Bogleheads

I am considering realizing a small ($1400) short-term capital loss on an investment. I had a couple tax questions — these may not matter much with a small amount, but it’s useful to understand sin ...

Also, with regards to my time, I look at it like this: If I have to sit down and spend time on *any* trades each month, I might as well do all trades. So I'd only switch entirely to automatic funds if ...

DSInvestor -- Sorry, by "switch to" I simply meant I could start accumulating a different fund with new money. I wouldn't sell off my existing holdings and realize a gain. As far as I know, ...

DSInvestor,

I always appreciate your perspective on this stuff. I'm also a big fan of simplicity, but if I could be reasonably confident about saving 16k in ER costs over the long run without drivi ...

Also, you (DSInvestor) mentioned that VFWIX's ER (0.40%) is "slightly" higher than VEU (0.25%). I don't want to get bogged down if this is really a minor difference, but then what to make of ...

Thanks DSInvestor. Why do you say that Vanguard Total Market (VTSAX) is the best choice if accessible given that its ER is higher than Fidelity Total Market (FSTVX)?

I was surprised to find that Fidelity Spartan Advantage shares beat the ERs of similar Vanguard ETFs -- and they're contractual rates, not teaser crap. For instance:

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF ...

Um.... yes, I have, as I said in the original post.

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=575289John,

I linked the original post from October 1st.

In the follow-up of October 13th ( ...

Um.... yes, I have, as I said in the original post.

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=575289

This question is not asking if I should hold a lot of individual stocks as part of my a ...

Before I discovered this forum, I was an amateur investor who poured some cash into a bunch of individual stocks. Some of these are way up (e.g. goog) and some are way down (e.g. citibank).

Now I'v ...

Within the BrokerageLink use Fidelity "Spartan" funds. If you can, use
the Total Market Spartan funds and shift bond allocations to IRAs. Else,
use the Spartan Treasury funds, brokered C ...

Does the plan offer a MM or Stable Value fund? If so, could you accumulate your funds during the year and make the brokerage transaction at your discretion?

Does your plan have a match? Will you ...

My back of envelope calculations suggest that 10.95 is too much to pay for a monthly purchase of say $1375. Close to 1% right? That goes a long way against any ER savings. You probably can concentr ...

Livesoft,

The only comparable funds available that have no $75 transaction fee are Fidelity Inflation-Protected Bond Fund (FINPX) and PIMCO Real Return CL D (PRRDX), with ERs of 0.45% and 0.85% ...

DSInvestor - I wouldn't reinvest small amounts, I'd keep the dividends in cash or reinvest them in a no-transaction-fee mutual fund until I had enough to make it worthwhile to pay commission on a new ...

Split off the dividend reinvestment question into a separate thread.

I have self-directed 401k a Fidelity with $10.95 commissions, and I want to fill it entirely with iShares Barclays TIPS Bond ETF (TIP). The stock makes monthly distributions.

Should I use Fidelity' ...

What's generally considered the upper bound on tax cost ratio for funds that you'll hold in a taxable account? For instance, Vanguard Small Cap Value ETF (VBR) has a 3-yr avg % of 0.84 and a 5-yr avg ...

I have a Fidelity 401k. The standard plan has a handful of equity funds, target retirement funds and one PIMCO bond fund with ERs ranging from 0.95 to 1.46. According to Morningstar and the fund prosp ...

I'm not familiar with the range on this security's spread. But when I purchase a stock or ETF, I will place a buy at the ask price, IF the spread is reasonable. If the spread is large, I will place ...

I am thinking of putting money into FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap Index ETF (VSS) every two weeks for many years. I've chosen VSS instead of its corresponding mutual fund, VFSVX, because it has a che ...

Is it better to open a traditional IRA on January 1, contribute my maximum $10000 ($5000 for 2009 and $5000 for 2010) and then immediately convert to a Roth, or is it better to open one right now?
Th ...

As of January, investors can convert traditional IRAs into Roth IRAs irrespective of their income level. The IRA will be taxed at conversion.

I don't have an IRA right now. If I started one, my con ...

OK, I fixed the small cap allocations and the IRA bond choice. Can you guys give one final look?

Thanks for the advice. My concern about DLS is that its tax cost ratio since it tracks an index that appears to change frequently. It has a large capital loss build up right now that would offset futu ...

John,

I noticed you added Traditional IRA with CA Tax exempt bond fund. Tax exempt bond funds are not recommended for tax sheltered accounts like IRA and 401k. Use TIP or BND or equivalent mutua ...

I can't seem to find any great options to tilt toward international SCV in a taxable account. VSS isn't that small, doesn't tilt toward value, and tilts toward developed markets (I'd prefer either mar ...

1) Is it possible to open a new traditional IRA each year and convert each to a Roth?

If the back door is still open for 2011, make the 2011 TradIRA contribution in 2011 and convert to ROTH the n ...

tarnation, DSInvestor and others: Thanks much for your advice. I've made a number of changes to the allocation and would love your take. Changes include:

- Increase international allocation to 30% ...

My understanding is that as of January 2010, anyone will be able to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA regardless of income, but people with high incomes still won't be able to fund the Roth dire ...

Wow, I was not aware of this change in Roth IRA regulation. This forum must have saved a lot of people a lot of money over the years.... thanks guys.

Can you explain the reasoning behind filling th ...

Thanks for the feedback!

Why no IRA's? Can't you do non-deductible traditional?

I wasn't familiar with non-deductible IRAs but a quick check suggests I could have one. Why would they benefit me ...

Would love any other feedback from folks before I pull the trigger on this. Thank you!

Thanks Mike. I'm moving from VTRIX/VSS to VEU/VSS. What allocation would you recommend among VEU/VSS? The idea was just to diversify my international holdings a bit since VEU doesn't contain any small ...

Thanks DSInvestor. I will use VEU/VSS instead of VTRIX/VSS.

I guess you're not concerned about the low trading volume of VSS (86,000 avg)? What steps if any should I take to mitigate losses due to ...

That's great advice. I just changed the allocation to 75 stock / 25 bond.

I will not be able to contribute 176k savings per year indefinitely, only for a few years.

Thank you for your help!

Emergency funds = yes

Debt: No

Tax Filing Status: Single

Tax Rate: 35% Federal 9.3% CA

Age: 24

Desired asset allocation:

75% stocks
- 70% domestic
...

Because a customer service rep isn't always the most honest person to ask "Are there any gotchas?"

There've been numerous postings on this board about brokerages (e.g. Smith Barney) that ...

No, staying with Vanguard is a step in the wrong direction. Vanguard has great products in several categories, but their customer service, website, and brokerage capabilities are terrible.

Unfor ...

I'm not eligible for a Roth IRA and in any case I'm already contributing the max each year to a retirement account.

I'm in the top tax bracket right now. I understand that an annuity may not outper ...

I'm a young/new investor who has maxed out his contributions to his 401k and has an additional six figures spread out across stocks and bonds. I just learned about deferred annuities tonight and I fee ...

I'm considering transferring my Vanguard mutual funds in-kind to WF PMA account (100 free trades/yr). This would be cost-neutral as far as I know, so I would do this purely for the simplicity/convenie ...

Would really appreciate advice on this from any bond nuts. Thanks all.

I've read a lot about bonds and bond funds and I want to make sure my understanding is correct before I pull any triggers.

I'm looking to put about $50,000 into bonds in a tax-advantaged account. T ...

Thanks for the help. So if I do the 75-25 split between VTSMX (total stock) and VBMFX (total bond), should I fill the (tax-deferred) 401k with bonds and put as much stock as possible in the taxable ac ...

And one more question: Given that I won't need this money for a long time and I can afford to take the risk, is a total stock market fund still the best choice? In other words, am I taking enough risk ...

Thanks for the advice. I'm sure this has been covered ad nauseum but is it better to buy a bond or a bond fund? I did read the bogleheads wiki on this topic but it wasn't quite idiot-proof enough for ...

Hi guys,

Yes, I founded a company that was acquired so I've been very fortunate. That doesn't mean I know anything about investing though Smile

To answer an earlier question, no, I'm not buying a $ ...

Emergency Fund: Yes
Debt: No
Tax Filing Status: Single
Tax Rate: 35% Federal 10% State
Age: 24

Hi all,

I have about $500,000 and I'm looking for the smartest way to use this money given thes ...