@bee
Yes, I passed the Optimal Retirement Planner around to several people when you placed that in a link a few years back. It really was valuable.
Related to that, in a Rob Berger post I was reading this morning regarding Tax-Efficient withdrawal strategies, he mentioned a Kitces piece on tax smoothing, which Kitces calls tax equilibrium. That's where you drawn down an IRA even before RMDs to prevent a large future tax bill.
If I recall, you posted that Kitces study in the same link with the ORP, and I've been following that strategy ever since.
Here's the Berger item as an FYI:
https://robberger.com/tax-efficient-retirement-withdrawal-strategies/

@yogibb said: So, Fido and Schwab aren't providing their mutual fund platforms as public service. This is one lucrative area that remains for them that is untouched by the drive to zero commissions. Options are another area.

I understand there is no free lunch in brokerage business. Products, live agent, and IT support have to be paid for. By the way, these firms also serve as administrators on retirement and education (529 plan) accounts.
Even though ETF transaction are mostly free; sometime I see $0.05 chaged at selling. I now move toward ETF for both passive and active managed. Fees are lower. Are there other options for small investors?

Schwab platform fees for most OEFs:
NTF funds
- OneSource (retail): typically 0.40%, can be as high as 0.45%
- Retirement plans (e.g. 401k): usually 0.10% to 0.50%, can be as high as 1.10%
TF funds: typically 0.10%, can be as high as 0.25%

An increased transaction fee [currently $74.95] applies to purchases made by self-directed retail clients of funds from certain fund families that do not pay Schwab for recordkeeping, shareholder, and other administrative services on fund shares held by self-directed retail clients

Those families are Vanguard, D&C, and Fidelity.
Schwab's automatic investment plan, begun in 2023, allows one to buy additional shares of most mutual funds except those for which Schwab charges "an increased transaction fee". So you can't cheaply buy additional shares of Vanguard, D&C, or Fidelity funds at Schwab.

@Sven,
Un-buried:
https://investor.vanguard.com/tools-calculators/retirement-income-calculator

Fidelity has a retirement calculator that allows for expected return, inflation and withdrawal rate. Don't know how robust.this calculator is. Vanguard has a calculator too, but it is buried deep inside their website and it has limited input variables. My previous Vanguard said we will be okay even in the worst scenario with below average return and above average inflation.
In my honest opinion, it is a good exercise but there are too many external variables that can significant impact the outcomes well beyond the historic returns. Thus we will stay conservative and mindful for unforeseen risk.

From the Article:

Some calculators are old and janky web 1.0 projects. Some are simply loss leaders for a brand to sell you something. We’ll help cut through the mess and show you the best retirement calculators available today.

I played around with the AARP and the FICalc sites and they seemed informative.
I wish Optimal Retirement Planner (https://i-orp.com) was still active. I liked it's robust inputs options. Anyone aware of it resurrecting itself to individual investors?
https://ptmoney.com/best-retirement-calculators/

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1139819/000093041325000414/c111644_497.htm
497 1 c111644_497.htm DEFINITIVE MATERIAL
LORD ABBETT TRUST I
Lord Abbett Climate Focused Bond Fund (the “Fund”)
Supplement dated February 7, 2025 to the
Summary Prospectus, Prospectus, and Statement of Additional Information of the Fund,
each dated December 1, 2024, as supplemented
Liquidation of the Fund
On February 4, 2025, the Board of Trustees of Lord Abbett Trust I approved a plan of liquidation (the “Plan”) pursuant to which the Fund will be liquidated and dissolved. It is currently anticipated that the liquidation and dissolution of the Fund will be completed on or around Spring 2025 (the “Liquidation Date”). Any Fund shares outstanding on the Liquidation Date will be automatically redeemed on the Liquidation Date. The proceeds of any such redemption will be equal to the net asset value (“NAV”) of such shares after dividend distributions required to eliminate any Fund-level taxes are made, the Fund’s expenses and liabilities have been paid or otherwise provided for as directed by the Plan, and the Fund has distributed to its shareholders of record the remaining proceeds in one or more liquidating distributions on the Liquidation Date as set forth in the Plan.
At any time before the Liquidation Date, shareholders may:
§ Exchange their Fund shares for the same class of shares of another Lord Abbett Fund, provided that the exchange satisfies the investment minimum of the Fund selected;
§ Redeem their Fund shares at the NAV of such shares pursuant to the procedures set forth under “Purchases and Redemptions” in the prospectus; or
§ Do nothing and their Fund shares will be redeemed on or about the Liquidation Date. However, shareholders in individual retirement accounts who do not take other action will automatically have their shares exchanged for shares of Lord Abbett U.S. Government & Government Sponsored Enterprises Money Market Fund on or about the Liquidation Date.
In connection with the liquidation of the Fund, the Fund no longer will accept purchase orders or exchange requests as of February 7, 2025.
Capitalized terms used in this Supplement shall, unless otherwise defined herein, have the same meaning as given in the Prospectus and/or SAIs.
Please retain this document for your future reference.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1539996/000116204425000126/dss497.htm
DSS AmericaFirst Total Return Bond Fund
Class A: DGQAX
Class U: DGQUX
Class I: DGQIX
FEBRUARY 6, 2025
SUPPLEMENT TO THE PROSPECTUS AND SUMMARY PROSPECTUS DATED NOVEMBER 1, 2024
______________________________________________________________________________
The Board of Trustees of DSS AmericaFirst Funds (the “Trust”) has concluded that it is in the best interests of the DSS AmericaFirst Total Return Bond Fund (the “Fund”) and its shareholders that the Fund cease operations. The Board has determined to close the Fund and redeem all outstanding shares no later than the close of business on February 28, 2025.
Effective immediately, the Fund will not accept any new investments. In the near term, the Fund will begin liquidating its portfolio and will invest in cash or cash equivalents (such as money market funds) until all shares have been redeemed. The Fund will not be able to pursue its stated investment objective once it begins liquidating its portfolio. Shares of the Fund are otherwise not available for purchase.
Even though the DSS AmericaFirst Total Return Bond Fund is closing, you may wish to continue your investment with another fund in the DSS AmericaFirst fund family. Prior to February 28, 2025, you may exchange your shares, in accordance with the “How to Exchange Shares” section of the Fund’s Prospectus, which allows shareholders to exchange their shares in the Fund for the same share class of another DSS AmerficaFirst fund, as listed below. The Board is waiving the share exchange minimum so that exchanges may be made with any amount of shares.
DSS AmericaFirst Income Fund
Class A: AFPAX Class U: AFPUX Class I: AFPIX
DSS AmericaFirst Monthly Risk-On Risk-Off Fund
Class A: ABRFX Class U: ABRUX Class I: ABRWX
DSS AmericaFirst Alpha Trends Factor Fund
Class A: SBQAX Class U: SBQUX Class I: SBQIX
You may exchange shares either by telephone by calling 1-877-217-8501, if you have not canceled your telephone privilege, or in writing. Written requests for exchange must provide the following:
·current Fund’s name;
·account names and numbers;
·name of the Fund and share class you wish to exchange your shares into;
·the amount you wish to exchange;
·specify the shareholder privileges you wish to retain (e.g., Telephone Privileges); and
·signatures of all registered owners.
To exchange shares by telephone, you should call 1-877-217-8501 on any day the Funds are open. The Fund will process telephone requests made after the close of business on the next business day. You should notify the Funds in writing of all shareholder service privileges you wish to continue in any new account opened by a telephone exchange request. Please note that the Funds will only accept exchanges if your ownership registrations in both accounts are identical.
Prior to February 28, 2025, you may redeem your shares, in accordance with the “How to Redeem Shares” section of the Fund’s Prospectus. Unless your investment in the Fund is through a tax-deferred retirement account, a redemption is subject to tax on any taxable gains. Please refer to the “Dividends, Distributions and Taxes” section in the Prospectus for general information. You may wish to consult your tax advisor about your particular situation.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR RETIREMENT PLAN INVESTORS
If you are a retirement plan investor, you should consult your tax advisor regarding the consequences of any redemption of Fund shares. If you receive a distribution from an Individual Retirement Account or a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA, you must roll the proceeds into another Individual Retirement Account within sixty (60) days of the date of the distribution in order to avoid having to include the distribution in your taxable income for the year. If you receive a distribution from a 403(b)(7) Custodian Account (Tax-Sheltered account) or a Keogh Account, you must roll the distribution into a similar type of retirement plan within sixty (60) days in order to avoid disqualification of your plan and the severe tax consequences that it can bring. If you are the trustee of a Qualified Retirement Plan, you may reinvest the money in any way permitted by the plan and trust agreement.
ANY SHAREHOLDERS WHO HAVE NOT REDEEMED THEIR SHARES OF THE FUND PRIOR TO FEBRUARY 28, 2025, WILL HAVE THEIR SHARES AUTOMATICALLY REDEEMED AS OF THAT DATE, AND PROCEEDS WILL BE SENT TO THE ADDRESS OF RECORD. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR NEED ASSISTANCE, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR FINANCIAL ADVISOR DIRECTLY OR THE FUND AT 1-877-217-8501.
________________________
The Prospectus, Summary Prospectus for the Fund and Statement of Additional Information each dated November 1, 2025, and as may be supplemented, each provide information about the Fund and should be retained for future reference. These documents have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are incorporated herein by reference. All of these documents are available upon request and without charge by calling toll free 1-877-217-8501.
Please retain this Supplement for future reference.

American Funds R1-R6 are just share classes, not plan designations. Those are 401k, 403b, 457, H.S.A, etc.
Smaller plans may have R1-R4 available, larger plans R5-R6.
AF has specific classes for 3rd party channels (DIY, independent advisors), F1-F3; advisor load channels A, C; 529.
If you are wondering why isn't there an institutional class I, that's really R6 within large retirement plans only.

FWIIW, I sharply reduced my Vanguard TGFs, (VTHRX, VTTHX), in my TIAA retirement account in favor of tweaking the allocations myself. @racqueteer mentions doing the same thing, above. The VG TDFs' foreign allocations have been a brake, as have the FI portions.

Again they are only available in specific retirement plans R1-R6. but outside that R6 is most notably used in their portfolio series and target dates although I suppose they could be available in other 401k/403b type plans as well.
still not something a retail investor can buy off the street or from their advisor.

American Balanced has 19 classes!
NTF/no-load at Fido & Schwab is BALFX, ER 0.62%
Cheapest is Retirement R6 RLBGX, ER 0.25%

R6 shares are what American Fund uses in their Target Date funds which is why they are the cheapest to reduce costs on top of costs. Not something that you can buy. currently right now my parents are in R2 (shares typically used in 403b's)
The cheapest available shares are F2, and F3 shares but are only available through their CG advisor but they'll pay AUM. The cheapest way for them to own AF with an advisor is with A shares using a 1MIL+ breakpoint which reduces the front load to 0 and outside of a few annual account fees, the advisor manages the portfolio for their 12b-1 fees.
My parents won't manage their own and I don't have time, so this is the best way to get them what they need even though i'm not an American Funds fan.

American Balanced has 19 classes!
NTF/no-load at Fido & Schwab is BALFX, ER 0.62%
Cheapest is Retirement R6 RLBGX, ER 0.25%

Numerous mutual funds from American Funds have far too many share classes!

I read charles bolin's review of muni funds in the Febr commentary. Im in retirement and look at munis all the time. One of my holdings is FHMIX, Federated Hermes Conservative Muni, bought it through fidelity. Its an under the radar short term holding.

American Balanced has 19 classes!
NTF/no-load at Fido & Schwab is BALFX, ER 0.62%
Cheapest is Retirement R6 RLBGX, ER 0.25%

Bloomberg terminal is indispensable for professionals. So, not everything Bloomberg offers is Gloomberg. I had a subscription for its online Bloomberg.com and I still was reading only the headlines.
Everyone is different. My portfolio does better with more silence and less others’ interpretation of data. For example, retirement, when I spend more time on my portfolio, has not necessarily made any incremental positive contribution to my portfolio performance - may be it is negative.
All info I know is useless if I can not figure out how and when others will react to the same info. That is the biggest challenge I have in investing.

Stable-Value (SV) Rates, 2/1/25
TIAA Traditional Annuity (Accumulation) Rates
Restricted RC 5.50%, RA 5.25%
Flexible RCP 4.75%, SRA 4.50%, IRA-101110+ 4.75%
TSP G Fund 4.625% pending (previous 4.625%).
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/1865/thread

Following are edited excerpts from a current Washington Post report:

A government-wide hiring freeze has led the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to yank job offers to more than 200 new examiners, the front-line employees who closely monitor banks to ensure they operate safely and adhere to an extensive rule book.
The FDIC is already facing a staffing challenge, particularly with a lack of examiners, undermining its ability to reduce the risk of bank failures. A chronic shortage of examiners contributed to the failure of Signature Bank, one of three large banks to collapse in 2023, the agency has said.
Examiners are essentially charged with making sure a bank doesn’t fail, a critical function at the roughly 6,000-employee FDIC, of which roughly 2,300 are examiners. The agency oversees about 4,500 banks around the country, most of them small. It also insures trillions of bank deposits and winds down failing banks. Its work is funded through industry assessments.
Perhaps more significantly, the agency is already in need of additional examiners, with frequent turnover and staffing shortages contributing to major setbacks in recent years. Current and former regulators said they feared the situation could snowball if hiring cuts combine with an uptick in the departures of retirement-eligible employees.
A review of the March 2023 failure of Signature Bank found the supervisory group overseeing large financial institutions in the FDIC’s New York office had average vacancies of about 40 percent. For the six years before Signature’s collapse, the FDIC couldn’t adequately staff the team dedicated to the bank.

Interesting exit strategies from the Fido article linked by @bee when one has high unrealized gains. Link may need subscription.
Option 1: Donate to charity or a donor-advised fund (DAFs have more flexibility)
Option 2: Hold until death (Step-up, but you must die first)
Option 3: Hold until retirement (hoping for lower tax bracket that may not be)
Option 4: In the future, you may be able to convert this SMA to a new lower cost etf (351-Exchange ETFs)

A very quick look shows that
VIX(SP500 SD) < 15
MOVE(treasury SD)=87=low
SP500 is in an uptrend.
I don't need to check beyond that.
My big picture = "normal" market = I'm invested at 99+% for several months now.

but you're invested 99+% in bonds, not the SP500, and in "special" bonds that don't move the way most bond funds move, so your so-called big picture has no real relevancy, as per usual, to your own personal big picture, more or less, give or take.

I have been saying the following over 15 years in all the sites I post.
All my posts are generic, without any connection to what and how I invest, unless I specially discuss my system.
The big picture is another generic comment.
I make comments on CEFs and never owned them more than short term.
I posted for years about retirement, LTC, when to take SS when I was younger.
Is your view that you can only have an opinion based on what you own or do?
So, what would I do specifically with my portfolio? I would be invested at 99% regardless if I have stocks or bonds. I have used stocks for decades.
You can disregard all my opinions but why trash it based on no real data.