperwork in person because I wanted assurance that not only would I get Merrill's p…
I don't know why anyone's surprised. I sold off a PR bond at the end of last year for tax purposes. What better reason is there for PR bonds to double in price than that?
(A small position, made smaller by the low price. Twice very little is st…
The article is no less accurate than it was in 2010 (except for minor details like TD Waterhouse).
It describes the standardized A, B, C, I (institutional) class shares well. Going into any other share classes is like diving into quicksand.
…
This looks like someone trying to reverse engineer what literally two fund families have done into some industry "trend".
This new class is called the D or N share ... There are still a few D shares available but many are closed to new investorsS…
Thanks for sharing. If your SS meets your needs, it sounds like you're doing what's best for you. May you live long enough to have second thoughts about your decision :-)
There are always going to be some funds that are NTF at one brokerage and either sold with a load/fee or not sold at all at another brokerage. For example, IALAX is NTF at Fidelity, not available at Schwab.
Fidelity listing for IALAX.
Schwab list…
It just took them a little longer to get the NTF paperwork in place, e.g. PONAX:
https://research.tdameritrade.com/grid/public/mutualfunds/profile/profile.asp?symbol=PONAX
I had TDA for an HSA account (I've since changed HSAs). Seemed pretty dec…
Six months does come into play, but I believe it's more complicated.
When you sign up for Medicare Part A (the part that most people don't have to pay for), you're automatically enrolled for up to six months prior to your registration. But that u…
Even if you have an "above average nest egg", you're going to have a given level of necessary expenses "forever". You have to plan on "forever", or at least some pretty high age that you're certain not to outlive, e.g. age 105. Either one buys a…
While the general thrust of the Seeking Alpha column is okay, there seem to be a fair number of misstatements.
Here's an example of misstated, or misused, data: In citing Pfau's 2012 paper, it states:
In fact, retirement research by Dr. Wade Pfau s…
If one gets past the political rhetoric, it's a bit more complicated than that.
"Paying taxes" makes it sound like Amazon, Wayfair, Overstock.com, and Newegg are required to pony up tax money for their business. It is better to say that they they …
No question about today being a pretty bad start. But worst since 1929, according to data compiled by Bloomberg?
I don't think so. It's just citing data compiled by S&P (or by Standard Statistics Company, one of the predecessor companies to…
A simple response: What do you mean we, kemo sabe?
https://huntthedevil.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/what-do-you-mean-we-white-man/
Personally, I'm not on Facebook, not on Twitter. I own a smart phone without service solely for use when traveling abro…
I never understood why 403(b) plans were offered to non-profits when 401(k) plans were the preferred offering in the private sector.
I never understood why employer-sponsored health plans were offered in the US when government-sponsored health pl…
Reiterating what Ted wrote, the original link shows largest (private) company headquartered in each state - size determined by worldwide revenue.
It's not a list of largest private employers (worldwide) headquartered in each state.
Catch's BI pa…
Shouldn't we be at least a little worried Trump is still keeping his job? I mean on which planet does an executive keep his job after all that's happened ?!?!?!I was involved in a startup that didn't have a shareholder meeting for three years (not u…
Not exactly, but Suze Orman stopped playing by buying muni zeros. (That in itself should be 'nuff said.)
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/outing-suze-ormans-investment-portfolio
I've given it a few seconds thought. There are at least a couple of…
I guess I should cite M* Farms as pretty typical:
VEGETABLES (MUSHROOMS, WATER CHESTNUTS, ONIONS, CARROTS, GREEN BELL PEPPERS, RED BELL PEPPERS, BLACK OLIVES), TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, WHEAT GLUTEN, WATER FOR HYDRATION), …
Not to go too far off the subject, but to briefly address gluten ...
Celiac disease is a condition where the body attacks any gluten in the intestines in a self-destructive way. It's an immune reaction, not an allergy. Short term, the symptoms …
Foods that are roasted--coffee for instance--toasted and fried tend to produce acrylamide and I believe the more you cook them the worse your acrylamide exposure gets [...]
Anyone of a scientific bent please correct me if I'm wrong.
A faux pas - f…
I'm not sure about that - not that the auto industry hasn't shrunk a lot, but it may still be the miniature elephant in the state.
Given that the comments on the BI article date back four months, the data must be come from before 2018. Here's …
The writer breathlessly tells us the "bonus payout" for those bankers and brokers reached $184,220 last year. Almost back to pre-crash levels. It’s dangerous, says the Post – incentive pay encourages risk taking!
Quick show of hands. Who thinks th…
Unbelievable-2.25/3.75 loads on Pimco bond fund A shares?!I still have access to a 1 penny HSA account at TDAmeritrade. When I put in a test buy, PONAX shows up as NTF, but when I research the fund, even after logging in, it shows a load.
So TDA …
Given the terms of the conversion notice and with Pimco A shares at the time not being LW, though, Fidelity customers were right to at least consider adding D shares to accounts in which they wanted A-LW privileges after conversion. In the end, howe…
