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.
Thanks @00BY. The 529 idea is great and I have used the Michigan plan already for my kids. This kid will have a hard time resisting the effects of the wolverine breast milk she's getting now with more subtle and overt pressures to follow. Where my p…
@Ted: that KISS is one great fund. I just needed someone to remind me that I can help myself. Thanks to other commenters. I left out one key factor, at least in our family. My wife does not participate in "our" investment decisions, by her choice, …
UConn started to make reputation in 64-65 with a player who eventually made it to the Celtics bench; the court was laid over the dirt floor of the Field House and the university was just emerging from its past as an ag school and teacher training in…
Today's men's game would be a lot less acrobatic if the rules were properly enforced. Almost every "dribble" these days is a carry and the refs seem to never count the third step which in my day was a travel. You cannot begin a big swing across the …
Why didn't Trump make other promises to industries that have seen their day? Wouldn't someone benefit if we brought back the tanning industry? Iron miners are disappearing; why not mandate a high percentage of cast iron be used in our cars? I often …
As a retired faculty member, my perspective may be at odds with that of other participants here. I don't know K-12, despite having strong opinions,so I'll limit my comments to higher education. I believe our country has succeeded in creating a massi…
My useless advice to @VintageFreak is don't saddle any kid with a career aspiration that is really your own. "My son, the doctah," is all about Mom, not the kid.
Longtime residents of Michigan, not by choice but because of the job market in my field. I am ashamed that we're now a "Right to Freeload" state. I just penned a primer on our family's union heritage to my daughter at U-M where her graduate student …
Pick the right restaurant stock and you can be happy. Panera IPO'd in 1999 and has been a great investment. DPZ's performance is stunning; but there are a lot of crashes and burns in the sector. Don't eat dairy, so no opinion on pizza.
Agree with @VintageFreak, but realize I provided no % because I thought the original task didn't fit my circumstances. Most of my equity holdings are in TIAA and I don't manage those accounts. I do have $ outside TIAA that I do manage and for which …
What @msf so rightly said about 401/403b plans is true in my case. Due to reorganization at my employer and a 457 plan I started late in my career, I ended up with five different accounts requiring five separate RMDs. When our mortgage lender insist…
I have been home recovering from shoulder surgery, so I have not looked at this thread until today. I read fast and I am fairly knowledgeable, but this thread caused me to throw up my one good hand in frustration. Please, MFOers, don't try to argue …
Andrew Ross Sorkin's column today about Sears Holdings adds yet another dismal view of traditional retailing.
https://nyti.ms/2mOQ63C
We shop at Aldi, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Kroger, Meijer, Dollar Tree, and TJX stores regularly and could not do …
I like your approach @Ted and I believe you are correct in your assessment of risk-averse MFOers. Your three top fund holdings revealed in a recent thread show that you walk the walk. For my part, I put a slice of my active portfolio into PTIAX for …
I'm reminded of Commendatore Fanfani, the fictional character based on Enzo Ferrari in Peter Ustinov's zany "reinactment" of the Grand Prix of Gibraltar. The interviewer asks Fanfani about the suspect brakes on his cars. With Italian aplomb, he answ…
Have to say I'm like @AndyJ. Only MAPIX remains in my portfolio and Asia no longer feels like the go-go region it was 25 years ago. Seafarer and Grandeur Peak got my Matthews dough.
Gotta hand it to David. He can come up with a nice list of high-cash funds, type in their names and not comment sardonically on the ridiculous monikers these funds bear: Probabilities Fund? Bullfinch Fund? Bread & Butter Fund? As Sgt Joe Friday …
Wouldn't you know that Jason Zweig's article in the WSJ appeared just a couple of days after this discussion ended? He explains that the TIAA Real Estate fund, and some others, are called interval funds. You can buy whenever you want, but can sell o…
The article mentions two global water funds, PHO and CGW, but fails to mention FIW, which has clocked the former two ETFs. It is not a global fund, but I don't think you need such a fund to profit from world-wide water needs. Domestic companies in t…
I imagine @LewisBraham sitting in front of at least two computers as he went through all the complicated steps on the M* site on the one and then describing what he had just done on the other in order to answer the query. This is real expertise and …
I agree with @Mark that TurboTax takes care of the problem. I too did not like the late arrival of the K-1s. I avoid investments that generate K-1s because of an inheritance from my wife's family that has taken more than five years to settle, partia…
My advisor said TIAA owns property and that their fund differs from ordinary real estate MFs, ETFs or CEFs that invest in stocks and REITs, but don't own property. I did not do any research into this but I guess I have assigned myself a report to po…
In my TIAA retirement account, by far my largest asset, I hold 10% real estate at my advisor's recommendation. This is not a typical investment in REITs because TIAA actually owns RE. Five-year average annual return is 9.03%. Also have a small posit…
Our household watches both TV channels, so we're experts! I have never rehabbed a property for re-sale, but I have put a lot of sweat equity into my dwellings. My reaction to your query is that real estate investing for an individual is a lot of wor…
Thanks for that link, @djchappy. Some interesting info about rate hikes in the 1970's and effect on the market. For a raft of reasons (Nixon, Watergate, horrible market, and leisure suits) I sure hope we never have a decade like that one.
@Nick: While I don't know the figures, many states are moving public employees away from defined benefit plans (the traditional pension) towards 403(b)-type plans for which employees need to make greater contributions and for which they must take a …
The NY Times article cited is really depressing reading for current or former teachers. I may have made this point in another thread, but my view, as a retired faculty member and union officer and the spouse of a retired public school teacher, is th…
Healthcare has been a big winner for investors over almost any long-term period. I happen to access it through HQL, the small-cap growth fund BCSIX, and a smattering of individual stocks (like CELG). HQH is Tekla's broad-based health fund and a good…
Thanks for these thoughts, David. I would like to underscore what I originally heard to be a call for civility and it was a timely call. Other than to praise or thank an individual poster, I think it wise to not direct any comment on the board towar…
BCSIX, closed, is the M* choice for small-cap growth. It's a health science and tech fund and concentrated. One fund that has out performed it over the past few years is GSXAX, more a SC blend and one that is light on health and tech relative to the…
