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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.
  • consolidate accounts
    This depends on your specific 401(k) plan.
    As YBB mentioned, some plans allow in-service withdrawals while others do not.
    You may want to check the 401(k) Summary Plan Description or contact your HR department.
    My 401(k) Summary Plan Description states:
    If you are age 59½ or older and still actively employed by company or a related company,
    you can take a withdrawal from your pre-tax accounts once a year.
    There are no early withdrawal penalties for this type of distribution.
    You may roll over a pre-tax distribution to another eligible retirement plan or traditional or Roth IRA.
    If you are age 59½ or older and still actively employed by company or a related company,
    you can also take a withdrawal from your Roth after-tax account once a year.
    There are no early withdrawal penalties for this type of distribution.
    You will also not be taxed on distributions of your Roth after-tax contributions,
    and the earnings on those contributions will not be taxed if the distribution is taken
    after you have had a Roth after-tax account in the Plan for at least five years.
  • Retirees Spend Lifetime Income, Not Savings - Working Paper - Blanchett & Finke
    Are there AA-AAA rated companies that would do seller financed purchases, with or without life estate (i.e., lease back)? If not, I would think there is a lucrative market for this product.
    I'm having trouble making sense of some of this.
    "Do seller financed purchases". What does "do" mean? Are you thinking of brokering (arranging) purchases? That is, finding an interested buyer and/or handling the paperwork? For those types of services I don't see what difference a company's credit rating would make.
    Or does "do" mean taking the buyer side in the transactions? There, the credit rating of the company (as borrower) would matter. But what's the business model? Would the company build up an inventory of homes that it is buying "on time" and resell them to other buyers?
    "lucrative market"
    Would the profit come from paying well under market value, as "we buy homes for cash NOW" companies do? But then the seller wouldn't have any motivation to provide financing.
    Or would such a company pay a better price for the seller financed homes? It might hope to make a profit from the use of the cash (full price) it receives from the sale of inventory homes.
    It would pay the original seller one rate of interest (the seller financing rate) and earn another rate of interest on the proceeds from reselling the home. But where's the spread? The company would be borrowing long term from the original seller. Or would you expect seller-financed sales to be relatively short term (say, five years) with a correspondingly lower rate of interest?
    Can you offer an example of a transaction "done" by such a company? I don't get what you have in mind.
    "life estate (i.e., lease back)"
    These are two different things. A life estate is actual ownership of property. A lease back is a rental where someone else owns the property. If you want more clarification, look up the difference between freehold estate (ownership) and leasehold estate (rental). See, e.g. here (it's not letter perfect, but gets across the general idea).
    As far as Selleck is concerned, it's not a bad ad.
    Unfortunately, his message to “explore the potential” has been confused as a recommendation older homeowners should get one. This may not always be the case.
    Obviously, the time restrictions of TV commercials limit content. To his credit, though, he created national awareness of a less-known and frequently misunderstood resource that has the potential to increase and extend financial security – a hugely common fear among aging Americans.
    https://southshoresenior.com/2024/05/what-tom-selleck-did-not-say-about-reverse-mortgages/
    These commercials do a good job of introducing the reverse mortgage product. However, the decision to secure the loan can be complicated and confusing.
    https://www.boldin.com/retirement/tom-selleck-reverse-mortgages-telling-truth/
    When you take out a reverse mortgage, the lender deducts an upfront fee. It also charges interest over the life of your loan. Reverse mortgage interest rates are usually higher than conventional mortgage interest rates, but similar to rates on home equity loans.
    Kiplinger, 10 Things You Should Know About Reverse Mortgages
  • Retirees Spend Lifetime Income, Not Savings - Working Paper - Blanchett & Finke
    Question: How many have turned to annuities or "annuity - like" strategies to increase your income spending?
    When I retired 13 years ago, I attempted to project my future spending needs. Over these years I have meet my spending needs with a combination of pension income (with a COLA), an Annuity Income (Savings that I converted to an Annuity), and some part time work. Since retirement, I have continue to contribute to my HSA and my IRA with contributions from part time work income. Recently I began managing one of my properties as a seasonal rental for additional income. I will work part time spending some of that work income and saving some into an IRA until age 73. My RMDs will then become a forced taxable event that may turn into an income source if needed or taxable savings if not needed.
    What type of a portfolio would you design as an "Annuity - like" strategy for yourself? Maybe a combinations of Balanced mutual funds/EFTs that distribute periodically? Am I describing the 4% rule?
    Shifting from a mindset of saving for retirement to a mindset of confidently spending in retirement is a huge challenge we all face.
    Sourced through Ron Berger's Weekly email Newsletter:
    https://robberger.com/newsletter/
    Working Paper:
    Retirre's Spend Lifetime Income, Not Savings
    Abstract: The shift to defined contribution savings plans means that more retirees must fund spending
    from savings. Prior studies find that there appears to be a behavioral resistance to spending down
    savings after retirement in a manner that is consistent with life cycle models. We explore how lifetime
    income, wage income, capital income, qualified savings, and nonqualified savings are used to fund
    retirement spending. We find that retirees spend far more from lifetime income than other categories of
    wealth. Approximately 80% of lifetime income is consumed, on average, versus only approximately half or
    other available savings and income sources. Overall, the analysis suggests that converting savings into
    lifetime income could increase retirement consumption significantly, especially for married households.
  • Social Security WEP & GPO
    The news is that the WEP & GPO repeal bill will be signed on 1/6/25 (Monday).
    SSA also has put some information on its website. It says that after the bill becomes effective, the SSA will recalculate the benefits for those who have filed & had the benefits reduced due to WEP & GPO (so, those people should just wait and be patient). But those who didn't file because their benefits were completely eliminated by WEP & GPO should file online.
    https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html
  • U.S. Treasury work stations hacked by China, December 8 + 9 telecoms
    Richard Forno, assistant director of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Cybersecurity Institute, said the Chinese efforts were being directed at a variety of targets.
    "It's more generic information gathering, let's see what we can get into, and see what we can find," he said.

    UMBC. Once every blue moon while at school on Maiden Choice Lane, some of us walked to the Ratskellar at UMBC. See how the other half lives, LOL. I have a cousin who took her undergrad degree there. St. Mary's on MC Lane is gone now. But the retirement Apt. complex which moved in (Carrollton or Charles Town? I forget) has kept up the chapel. I toured it once. A lot more livable than when I inhabited the place.
  • Buy Sell Why: ad infinitum.
    Rick, what do you teach? Anything to do with Western Australia Economy? Do not wait until you retire to start your retirement. As to craziness, put it on smart phones and social media. Not going to get better anytime soon. Take it as a constant.
  • Buy Sell Why: ad infinitum.
    Rick, Why did you decide not to become a dual (Aussie + US) citizen? Australia would have happily given you a permanent residency under their point system. It is a nice place to retire if you have access to it.
    I know a couple of Aussies who moved to the US and work in Finance. They do not want to work in Australia.
    I am told that the police in Australia is so much community friendly than the cops in the US (the Aborigines might disagree with that statement).
    I'm not close to 'retirement age' but yes, the the thought has crossed my mind and is on my plate as a possible destination. I know at a holiday party a few years ago the Oz ambassador was joking about how they "could always use people like you" and that having an Aussie degree was a great thing. So ... who knows what the future holds? (They've got their own political crazy happening, of course ... but it's nowhere as bats---t insane as ours is, that's for sure.)
    Full disclosure: There was a moment back in mid-Nov 2016 when I was coming back from a consulting trip in Melbourne and was really really reaaaallllly tempted to walk out of the airport, crash with friends for a bit, and do exactly that ... but being a professional, I knew I had too much going on work-wise back home to do that in the middle of a semester --- and it wasn't an existential crisis for me (yet). Darn you, professional ethics! (The uni was actively trying to recruit me for an interesting position, too ... but the job had too many weird 'hooks' from its industry benefactor that didn't sit well with me.)
  • Where are the buyers?
    "Excellent" observations by the quacks.
    I didn't beat the SP500 in 2023-4. Not even close, and I don't need it.
    It's all at (https://fd1000.freeforums.net/post/446)
    I know that none of you can do it; just keep quacking. I already have heard it for at least 15 years.
    Remember, I was told that I don't have a clue; I will never retire, I will never make it in retirement and timing + low SD could not be done.
    The reality is completely different. I only need about 1% from my portfolio to keep my nice lifestyle for decades without any pension or an inheritance.
    Observant1: hindsight?
    FD: It's much easier to throw stones. Many of my trades and analysis are on my site. You may learn something.
    I also have several trades I made in the past several years where I sold before major meltdowns in 2020 and 2022 and when I bought back.
  • Narrowing down portfolio funds
    sorry the format copy paste translated bad, here is the table of funds https://imgur.com/a/celkp9Y , Im 28 this is for long term retirement
  • Stable-Value (SV) Rates, 1/1/25
    Stable-Value (SV) Rates, 1/1/25
    TIAA Traditional Annuity (Accumulation) Rates
    Rates down by 25 bps (posted early!)
    Restricted RC 5.25%, RA 5.00%
    Flexible RCP 4.50%, SRA 4.25%, IRA-101110+ 4.50%
    (TIAA Declaration Year 3/1 - 2/28)
    TSP G Fund 4.625% pending (previous 4.250%).
    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/1802/thread
  • Westwood Global Real Estate Fund will be liquidated
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1545440/000158064224007850/westglobal_497e.htm
    497 1 westglobal_497e.htm 497E
    December 30, 2024
    WESTWOOD GLOBAL REAL ESTATE FUND
    Institutional Shares
    KIRYX
    A Class Shares
    KIRAX
    C Class Shares
    KIRCX
    A Series of Ultimus Managers Trust
    Supplement to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, each dated February 28, 2024, as supplemented
    Effective immediately, Westwood Global Real Estate Fund (the “Fund”), a series of Ultimus Managers Trust (the “Trust”), has terminated the public offering of its shares and will discontinue its operations effective February 19, 2025. Shares of the Fund are no longer available for purchase and, at the close of business on February 19, 2025, all outstanding shares of the Fund will be redeemed at net asset value (the “Transaction”). Prior to the liquidation date, Shareholders of the Fund may exchange their holdings for another fund in the Trust as outlined in the Fund prospectus.
    The Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”), in consultation with the Fund’s investment adviser, Westwood Management Corp. (the “Adviser”), determined and approved at a meeting of the Board held on December 20, 2024 (the “Meeting”) to discontinue the Fund’s operations based on, among other factors, the Adviser’s belief that it would be in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders to discontinue the Fund’s operations. Through the date of the Transaction, the Adviser will continue to waive investment advisory fees and reimburse expenses of the Fund, if necessary, in order to maintain the Fund at its current expense limit, as specified in the Fund’s current Prospectus.
    At the Meeting, the Board directed that: (i) all of the Fund’s portfolio securities be liquidated in an orderly manner not later than February 19, 2025; and (ii) all outstanding shareholder accounts on February 19, 2025 be closed and the proceeds of each account, less any required withholding, be sent to the shareholder’s address of record or to such other address as directed by the shareholder, including special instructions that may be needed for Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”) and qualified pension and profit sharing accounts. As a result of the Transaction, the Fund’s portfolio holdings will be reduced to cash or cash equivalents. Accordingly, going forward, shareholders should not expect the Fund to achieve its stated investment objective.
    Shareholders may redeem all or a portion of their shares of the Fund on any business day prior to the Transaction as specified in the Fund’s Prospectus.
    The Transaction will be considered for tax purposes a sale of Fund shares by shareholders, and shareholders should consult with their own tax advisors to ensure its proper treatment on their income tax returns. In addition, shareholders invested through an IRA or other tax-deferred account should consult the rules regarding the reinvestment of these assets. In order to avoid a potential tax issue, shareholders generally have 60 days from the date that proceeds are received to re-invest or “rollover” the proceeds into another IRA or qualified retirement account; otherwise, the proceeds may be required to be included in the shareholder’s taxable income for the current tax year.
    If you have any questions regarding the Fund or the Transaction, please call the Fund toll free at 1-877-FUND-WHG (1-877-386-3944).
    Investors Should Retain this Supplement for Future Reference.
  • Maturing CDs
    The problem with Marks and many others is in the details.
    How do you control risk in real life when markets punch you in the face?
    If you know your goals, risk, volatility and are willing to tolerate it, and you are a buy-and-hold investor, you should have less of a problem. That's a lot easier for the accumolator.
    In retirement, things get more difficult. When to retire? when to take SS? future taxes, pensions, LTC?. Are you really needing the future risk/SD? If you have enough?
    I have been thinking, practicing, tweaking, and testing performance under risk/SD for about 25 years. This is what has worked for me.
    1) The best way to avoid losses is to sell to MM. I couldn't find any fund(s) that can minimize the losses for the entire portfolio to under 3%, not even 5%, and still have reasonable performance as 50/50.
    2) Investing based on what happened months ago or 1-2 (or more) years is a no-go. The worst years present great opportunities because of item 1 above.
    3) There is almost nothing 100% safe. Stocks go down, bonds, even treasuries go down (2022). Not all MM are safe too; some can limit your access when you want to trade, others can break the $1.
    4) Diversification doesn't save you either. IMO, investing in just 3-6 funds is all you need to make your life simpler.
    5) Valuation and others are another trap.
    The solution:
    Do almost nothing
    or
    Know what you are doing, be a good trader, and know the risk/SD, it is different many times; expect the worst and hope for the best. Expect the worst is the key. A 5-10% decline can end in 20-30% and even 50%. If you wait too long, you are too late.
    This is the main point: you can't define the risk/SD, it's not predictable.
  • Maturing CDs
    Regarding annuities, I had a bad experience in the 1980s, when my company retirement program was negatively impacted by bankruptcy of a major annuity provider--the Baldwin Company.
    Ah, the piano company. They were making loans to buyers (good pianos are really expensive) and so branched out into insurance. When it comes to insurance, better to stick with "professionals". Not that your employer gave you a choice.
    The Baldwin-United Corporation, the Cincinnati piano company that borrowed heavily to move into the insurance business, filed for protection under the bankruptcy laws yesterday [Sept 26, 1983] in one of the largest financial collapses in American history.
    The company was a casualty of overexpansion, built on complex financial maneuvers.
    https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/27/business/baldwin-a-casualty-of-fast-expansion-files-for-bankruptcy.html
    The problems came ... when companies like Baldwin began using SPDA assets to prop up nonrelated ventures. Partly for this reason, brokers and financial planners are learing to be more skeptical about insurance company ratings provided by A. M Best's ...
    In an interview, [Mary Malgoire, a financial planner] and her partner, David Drucker, agreed that the SPDA is basically a good product - provided it is sold by a company with experience in annuities (preferably an insurance company) and provided SPDA assets are totally ''segregated,'' or kept separate from the rest of the company's business. This requires the investor to look into the company occasionally, look at annual reports, and find out how and where SPDA assets are invested.
    https://www.csmonitor.com/1984/1010/101040.html
    FWIW, Fidelity's SPDA offerings are generally from top tier insurance companies. (The only company not with a AA rating from either Best or S&P is Fidelity's.) Consequently these SPDAs don't pay the highest rates in the industry but provide more peace of mind.
  • Social Security WEP & GPO
    I think only 16 states opt out of payment into SS. Do you think the states currently paying into it will quit and go to a retirement system without SS?
  • Maturing CDs
    Regarding annuities, I had a bad experience in the 1980s, when my company retirement program was negatively impacted by bankruptcy of a major annuity provider--the Baldwin Company. The company retirement was frozen for a few months until the Baldwin bankruptcy eventually got resolved, and my company retirement plan was made whole again. My company changed its retirement plan away from Annuities, toward a different set of holdings tied to mutual fund holdings managed by Merrill Lynch.
  • Maturing CDs
    I have followed this thread, but had only 2 short posts on T-Note quotes & FRN USFR.
    IMO, good CD alternatives are T-Bills/Notes (noncallable). All these can be held to maturity without incurring losses. The CD & Treasuries investors are quite different from fund investors because funds have duration and they never mature, so there may be gains or losses at sale.
    As for annuities, there are basic fixed-term and lifetime SPIA that have low-costs and may be fine for many. Any guarantees are from the insurance company, so stick with highly rated companies.
    TIAA offers many low-cost annuities - for retirement or taxable accounts.
    A big issue with annuities is that one is stuck with annuity rules - while tax-deferral is good, withdrawal penalties apply before 59.5. Taxes also apply on withdrawals.
    Insurers know that & can offer attractive rates to captive clients. They also publicize those offers aggressively along with luring initial incentives.
    One can do 1035 exchanges between annuities, but it isn’t a simple online process.
    IMO, first exhaust all other tax-deferral options - IRAs, 401k/403b, 529, etc. When these options weren’t available, annuities were very popular.
  • Maturing CDs
    Great stuff by @msf on annuities. I agree they are a viable option at this time. Guessing they were even more so about 6-12 months ago when rates were at/near their peaks.
    That said, annuities have always been a 4-letter word to us. Too high fees, loss of control over your money, difficult if not impossible to understand terms, etc.
    Not saying all of the drawbacks can't be overcome, but any prospective buyer MUST identify and understand all of the many mistakes they can (and others often do) make when buying them. Or things may not go as planned/expected.
    Here's some primer links in the event anyone here is so inclined. If it's our money, I wouldn't stop with reading just these:
    https://annuityguys.org/five-annuity-mistakes-you-should-avoid/
    https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/022316/5-mistakes-avoid-when-shopping-annuities.asp
    https://www.neamb.com/retirement-planning/7-common-annuity-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them
    EDIT: Barron's does an annual review and report by annuity type that I consider the best on the planet and would absolutely use as our primary guide if ever seriously considering an annuity.
    (Note: A few years ago we did consider one and passed.)
    https://www.barrons.com/topics/best-annuities
  • Maturing CDs
    raq,
    That's correct if someone has risky stuff, DT doesn't. I respect DT decisions and his choices.
    When I used to own both stocks and bonds, my bond funds were never the "safe" ones. My first bond fund that I bought in 2010 was PIMIX. Then, I prepared for my retirement in 2018. By the end of 2017, PIMIX was over 50% of my portfolio.
    All my funds must be top performers ALL the time in their category based on risk-adjusted performance.
    RPHIX vs MM. I'm with msf. As I said before, when rates fall, and they will eventually, RPHIX would do better.
    But, why stop with RPHIX? Let's look at DHEAX+CLOI. For one year...VMFXX(MM) made 5.3%...DHEAX made 9.1%...CLOI 8.2%. Both volatility max loss was -0.5%. See chart (https://schrts.co/zbSQiQxp).
    BTW, I've not been in the TR camp for years now. My portfolio volatility is very low, but performance is still good. I'm not arguing about CDs or not; just offering another option. I understand that this thread started as a CD one, but why not discuss the next step, especially when there is not much to talk about CDs?
  • Super Catchup for 401k/403b from 2025
    Here is the active link above.
    https://irs.gov/newsroom/401k-limit-increases-to-23500-for-2025-ira-limit-remains-7000
    Another way to get additional saving is through their employer’s matching contributions, often at 4% or more of their salary. There are exceptions that not all employers provide matching and the $ amount varies. If you are the fortunate ones that matching is available, so much the better with this “free money” for your retirement funds. Compounded growth of retirement do wonder when you start early in your career.
  • OUCH.....OUCH, OUCH, OUCH !!! Post FED chat results for some etf's, 12-18-24
    Looks like the Trump honeymoon is over for the markets. I’m not surprised
    Me neither. Add in y/e selling, cashing in on the post-election euphoria, and perhaps a realization that the CRAZYTIMES are back in a little over a month, AND a looming GQP government shutdown, a noticeable pullback was expected (by me).
    Equitywise, in my income portfolio I'm getting more defensive, staying inside the US (other than TRP, though I may keep SOBO too) and 'overweighting' on utilities, pipelines, infrastructure, and preferreds as I position this account for pre-retirement purposes in the coming years. My growth+income ports I don't expect to do much with anytime soon -- just letting good stuff ride for the long term.