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 agree with you, except to the extent that you excluded the discount brokerages like Fidelity, Schwab, etc. As I have pointed out, much of your desired disclosure statement applies to these firms too.
Reps pointing investors at NTF funds for wh…
The only way I can see the figures in the article adding up is if these families own a huge amount of zeros. That's because it says the two families own a combined $10.8B in face amount, currently valued at $4.1B = $2.6B (Oppenheimer) + $1.5B (Fra…
david - I'll see what I can do about encapsulating for Mr. Burns. (I can easily leave out some of the background stuff, since he's clearly familiar with the PIA formula, for example.)
Here I was reading your post thinking it was going to say: cou…
Generally, believe that the days when financial advisers could get 1% for portfolio management of four or five mutual funds are rapidly fading.
cHere, we're not only in complete agreement, but I may have been a step ahead (more critical) than you.…
What I wrote is pretty much a one-line summary of the CR study; I think that serves as substantiation.
Chuck acknowledges that the free advice you get is limited by asking: "Do you need more customized advice or additional help with your financia…
No question that different people have different experiences. Glad yours has been good (even if you didn't follow all the advice.)
Consumer Reports did a study of brokerage advice. Here's their 2011 - 2014 Brokerage Service Buying Guide .
I migh…
"For starters the advisory fee at Fidelity is stated as "between 0.63% and 1.7%" according to the link msf provided."
Charles wrote: "So, they [EJ] charge you 1.5% each year to manage your life savings". I simply responded with the same phrasing, …
"So they will charge you 1.5% each year ...." As opposed to someone like Fidelity, who will charge you, um, 1.7% for a Portfolio Advisory Service account (which just puts you into one of their model portfolios based on risk/objectives), or if you'v…
It helps to keep in mind that Burns' articles have become advocacy/opinion pieces, and to think about what he's leaving out, and how he's framing things.
He writes that "One thing the actuaries are at pains to point out is that Social Security isn’…
Definitely an interesting paper. Thanks.
In its discussion of statins, it suggests that regardless of dosage, statins don't affect the brain directly (i.e. due to passage to the brain):
Because the blood-brain barrier would be expected to block…
@hank - I think that's really a very good, rational response. Instead of using rigid rules of thumb like 4% annual drawdowns, the better advice is to be more flexible and to adjust as conditions change. It sounds like that's what you are doing. …
I installed Flash Player 18.0r0 on Wednesday and have not had problems.
Mozilla Firefox Re-Enables Flash on Web Browser Following Security Updates Release
Java 1.8.0_51 was available by July 14th.
"New Java 1.8.51 has been released" (blog post date…
Oppenheimer/Rochester has always been a rather reckless manager of muni funds. Lewis wrote of its 2008 crash; I'd posted a link to an article stating that they had two settlement agreements (for different sets of funds) with investors over that cr…
From Scott's Time Article: "The Bible itself provides us with a concept that seems perfect for the situation our island finds itself in now: the Jubilee. The book of Leviticus introduces us to the Jubilee year, which occurs every 50 years and involv…
The backdoor entry to funds that are closed to new investors is to buy a share off someone and have that person transfer that share into your account. There are also other ways. Click here: bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2001-11-04/unlocking-the-door-to-c…
@bee - the resets on deductibles are annoying. Your question about when they start is especially relevant for people who switch jobs in mid-year. They lose credit for whatever they did pay, and have to restart the deductible with a new insurer o…
@Maurice - you're right, I missed your question about an inherited IRA. I would have sworn the rollover could not be done (as, e.g. you cannot roll over an inherited IRA into your own, unless you inherited as a spouse). But a little searching tur…
Individual plans have traditionally had higher deductibles/co-pays, but nothing like what we're seeing under ACA. That, and narrow networks, are some of the main ways that ACA premiums are being kept lower.
Trying to figure out the best plan beco…
So long as you have income, whether it is considered compensation or not, you get to deduct your HSA contribution. It reduces your AGI.
You are correct that you can only make HSA contributions for the months in which you have an HDHP plan (and no …
1. Generally, you need to have an eligible HDHP (high deductible health plan) in order to open an HSA. However, if you have an existing HSA, you're allowed to open another one (even without having an eligible HDHP), and transfer/roll over the exis…
Thanks for the info. It bothered me enough that I had no idea what "interesting" meant that I tried searching for Archipelago. Got one hit, on boggleheads: If I do not want to invest in those 10 funds, looks like I can open a Saturna Brokerage ac…
Regarding complexities - each HSA administrator handles things differently - checks, debit cards, ACH transfers. Some will do the medical expense bookkeeping for you. (Similar to mutual fund companies keeping track of cost basis for you - pre-201…
As an additional funding source have you considered a rollover into your hsa?
If you haven't already done so and have a tax deferred IRA you can make a one time rollover from your IRA to you hsa. The amount cannot exceed your maximum allowable hsa …
When buying an annuity with post tax dollars (oppose to using tax deferred IRA dollars) are the pay outs partially tax free since some of the payout is a "return of principal" that has already been taxed?
Yes, but.
If you annuitize (give up cash v…
First - I recommend going to the source, the Computerworld article referenced in the Forbes piece; the latter seems to simply restate what's there. Also noted by Computerworld are some dates - for clarifications by Microsoft, for release of financi…
I agree that this is not a good time to purchase a fixed immediate annuity. The calculation may be a bit different for someone (over 59.5) in the accumulation phase.
In most market environments, fixed annuities generally provide better returns tha…
Correction - it was pointed out to me that I misstated the current Vanguard managed payout fund. It is VPGDX, not VTINX.
As a side note - like most everyone, I'm prone to mistakes. Sometimes they're embarrassing, other times like here they simp…
msf: "And you can't write checks from a MM account within a brokerage."
Yes, when they converted my account, I received a note that the old check-writing scheme was no longer valid, but that I could specify a Vanguard fund in the account for check-…
There are some forms of insurance that are fairly clearly not cost effective. This is for at least a couple of reasons:
- The expected payout is not that much more than the cost of the loss, and
- The cost of the loss is low enough that you can …
@hank - I'll try to address your questions as best I can. But I would first like to point out that there are subtle (and not so subtle) differences among the various products out there.
At the 50,000 foot level, annuities and other insurance p…
What's a bank account :-)
Seriously, the only bank accounts I have are for other benefits - a local bank account ($250 balance) to get a safe deposit box and a legacy BofA eChecking account ($0) to get a 10% bonus on my credit card cash rewards.
B…
Vanguard used to give you one account number for Vanguard MFs and a different account & number for investments bought thru the brokerage. Last year they consolidated - Vanguard funds, other family funds, stocks, etfs, etc. are all accounted for …
Ameritrade is a delightful 180 day holding period.... used to be 90.Depends what kind of account you have with them. 180 days seems "right" for a taxable brokerage account, but their terms are different for IRAs and for HSAs (which seem to be con…
"Retirement planning programs are only tools. They are only useful if properly used. The computer acronym GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) is appropriate here. The referenced articles simply ignore this paramount and decisive consideration."
I respec…
IMHO, physical access to brokerages is overrated. At Fidelity, if I have any complex issues, it seems they always need to call the back office - something I could just as easily do without standing there waiting for the rep to talk with someone on…
Regarding liquidity risk, this is a reason why I (and others) suggest that an annuity be purchased only to cover essential cash flow needs, i.e. those expenses which you cannot reduce.
Reiterating one of the risks in the article cited by Lewis - in…
Good point. I hadn't noticed that. Now that you mention it, I see that while most papers report things like Dow's worst day, biggest loss, etc., you do occasionally see "worst loss", e.g.:
Marketwatch: "The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered …
The $272M bond fund mentioned in the article that followed Gross to Janus (a UK fund), effective July 6th:
Old Mutual Total Return (USD) Bond Fund
http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/funds/snapshot/snapshot.aspx?id=F0GBR04N74
