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No letter yet here and we have do use VBS primarily to hold VSS. Our bank account that is used for ACH transfers is a relatively small checking account. That is the only account that Vanguard has our information on. The change proposed does not bother us. I am in favor of VBS and Vanguard group gett...

Rick Ferri recently commented that the hedging of the US dollar has costs and therefor feels that the fund is not worth it. He stated that USD hedging approximately doubles the expense. Essentially the .2% ER is close to .4% due to the hidden hedging cost.

Actually the old ticker symbol, RIMM, did die and came back as BBRY. Varney can create a death watch list if he so desires. It is just a figure of speech.

Tuesday, June 4, Fidelity's Spartan Emerging Markets Advantage, FPMAX, was up .1% when VWO was down over 1 percent. As far as I know they track the same index (maybe not?). Go figure. Emerging markets continues to disappoint, as does most every thing else. REITs anyone?

I believe Larry Swedroe and others recommend zero because of their negative convexity. Because Vanguard Total Bond Market has an allocation to GNMAs, many folks here prefer Vanguard Intermediate Bond fund instead. Duration of GNMA funds is hard to pin down IMO. Others here are fans of GNMAs so it is...

Everything we own went down today. Considering how far things have gone up recently, it is to be expected. The pain of losing money is said to be four times as severe as the pleasure of making money. Bonds, even the highest credit, have not provided the buoyancy one would have hoped for. The dark cl...

Thanks for posting. This fund has risk level of only 2, much less risk than their emerging markets bond fund at risk level 5. There is no purchase fee, unlike the .35% purchase fee for emerging markets bond fund. Admiral shares have a .2% ER. I am likely to purchase some. Vanguard updated the risk ...

Thanks for posting. This fund has risk level of only 2, much less risk than their emerging markets bond fund at risk level 5. There is no purchase fee, unlike the .35% purchase fee for emerging markets bond fund. Admiral shares have a .2% ER. I am likely to purchase some. Vanguard updated the risk ...

Thanks for posting. This fund has risk level of only 2, much less risk than their emerging markets bond fund at risk level 5. There is no purchase fee, unlike the .35% purchase fee for emerging markets bond fund. Admiral shares have a .2% ER. I am likely to purchase some.

Looks like Short Term Investment Grade Admiral and High Yield Corporate Admiral were reduced by 1bp, from .11% to .10% and .13% to .12% respectively. Maybe others as well but those are two that I own that dropped. Bond funds have not been kind to me this month so any good news is nice to hear. edit:...

Agree refurbished Apple products from Apple are as good as new. That said, in general, I would shy away from refurbished products. Apple being an exception. Unfortunately the discount on the refurbished Apple products is usually only around 15% and in most cases their refurbished units are older mod...

Looks okay but not sure I would classifyl VSS as international small value (ISV).
VSS Morningstar xray shows:
00 00 01
21 20 22
15 10 10
Predominately mid-cap growth

It would be interesting if they gave reasons why money was being withdrawn. There are some legitimate reasons, maybe to postpone SS to 70. Do they count Roth conversion as a withdrawal? It is taxable income. I did find it surprising that those over 70 were withdrawing less considering their RMDs kic...

This is a very old thread but I thought I would point out BRUFX made the current Forbes Mutual Fund Honor Roll list. http://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2013/05/08/the-forbes-mutual-fund-honor-roll/ Fortunately for me :happy, this fund is not available at Fidelity or Vanguard, the two brokerages I h...

Is not a "purchase fee" another name for "load"?

No, Vanguard's purchase fees go directly into the fund to benefit all share holders, not so with loads. Every addition purchase by new investors helps the existing investors.

I generally agree about Fidelity's customer service. I do think they over do the customer satisfaction surveys. I made a mistake and did what they call a "round trip" trade on one of their bond funds. I checked to assure there was no redemption fee but failed to hold the shares 30 days. Th...

Expense ratio is important but not as important as many Bogleheads (probably myself included) make it out to be. My highest currently is PIMIX, Pimco Income Institutional, one of my favorite bond funds, which according to M* is .4%. Not only high by Boglehead standards but commits the sin of active ...

Most Vanguard funds have a $3K minimum so with $5K you could only buy one fund. However, Vanguard Target Date funds have a $1K minimum as does Vanguard STAR fund. STAR fund is 60/40 using actively managed sub-funds. Target Date funds allow various allocations depending on the date selected. Pick the...

I have FSCKX, mid cap index, and also FSRVX, Real Estate in my Roth IRA. Both have .09% ERs after reductions. Wife has FSEVX, extended market index in her Roth, .07% ER. I too am leery of their small cap fund which tracks the Russell 2K.

I just listened to this webinar and was disappointed. Not once did they address active management with respect to fixed income. Since many Vanguard fixed income funds have expense ratios around 10-11bp they deserve mention. They emphasized the bigger expected roller coaster ride of actively managed ...

Vanguard reports our as .2%, but it is less. Vanguard has higher incorrect expense ratios for several funds we hold. Vanguard does not include reductions Fidelity applies to many Spartan funds. Also Vanguard has Pimco's Income Fund, PIMIX, which we hold as .61% where M* says it .4%. M* has our overa...

That's even more interesting because if you look at Merriman's portfolio recommendations the expense ratios for even the Vanguard versions are considerably higher than just using VTSAX and VTIAX. I should mention that those portfolios date from when you still needed $50,000 to get to Admiral in tho...

$850 in 1971, I was young and stupid but it made her happy at the time. The smile it put on her face was worth the money. Today she does not wear her jewelry except on rare occasions even though we did pay about $30 a ring to get several of her rings resized a while back. I also have a college ring ...

Scott's Plus 2 actually works pretty good. Kills broad leaf weeds but unfortunately also kills the green in your wallet.

Win 8 is being compared to Microsoft's version of the "New Coke". IMO, touch screen does not make sense on desktop PCs. My monitors are almost out of arms reach from my chair. Even though I know touch screen is optional. Microsoft will release an update to fix many customer complaints.

I am not convinced 100% indexing is the way to go. A sprinkling of Vanguard's low cost actively managed funds works for me, especially in tax advantaged accounts. Don't mean to hijack this thread with an active vs passive debate. IMO, there is nothing sac-religious in using actively managed funds. M...

Q1- If 67 is your FRA, it depends on the year you were born. For many FRA is 66, some older folks 65.
Q2- No, it is either/or not both.

Just looking at the past performance, PTTRX. PTTRX is rated 5 stars, DODIX is rated 4 stars by M*. Both are rated gold. Expense ratios are comparable. Duration of DODIX is 3.7 years, PTTRX is 4.77 years. Since both are good funds, maybe use some of each.

He has always been one of my favorite posters. At 10,000 posts he has less the half that of nisiprius, another one of my favorites.

It may have been how you answered Vanguard's questionaire on risk tolerance. When I had my last Vanguard CFP analysis several years ago, I told them I wanted to be 60/40 and they complied. Now we have moved to 35/65. If I were to have another CFP consult, I would tell them that 35/65 was my desire. ...

One comment about Isle Royale National Park. It is the least visited National Park but those that visit it stay there longer than other National Parks. We stayed a week. Ferry ride from Copper Harbor is about 55 miles out in Lake Superior. If windy, getting sea sick is a possibility. Isle Royale is ...

Great recommendations. How is the weather in the UP in April? Drum :) Weather varies but in early April there can be a couple feet of snow. Woods trails usually require snowmobile or skis. By the end of April snow is mostly gone but woods trails can be iffy even with 4 wheel drive. Culverts sometim...

Also there is Soo Locks in Sault Ste Marie and there are many casinos in the UP if that is appealing. The Toonerville Trolley is an option to see Tahquamenon fall. It starts from Soo Junction with a narrow gauge train ride. They often see bears because they put out stale pastries to attract them. Th...

hoops777, For those with concerns about Wellesley, I think it is more than likely the 65% bond sleeve that concerns them, not so much the stocks. How will longer duration intermediate term corporates perform if interest rates rise? I agree with your comments regarding the stocks and am not that conc...

Are you using the word index to mean fund? Pimco Total Return and Allianz small cap fund are both actively managed funds not index funds. Not necessarily bad, just pointing out.

Hold the asset classes that are not held in Wellington that way you will be diversified. In taxable accounts, I use index funds. Balanced funds are best in tax advantaged accounts, if there is room while still holding your desired asset allocation. If there is not room, make your own balanced fund b...

or using actively managed funds-
40% Vanguard Equity Income fund and 60% Vanguard Intermediate Investment Grade bond fund.

According to Ruger's website, the LCP (Light Carry Pistol) is NOT available in .22, but the LCR (Light Carry Revolver) is. FWIW, though, I disagree that .22LR is a good choice for either a carry or home defense gun. I am hesitant to get graphic regarding pertinent issues on this forum, but anybody ...

I thought Wellesley has done very well. It hit a new high yesterday and there is a complaint? I would never consider comparing it to an index or another 40% equity fund on a one day comparison. Target 2010's equity position is the entire stock market while Wellesley's has only 64 large cap value st...

The Ruger LCP (pistol) does come in 22 caliber as does the Ruger LCR (revolver). I personally do not carry a weapon but don't under estimate the lowly 22. North American Arms make some tiny 22 revolvers. I own their Black Widow with 22LR and 22 magnum cylinders. 22LR ammo is still very affordable, n...

I had a Fidelity advisor session several years ago prior to retiring in 2004. I had it over the phone rather than in person, wife participated on our second phone. The advisor was a retirement specialist. This phone call is a preferable option in my opinion. No harm done since you do not need to mak...

I usually agree with Taylor but in my opinion the bond sleeves of the two funds do compliment each other. Wellesley is weighted toward intermediate corporates, TR Income fund uses Total Bond Index II which is weighted toward treasuries. Target Retirement Income has TIPS, Wellesley does not. The equi...

It makes sense to move to Vanguard all the tax advantaged accounts. Taxable accounts will create a taxable event unless you can transfer them in-kind, which will require a Vanguard Brokerage account. A call to VBS should determine if those funds can be transferred in-kind. Keep in mind at VBS you ma...

Can anyone confirm this?? I don't think it is correct. You can DEFINETLY sell one ETF and buy another the same time before settelement (which is T+3 is correct for ETF's). A "free ride" would only be if one sold an ETF, bought another ETF, AND then tried selling the 2nd before the first s...

ETFs settle in 3 business days so you would not be able to sell the ETFs AND buy the corresponding mutual fund on the SAME day. If you don't want to be out of the market for 3 days, you would have to shuffle your money around. This is definitely the case at VBS, but it sounds like the OP may be usi...

Taylor,
Have you given up the idea of adding TIPS or the Vanguard TIPS fund? You used to like 50% TBM and 50% TIPS for fixed income, a four fund portfolio.

Vanguard does not allow conversion of bond funds to bond ETFs, only stock funds.

Do not feel qualified to give advice other than you have the wrong symbol for short term bond index. VBTLX is total bond index fund admiral. VBIRX is short term bond index fund admiral.

PCRIX like many Pimco institutional funds is available at Vanguard Brokerage for $25K. The availability of Pimco Institutional funds at VBS is one of the positive things regarding VBS. Flagship clients can use one of their free trades.

E*Trade charged us a closing fee when we transferred it to Fidelity. Fidelity reimbursed us for the fee. Vanguard will not reimburse fees, nor do they charge closing fees.