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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.
  • BKIPX? Not available at Fidelity?
    @hank, Yogi said BKIPX is for retirement plans, like work place 401(k), not for retail.
    BaluBalu in Fund Discussions
  • BKIPX? Not available at Fidelity?
    Not all funds are supported at Fido even when it has a deal with iShares on many funds.
    iShares ST-TIPS:
    BAIPX https://digital.fidelity.com/search/main?q=BAIPX
    BIIPX is TF & $2 million min https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/mutual-funds/summary/09258N885
    BTW, BKIPX is retirement plan class K and not available to retail.
    yogibearbull yogibearbull in Fund Discussions
  • Current CDs are Compelling
    There are institutional share classes and institutional investors. Schwab has designated more funds as accessible only to institutional investors / advisory platform; some of these funds are accessible to retail at Fido but the institutional share class of these funds at Fido is very high ($1m?) compared to at Schwab
    Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
    AQR institutional class shares, e.g. QDSIX (an MFO Great Owl) are as you described - available only to institutions at Schwab and available for a seven figure min ($5M) at Fidelity.
    Allspring (formerly Wells Fargo) institutional class shares, e.g. WFMIX (another MFO Great Owl) are available only to institutions at Schwab but open to retail investors at Fidelity. In an IRA (and only in an IRA), Fidelity sets no min. One could buy $50 worth for $99.95 including TF.
    a CD of any bank that has the potential to be forced by regulators/ FDIC to be taken over by another bank, the acquiring bank is allowed to change the interest rate on the CD for the remaining time period prior to maturity - generally speaking.
    Yes, but. There is an out. If the rate is changed, the saver is allowed to get out without penalty. The risk is in having one's long term rate lock broken. A saver does not face an unexpected liquidity risk; in a sense just the opposite.
    https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/banking/facts/payment.html
    (See: How does a bank closing affect interest accruing on my deposits?)
    Circumstances change over time. When I was still employed and younger, I was rather aggressive investor, traded often, and used Wellstrade Brokerage, because I was given 100 free trades a year. When I retired, my wife and I moved to a smaller city, to be close to my children and grandchildren. With that move and retirement, I decided to transfer my brokerage assets to Fidelity--that was a good experience for me until Fidelity started eliminating many of the Institutional share class funds, and replacing them with a different share class. I was not pleased with that decision by Fidelity, and decided to switch from Fidelity to Schwab Brokerage, because Schwab was still offering those Institutional share class funds that Fidelity was closing. Schwab also incentivized me to make that brokerage transfer, by offering to reduce the Transaction Fees, for the Institutional share class funds, to only a fraction of the normal Transaction Fee. It was also helpful that only Schwab had a brokerage office in the small city we had moved to. That was especially comforting to my wife, knowing she could go to the Schwab office for assistance, if she outlived me. Of the 3 brokerages I have used, Schwab provided me the best overall menu of funds, best fund research tool, and the most institutional share class funds. When I cashed out of the market in 2022, I had such a large amount of cash that I was able to invest in SNAXX as the Money Market fund that paid the highest rate. SNAXX has been paying close over 5.4% for most of 2023, and some of 2024, but recently dropped to around 5.3%. I am willing to hold larger amounts of cash in SNAXX for liquidity reasons, and wait for the CDs in highly rated Banks. I did decide to transfer a large chunk of money out of Schwab in 2023, to my Capital One Bank account, because they were offering CDs at a 5.25% rate, and if I needed to sell those Bank CDs early, my penalty would be just 3 months of interest. I prefer Bank CDs over Brokerage CDs, for liquidity reasons, but I am at my maximum FDIC insured amount for Capital One.
    dtconroe in Fund Discussions
  • Fido first impressions (vs Schwab)

    If you've got at least $10K in cash in your IRA, you can open up a position in FZDXX ($10K min for retirement accounts). It's currently paying 5.15%. Fidelity officially requires one to maintain at least $10K in the fund, but generally it is quite forgiving so long as you don't bring the balance down to zero.
    This is not a core fund, so any time you have cash in the IRA (e.g. non-reinvested divs), you'll have to move it to FDRXX yourself or the cash will sit in your "Cash, Held in Money Market" fund.
    To answer the original question: click on the cash link as described above. You may see a "Change Core Position" button if other options are available.

    Thanks for the tip on FZDXX...I've had retirement accounts at Fido for a very long time and never heard of a reduced minimum for such accounts, until now. Just made the switch!
    wxman123 in Other Investing
  • Vanguard Website
    @sven
    Fido was wife's 401k custodian so most of her retirement money is there.
    Our joint taxable account we started in 1988 at Schwab when we had an advisor for mutual funds. He used Littman-Gregory " No Load Fund Analyst" ( anybody else remember them?) so I finally decided I could do it myself with the newsletter. Then they stopped the newsletter and I didn't think it was worth a 0.7% fee on top of MF fees. Fortunately Fund Alarm was available.
    While the advisors at Schwab changed frequently in the past, they have been stable the last 10 years. I can email the guy we have and he responds quickly.
    I don't use them for investment advice but they are helpful with paperwork etc. I did explore their financial planning but decided I could do just as well with investments for now.
    We never really connected to someone at Fido. I gave them a chance last year to demonstrate their ideas about financial planning and they kinda blew it. The rep didn't seem interested in following up and all they offered was Fido mutual funds.
    I gave Vanguard a chance too, but they said they would ignore all of our existing low cost basis stocks so I though that was a no go.
    I am sorta in the "paranoid" level of account security ( like Andy Grove) and I think having about a 50/50 split in brokerages is not a bad idea.
    If they have good analytics, I have missed them, so I use M* and Quicken and a lot of the stuff people use here.
    sma3 in Fund Discussions
  • About the 4% rule
    Guys, my question is only WHERE low_tech is going to move his money when mm drops below 4.5% !
    Nothing to do w 4% swd, which has always been low imo.
    My retirement portfolio is kicking off over 6%, most of which gets reinvested into my taxable account -- including all the MM interest.
    I moved part of my SCHD holdings into a MM a few months ago -- it pays more interest than SCHD and the principle is now stable. Why get 3.5% with a fluctuating share price when you can get 5% with a stable share price? I know I'm forfeiting growth but that's okay for now. I have other stock holdings.
    Low_Tech Low_Tech in Other Investing
  • Lazard Managed Equity Volatility Portfolio will be liquidated
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/874964/000093041324001838/c109092_497.htm
    497 1 c109092_497.htm
    THE LAZARD FUNDS, INC.
    Lazard Managed Equity Volatility Portfolio
    Supplement to Current Summary Prospectus and Prospectus
    The Board of Directors of The Lazard Funds, Inc. (the “Fund”) has approved the liquidation of Lazard Managed Equity Volatility Portfolio (the “Portfolio”).
    No further investments are being accepted into the Portfolio, except for investments by certain brokers or other financial intermediaries or employee benefit or retirement plans (acting on behalf of their clients or participants) with pre-existing investments in the Portfolio pursuant to an agreement or other arrangement with the Fund, the Distributor or another agent of the Fund regarding Portfolio investments. Promptly upon completion of liquidation of the Portfolio’s investments, the Portfolio will redeem all its outstanding shares by distribution of its assets to shareholders in amounts equal to the net asset value of each shareholder’s Portfolio investment. It is anticipated that the Portfolio’s assets will be distributed to shareholders on or about August 5, 2024.
    Prior to the liquidation of the Portfolio, depending on the arrangements of any broker or other financial intermediary associated with your account through which Portfolio shares are held, the Fund’s exchange privilege may allow you to exchange shares of the Portfolio for shares of the same Class of another series of the Fund in an identically registered account. Please see the section of the Prospectus entitled “Shareholder Information—Investor Services—Exchange Privilege” for more information.
    Dated: June 5, 2024
    TheShadow TheShadow in Fund Discussions
  • Fido first impressions (vs Schwab)
    Thanks to @yogibearbull and @msf. That 15% “cash position” I referenced earlier was somewhat in error and I’d gone back and edited it out - but too late. Had overlooked the fact that I count a significant slug of PRIHX as “cash” for allocation purposes. Probably not wise, but I’ve long done it. So currently the actual (retirement assets) allocation to Fido’s money market funds is only around 7-8% (about half of my cash position). And that is split between Roth and Traditional.
    Good news. I followed Yogi’s directions and stumbled upon the Fido settings for cash positions. When I clicked on “cash” in my portfolio overview it pulled up the current setting as SPAXX. :) So I take back any bad things I may have uttered about Fido.
    FWIW - My nominal IRA cash weighting (including PRIHX) is 10%. So at 15.5% today there is an excess amount equal to around 5.5% that is earmarked for some needs later this summer.
    I am rewarded nearly every time I log in to this great board!
    hank in Other Investing
  • Fido first impressions (vs Schwab)
    I’m really getting screwed. I remember when my Fido retirement accounts used SPAXX. Than that changed a year ago to “money market.” I didn’t realize there was a difference. Duh. Please advise what step I need to take in order to change my settings so that SPAXX serves as the sweep account for my retirement accounts.
    If you're looking at your account positions and seeing "Cash, Held In Money Market", that's cash held in a money market fund, not a money market bank account. Click on the link. You'll likely see that it is SPAXX. Mine are FDRXX, perhaps because of grandfathering. Just a couple of basis points difference between them. Both are just south of 5%.
    Fidelity taxable MMFs.
    As noted elsewhere, I’ve bumped the retirement cash up to 15+% as I prepare for significant need for cash late summer. Rather pissed at Fido.
    If you've got at least $10K in cash in your IRA, you can open up a position in FZDXX ($10K min for retirement accounts). It's currently paying 5.15%. Fidelity officially requires one to maintain at least $10K in the fund, but generally it is quite forgiving so long as you don't bring the balance down to zero.
    This is not a core fund, so any time you have cash in the IRA (e.g. non-reinvested divs), you'll have to move it to FDRXX yourself or the cash will sit in your "Cash, Held in Money Market" fund.
    To answer the original question: click on the cash link as described above. You may see a "Change Core Position" button if other options are available.
    msf in Other Investing
  • Fido first impressions (vs Schwab)
    d I remember when my Fido retirement accounts used SPAXX. Than that changed a year ago to “money market.” I didn’t realize there was a difference. Duh. Please advise what step I need to take in order to change my settings so that SPAXX serves as the sweep account for my retirement accounts.
    As noted elsewhere, I’ve bumped the retirement cash up as I prepare for significant need for cash / distribution late summer. Rather pissed at Fido.
    hank in Other Investing
  • Fido first impressions (vs Schwab)
    Fidelity calls "Fidelity Account" a "full-featured, low-cost brokerage account"
    In a taxable Fidelity Account, one may use SPAXX or FZFXX as a core account, or let Fidelity hold your cash on its books as a general liability (i.e. you're lumped in with all its other creditors) in something called FCASH. But one does not have a bank sweep option. (It does have cash management features like bill pay.)
    In a retirement Fidelity Account, one may use SPAXX or a bank sweep paying 2.72% APY.
    See the second FAQ for this information.
    https://www.fidelity.com/trading/faqs-about-account
    A CMA account is slightly different.
    https://www.fidelity.com/spend-save/fidelity-cash-management-account/overview
    It offers only a bank sweep as a core account. But it also provides rebates on all ATM surcharges, worldwide. (I just got a 3,90€ surcharge rebated.) To get rebates on ATM withdrawals from a Fidelity Account you need to be a Premium, Private Client, or Wealth Management (advised) customer, or have some other more obscure relationship with Fidelity.
    See fn 2 here.
    The ATM withdrawal reimbursement feature seems to be the main reason to have a CMA account. Schwab provides something similar for its bank's checking account. AFAIK, Schwab offers cash management services only through its bank. OTOH, Fidelity has no "real" bank; it uses UMB Bank as a proxy.
    msf in Other Investing
  • About the 4% rule
    I'm not sure everyone is clear on the meaning of the 4% rule. The objectives are simplicity and very high confidence that one will not run out of money within 30 years.
    Conditions will surely change -- but we don't know when or in which direction -- adjust as necessary
    Simplicity: just stay the course, KISS, come hell or high water. No adjustments necessary.
    Gives example of how a target date fund
    Simplicity: Target date funds follow glide paths. The 4% rule hews to a fixed allocation.
    How can you straight line the 4% without taking these inputs into consideration.
    Starting in 1926, a 4% (inflation adjusted) withdrawal regimen from a 50/50 portfolio has never depleted assets in under 30 years. That includes starting in years like 1929, 1973, 1981, etc. The rule already incorporates objective risk, assuming past is prologue.
    That's not to say that people are subjectively able to handle sequence of return risk. And some people may want to plan for more than 30 years, either because they expect a longer life in retirement or their end target value is not simply "better than $0". They want to leave a legacy. And stuff happens; people may not be able to keep to a 4% budget.
    ISTM the biggest risk in the 4% rule is being left with too much money. Planning for worst case without adjustments is necessarily conservative and likely to "fail" on the upside (not spending enough). But by definition any strategy that includes making adjustments is not the simplest possible.
    For those who want to limit the risk of underspending, are willing to accept some risk of having less to spend in some years than they might otherwise like, and can manage more complex strategies (or are willing to hire someone else to do that), @Observant1 cited a good discussion of a couple of such strategies.
    Finally, using cash is very likely to fail. Over the past 96 years (1928-2023 inclusive), 3 mo. T-bill real returns have averaged 0.32%. (See cell T120 here.) Take 4%/year off of that and you're losing more than 3.5% annually. Even without compounding the loss, you'll run out of money in under 30 years.
    msf in Other Investing
  • About the 4% rule
    @Low_Tech. Cool idea. What are the odds of that working for a thirty year retirement?
    I wouldn't expect ANY one thing to hold for a 30-year income. But for the time being, I have 20% of my retirement in a MM fund. If/when it drops to 4.5% or less, I will move that money somewhere else.
    Low_Tech Low_Tech in Other Investing
  • About the 4% rule
    Links mentioned in the Video:
    https://ficalc.app/
    https://newretirement.com/
    Article with other links:
    decoding-the-chance-of-success-in-your-retirement-plan
    bee bee in Other Investing
  • About the 4% rule
    Rob Berger discusses the 4% rule and how to wrestle with retirement success.

    bee bee in Other Investing
  • About the 4% rule
    IF one wants to follow Bengen's original paper, then one should (I think) be using large cap domestic stocks and intermediate term Treasuries. (He is clear about intermediate term treasuries but says only "large cap" stocks.)
    These days, many allocation funds invest a significant fraction of their equity sleeve abroad. IMHO that's not a bad thing, but it is different. A related "problem" is that allocation funds often invest some money into small cap stocks. While this is different from Bengen's original work, it could be an improvement:
    Bill Bengen ...has increased the withdrawal rate he uses on his own retirement portfolio to 4.7%, largely because of the upside he’s gained by adding small and microcap asset classes to his portfolio, he told the Bogleheads Live podcast this week. [Dec 2022]
    https://www.fa-mag.com/news/creator-of-4--rule-says-new-withdrawal-target-is-4-7-71026.html
    That page goes on to say that these days, Bengen says that "the optimum stock allocation that allows the highest withdrawal rate over the long term is between 55% and 60% over the long term."
    That suggests that you might look at 60/40 funds, of which there are many. As to what Bengen himself is doing, rather than using his stated static allocation "he uses a third-party service that recommends changes to his asset allocation based on perceived changes in the marketplace."
    In short, consider looking at funds closer to 60/40. VBIAX (0.07% ER) is a good starting point if ER is paramount, or VSMGX (0.12% ER) to add foreign exposure.
    FWIW, here's a portfolio visualizer comparison of three 60/40 funds: AOR, VSMGX, and VBIAX. over roughly ten years (PV limitation). Starts with $10K, $400 (4%) annual withdrawal (inflation adjusted).
    msf in Other Investing
  • About the 4% rule
    William Bengen published Conserving Client Portfolios During Retirement, Part III
    in the Dec. 1997 Journal of Financial Planning. His recommended range for stock allocation
    was between 50% and 75% for a 65 year-old investor.
    "Because withdrawal rates within the recommended range of stocks are essentially equal,
    they are not very useful in selecting stock allocation.
    For another view of the matter, consider Chart 10, which depicts the nominal wealth built up
    in a portfolio after 30 years, for a retiree who began withdrawing four percent the first year.
    The two stock allocations displayed, 50 percent and 75 percent, represent the extreme ends
    of the 'recommended range' for this investor at age-65 retirement."
    PDF1
    Edit/Add: Bengen published Conserving Client Portfolios During Retirement, Part IV
    in the May 2001 Journal of Financial Planning. Two alternative withdrawal strategies are explored.
    PDF2
    Observant1 in Other Investing
  • About the 4% rule
    @Low_Tech. Cool idea. What are the odds of that working for a thirty year retirement?
    larryB in Other Investing
  • About the 4% rule
    The 4% rule assumes your investment portfolio contains about 60% stocks and 40% bonds. It also assumes you'll keep your spending level throughout retirement.
    MikeM MikeM in Other Investing
  • Stable-Value (SV) Rates, 6/1/24
    Stable-Value (SV) Rates, 6/1/24

    TIAA Traditional Annuity (Accumulation) Rates
    No changes.
    Restricted RC 5.75%, RA 5.50%
    Flexible RCP 5.00%, SRA 4.75%, Newer IRAs 5.00%
    (TIAA Declaration Year 3/1 - 2/28)
    TSP G Fund hasn't updated yet (previous 4.75%).
    Edit/Add 6/3/24. June rate is 4.635%.
    Options outside of workplace retirement plans include m-mkt funds, bank m-mkt accounts (FDIC insured), T-Bills, short-term brokered CDs.
    #StableValue #401k #403b #TIAA #TSP
    https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/1495/thread
    yogibearbull yogibearbull in Fund Discussions