Search found 65 matches

by Bendee
Sat Jan 23, 2021 7:55 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fidelity rollover to spouse after death
Replies: 2
Views: 440

Fidelity rollover to spouse after death

Hello, My Dad (age 66) passed away recently and my Mom (70) has charged me with managing her finances. The main question I have is the Fidelity account: * There are a bunch of random 401ks/IRAs from over the years (different jobs, my grandfather's IRA, etc.). The IRAs have my Mom listed as the beneficiary, but the 401ks do not, likely due to what appears to be spousal consent. No roths, just traditional. * Account is only in my Dad's name (Mom thought it was a joint account, does not appear to be) * I want to roll this all over into a single IRA for my Mom to make it easy to manage. It appears doable, but I want to make sure that there are no taxes or anything other than basic admin fees (if applicable) to pay. EDIT: i'm 99% sure the amount...
by Bendee
Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:34 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TD Ameritrade list of commission free ETFs with ERs included?
Replies: 3
Views: 452

Re: TD Ameritrade list of commission free ETFs with ERs included?

David Althaus wrote: Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:27 am Zero commission for online trades. I imagine if you want a live person to help they would charge. Believe they still charge for traditional mutual funds though we use only ETFs

All the best
Ah okay, I thought that only applied to specific ETFs. If it's all major ETFs, that makes my life a whole lot easier.

Thanks!
by Bendee
Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:00 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: TD Ameritrade list of commission free ETFs with ERs included?
Replies: 3
Views: 452

TD Ameritrade list of commission free ETFs with ERs included?

Hi all,

I have a new TD Ameritrade account through Lively and am trying to see if there is a way to view a list of commission-free ETFs (or are they all commission free now? Not sure) with their associated expense ratio. If it was just index funds (or splits them out), that's even better.

Right now I'd like to find an total US ex-500 (i.e. everything but the S&P 500 large caps to nicely balance out my 401k which has S&P 500 for ER reasons), but wondering if there is a list somewhere I can reference for future use. The wiki doesn't seem to include a full list, just some that are close to Vanguard equivalents.

Thanks!
by Bendee
Sat Jul 06, 2019 7:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: FitnessBank 3% savings with 12,500 daily steps - has anyone heard of them?
Replies: 26
Views: 4899

FitnessBank 3% savings with 12,500 daily steps - has anyone heard of them?

Looks fairly new, was wondering if anyone has heard of them. They are offering a 3% savings account where the interest is based on tiers depending on how many steps you go per day using their app to track it.


Appears to be related to Affinity Bank (I never heard of them, but it looks legit) as they have the same office address. Any thoughts on that bank or on the offer above? It's a great rate and I get those steps in already, but I'm nervous about customer service and them lowering the rate shortly after this debut.
by Bendee
Sat Jul 06, 2019 7:03 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Job Promotion - How to Show on Resume
Replies: 40
Views: 4888

Re: Job Promotion - How to Show on Resume

I wouldn't do it for 3 reasons: 1) The position you are in/going towards is one that needs to be guided by ethics. If you were in sales, they likely wouldn't care as much (and I could even see some on your sales team respecting you for blatantly lying like that if caught) but a Controller/CFO getting caught lying like that seems like a great way to get fired. 2) I have no idea the size of your company, but what are the odds that people could Google 'fishmonger %YourCurrentCompany% CFO', not find anything, and then remove your name from that search, bringing up someone who is clearly not you. You aren't some generic position but someone in the C-Suite, so you risk getting found out. 3) No idea about the size of your industry or how wide a ne...
by Bendee
Thu Aug 23, 2018 9:19 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Starwood Preferred Luxury Amex Card
Replies: 3
Views: 533

Re: Starwood Preferred Luxury Amex Card

Doctor of Credit claims it can be used towards room rates, which would be great. Also, if you live in a major city, there may be some good restaurants at higher end Marriott/SPG properties it can be used at if it doesn't require the charge to happen during a stay. Either way, I'm not getting the card. The big perks beyond the credit are Marriott Gold, which doesn't offer much and is available with the Amex Plat, Priority Pass, which comes with every $400+ credit card nowadays, and a free night every cardmember anniversary on cat 6 hotels and lower, which is nice, but after the $300 credit (which honestly should be valued a bit less unless you expect to spend $300/year at a Marriott anyways), it comes to $150 for a single 'free night' that e...
by Bendee
Wed Aug 15, 2018 2:17 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Marriott Free Certificate
Replies: 11
Views: 1734

Re: Marriott Free Certificate

Your cert should convert to a new cat 1-5 certificate, which is up to 35,000 points and will include a lot more hotels, including in places like NYC that were previously out of reach for the cert.

I would absolutely wait.
by Bendee
Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:36 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: It's not enough to mumble "Stay the Course"... INT'L Investing has been a disaster!
Replies: 1247
Views: 142222

Re: It's not enough to mumble "Stay the Course"... INT'L Investing has been a disaster!

As a person who barely squeaked through high school and was kicked out of college I look over our 29 year investing history and our experience simply has been: International Funds are riskier, more costly and have less return. The Fidelity ZERO funds have the same ER, 0.00%, for Total Int and US. As posted earlier, 3 of the 4 full decades available for total int vs total us mutual fund comparison show int'l beating US (the 90s with the US tech boom is the only one that didn't). They are as Un-Boglelike as can be and yet for some reason nobody actually talks about why we ever started throwing Internationals into the mix and why people who question this philosophy are rebuked by so many despite some pretty drastic numbers. People have mentio...
by Bendee
Sun Aug 05, 2018 7:17 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity charges to close accounts!
Replies: 81
Views: 36368

Re: Fidelity charges to close accounts!

I just got hit with a $50 fee for rolling a Fidelity 401k ($70k or so in there) into a new Fidelity rollover IRA (done online). No mention of it while setting the IRA up, which is annoying. I have a feeling that a quick call will get it resolved, but any other advice on how to do it the quickest?
by Bendee
Thu Aug 02, 2018 2:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Old 401k...rollover to IRA or new employer
Replies: 8
Views: 682

Re: Old 401k...rollover to IRA or new employer

I'll take the contrarian viewpoint - do an IRA rollover if possible. Gives you much more control in case someone at the company decides a fee-heavy firm like John Hancock would be better for administering the 401K. Probably not a huge risk of that, but I can't see any potential upside to keeping money in there other than 1 basis point on Total Bond.
by Bendee
Mon Apr 02, 2018 2:43 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is Lockheed Martin about to become the biggest company in history?
Replies: 66
Views: 9954

Re: Is Lockheed Martin about to become the biggest company in history?

tractorguy wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:49 pmEven after someone does a proof of concept test (which I've not heard of), it will be decades before the engineering and regulatory problems get solved and we have a working generating plant.
The latest estimates I've seen are 2050, although in fairness, I am basing that estimate solely on data from SimCity 2000. :P
by Bendee
Sat Mar 03, 2018 5:05 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Sharonview FCU 64 month CD - 4%
Replies: 109
Views: 19711

Re: Sharonview FCU 64 month CD - 4%

This is tempting, but I have all my money in a lot of silly places now. Ally, Capital One 360, Andrews FCU, Treasury Direct, and others. Last year I jumped on the Andrews FCU 3% 7-year CD because the rate was astronomical at the time. Now it has 6 years left, and here's a 5.3 year CD that makes 4%. 4% seems really high, but next year, will it? I'm not sure if my heart is in the rate-chasing game anymore... Heck, I have a CapOne 5yr CD for my emergency fund that I got in early November for 2.3% that I thought was great. Then 2 weeks later they raised the rate to 2.45%. Now it is 2.65% and the local credit union who has a branch several blocks away (TruMark) has one for 2.85%. :oops: :oops: I don't think we will be seeing a decrease in CD ra...
by Bendee
Wed Feb 28, 2018 5:30 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why have Emergency Funds?
Replies: 54
Views: 5857

Re: Why have Emergency Funds?

xxd091 wrote: Wed Feb 28, 2018 3:56 am Hi JBTX
Search for the poster “Sheepdog “in this forum-read his posts.That will tell you why you need an emergency fund!
One of the most valued of the Boglehead posts!
Sorry I cannot give you a link but maybe someone else can
xxd09
Sheepdog has almost 5000 posts. Maybe at least a hint on what to search for?
by Bendee
Wed Feb 21, 2018 3:40 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 403b plan forcing me from Vanguard to Fidelity!!
Replies: 9
Views: 1158

Re: Oh no! 403b plan forcing me from Vanguard to Fidelity!!

BuckyBadger wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2018 3:05 pm Our Roth's are both 100% in VTSAX (0.04%) so I was trying to figure out if I could get away with one fund without getting too out of whack, but there's more money in the 403b, so I'm thinking I might have to use the two funds that you guys are recommending.
I keep my HSA and Roth IRA each tied to one fund (that I know will stay be well under my allocation preference for that fund due to contribution limits) and do all rebalancing in my Fidelity 401k. I'd recommend an approach like that, personally.
by Bendee
Wed Feb 21, 2018 8:01 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Blooom Robo Advisor for 401k asset allocation
Replies: 7
Views: 1888

Re: Blooom Robo Advisor for 401k asset allocation

I just looked at Blooom after a friend asked about it, and while I would say it might be good for a beginner investor just using a 401k, basic allocation errors make me doubt it a bit, namely that they do not appear to split holdings. I am shown as having no smallcap when I have FSEVX (They list it as mid-cap only) and no emerging markets when I own VTIAX (21% of which is emerging, according to Vanguard). The latter is what I'm really concerned about, as they recommend 28% to 8% developed int'l to emerging, so about 22% of all intl holdings should be emerging (which VTIAX essentially hits). If someone followed this and continued to use VTIAX but added an emerging intl find, they would have 14% of their holdings in emerging markets. These ar...
by Bendee
Wed Feb 07, 2018 7:06 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: vtiax pricing
Replies: 5
Views: 1163

Re: vtiax pricing

If you plan to be doing that, a better comparison would be to see how the equivalent ETF VXUS is doing. VXUS will not always be fully in tune with VTIAX as the ETF price is not determined by the NAV but rather investors who believe they know where the NAV will be, but it should generally provide a close barometer for how VTIAX will perform after that day's close.
by Bendee
Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:06 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity charging extra fee for Vanguard funds in 401k?
Replies: 31
Views: 4069

Re: Fidelity charging extra fee for Vanguard funds in 401k?

This is why I push those with a total "set it and forget it" attitude towards Vanguard rather than Fidelity/Schwab/etc. Sure, the ERs may be competitive at the moment, but who knows if that attitude will stay consistent over the next several decades, or if those companies will start sneaking in additional fees or bumping up the ER if they are told the outflows would be significantly lower than the additional revenue an ER bump would bring*? Someone who isn't paying attention could end up wasting quite a bit of money.

*"If we triple our index fund's ER, we estimate we'll lose 25% of the fund's assets but our total expense revenue would more than double!" -Hypothetical fund manager at for profit company
by Bendee
Wed Jan 10, 2018 6:59 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Running Maximum Withdrawal Percentage: Any data on this?
Replies: 26
Views: 2578

Re: Running Maximum Withdrawal Percentage: Any data on this?

The question is different - what is the largest you could take out and still have been fine for 30 years no matter when you retired, rather than what year was best.
by Bendee
Thu Dec 28, 2017 12:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Which is most like S&P 500?
Replies: 18
Views: 2842

Re: Which is most like S&P 500?

pepperz wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 11:37 am It's not *that* big a deal but I believe a 100% US based index will out-perform international for the most part over the next 18 years.
I feel similarly, but I still hold 40% of my equities in int'l as insurance if something happens in the US like what happened in Japan in the early 90s. My job is largely dependent on the US not having a depression, so I feel it's necessary to diversify a decent proportion out of the US market.

...but that's a whole different debate with thousands of topics on it being discussed here over the years.
by Bendee
Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:26 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Which is better: Wellesley or 5-yr 2.5% CD?
Replies: 51
Views: 5636

Re: Which is better: Wellesley or 5-yr 2.5% CD?

One other thing to consider is panic selling. If your friend is already nervous about this and Wellesley goes down 5-10% next year, will he panic sell before it has a chance to bounce back?
by Bendee
Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:12 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Which is better: Wellesley or 5-yr 2.5% CD?
Replies: 51
Views: 5636

Re: Which is better: Wellesley or 5-yr 2.5% CD?

"he cannot afford to lose any of it."

"Wellesley... hasn't had many losing years"

I think you just answered your own question. If he can't afford to lose any of it, go with a 5 year CD.
by Bendee
Tue Nov 28, 2017 8:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Random package from Amazon - early warning of identity theft?
Replies: 21
Views: 9957

Re: Random package from Amazon - early warning of identity theft?

livesoft wrote: Tue Nov 28, 2017 8:16 pm Your mom sent you a box of chocolates. She needed to get to $25 in order to get free shipping on something else to her.
Lol I wish - she did not and none of my close friends did. Anyone else wouldn't have sent me something with my middle initial in the Ship To: name.

Also, to add, nothing suspicious on my credit report or my recent bank/credit card transactions
by Bendee
Tue Nov 28, 2017 8:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Random package from Amazon - early warning of identity theft?
Replies: 21
Views: 9957

Random package from Amazon - early warning of identity theft?

This evening I received a package from Amazon that I didn't order with nothing except a couple ounces of chocolate in it ( This one, for what it's worth ). It was sent to me, but I rarely use the address on the package for shipments, although I do use it for credit card billing information. Also, the name has my middle initial, which I don't have on file with Amazon's shipping addresses (again, I do for billing info). Chatting with them was fruitless, there was no order slip in the box or order number on the package, and no record of the order in my account. Other than saying it may be a shipping mistake, I didn't get any other useful information with it. A friend mentioned this may be the first sign of identity theft. I checked my credit r...
by Bendee
Wed May 24, 2017 9:29 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The dot com "do over" bull market?
Replies: 82
Views: 11876

Re: The dot com "do over" bull market?

I think there is a tech bubble, but not as bad as the one in 2000. I see 2 things: one is companies that are not yet profitable (Uber, Snap, etc) having insane 60B and 30B valuations, respectively. This seems to be people pricing in growth potential but severely underestimating the risk. I have faith that Uber **could** be a $60B company one day if it plays it's cards right, but it definitely isn't there yet. Add in the lack of user/driver 'stickiness' (one can literally open another app for a similar service if they want to switch) and the numerous players in the autonomous vehicle market right now and it becomes very apparent people are likely overvaluing Uber. The second is major established tech companies relying too much on one product...
by Bendee
Mon May 22, 2017 2:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why Invest in Average?
Replies: 34
Views: 5440

Re: Why Invest in Average?

I noticed that the ad doesn't make any claims about Invesco doing better than average in that ad. I wonder why... :mrgreen:
by Bendee
Fri May 05, 2017 9:27 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Morgan Stanley drops Vanguard funds
Replies: 26
Views: 9494

Re: Morgan Stanley drops Vanguard funds

sid hartha wrote:I think there is an opportunity for Vanguard here. They should have a big press release and say they are dropping their funds from all firms and advisors that don't have a fiduciary responsibility to the client because they don't want to be associated with any firm that does not put the customers best interests first.
Sounds good in theory, bit not necessarily practice. For example, many Fidelity 401ks offer Vanguard funds, I believe the one at my relatively small company has tens of millions invested in Vanguard funds alone.

Is Vanguard itself even a Fiduciary company?
by Bendee
Sat Apr 22, 2017 2:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Relatively "Safe" Place to Earn 2.5%-4%
Replies: 24
Views: 5068

Re: Relatively "Safe" Place to Earn 2.5%-4%

The definition of what could be considered 'risky' is so broad that without anything to guide it, it is tough to say what they can and cannot invest in. Is the fund allowed to lose any money, or does it have to be in insured instruments like CDs, interest bearing bank accounts, and the like?
by Bendee
Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:30 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Easy explanation for survivorship bias
Replies: 1
Views: 726

Easy explanation for survivorship bias

Not 100% on topic for the forum, but I feel that today's http://xkcd.com comic is very relevant when we discuss survivorship bias and how it relates to mutual funds and fund managers:

Image

Nobody would call the person who won Powerball a smart investor, so why do we do the same when somebody guesses at a single stock/industry and it pays off?
by Bendee
Thu Apr 20, 2017 7:02 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Keep Mortgaged Home For Rental Property - Equity In ROI?
Replies: 14
Views: 2099

Re: Keep Mortgaged Home For Rental Property - Equity In ROI?

My big uncertainty - does that cash out of pocket over the last year matter at this point? Is the only relevant comparison that between the net return of using it as a rental compared against the net return of investing the cash out equity from selling it? The cash out of pocket means nothing other than how you factor in your numbers (i.e. increases to the sale price/rental revenue you would gain from it). Some items to consider beyond the sale price and rental price: 1) Future gains/losses from selling down the road rather than today could factor into your decision. Where I live is a huge seller's market right now, so I would be inclined to say prices won't go up much in the near term. If you are in the opposite position, it might make se...
by Bendee
Wed Apr 19, 2017 8:03 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Article-Argument against Buffet and Bogle's International Advice
Replies: 36
Views: 5701

Re: Article-Argument against Buffet and Bogle's International Advice

Personally I'm OK with home country bias. After all, that is the currency in which my retirement dollars are paid. And I think the embedded international exposure in VTI is a significant factor. Keeping it simple here. But to each his own, because international exposure really is a personal preference rather than an established principle. The wide variety of opinions on the subject make that point clear. I keep a significant 40% in International simply to ensure I don't have all my eggs in one basket. I would tell someone in real estate not to tilt their retirement towards REITs in the off chance that sector has a long-term implosion. People at Enron, for example, learned the hard way why it is a a bad idea. In that sense, I work in the US...
by Bendee
Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:58 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is all the money flowing into index funds bad?
Replies: 21
Views: 4280

Re: Is all the money flowing into index funds bad?

wolf359 wrote: The S&P 500 has so much weight that TSM and S&P 500 funds have nearly identical performance.
To be fair, Vanguard's S&P 500 index (VFIAX) and the extended market (VEXAX, essentially the TSM minus the S&P 500) have very similar charts. The heavy weighting of the S&P in TSM can be seen as an issue, but it's not like the rest of the TSM composition is providing drastically different returns.
by Bendee
Mon Apr 17, 2017 6:27 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Larry Swedroe on SPIVA Survey
Replies: 12
Views: 2912

Re: Larry Swedroe on SPIVA Survey

The Article wrote:For domestic funds, the least poor performance was in intermediate- and short-term investment-grade funds. In both cases, 73% of funds underperformed. On an equal-weighted basis, the underperformance was 0.3 percentage points and 0.7 percentage points, respectively. However, on an asset-weighted basis, they managed to outperform by 0.7 percentage points and 0.3 percentage points, respectively. That is possibly explained by their holding longer maturities (taking more risk) than the benchmarks.
I would love to see how this one looks without fees. I've been interested in the Vanguard Core Bond Fund, so their relatively low Active Fund ER might make up the difference in performance.
by Bendee
Wed Mar 22, 2017 7:41 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Schwab vs Vanguard vs Fidelity - ER fees
Replies: 18
Views: 6440

Re: Schwab vs Vanguard vs Fidelity - ER fees

lazyday wrote:
mhalley wrote: Vangaurd's interests are generally better aligned with ours. The ownership structure means there's less of a motive to extract fees from customers.
This needs to be highlighted more, especially for 'set it and forget it' users. If Schwab and Fidelity think that they can double their ERs and only have the respective fund lose 30% of invested dollars long-term, they may do it. Someone who doesn't actively check their funds' ERs will not realize for years that the ER went up.
by Bendee
Tue Mar 07, 2017 6:21 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Telluride Film Festival
Replies: 9
Views: 1291

Re: Telluride Film Festival

mckaydw wrote:If you enjoy scenic drives through beautiful mountains, I'd recommend flying into Albuquerque and out of Denver. Or vice-versa. This is a gorgeous area of the world. On the Albuquerque side, drive up through Santa Fe, Alamosa, Pagosa Springs, Durango.
The one thing I will caution with this is confirm the price of a one-way rental before doing it. Between higher base rates, per mile charges, and drop charges on one-ways, those costs can be hundreds of dollars more than flying into and out of an airport.
by Bendee
Sat Mar 04, 2017 10:48 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please critique my 401K (ADP) and more...
Replies: 4
Views: 895

Re: Please critique my 401K (ADP) and more...

Thank you for your feedback! I am making additional contributions on my 401K and I just know understood how expensive my 401K plan is compared with my wife's. The difference between the fees I pay vs. Vanguard index funds she has available is 0.7% or more :x. I do plan to fund an IRA for 2016 before the deadline, my problem is that due to our income the IRA contributions are not tax dedcutible. Since last night I was banging my head to the wall on what should I do for 2017, max out the 401K before or after funding the non-tax deductible IRA? If you are in the 28% tax bracket and married filing jointly, at least half of it should be tax deductible if you both contribute. Back to my allocation, I understand that you recommend to keep only th...
by Bendee
Sat Mar 04, 2017 5:42 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Please critique my 401K (ADP) and more...
Replies: 4
Views: 895

Re: Please critique my 401K (ADP) and more...

While others will have more to say, I'm sure, the car loan should be the last thing you make extra payments for. Even after a 28% tax deduction on the mortgage, you are saving about 2.85% interest vs 1.9% by paying off the mortgage. Not that it is necessarily the best way to spend the money (that's an argument that's been discussed here ad nauseum), but I would go for the mortgage over the car, personally, if choosing to pay down some debt. If you are making any contributions above the minimum needed for a full company match in your 401k, put that extra money in an IRA with Vanguard, TD Ameritrade, or Fidelity as the tax benefits should be similar but the fees will be much, much lower. You do have a month or so to max out an IRA ($5500) for...
by Bendee
Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:01 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How the Bogle Model Beats the Yale Model
Replies: 28
Views: 5838

Re: How the Bogle Model Beats the Yale Model

While I doubt the numbers would change too much, I would like to see this with a lower allocation to bonds - i.e. 50/30/20 US Eq/Int Eq/Bonds or thereabouts. Part of me thinks 40% is a little too bond heavy for this, but at the same time, college endowments are probably closer to 50-60 year olds than 30 year olds (me) when it comes to risk avoidance and such.
by Bendee
Sat Feb 04, 2017 11:37 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: All in VANGUARD is that ok??
Replies: 64
Views: 11853

Re: All in VANGUARD is that ok??

One thing that hasn't really been touched on is how difficult it is for someone at Vanguard to commit fraud because it is mainly index funds: By tracking an index, fund managers not only do not need to significantly outperform the index, it would be quickly apparent if they did so. This prevents anything like a ponzi scheme that would be harder to detect in a more proprietary active fund that covered poor stock picks with other investors' money. The amount of fraud one could do before being detected is small relative to how large the funds are. Looking at the three main funds Bogleheads use (Total Stock, Total Bond, Total Int'l), even if there was $1 billion in fraud done on a fund, it is, at most, 0.6% of the holdings of the fund (0.6% for...
by Bendee
Fri Nov 11, 2016 1:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best way to visit NYC from DC
Replies: 33
Views: 4802

Re: Best way to visit NYC from DC

I'll chime in with a BoltBus rec, although assuming you are going in the next couple of months, consider that you will be waiting for the bus out in the cold. Compare prices before you leave. It can save you anywhere from $40-$120 roundtrip per person, at the lower end I personally would take Amtrak, but at the higher end I would take the bus.

Mega has the pro of the ability to select your seat in advance for a dollar or two more, but those double decker buses are not as nice as the Boltbuses, at least IMO.
by Bendee
Fri Oct 07, 2016 10:24 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Luxury Cars - Am I missing out on creature comforts by not driving one?
Replies: 92
Views: 12572

Re: Luxury Cars - Am I missing out on creature comforts by not driving one?

You definitely don't need to go new for most creature comforts, for example a 2014 Elantra can come with heated front and rear leather seats, touch screen display, auto climate control, etc.

Dbr is correct that while luxury cars usually get the newest features first, the downside is you get features that may actively stink or just haven't been fully fleshed out. The one that sticks out in my mind is the 'code' in my Dad's 1995 BMW 5 series. An optional 4 digit pin that, once set up, was required to start the car. He didn't set it up. Me as an 11 year old kid accidentally set it up for him and forgot the code. That was a really fun time for him. :wink:
by Bendee
Thu Oct 06, 2016 10:35 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help with (bad) 401(k) AA, and possible rollover to Vanguard?
Replies: 4
Views: 518

Re: Help with (bad) 401(k) AA, and possible rollover to Vanguard?

When you say "are we free to leave this company and roll our 401(k) to Vanguard" do you mean can the company change its 401k provider, or do you want to rollover your personal 401k with the company?

I cannot answer the former, but for the latter, if you are still with the company and not over 55, the answer is almost certainly no. At 55, there are some exceptions that can begin opening up (in-service rollover) depending on your company's plan rules. If you are not with the company, you can roll it over to an IRA fairly easily.
by Bendee
Wed Oct 05, 2016 11:10 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Europe bus tours
Replies: 36
Views: 4370

Re: Europe bus tours

jebmke wrote:Driving in most of Europe is easier than many people think. Learn the signs in advance, rent a car that is no bigger than you really need (many side roads and village roads are very narrow) and make sure you have decent maps AND a GPS and you really can't go far wrong.
To add to this, HERE We Go by HERE Maps has fantastic offline maps (i.e. they don't suck up data). I've used them in South Africa and Peru with no issue, and pretty much anywhere in the world that is relatively touristy will have accurate maps.
by Bendee
Wed Oct 05, 2016 11:04 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: BlackRock Cuts Prices on ETFs
Replies: 62
Views: 8720

Re: BlackRock Cuts Prices on ETFs

lack_ey wrote:
Bendee wrote:I missed that - it just says expense ratio without specifying whether it is Gross or Net.
For other funds, like the asset allocation series (e.g. iShares Core Aggressive Allocation ETF, AOA), there is an explicit fee waiver listed, like this:
Image

Not so for these others. Presumably when not clarified it means both gross and net.
Ah, thank you.

How difficult is it for them to raise the ERs in the future, assuming BlackRock wants to go in that direction? Is there anything they'd have to do to notify investors other than buried in a prospectus or similar?
by Bendee
Wed Oct 05, 2016 10:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Europe bus tours
Replies: 36
Views: 4370

Re: Europe bus tours

I would personally opt for no more than a hybrid - pick your itinerary with air/hotel of your choice, and find half-day/full-day tours for most days with free time as you see fit. It lets you build the tour you want - maybe you want to spend more time gawking at the architecture in palaces/cathedrals but don't care about art museums. Maybe you want an afternoon people watching at a cafe in the main square of a French neighborhood. This lets you choose the exact hotels that you want - almost every tour 'reserves the right to select a similar hotel' to the one in their listing and their definition of 'similar' may not match yours. Maybe you want a hotel with a spa, a balcony with a view of the area, or an outdoor pool. Maybe you just want an ...
by Bendee
Wed Oct 05, 2016 10:15 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: BlackRock Cuts Prices on ETFs
Replies: 62
Views: 8720

Re: BlackRock Cuts Prices on ETFs

AlohaJoe wrote:
Bendee wrote:Is this a true fee cut, or is it a temporary waiver of a portion of fees
This is answered in the iShares page that Theoretical linked to above.
I missed that - it just says expense ratio without specifying whether it is Gross or Net.
by Bendee
Wed Oct 05, 2016 10:12 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Forced to 'skew' final 15% of domestic - thoughts on Large cap vs small cap?
Replies: 5
Views: 479

Re: Forced to 'skew' final 15% of domestic - thoughts on Large cap vs small cap?

ofckrupke wrote:
Bendee wrote:mimic TSM for a relatively small portion of my portfolio. Is leaving the money in FXSIX a decent choice, or should I put some/all in FSEVX? Thanks!
The assessment of FSEVX as mid-cap is not really on the mark, although it's true that it holds more mid than small. The fund tracks a completion index which is essentially TSM minus SP500, so it and FXSIX in the right proportions ARE TSM. Total US capitalization splits out as about 80% SP500, 20% smaller....sometimes 79/21, sometimes 81/19, but 80/20 has been very close for decades. So steer to 12% FXSIX, 3% FSEVX and you're ~there.
Or, if you just can't abide individual fund holdings under 5%, then put all 15% in FXSIX.
That's exactly what I'm looking for! Thank you.
by Bendee
Wed Oct 05, 2016 9:25 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Forced to 'skew' final 15% of domestic - thoughts on Large cap vs small cap?
Replies: 5
Views: 479

Re: Forced to 'skew' final 15% of domestic - thoughts on Large cap vs small cap?

FXSIX: Fidelity 500 Institutional Class (Their S&P lookalike)
FSEVX: Fidelity Extended Market Index Fund Premium Class (Mid-Caps)
by Bendee
Wed Oct 05, 2016 9:15 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Forced to 'skew' final 15% of domestic - thoughts on Large cap vs small cap?
Replies: 5
Views: 479

Forced to 'skew' final 15% of domestic - thoughts on Large cap vs small cap?

Emergency funds: 6ish months Debt: Mortgage I'm making minimum monthly payments on and happy doing so due to low interest rate Tax Filing Status: Single Tax Rate: 15% bracket Federal (after deductions), 3.07% state State of Residence: PA Age: 30 Desired Asset allocation: 90% stocks / 10% bonds Desired International allocation: 40% of stocks Currently I have about $65k divided up among my 401K, Roth IRA, and HSA in the following proportions: 10% bonds (Practically all in Total Bond Market) 36% Total International Stock Admirals Remaining 54% in domestic. Currently I have 30% of the 54% in REITs (not adding any more and slowly reducing to 15% over the next 2 years at rebalancing points), 55% in Total Stock Admirals, and 15% currently in FID 5...
by Bendee
Wed Oct 05, 2016 8:53 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: BlackRock Cuts Prices on ETFs
Replies: 62
Views: 8720

Re: BlackRock Cuts Prices on ETFs

Is this a true fee cut, or is it a temporary waiver of a portion of fees, similar to Fidelity's Target Date Index Funds, to bring prices a hair below Vanguard? My biggest fear is 'set it and forget it' investors put money in these and then 2-3 years later, the funds' shareholders demand higher fees and they are jacked up with many investors none the wiser. Before the fee cut, IJR (S&P 600) was essentially free on the expense ratio side due to securities lending income. Even with Blackrock taking a 30% cut, the lending income was a little more than 15,000,000 for 19,000, in expenses. The fund has over $17 Billion in net assets, leaving a 2015 expense ratio of about 2.5 bp (essentially free). And that was when the expense ratio was 12 bp....
by Bendee
Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:35 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Morgan Stanley unit accused of pressuring clients to take loans backed by their investment accounts
Replies: 8
Views: 1309

Morgan Stanley unit accused of pressuring clients to take loans backed by their investment accounts

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... es-tactics

If you need some more ammo to convince people that their financial advisor is likely not acting in their best interest, here's yet another example. Convincing people to take out loans with their investments as collateral with incentives to the advisors to sell them.

(Apologies if this is the wrong forum for this).