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 seem to remember an article from back when J. Clements was writing for the WSJ. It said in essence that buying a home should not be considered an investment and that all things considered, housing costs way more than one should reasonably expect t…
With respect to Seeking Alpha, it pays to know that some participants (as on other boards, but not MFO) are short sellers. I have a couple of stocks owned with "play money," that I follow there. There's a wide divergence of opinions and motivations,…
FWIIW, neither Schwab nor TDA correctly compute loss/gain for mutual funds. Distributions are added to the cost basis, but you have to figure out total return by adding purchase price and distributions, then dividing by market value. Maybe someone e…
@hank: Yesterday I flew from Richmond to Atlanta. My wife was in row behind me and the guy next to her moved. She suggested I move back to join her and I did. Within a couple of minutes the attendant made me move back saying "seats are assigned," an…
@TED: This comment could be in reference to any link you've recently posted to a "Bespoke" article. A check of their main site reveals an array of "products" that would all devour a lot of your valuable money. Maybe others could make a smell test an…
Don't want to toot my horn, but MFOers heard it from me a while back that the NEA and its affiliates have done a horrible job of representing the retirement interests of teachers beyond the defined benefit pension. This article shows that conflicts …
My Capital One account paid a balance transfer of 5K+ and no one but I noticed. Generally, if I buy a coffee out of town with the card I get texted. The "fraud" rep said alerts for transfers don't happen. Worse, she said the transaction was done by …
You could make the morally reprehensible argument that WWII was good for America. If there was ever a time when we were "great," it was post-war. Unfortunately, vast swaths of the earth were in ruins. War ain't great.
Not to make too fine a point of it, but…we are talking about buying a portfolio or a basket of securities. To replicate the holdings myself, I'd pay a fortune in commissions. The convenience of having the OEF or ETF buy and sell the securities is su…
I see @Charles's points. Other recent threads or at least posts speak of ETFs that "change stripes" or purport to follow an index no one has ever heard of. The same could be said of DSENX and DLEUX. Are these funds the equivalent of what in my field…
Here three other funds I like:
ARTRX, IWIRX, and MGGPX
These funds are small, ARTRX is the biggest at 2.1B, a quality that matters a lot to me. MGGPX is NTF, load-waived at Schwab and TDA. These are global, not purely international. For the latter,…
Other wealthy countries manage to provide help for laid-off workers in the form of concerted re-training and benefits. The US solution always seems to be to embrace our federalism and leave it to the states. How did that work with civil rights? or v…
Really enjoyed "Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot," by Mark Vanhoenacker. My father was an aviation nut and one of my first memories is flying with him when I was 4 or 5.
Comments from Mr. Munoz, after he came to his senses and stopped issuing meal…
It's always fun to get lots of ideas and to be amazed at the level of commitment and the shared expertise of MFO members. The devil may be in the details, such as the choice of platform. If I were the parent, I would not want to receive a gift of a …
Unfortunately, polls show that a majority of Americans approve use of force and that they "enjoy" seeing our military use the big hardware. If you are a leader polling 37% approval, does it not make perverse sense to drop a couple of MOABs to "encou…
@Old_Skeet: I watched parts of the press conference with Dr. Dao's lawyer. One of his adult daughters also spoke. I think the lawyer is sharp and he gave a good performance. Dr. Dao has a concussion, a broken nose that may require surgery, and two f…
Here's an interesting take on the airline industry and its lack of technical innovation as a possible cause for Sunday's massive screw-up:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/technology/how-technology-has-failed-to-improve-your-airline-experience.htm…
I know a therapist who treats, as part of his practice, substance abusers. He told me recently that the marijuana currently available is so much more potent than what the Boomers may remember from their college days that he is implacably opposed to …
Those are good points @msf, delivered considerately. I think you are right about moving assets into TIAA for them to manage. It could be a good idea for the day when I'm not able to manage my accounts well, especially since I'm the only investor in …
I'm grateful for the insightful and complimentary comments. I try to remember that this is truly a high class problem and that many of our compatriots deserve better than what our economic system provides them. My forebears and those of my wife took…
Pie-in-the-sky solution: All the horrified passengers should have stood in protest and blocked the aisle to prevent the cops from removing the man. An act of peaceful civil disobedience, carried out in solidarity by passengers who were all adversely…
I am confused @LLJB. Are we talking about the same fund? GLFOX has an ER of 1.22% and a turnover ratio of 35% and throws off modest amounts of dividends and capital gains. I don't see anything there to criticize.
Here's a recent M* article:
http://…
Many moons ago, our family of five was going from Detroit to Phoenix on PanAm. In St Louis passengers were asked if they'd be willing to fly to Dallas-Ft Worth and then on to Phoenix instead of non-stop to Phoenix. We said OK as it added only a coup…
Good points @davidmoran. Interesting you mention the mortgage because we have one and could pay it off if we saw the advantage to doing so. It's one query I want to put to someone able to analyze our situation.
My thoughts exactly, @Sven. Where was the outrage among the passengers when the jack-booted thuggish looking police assaulted the helpless passenger? I kept hoping one of them would stand up kick a cop or take him down. Remember the ditty from the …
You have to admire the performance of GLFOX measured against any global or international fund I admire. I own ARTRX and FMIJX, and like them. The Lazard fund, however, with its small number of seemingly boring companies that run toll roads or build …
@davidmoran: If I consulted someone brand new I would be willing to pay a fee for advice, but I do not want an on-going "wrap-fee" relationship, nor do I want to deal with someone who works on commission. I think it was Zweig's column on Saturday in…
Thanks @Ted. I googled the topic and noticed that the MF companies all came up with offers of advice. I plan to reduce number of funds but don't want to generate CGs all at once. @Derf: I am a serial contributor.@msf: your point is well taken. No pr…
A quick look at FTHNX, and I've never seen it before, suggests that the 194% turnover ratio and the out-sized distributions for 2014-2016 mean that this is no fund for a taxable account or for an investor looking for tax efficiency.
George Putnam b…
@MikeM: There are differences among Panera and I like the traditional ones. Where I live in Ann Arbor, there are no fewer than five, whereas Bloomington, IN, another Big Ten town had only one when I was there about five years ago. Panera "hosts" a l…
My favorite hangout; sure hope they don't change it. As I said on another thread re: DPZ, PANR since 1999 has shot the lights out, now it's over the moon. Do I still own it, of course not!
While it is not free and is not "crowd" created, I have entrusted all the info Catch suggests to the Kiplinger organizer:
https://store.kiplinger.com/family_records_organizer_download.html
I, too, have been met with "glad you're doing that, good to…
Agree with @dstone42 about advantages of 529 investing. TIAA manages Michigan's plan about which I have no complaints. There's a state income tax credit on up to 10k per year, but only in years you put in and don't take out. As to the issue of how …
Your mileage will vary is the required caveat. One reason for taking SS earlier than 70.5 is the matter of dependents the oldsters might have. We have two adoptees, the younger of whom joined the family as an infant when I was 56, the older when I w…
