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.
The holy grail that you're looking for used to be called "enhanced cash". The idea was to go a very little up the risk ladder (not conform to Rule 2a-7), but be pretty steady in price (albeit floating). They differentiated themselves from MMFs in …
" A fund carrying only 27% in equities is mis-categorized when labeled as "LV." That's my point."
One finds bond houses try to mimic equity funds by use of bonds and derivatives. The concept is not unique. The bond houses are simply leveraging th…
This article is from ETF trends. Perhaps they're biased as well?
It seems to be discussing Vanguard ETFs in the context of 401(k) plans, saying that people don't day trade in those vehicles, and implying that they would save money (expenses) over…
Whether mutual fund or individual stock, dividends don't increase total returns - share prices have the dividend built in and drop by that amount when going ex.
Speaking of walking dead, the penultimate paragraph of the article notesFormer Hutton executive Frank Campanale tried reviving the firm three years ago but ditched the effort for a job with the established asset manager Lebenthal and Co.It's curious…
Best site for banking rates/info IMHO:
https://www.depositaccounts.com/
It will filter banks based on your state, balance required for rates, restrictions on accounts (typically credit unions), whether you need to walk into the bank to open the acc…
"Despite the boisterous politics of tax the rich (individuals and corporations), the biggest impact falls upon the middle class."
By some measures, yes. By other measures, no. It depends on where you look. For example (from today's NYTimes), …
The article compares the use of CDs with the use of money markets, which are mutual funds. (The writing was a little sloppy - "money market" could mean MMF or "money market account", but from the context it appeared to be referring to MMFs.)
If yo…
All these posts and not a single complaint about how pointless it is to compare with funds in the same Morningstar category - so many funds grouped incorrectly. What's wrong you people :-)
Every source mentioned - Fidelity, US News, Kiplinger, Yah…
The fund estimated (11/2014) that about 3/4 of its distribution is ROC. (It passes through the ROC of its underlying MLPs.)
The change to 100% suggests either a change in the MLPs' distribution percentages (which one might check), or that the MLP…
Hey, I resemble that remark.
Many years ago, Citibank had a discount brokerage (Citicorp Investment Services), and provided a decent suite of bank services if you had a few $K in combined accounts, including their brokerage account.
They had a …
I have a hard time differentiating between this type of service and something like Fidelity's Portfolio Advisory Service (PAS), where it seems you get put into one of a handful of portfolios, depending on your profile.
Sure each of the portfolios i…
I had a class in HS where we were actually tested on using a slide rule. I negotiated with the teacher the right to use log tables instead of a slide rule. Same principle, but one was analog and required mechanical skills (not my strong suit); t…
Actually, later (meaning "latest") thinking tends quite to the direction STB65 indicates.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/3-things-to-know-about-the-new-blood-pressure-guidelines/
(note point 2 in particular)
later:
http://well.blogs.nyti…
@TED (and anyone else who qualifies)
Since I wouldn't expect anyone to take my word for it, search "recommended blood pressure over 80." Might want to back off a bit on those drugs.
No data supports artificially lowering BP below 135 systolic in any…
Well, that's a little deceptive when all the upgrades but one are funds in the same target fund series (Blackrock Lifepath Index 20xx and Lifepath Index Income).
That's my point. Not only is there more risk, but the yields are less than banks. Using David's ETFs as examples (SEC yield/trailing twelve month yield):
FLRN (0.50%, 0.53%), FLOT (0.46%, 0.44%), BSCF (0.48%, 0.88%), BOND (1.13%, 4.20%).
I can't …
So the suggestion is to use MINT, with an SEC yield of 0.64%, bid/ask spread and price volatility, instead of an FDIC-insured bank account at somewhere like Ally Bank (0.99% APY), Synchrony Bank (1.00% APY), etc.?
Sure, with a bank getting access t…
"Recreate returns" in the headline means recreate the analysis - comparison/ranking of these funds relative to others. In addition to JPMorgan being opaque about its comparisons, the article says it is similarly opaque about the management approach…
Angels dancing on the head of a pin.
But also another example of poor business writing. The writer applies Justice Stewart's reasoning to passive investing - he can't define it, but he knows it when he sees it. " If this doesn’t sound like a …
I've got a handful of them also.
I do wonder about Kiplinger's choice of tickers, though. "A" shares for American Funds? That family's got a whole slew of R- classes (R-1, R-2, etc.) specifically for 401K funds; I doubt that many plans offer t…
Costco has been accepting MC and Visa debit cards. I don't expect that to change.
There does not seem to be a free 2% rebate card for Visa, as there is for Amex (Fidelity/FIA) and MC (Citi). It looks like the best one can do if one shops a lot at…
In my case, I haven't switched banks because the only bank service I use at a bank is a safe deposit box, where physical proximity trumps all.
Sure, I have a few $0 balance/$0 cost accounts elsewhere for promotional services (e.g. TDBank will let …
Greasy was all the long distance carriers sending out checks in the 90s, which if endorsed would change your service.
The brokerage promotions are all up front - they don't "slam" you. The only "gotcha" I know of is the tax consequence (e.g. in a…
It's pretty common for brokerages to offer money if you move assets to them. This is just another variant, and a fairly clever one.
In general, they're counting on money being "sticky" - once you move money to a brokerage, you will tend to leave …
I wonder if Vanguard will do something similar with its Managed Payout Fund (VPGDX). That seems to be allocated about 30% to foreign - there's 20% in the Global Min Volatility Fund VMVFX (about 1/2 foreign), 15% Total Int'l (VGTSX), and 5% Emerging…
Here's Fidelity's page on the promotion, and a third party page listing all the current Fidelity promotions for bringing in new money. It looks like Fidelity's IRA promotion pays the most right now.
I haven't yet seen is a declaration of tax trea…
What is a bank account but an unsecured debt of the bank to the saver? Is that not as good as money?
Of course, that account is insured by the FDIC. Who backs the FDIC? The same US Treasury that backs those bonds issued to Social Security.
I would have thought that the IRS already knew you had coverage or not? Are there not some other circumstances with 0Care that one might have to pay extra taxes?
I'm drawing a blank as to what those conditions are.
With respect to whether the IRS …
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios: "Holding Cash is Good For You"
http://thefinancebuff.com/schwab-intelligent-portfolios-holding-cash-is-good-for-you.html
Comparison of Schwab with Betterment and Wealthfront.
2% APY CD, 32 month maturity - shorter than VFSTX, NCUA-insured, zero price risk, higher yield. if you think rates will be going up, you can take the interest payments monthly, but unlike a bond (except a zero coupon) or bond fund you have the opti…
All most people have to do when they file their taxes is say they were covered by health insurance. Like most stuff on your tax return, you only have to prove it if the IRS asks.
From the IRS: "The IRS does not require taxpayers to submit document…
Good find.
Back when AT&T was Ma Bell, it would test out new central office switches in remote locations. The way they described it, these places were so remote that ...
... if service went out because some farmer cut a cable while plowing,…
There is nothing confusing other than the writer, who as the WSJ notes, writes about how financial advisers can "build and improve their practices" - not how they can best serve their customers.
Most of the article is about how "advisers" can charg…
Followup on Wells Fargo - this is something I've been trying to resolve for a month. I finally got someone good to talk with there. (That seems to happen sometimes, if one keeps trying.) He appreciated the issues, told me he would check it out …
I don't begrudge banks for imposing inactivity fees, so long as the time frame and amounts are reasonable. They do incur costs to hold small, virtually abandoned accounts, and it often doesn't make sense for the account holder to have these little…
@Old_Joe - West Portal? Do they still have a neighborhood ban on new financial institutions? It looks like even Sterling Bank popped up there not too long ago.
I'm doing my part to reduce their deposits and flee. I just closed out my Chase checking/savings accounts today.
(Old account from Coast Savings -> Home Savings -> WaMu -> Chase. Not using it and makes no sense to leave even a small amo…
You have the details correct. Let me try to describe this from the conceptual perspective (which may or may not help - different people understand things in different ways).
Think about "regular" companies (like corporations). If you own shares …
