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.
Sometimes it seems as if link-posts are made just for the sake of posting, without much thought being given to either the subject matter, or it's suitability for the typical MFO investor. I frequently wonder if some posters even bother to fully read…
When we were in our savings years my wife had a 403b, and we both had IRAs. Neither of us had access to any other savings mode other than (of course) Social Security. We both maxed out our IRAs,and my wife maxed out her 403b (converted to an IRA aft…
@AndyJ- Oh, yes... some 65 years and many floods. They were a lot more fun when I was a kid. The flood in '95 was the last straw for the old original house. We had to tear that one down and then built the new place. And yes, it's still beautiful: th…
@AndyJ- Hi Andy, and thanks for the concern. Yes, our place in Guerneville was isolated by the flood, but the living area is well above the water level, being some 20' up on concrete pylons. I was up there on Tuesday before the water came up, and th…
Wasn't the idea of the tax on SS in fact to tax the "rich"? If I recall the argument, many well-off people with large retirement incomes were (as usual) using loopholes to avoid taxes. Wasn't it the idea that people with lower retirement incomes wou…
Thanks to both of you for your input. I was debating yesterday whether to post the WSJ article, but decided not to because of the paywall, and the entire story was far too detailed to summarize in a quick excerpt / recap. Here's a few choice excerpt…
@hawkmountain- Howdy, Mr Hawk... I'd be real careful here since Warren Buffett evidently stated that he had overpaid for Kraft to start with. If he, with all of his resources, screwed up on an accurate evaluation who knows what the setup is actually…
You are correct in your description of the AF management approach, with different entities looking at different "sleeves". That's not really a "committee", as you rightly observe. However, if you actually look at the list of the various names of the…
@Crash- What's so important about direct investing? I invest directly with American Funds and American Century, and use Schwab for everything else because I really don't want to keep track of twenty different fund houses. Frankly, dealing with Schwa…
American Funds typically have ERs of about 70 basis points. If you can purchase those funds at NAV (no load) they are frequently a pretty good deal. American Funds does not use "star fund managers", but has long employed an investment committee appr…
"But for larger investors, fund families pay for those services out of their own pockets - not from loads. This is common industry practice. In a sense, not only is Skeet getting shares at NAV, but he's getting a kickback in the form of a payment fr…
I think that JoJo26 kind of nailed it with his comment re "bombarding the board with garbage". That was also the drift of my "birds of a feather" remark the other day.
@Graust-
I've been thinking about your comments since reading them the other day, because I feel that much of what you said was both interesting and accurate. On your major points-
"You guys, isn’t @johnN not a native English speaker? I think yes…
@Sven- Yes, for example one of the key ingredients in valsartan and many other blood-pressure medicines is made in China. The only reason that we consumers now know this is that all of the products made with this Chinese ingredient have been "recall…
@Investor- A very welcome back! I've often had a thought for you, wondering how you were doing. Glad to see that you're OK. Never mind Ted- he's been a bit grumpier than usual as of late. Rono and Catch22 are still with us, as is Hank, Mark, and a f…
As I'm sure most have noted, John seems to post just for the sake of posting, whether or not the material is either useful or even intelligent. Much of the time it's painfully evident that he doesn't thoroughly read the material, much less understan…
@Ben: For some people, anything that will cost them a dime is Far-Left Socialism. Much easier to chant "You can't solve this problem by throwing money at it" than actually trying to do anything... especially if, god help us... a TAX might be involve…
Yes. Maybe it bears repeating.
"What Americans who support “socialism” actually want is what the rest of the world calls social democracy: A market economy, but with extreme hardship limited by a strong social safety net and extreme inequality limi…
