Search found 439 matches

by gostars
Thu Sep 13, 2018 11:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: buying Fidelity funds in a Vanguard account for purposes of tax loss harvesting
Replies: 23
Views: 2132

Re: buying Fidelity funds in a Vanguard account for purposes of tax loss harvesting

OriolesFan89 wrote: Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:29 am gostars - Would you be worried that SPEM could be too similar to VWO? I don't want to create a wash sale.
No. There's no indication that they would be considered substantially identical given that they track different indices, have vastly different compositions (4075 holding for VWO vs. 1291 for SPEM), and the indices are fairly different (VWO's index has half again as many constituents as SPEM's, partially due to SPEM's index excluding micro caps).
by gostars
Thu Sep 13, 2018 11:25 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity Files for Four Fidelity ZERO℠ Funds (0.00% ER)
Replies: 814
Views: 112375

Re: Fidelity Files for Four Fidelity ZERO℠ Funds (0.00% ER)

Are you trying to buy through BrokerageLink in a workplace plan? The ZERO funds are only available through normal accounts, not workplace plans.
by gostars
Thu Sep 13, 2018 12:26 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fidelity Files for Four Fidelity ZERO℠ Funds (0.00% ER)
Replies: 814
Views: 112375

Re: Fidelity Files for two Fidelity ZERO℠ Funds (0.00% ER total stock and total international mutual funds)

Additional useful information:
SEC filing: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data ... ing788.htm
Large Cap Index ticker: FNILX
Extended Market Index ticker: FZIPX

The large-cap index conveniently picks the 500 largest companies, while the extended market index picks everything after that, making these funds comparable to existing S&P 500 and extended market index funds. Both funds employ statistical sampling to match index performance without including all securities. Both make use of security lending to cover fund expenses.

Note to self: update Fidelity wiki article next week
by gostars
Thu Sep 13, 2018 12:08 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses
Replies: 7737
Views: 1337842

Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

You can also use other ETFs like ITOT or SCHB in place of VTI if you have any taxable investments in VTI or VTSAX and may tax-loss harvest in the future and want to avoid any potential wash sale issues. How does the exchange for ETF's look like? Is there a way to exchange without being subject to price fluctuations, sort of like when exchanging one mutual fund for another? Wouldn't you have to wait for the cash from the sale to arrive, or do you have a margin account? A recurring concern in this thread is how to tax loss harvest when the bonus brokerage firm doesn't offer Vanguard Mutual funds, or how to trade ETF's, setting the "correct" price etc. Money that is pending from a sale can be used immediately to buy something else. ...
by gostars
Wed Sep 12, 2018 10:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need help with Transamerica 401K
Replies: 9
Views: 2003

Re: Need help with Transamerica 401K

Transamerica Partners Stock Index Ret Opt is probably the only fund I would use in that plan. Probably best to hold your bond and international allocations in taxable or an IRA. Also see How to campaign for a better 401(k) plan in the wiki, because that's not a good 401k plan, though still worth using at least up to the max of the employer match.
by gostars
Wed Sep 12, 2018 9:58 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: buying Fidelity funds in a Vanguard account for purposes of tax loss harvesting
Replies: 23
Views: 2132

Re: buying Fidelity funds in a Vanguard account for purposes of tax loss harvesting

SPEM is probably the most accurate replacement for VEMAX/VWO, as it includes small caps and excludes Korea. IEMG includes a big chunk of Korea, while SCHE excludes small caps.
by gostars
Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:57 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard ETF to Fidelity ETF
Replies: 9
Views: 1229

Re: Vanguard ETF to Fidelity ETF

As far as I know, the only Vanguard ETFs that track the same index as a Fidelity or iShares ETF are the 9 S&P ETFs (VOO/IVV, VOOV/IVE, VOOG/IVW, IVOO/IJH, IVOV/IJJ, IVOG/IJK, VIOO/IJR, VIOV/IJS, VIOG/IJT), and aside from VOO the Vanguard funds aren't even that common since they prefer to promote their CRSP-indexed funds instead. This would make it relatively difficult to create a wash sale, and that's only if you believe that different funds tracking the same index are substantially identical (save that debate for one of the other threads already discussing it). Am I the only one who didn't realize until just now that Vanguard named the ETFs IVOO, VOO, and VIOO, because they're 4, 5, and 6 in roman numerals followed by OO, and track the...
by gostars
Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:34 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Rearranging portfolio to be more simple - should I go with the Fidelity ZERO funds?
Replies: 10
Views: 2167

Re: Rearranging portfolio to be more simple - should I go with the Fidelity ZERO funds?

redstar wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:00 pm I'm now thinking of just using VTI and VXUS in my taxable account at Fidelity. I have a bunch of free trades so I don't need to worry about trading fees. This would also allow me to easily move them to Vanguard and convert them to mutual funds down the line, if I wanted to do so. The Fidelity ZERO funds will keep me locked in to Fidelity as my brokerage, which I'm not sure I want.
You cannot convert Vanguard ETFs to mutual funds. The conversion only works in the other direction, mutual fund to ETF. Buying VTI and VXUS (or ITOT and IXUS) is still a good idea in a taxable account though.
by gostars
Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:26 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses
Replies: 7737
Views: 1337842

Re: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses

Thankyou. I'm considering transferring my old 401k . 200k is a huge amount for me so am a bit nervous. Basically the funds are sitting in low cost large cap and mid cap MFs. I have been wanting to add low cap exposure. If I transfer to ML, can I just buy VTI commission free there? And I can pocket an extra 1k. In future I should still have the option of transferring the IRA to yet another custodian. Do you see any holes in my plan? Sounds like a good plan. The free trades you also get as part of the transfer will cover your initial purchase of VTI many times over, and after 3 months you can get Platinum Honors status and get a recurring supply of free trades that will be there if you ever need to rebalance in the future. You can also use o...
by gostars
Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:51 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Another Pro Rata Question
Replies: 4
Views: 504

Re: Another Pro Rata Question

As long as either is done before December 31 it will be fine. Rolling the money into the TSP isn't exactly a difficult process either, especially if the TIRA is at a different brokerage and you'll have to do a transfer anyway.
by gostars
Sun Sep 09, 2018 7:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Empower 401k Investments
Replies: 9
Views: 1632

Re: Empower 401k Investments

With the employer plan I have at Empower, there's a "Brokerage" link in the Investments section on the left side where all the other links are, and that takes you to a page with either sign-in links or enrollment documents, as appropriate. Probably no fees, but you'd have to review each fund document to be sure. Class A funds have an upfront sales charge, but this is usually waived for 401k plans. Some funds will restrict your ability to buy more of a fund for a certain period of time if you sell it, which would also be detailed in the documents. If your planned funds have a restriction, it might be best to just be a little overweight on small caps, and adjust your future contributions to get back in to balance with new money, rat...
by gostars
Sun Sep 09, 2018 6:53 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: High Expense Employer Plan: Pre-Tax or Roth?
Replies: 5
Views: 667

Re: High Expense Employer Plan: Pre-Tax or Roth?

Interesting, I thought everyone using Texas TRS and ERS had both available. Do you mind sharing what kind of employer it is?

Would your contribution amounts depend on on which one you selected? For example, if you made pre-tax contributions of $10,000 versus making Roth contributions of $7,800 (i.e. the same % of gross income less 22% tax), then I don't think it matters. You would pay less in fees on on the Roth side due to the lower account balance, but still probably end up at the same place down the road once taxes are accounted for. Someone else has probably done the math on this though.
by gostars
Sun Sep 09, 2018 6:22 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: New Investor Seekng Advice
Replies: 6
Views: 811

Re: New Investor Seekng Advice

First off, welcome to the forum.

What do you ultimately plan to do with the money and in what timeframe? How much risk can you take with it? Would having additional income reduce any benefits you are currently receiving?
by gostars
Sun Sep 09, 2018 6:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: High Expense Employer Plan: Pre-Tax or Roth?
Replies: 5
Views: 667

Re: High Expense Employer Plan: Pre-Tax or Roth?

A 457b is often a secondary plan to a 403b or 401k. Do you have another option you could be using first?
by gostars
Sun Sep 09, 2018 6:15 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Recommendations on taxable account
Replies: 11
Views: 5411

Re: Recommendations on taxable account

andronikus wrote: Sun Sep 09, 2018 4:08 pm Right now my 401k is at Fidelity, in a Freedom 2045 target date fund. There are only 3 bond options available in my 401k, EVIBX(junk bond fund of some sort), FIBAX (treasuries I think), FBNDX(investment grade bonds).
Does your 401k offer BrokerageLink? If so, you could use that to hold FXNAX (aggregate bond index, equivalent to Vanguard total bond market). Taxable could then be used to hold a greater percentage of tax-efficient investments like total stock market and total international stock market.
by gostars
Sun Sep 09, 2018 5:26 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Empower 401k Investments
Replies: 9
Views: 1632

Re: Empower 401k Investments

Seems pretty reasonable given the otherwise poor fund choices. If you haven't already done so, check to see if your plan offers a self-directed brokerage account. I know some Empower plans have one available at Schwab, which gives you access to all of Schwab's ETFs and mutual funds without transaction fees or commissions, and just about anything else if you're willing to pay for it. That's often a much better deal than what is included in the base plan.
by gostars
Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:53 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Empower 401k Investments
Replies: 9
Views: 1632

Re: Empower 401k Investments

NEIAX tracks the S&P 500, NTIAX tracks the S&P MidCap 400, and NMSAX tracks the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. To approximate total stock market weight weights, it would be 83% NEIAX, 11% NTIAX, and 6% NMSAX. Your proposed allocation heavily overweights mid and small caps. Some people like to tilt their portfolios this way, but you should be aware of the implications of that if you're going to do it.
by gostars
Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Just got a new job, looking for a bit of advice on what to do
Replies: 8
Views: 1598

Re: Just got a new job, looking for a bit of advice on what to do

With my new income, I understand that I won't be able to contribute to a Roth IRA next year. It seems that everyone says the Roth IRA is the best thing ever, but I'm trying to figure out if it makes sense in my situation. If I expect my income to be significantly lower when I want to retire, wouldn't it make sense to contribute to a traditional IRA? Additionally, my new employer currently does not offer a 401k match (although it sounds like it's coming in a few years based on consistent employee feedback) or a HDHP (only one healthcare plan offered, and it's really good, but does not offer access to a HSA). Should I continue to contribute to my 401k (I'm assuming the answer is yes?). Should I go traditional or ROTH for 401k? Should I go tr...
by gostars
Sat Sep 08, 2018 9:54 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Can Sneakers go with Business Casual?
Replies: 172
Views: 15574

Re: Can Sneakers go with Business Casual?

Previous job (in IT) had a business casual dress code (khakis/polo shirts, jeans on Fridays and any days where grubby work was expected). Non-athletic sneakers were permitted as long as they were solid black and in good shape. I wore New Balance walking shoes and it was never an issue. Those Nikes the OP posted wouldn't have worked.
by gostars
Sat Sep 08, 2018 9:18 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Tax loss harvesting - wash sale rule
Replies: 76
Views: 5862

Re: Tax loss harvesting - wash sale rule

Assuming you're holding Vanguard Total Bond Market (BND/VBTLX/VBMFX), you could simply switch to the iShares AGG or Schwab SCHZ ETFs, which are also aggregate bond funds, but track a different index from Vanguard's (the one Vanguard uses is float-adjusted, the one iShares and Schwab use is not). The performance is close enough that they're interchangeable, but since the weightings are different, they aren't substantially identical.
by gostars
Sat Sep 08, 2018 8:59 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help Simplifying Portfolio
Replies: 16
Views: 2515

Re: Help Simplifying Portfolio

In your original post you listed what your regular contributions were, and taxable wasn't in there. If you've got $140k to invest now, then invest it all and be done with it. If in the future you find you have some excess cash you would like to invest, then invest it at that time. I would not use mutual funds at Schwab or Fidelity for taxable investing because they will have more tax drag than ETFs or Vanguard mutual funds. You can buy Vanguard ETFs at Merrill Edge. With free trades from the transfer bonus or Platinum Honors status, there is no commission to do so. A lot of us who use ME hold Vanguard ETFs there. I have a big chunk of VOO (S&P 500) there, left over from the days before I found this place, and also most of my internation...
by gostars
Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:20 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help Simplifying Portfolio
Replies: 16
Views: 2515

Re: Help Simplifying Portfolio

Roth at Schwab is perfectly fine. I wouldn't call Merrill Edge gimmicky. It's not like they've giving you useless junk like pens and calendars and coffee mugs. The bump to 5.25% on gas and 3.5% on groceries and warehouse clubs is a big chunk of my spending, and the 1.75% on everything else is good enough that I haven't bothered with the Citi or Fidelity 2% cards. If they do ever decide to do away with the bonuses, I'll just move it somewhere else. Someone else will pay a bonus for a 6 figure transfer. Fidelity is OK with free trades on the iShares ETFs (ITOT and IXUS), and they will give additional free trades for a transfer of that size. I would not hold their mutual funds in taxable; they do have some capital gains distributions that will...
by gostars
Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need help with Transamerica 401K
Replies: 9
Views: 2003

Re: Need help with Transamerica 401K

Please provide the expense ratios for each of the funds, as well as any fees the plan charges.

As a general rule, your best options will probably be the ones with "Index" in the name. SSgA U.S. Bond Index is a likely choice, as it tracks the Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index (similar to Vanguard Total Bond Market). Transamerica Partners Stock Index looks like an S&P 500 fund. SSgA Russell Small Cap Index looks like a Russell 2000 fund. SSgA International Index looks like an all-country large/mid-cap fund. The stable-value fund might be an option if it's got a good return (it probably doesn't).
by gostars
Fri Sep 07, 2018 6:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard adding commission free index funds, better core replacements?
Replies: 8
Views: 1544

Re: Vanguard adding commission free index funds, better core replacements?

ITOT is another comparable to VTI and SCHB. IVV is an S&P 500 fund and is comparable to VOO/VFIAX. SCHF is not a direct replacement for VXUS. SCHF is a developed market, large/mid-cap fund, so it excludes small caps and emerging markets, which explains the significantly lower ER. IXUS is the only low-cost direct competitor to VXUS. AGG is another comparable to BND and SCHZ. IAGG is comparable to BNDX. There are also SSGA funds that are comparable to VTI and BND (SPTM and SPAB) but they aren't nearly as well traded as the Vanguard, iShares, and Schwab options. A difference of .01% on the ER is basically a rounding error. IXUS has historically been slightly more tax efficient than VXUS, but otherwise there's really not a lot of difference...
by gostars
Fri Sep 07, 2018 6:29 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Which ETF in taxable? VIG, VYM or VTI
Replies: 13
Views: 5001

Re: Which ETF in taxable? VIG, VYM or VTI

You have to pay taxes on dividends in the tax year they are received. The taxes you pay create a slight drag, because you just lost 15% or more of of that money, and it isn't continuing to accumulate for the long term (this is why we almost always prefer investing in tax-advantaged accounts). If you're just looking to hold the fund for years with no changes, then the optimal thing would be to have no dividends at all so you pay no taxes until you decide to sell, or if you donate them to charity or pass them on to your heirs when you die, no taxes at all. There isn't really such a thing as a good diverse fund with no dividends, but total stock market funds like VTI generally produce less in dividends than funds like VIG and VYM that exist sp...
by gostars
Fri Sep 07, 2018 6:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wash sale rules
Replies: 9
Views: 827

Re: Wash sale rules

No. The same day is within the range of 30 days before to 30 days after.
by gostars
Fri Sep 07, 2018 4:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help Simplifying Portfolio
Replies: 16
Views: 2515

Re: Help Simplifying Portfolio

If you hold VTSAX in your Roth IRA, then hold VTI in taxable, those are substantially identical funds. If you make your Roth contribution for the year and buy VTSAX, then 2 weeks later the market craters and you want to tax-loss harvest the VTI, that would be a wash sale, and you would lose that much of the harvesting, and either have to take steps to avoid it (exchange all the VTSAX you just purchased into something else and then TLH the next day) or have a paperwork headache when you file taxes. Any hint of problems can be avoided by not owning funds that track the same index in both taxable and tax-advantaged. SWTSX and FSKAX track the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index, which to the best of my knowledge isn't tracked by any of the ...
by gostars
Fri Sep 07, 2018 3:22 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Build 401K and Live off Cash or Invest it in Vanguard? Help!
Replies: 32
Views: 3550

Re: Build 401K and Live off Cash or Invest it in Vanguard? Help!

The $18500 ($24500 with catch-up) employee elective contribution limit applies across all plans combined, so if you're maxing out employee contributions at the day job then you can't contribute as an employee to a solo 401k. The solo 401k would be limited to contributions on the employer side, which is is normally limited to 25% of employee compensation, with a good bit of math to figure out exactly how much that is once taxes figure in. In this case it probably end up being only a couple thousand a year, but if the goal is to maximize tax-advantaged space, it's one more way to do it.
by gostars
Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:52 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Build 401K and Live off Cash or Invest it in Vanguard? Help!
Replies: 32
Views: 3550

Re: Build 401K and Live off Cash or Invest it in Vanguard? Help!

Option 3 sounds fine to me, and I'd probably consider doing it for more than 3 years, unless you're planning to retire at that point. The only way that would be able to afford to continue maxing out the 401k and Roth IRA would be to continue drawing down the money market fund (and not investing it so that I am sure that it is there when I need it each year to cover my expenses---rent, lease, phone, etc.). The reason why I chose three years is so that I can get the best of both worlds----build up the 401k and Roth a little more while also getting some of the money market funds invested in stocks and bonds without worrying about it if the market goes down. After the three year year mark, I would go to a 10% contribution at my employer and li...
by gostars
Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:16 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Changing Bond Market ETFs
Replies: 4
Views: 920

Re: Changing Bond Market ETFs

SPAB and AGG track the exact same index, and BND tracks a variant of it. I don't see the point in changing.
by gostars
Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:03 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help Simplifying Portfolio
Replies: 16
Views: 2515

Re: Help Simplifying Portfolio

Welcome to the forums. Unless the current 401k plan charges AUM fees or doesn't accept rollovers, I would roll the 403b into the 401k. The fund options in the 401k are excellent and I don't see any particular need to keep separate accounts. The money you have in taxable, is that solely for retirement, or are you planning to use it on a house or something? If it's not being used for retirement, keep it entirely separate. I'll provide some numbers here assuming that the $140k in taxable is for retirement. Total Portfolio - $220k 401k - $57.6k $44k - VBTIX $13.6k - SWTSX Roth IRA - $14.4k - I would move to Fidelity, Vanguard, or Schwab $14.4k - total US stock market fund (FSKAX or FZROX at Fidelity, VTSAX at Vanguard, SWTSX at Schwab) Taxable ...
by gostars
Thu Sep 06, 2018 11:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Build 401K and Live off Cash or Invest it in Vanguard? Help!
Replies: 32
Views: 3550

Re: Build 401K and Live off Cash or Invest it in Vanguard? Help!

Option 3 sounds fine to me, and I'd probably consider doing it for more than 3 years, unless you're planning to retire at that point.
by gostars
Thu Sep 06, 2018 12:44 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity 3 Funds Portfolio for my 401k
Replies: 8
Views: 2451

Re: Fidelity 3 Funds Portfolio for my 401k

I would suggest reaching out to the HR/benefits department at your employer, or whoever is responsible for selecting the funds, and asking them to work with Fidelity to add the US Bond Index fund. It's extremely common to find this in Fidelity 401k plans, to the point that I'm a bit surprised that yours doesn't offer it.
by gostars
Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:47 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help w/3 Fund Selections from Employer
Replies: 16
Views: 1865

Re: Help w/3 Fund Selections from Employer

If they're still tacking on the .65% then all it really changes is giving you VTSAX (total US stock market) instead of needing to split into S&P 500 and extended market, and adding VTIAX as an international option. Bonds are still kind of a tossup. The .65% you'd pay in expenses on the 403b is roughly equal to what you'd be paying in taxes on a 3% return in a 22% marginal tax bracket, and the last time I checked the yields, municipal bonds don't return enough in that tax bracket to be a superior option. If rates climb, that favors holding in the 403b, but if they decline, that favors holding in taxable. If that IRA you have at EJ is traditional, once I moved it from EJ to Fidelity or Vanguard I would use that to hold as much of the bond...
by gostars
Tue Sep 04, 2018 3:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Earn 1.5% on your checking account without the usual hoops (at Fidelity)
Replies: 72
Views: 19461

Re: Earn 1.5% on your checking account without the usual hoops (at Fidelity)

A traditional bond mutual fund delivers returns in 2 different ways, both in the yield it provides and in the changing value of the underlying assets, as reflected in the NAV (share price). Each day that the NAV is calculated, the fraction of the ER belonging to that day is factored in and decreases the NAV ever so slightly. Since the NAV of a money market fund is always (barring catastrophe) $1, the only return it provides is the interest, and the expenses are taken from them. What you actually receive is the published yield. So, for a published 7 day/SEC yield of 1.85% and 0.3% ER, that means the fund actually made 2.15%, kept 0.3% for expenses, then returned 1.85% to investors. If the ER was 0.4% and the fund still made the same amount, ...
by gostars
Tue Sep 04, 2018 2:44 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: First Steps w/ Roth IRA
Replies: 10
Views: 1685

Re: First Steps w/ Roth IRA

To be honest, if I only had a single account, I'd stick with a target date index fund for now. Since it's an IRA, you can make changes to your holdings with no tax consequences. Start with a target date fund, then in a few years when you add a 401k and maybe a taxable brokerage account, you can slice and dice to make optimal use of the different account types. Tax loss harvesting isn't a thing in an IRA, so don't worry about that. The difference in expense ratios between slicing and dicing and using a target date index fund is a tenth of a percent, not one percent. One percent adds up to real money over time. One tenth of a percent is probably less than the difference between buying today vs buying tomorrow, or in picking one index over ano...
by gostars
Mon Sep 03, 2018 12:36 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Earn 1.5% on your checking account without the usual hoops (at Fidelity)
Replies: 72
Views: 19461

Re: Earn 1.5% on your checking account without the usual hoops (at Fidelity)

I'm trying to learn as much as I can about this stuff :) ...Don't Money Market Funds pay dividends, those would need to be accounted for on a 1099 correct? Yes, you'll pay tax on the dividends, no different from any other savings or checking account interest. Unrelated question, but since I'm posting: for those who hold entirely in SPRXX or FZDXX instead of SPAXX, are you worried about possibly having your primary account unavailable if redemptions are temporarily suspended due to a run on the fund? I don't mind having an EF in Vanguard Prime MM since I can use cash and cards to survive a temporary hold, but I pay my rent and credit card bills out of checking, and if that suddenly isn't available because the fund is temporarily closed, tha...
by gostars
Sun Sep 02, 2018 11:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help w/3 Fund Selections from Employer
Replies: 16
Views: 1865

Re: Help w/3 Fund Selections from Employer

The extra expenses. If it was just the fund expenses, it would be a good plan. The 3 funds I listed from Vanguard, Fidelity, and PIMCO would be enough to make a Boglehead investor happy if there were no extra fees. With the extra fees, we would still use it for the tax advantages, but grumble about it and try to get it improved. That extra .65% adds up to huge sums of money over 25 years. It might be hard to get rid of fees entirely, but cutting it in half would probably be well into the 5 figures in difference of what you would have accumulated by retirement.
by gostars
Sun Sep 02, 2018 11:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Requesting Guidance/Advice for Rebalancing and De-Risking a 7-Figure Portfolio (TD Ameritrade)
Replies: 5
Views: 953

Re: Requesting Guidance/Advice for Rebalancing and De-Risking a 7-Figure Portfolio (TD Ameritrade)

SPAB is the no-commission ETF equivalent of the Vanguard Total Bond Index fund available at TDA, and is a reasonable choice to use.

Personally, I'd rather move the whole thing to Fidelity, because I think they have the widest range and lowest cost options for tax-advantaged investing. FXNAX is the aggregate bond fund index, FIPDX for TIPS, FUMBX for short-term treasuries, and there are others available. If you're moving over a 7 figure portfolio, they'll also give you enough free trades to sell out of whatever you have without having to pay commissions, and will refund the transfer fee TDA will charge you if you call and ask them to. The fees may not amount to much, but why pay anything when you can instead pay nothing?
by gostars
Sun Sep 02, 2018 10:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Help w/3 Fund Selections from Employer
Replies: 16
Views: 1865

Re: Help w/3 Fund Selections from Employer

80% Vngrd 500 Index Fd AS + 20% Fid SpartExtdMktIndxAdvtg would give you total stock market. NW Intl Indx A is the only international fund I would consider, and that's only if the initial purchase fee is waived in the plan. PIMCO Ttl Rtn Inst is a decent bond fund in spite of the relatively high ER. I would prefer a low-cost aggregate bond index fund, but in the absence of that, I wouldn't mind using PIMCO Total Return. However, given how crappy your plan is in general, fees are going to eat a lot of the returns there, so I'd probably stick to the stock funds and hold bonds elsewhere. I'd also complain long and loud to whoever is responsible for picking the retirement plan, because that is a lousy plan.
by gostars
Sun Sep 02, 2018 10:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to move Directv box from one room to another without paying directv to come out
Replies: 9
Views: 8225

Re: How to move Directv box from one room to another without paying directv to come out

The coax connector in the current room is connected to the Direct TV satellite dish. The coax in the second room might just be connected to your cable tv distribution. At ten years this is most likely RG-59 and the connection panel combined might be too much attenuation for the satellite signal Note: The satellite signal strength is lower than standard cable TV signal strength. Satellite signals are usually carried on RG-6/7 with much lower attenuation than the RG-58/59 common in most home cable TV distribution systems. RG-6 was already becoming the norm 20 years ago, because digital cable, cable modems, and digital satellite were becoming widespread at that point. If a builder was still running RG-59 10 years ago, then I'm surprised the h...
by gostars
Sun Sep 02, 2018 9:56 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Any Bogleheads invest in Fidelity Select Retail and Select Software I.T.
Replies: 4
Views: 1133

Re: Any Bogleheads invest in Fidelity Select Retail and Select Software I.T.

The fees are pretty horrible at .73% for FSCSX (Software and IT) and .78% for FSRPX (Retailing). If you want sector funds, and I'm not saying they're a good idea, there are far cheaper options, like FTEC/VGIT for tech and FDIS/VCR for consumer discretionary (smilar holdings to retailing).

Comparing returns of funds that excel in bull markets over what has been a nearly 10 year bull run is serious cherrypicking. If/when FAANG+M go on a serious downturn, those funds in particular are going to get crushed because of how much they rely on those few companies. The entire market as a whole will feel it too, but not quite as bad since there are others that can help carry it.
by gostars
Sun Sep 02, 2018 9:14 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Can a 403b convert to Mega backdoor Roth?
Replies: 9
Views: 3137

Re: Can a 403b convert to Mega backdoor Roth?

A mega backdoor Roth IRA is where you make after-tax contributions to a 401k, then while still employed make a distribution of that money and roll it in to a Roth IRA. There isn't a conversion involved on the contributions; however, any gains it makes would be considered pre-tax and would either need to be rolled to a traditional IRA or converted to Roth IRA money. This whole process is only possible if the plan explicitly allows both after-tax contributions and in-service distributions. These are often not part of the default plan document that forms the basis of what most employers end up with, and have to be explicitly requested by whoever is responsible for maintaining the retirement plans. You'll need to find and read your plan documen...
by gostars
Sun Sep 02, 2018 5:41 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: First Steps w/ Roth IRA
Replies: 10
Views: 1685

Re: First Steps w/ Roth IRA

Do you have any other investments for retirement, like a workplace 401k? If you have multiple accounts, then you may want to divide things up for optimal results. If the Roth IRA is all you have, then obviously everything would go there. For what it's worth, at 22, I would consider an 80/20 allocation insufficiently aggressive. I would be 100/0 or 95/5 at that age and hitting 80/20 somewhere around age 35. Typical choices at Fidelity are total US stock market (FSKAX or FZROX), total international stock market (FTIHX), and the US bond index (FXNAX). The target date funds are also a good choice, just make sure you get the Index one at the lower ER, not the higher-cost non-Index version.
by gostars
Sun Sep 02, 2018 5:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: BofA/Merrill Edge or Chase Sapphire Banking/CPC?
Replies: 59
Views: 12639

Re: BofA/Merrill Edge or Chase Sapphire Banking/CPC?

Was just searching for info on cash sweep options at ME and saw other threads from the past reference BIF - but a big change coming in that area this week: https://advisorhub.com/merrill-to-shift-client-cash-into-bofa-accounts-and-away-from-cash/ So staying invested is ideal - but have to pay the fees on trades for at least 3 months until the rewards kick in. Not a huge deal since i invest instead of trade, but deal with fees for 3 months doesn't help - no MMF sweep doesn't help. But then the transfer offer - think it is $250 at $100k+ makes up for that I guess. They don't make it easy.. would have to meet with them and discuss.. May first deal with Chase and handle this one later. Wanted to thank everyone on the forum for their insights o...
by gostars
Fri Aug 31, 2018 8:39 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Help Us Pick a Lot to Build On - Which Neighborhood Option?
Replies: 19
Views: 2476

Re: Help Us Pick a Lot to Build On - Which Neighborhood Option?

Mr. Gatti wrote: Fri Aug 31, 2018 2:03 pm Houses range from $325K-$500K. ..... Overall quote to build plus lot from this builder is $540K.
I would be wary of owning the most expensive home in a subdivision when it comes time to sell. Buyers will look at sales of nearby homes and not want to pay a premium, even if said house is demonstrably worth the premium
by gostars
Thu Aug 30, 2018 10:40 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Roth IRA vs 403(b) Plan
Replies: 7
Views: 1004

Re: Roth IRA vs 403(b) Plan

If the 403(b) has a Roth option, that might be the best, at least if it has good fund choices and no fees besides fund ERs. Higher contribution limit than an IRA, and for many it's easier to deal with a smaller paycheck due to a payroll deduction than it is to watch money constantly drained from the bank to fund the IRA.
by gostars
Thu Aug 30, 2018 2:41 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Chase Bank Bonus Deposit/Withdrawal Timing Inquiry
Replies: 14
Views: 1509

Re: Chase Bank Bonus Deposit/Withdrawal Timing Inquiry

I just did the $300 checking bonus. $500 and change sent from Vanguard (money market) on 8/15, posted on 8/17, bonus credited on 8/28, moved $800+change out on 8/29. Planning to bounce $500 through it monthly to meet the requirements, but otherwise just keep some change in the account. I don't see anything in the rules that requires that the money be kept in the account for the checking bonus, as long as you meet the monthly $500 direct deposit rule to avoid a fee. I also don't see any reason why once the direct deposit is completed you can't just move it right back out. That's what I'm planning to do.
by gostars
Thu Aug 30, 2018 2:15 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need advice on how to save more
Replies: 11
Views: 1698

Re: Need advice on how to save more

HSA, if available. And I would investigate what it would take to sell out of some of those options. Huge chunk of the portfolio+primary source of income all in one place is less than ideal, but if you're stuck waiting on vesting or something then you might just have to live with it and pray the company does well.
by gostars
Thu Aug 30, 2018 2:00 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Legal subtleties between SEP vs. tIRA vs Rollover IRA
Replies: 2
Views: 575

Re: Legal subtleties between SEP vs. tIRA vs Rollover IRA

As I understand it, from the IRS's perspective, a traditional IRA and a rollover IRA are the same thing. Historically, there was a distinction between them which affected rollovers to other plans, but that distinction was eliminated long ago. Some small percentage of plans still follows the old rules and does not permit incoming rollovers from accounts that aren't straight workplace plans or titled as rollover, but these are very much in the minority and most plans now allow incoming rollovers of any pre-tax money. There may be some states that do not protect IRAs from bankruptcy claims, but most extend them the same protections that are available to other retirement accounts. I personally would not put too much effort into keeping the mone...