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Is this the same calculation used to determine the new IRMAA brackets for Medicare premiums?
DavidSeveral differences. Whether the numeric difference is significant I leave for you to decide.
SS: based on CPU-W
IRMAA: based on CPI-U
SS: Y/Y comp…
In theory, bank loans are not subject to interest rate risk because they are floating rate loans. Their theoretic effective duration should be zero. Their actual duration is not zero, but it is close.
Still, as you point out, they are junk bond…
"Does Zero coupon bonds behave differently from other bonds in rising rate environment?"
Yes and no. Like all vanilla bonds, their price moves opposite to interest rate changes, and their longer the duration the more they move. So qualitatively…
One recommendation that troubled me was to own long dated zero coupon bonds. He may, of course, be proven correct. But these are dangerous in the hands of unsophisticated investors. The way they’re issued has the effect of creating enormous leverage…
While I don't think I'll be buying ZROZ any time soon (long term Treasuries and zeros suggested: 19:30 mark, 20:30 mark), I do agree with Kessler's characterization of savings bonds as savings, not investing (21:20 mark).
There was a difference betw…
I do happen to know that when it comes to health care, Ireland's system provides diabetics anything and everything they need, for free to the individual. Of course, taxpayers ultimately "foot the bill." No surprise there. And I don't have the figur…
" Capitalism does not care about people, only profit. Capitalism, well-oiled, maximizes profit."
Just two words, and they aren't "Milton Friedman". Hobby Lobby. A company is free to act on its religious beliefs. Didn't you know that companies h…
If I'm reading comments correctly, @crash is positing that by the nature of capitalism employers must maximize profits to the exclusion of all else. @carew388 doesn't seem to be disagreeing with this premise. Rather he is adding the observation th…
I understand that neither DFA nor Adventis ETFs are index based funds. Some elements of factor based are used, and thus they are considered actively managed. Just want to learn more information on their strategies. Loaded terminology, "index base…
I should have said: the magnitude of the relative underperformance of value with respect to growth in the past three years is unprecedented. This is clear from DFA's bar chart reproduced above. Also evident from that chart is value's relative b…
DFA's value proposition, no pun intended, is that value performs better over the long term. Further, that the relative underperformance of value with respect to growth in the past three years is unprecedented.
https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/i…
Also, even if the Fed decides development and installation of CBDC technology is adviseable, it appears that additional authority will need to be provided by Congress (See Link 1, Link 2, and Link 3).
The BPI write ups are quite informative, but…
Makes sense. Using the MMA as a buffer reduces the number of transactions with RPHIX. That not only cuts down on transaction fees, but reduces the headache of keeping track of cap gains. And over the period of a year or so, you should not lose m…
The "unbanked" would have an incentive to open an alternative type of bank account if it could be designed to provide them with rapid, low cost access to benefits such as the recent stimulus payments. And, having the unbanked open those accounts ma…
Keep in mind that the magnitude of the final difference over ten years is affected by the volatility of the returns and by the magnitude of the returns. Just a way of saying that past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
I prefer i…
From the St. Louis Fed (reporting BLS data), using 1967 as baseline, the estimated CPI for 2021 is 792.5. The CPI for 1861 was 27.
https://www.minneapolisfed.org/about-us/monetary-policy/inflation-calculator/consumer-price-index-1800-
That would…
Thanks for the links. Lots to wade through.
Just looking at the first part of the BPI report helps to explain some of my confusion. It notes that "digital money includes commercial bank money, central bank money, and any future CBDC [central…
Now we're reaching well into the realm of diversions.
You cannot spend unrealized gains.
What's being taxed is what we get in, i.e. income, regardless of whether it is spent or saved. If you want to switch what's being taxed from what we get in…
ProPublica did its usual thorough job in crunching numbers, with thoughtful and transparent methodology. See, e.g. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-we-calculated-the-true-tax-rates-of-the-wealthiest
That said, I agree that the press release…
Call me dense on this subject, but ISTM we already have virtual dollars. Years ago, when the government printed money, it really printed it. Now the Fed just adds virtual dollars electronically to banks' reserves. Voila, instant, albeit virtual,…
Yes, candidates for comptroller. There's one name (and face) that should be familiar to people here. See if you can pick that candidate out from the crowd:
One can be very conservative, or very liberal, and also be intelligent.
When I see elected officials like this, I'm reminded of a comment made of Nixon nominee G. Harrold Carswell at his confirmation hearing: "Even if he is mediocre, there are …
Unfortunately, users “exhibit a staggering lack of imagination and select very predictable numbers,” reports The Guardian. Three very simple combinations — 1234, 1111 and 0000 — account for 18.6 percent of all PINs in use.
Thinking about the original question, I've tried to take a step back and reformulate the question a bit: what is a bond, and why would one own a bond (or in the aggregate a bond fund)?
From a business finance perspective, a bond is a way to raise c…
When a fund's performance suddenly takes a nosedive or soars into the stratosphere, there are a few things I check before even delving into the fund's details:
- Is the performance naturally volatile, bouncing from top quintile to bottom? Not here…
Could some Fido fan tell me why Fido has 2005 &2010 retirement funds ? I would have thought the glide -path for these two would have them rolled, glided, into Retirement income by this time.
From Fidelity: Allocating assets among underlying Fid…
These new laws would benefit the "under saved" more than the "over saved".
The "under saved" essentially by definition aren't maxing out contributions. So they're not the ones who would benefit from increased catch up limits. It's the "over sa…
The increase in starting RMD age would apply to all tax-sheltered plans, including 457 plans and regular IRAs (as contrasted with individual retirement annuities). The article lists only 401(k)s, 403(b)s and individual retirement annuities, leavin…
”You can use an ETF as a savings account. But you're going to have to manually move money into the "checking" account (core fund) if you want to use it.”
*** Have to? Are we simply talking sound financial practice here? Or, does Fido preven…
I've had a similar experience with MIEIX.
On 09/30/20, MIEIX was classified as a Foreign Large Growth fund with a 3 star rating.
The corresponding category rank was: 5 Yr - 66; 10 Yr - 49; 15 Yr - 24.
On 12/31/20, MIEIX was classified as a Foreign…
Think of traditional bank accounts. There's a checking account where you can write checks, pay bills, buy things. And there are savings accounts that pay higher interest.
You can keep all your cash in a savings account, but when you need to bu…
Here's an even more extensive M* piece on its categories, historically, how they're defined, and how funds are classified. It's a one hour(!) video and has a somewhat dubious transcription. (I'll probably watch the video and slides later.)
https…
This added efficiency should be true for most ETFs, except for Vanguard's, which for complicated reasons I'm too tired to explain aren't more efficient than Vanguard's index mutual funds as they are actually another share class of those funds.
IMH…
In my humble opinion, (using @msf numbers) - 3,582 mutual funds vs. 85 ETF's
What I quoted was a 2017 piece that gave the number of NTF OEFs and ETFs then available through Fidelity. (Now all ETFs are traded w/o commission.)
Fidelity's scre…
He may be looking at an old commission schedule. Before Fidelity (and nearly everybody else) went commission-free on stocks and ETFs, Fidelity offered mainly iShares and OneQ (the only ETF Fidelity had at the time) with no transaction fee:
Fidelit…
Not necessarily. Advisors don't need loads to make money.
"Financial advisors would switch from selling funds that charged commissions of any kind to selling funds that lacked commissions, while levying asset-based fees. That change has indeed occ…
Since I have a Fidelity taxable account that is set up for actual cost, I can say without fear of contradiction that this is possible.
Most of my accounts are set up for actual cost basis. One that isn't is a CMA account. Curiously I also don't…
What can I say? You need to find better mutual insurance companies :-)
Due to better than anticipated claim results, State Farm is returning $400 million to California mutual auto insurance customers.
State Farm announcement, March 10, 2021.
The b…
In terms of general tax efficiency, it's like any other short term bond fund - the divs are ordinary income and share price fluctuates mildly.
My approach to handling cost basis with short term bond funds is:Send divs to a MMF or bank account (do n…
