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SpringMan

Our 40/60 portfolio has gradually been shifting towards 50/50 because we take RMDs from bonds and invest it in Tax Managed Small Cap fund in our taxable account.

SpringMan

Generally I prefer mutual funds but there are good reasons for ETFs. Many Vanguard sector specific index funds have 100K minimums for admiral shares, their ETF shares can be purchased in any integer share amount. REITs are the exception with 10K minimums for admiral class. Perhaps another case for u...

SpringMan

Of course these scammers are not really Microsoft, they usually say they are with Windows technical support implying Microsoft. I tell them how strange this is since I am using a Mac at which time they hangup. They often direct users to the event manager which normally has some errors. They often ca...

SpringMan

What was the computer glitch this morning? I had a Vanguard computer glitch this morning too, 3/27/2018. Maybe the OP's was different. Yesterday I bought a fund in our joint taxable account with what was in our settlement. The money in the settlement account was from an RMD that showed up from a sa...

SpringMan

Also Wellington fund admiral just raised their expense ratio by a whopping one basis point from .16% to .17%

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SpringMan

I am taking my RMDs in quarterly installments and having tax withholding deducted from each. I was surprised by the way VBS handles state of MI. withholding. I put in 3% in the field and executed the transaction. They took out 4.5%. Why doesn't VBS validate the field upon data entry if it is not acc...

SpringMan

Speaking of playing little games, TurboTax is guilty of that too in my opinion. I got fooled a few years ago. Here is what to watch out for with the TT Deluxe package. When filing the state using efile, don't let them pay for the efile with money from your refund. There is an extra fee for this on t...

SpringMan

Financial advisors paid according to assets under management, AUM, may not give objective advise. Bad advise may benefit them. Questions on taking a pension or a lump sum settlement when the lump sum goes to AUM. Similarly true for any lump sum windfall. If asked should I pay down a mortgage or inve...

SpringMan

I noticed yahoo finance recognizes VEGBX, Vanguard Emerging Markets Bond fund admiral, as Van Kampen Equity Growth B. with same symbol? By the way, Morningstar finally has added VEGBX to its database as the Vanguard Emerging Markets Bond fund.

SpringMan

How about the Wellington and Wellesely funds? Those names don't seem to mean much at all. (Disclaimer: haven't invested in them.) They are not ETFs. Those are fine - as you said they don't mean anything. If you want to know what it means you need to crack open the prospectus. The SEC is more worrie...

SpringMan

I had this problem shortly after VBS posted the 1099 form on the web. I just assumed I was too early and entered the information manually. Warning, I imported my Fidelity by downloading into TT. It was successful but had me as the sole owner of a joint account. This was easy to fix manually.

SpringMan

randomizer wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:36 pm
How about the Wellington and Wellesely funds? Those names don't seem to mean much at all. (Disclaimer: haven't invested in them.)

They are not ETFs.

SpringMan

Any chance you have a working spouse? If so that opens up IRA possibilities for a spousal IRA contribution for yourself. This could be a Roth or traditional your choice.

SpringMan

Not currently, my fingers out grew my 1970 era wedding band. Ditto for my college ring which I bought in 1969. Ditto for my wife too. She had hers made bigger but due to arthritis in her knuckles she can't wear them. We are both okay with no rings, been married over 47 years.

SpringMan

There is not anyway to avoid a taxable event going from ETFs to mutual funds assuming the holdings are in a taxable account. There is no such thing as an ETF to mutual fund conversion. Going the other direction for many Vanguard index funds (but not all) a conversion is possible and it is not a taxa...

SpringMan

My VEGBX dividend just showed up too.

SpringMan

I bought VEGBX last week in a Roth. Our stock/bond target needed to be rebalanced due to the recent equity run up. Morningstar does not recognize VEGBX (admiral shares) but does recognize VEMBX (investor shares). They have been notified, in the meantime I use VEMBX for portfolio xray purposes. Spri...

SpringMan

I like VBIAX slightly better of the two but Wellington fund is my personal choice for a Vanguard moderate balanced fund. These funds are best held in a tax advantaged account or if in a low tax bracket, otherwise there is a Tax Managed Balanced fund that is very good.

SpringMan

In retirement since 2004.

39% Stocks (28% international, 72% domestic)
21 20 24
8 9 9
3 3 2

61% Bonds (primarily domestic VBTLX, with some emerging markets, VEGBX, and some PIMIX, PIMCO Income)
0 35 0
0 22 0
12 0 0

SpringMan

After being fully retired for several years I decided to take a part time job with a food catering company to keep myself occupied. That qualifies me for a Roth IRA so part of my RMD pays state and federal taxes, part into a Roth and the rest into Vanguard personal account . Not your situation but ...

SpringMan

If you go with a single fund solution, consider you may not need VPAS anymore.

SpringMan

I had an appointment with my primary care doctor and found out at the last minute my wife had accidentally taken off with my car keys as well as her own. I called his office, explained the situation and rescheduled. There was no charge even though there is a sign displayed in his office about fees f...

SpringMan

I bought the TT Deluxe CD with one state form for $40. My CD reader on my old desktop stopped working so I looked at the download version. The CD version was $40 and the download version was $50 on Amazon which makes no sense to me. I bought a $20 external USB optical drive and the TT disk loaded fi...

SpringMan

Nothing wrong with this fund but cheaper Vanguard equivalents are available. I am a Michigan resident and have considered FMHTX, Fidelity Michigan Municipal Income fund, with ER of .49% because Vanguard does not offer a Michigan state specific fund. Have not pulled the trigger yet.

SpringMan

No but maybe by doing so you could hold all your bond allocation in your IRAs and not bother with tax exempts in you taxable account.

SpringMan

The alternative is two funds instead of one with 50% in each. If Emerald City is in a state with an income tax, consider a state specific municipal bond fund for that state. Stock fund could be total stock market. Doing two funds may give you more tax loss harvesting possibilities. Also consider an ...

SpringMan

I bought VEGBX last week in a Roth. Our stock/bond target needed to be rebalanced due to the recent equity run up. Morningstar does not recognize VEGBX (admiral shares) but does recognize VEMBX (investor shares). They have been notified, in the meantime I use VEMBX for portfolio xray purposes.

SpringMan

They are talking about ETFs which they say are untested. I do remember the "flash crash" which miss-priced many ETFs. I owned VG Large Cap index fund, VLACX, which has ETF share class VV. VV went nuts during the trading day but the mutual fund VLCAX was fine at the end of the day. Regarding FAANG st...

SpringMan

If you have been investing for a long time it certainly is possible to make seven figures in earnings. The rule of 72 says divide the rate of return into 72 and that is how long it takes money to double.

SpringMan

Congrats but my guess is you don't mean total gains of $1M but rather account value which includes original cost basis plus gains/losses.

SpringMan

Small caps over time returned a couple percent more than large caps albeit with more risk. Mid caps over time return somewhere in between. I would not say tilting is wise but nothing wrong with it. Personal preference as nothing wrong with simple either. Only use a tax advantaged account for REITs i...

SpringMan

Suggestion would be that the OP edit the title of their post if they really don't have an allocation of 21 M. I was a bit curious how a child of poor alcoholic parents inherited 21 million.

SpringMan

Our tax deferred accounts are all bond funds. Our taxable accounts are all index stock funds both domestic and foreign. Our Roths contain some bonds too, Wellesley income for example. Overall we are 60/40, bonds to stocks (age-10 in bonds).

SpringMan

Nationwide is on your side. Was there ever a better sign that a company is not, if fact "on your side"? https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/11/21/elderly-couple-suing-police-nationwide-insurance-after-hibiscus-gets-mistaken-for-marijuana-growing-operation/23284583/ Nationwide was not on their side.

SpringMan

Seems like converting an IRA to a Roth now requires using the MM settlement account rather than in-kind conversion at VBS. Try to verify this. I just tested an exchange of shares in a Vg fund from taxable to ROTH and it appeared it was allowed. (I didn't actually submit the trade request.) I verifi...

SpringMan

Vanguard's Tax Managed Balanced fund, VTMFX, is 50% US stocks and 50% tax exempt bonds might fit. The down side of not holding pure stock funds or pure TE bond funds in a taxable account is you may lose tax loss harvesting possibilities and more difficulty rebalancing.

SpringMan

Almost all ETFs pay dividends, so if you mean the dividend-paying Total US Stock Market index ETF like VTI or ITOT or the Total International Stock Market Index ETF like VXUS or ACWX, then Yes! It is very wise to have such ETFs in your taxable account if they will not fit into your Roth IRA or your...

SpringMan

You lose some options when going to a VG Brokerage account but you gain some too. I never cared for the multiple accounts web presentation when you hold ETFs (even Vanguard's free to trade ones). I always preferred Fidelity's presentation. I was happy to convert to VG Brokerage. In doing the convers...

SpringMan

After being fully retired for several years I decided to take a part time job with a food catering company to keep myself occupied. That qualifies me for a Roth IRA so part of my RMD pays state and federal taxes, part into a Roth and the rest into Vanguard personal account . Not your situation but ...

SpringMan

Our first RMD was this year. It was my spouse's. Next year we both have RMDs. Mine is almost 4 times hers. Federal taxes were withheld and the remainder reinvested in a joint taxable account. Coincidentally we made an equal contribution to our grandkids college plans

SpringMan

I don't feel comfortable if long term care is in our future. Do not have LTC insurance because of negatives I have heard. There is risk associated with self insuring. I think this is a concern for those even with insurance. Mad Money's host Jim Cramer claimed it cost him more in lawyer's fees than t...

SpringMan

Tax Managed Balanced fund may make more sense IMO if one is using a taxable account. It is 50/50 stock/bond rather than 60/40.

SpringMan

As a GM retiree I get an employee discount. I also get a Chrysler discount through one of my sons. We test drove a Dodge Journey and the Equinox. I did not like the dealer/salesman tactics and the high doc fee that the Dodge dealer wanted to charge. My sister has a Honda CRV and has been good for he...

SpringMan

I have a friend that sold all his taxable account stocks a couple years ago locking in his profits. Because of this one year income bump, he and his jointly filing spouse were hit with higher medicare payments. This came as a complete surprise to them though it should not have. He never got back in ...

SpringMan

I am a fan of PRIMECAP fund. Held it for years but sold it when I started obsessing about low expense ratios. Bought it back recently in my wife's Roth. It is limited to 25K per year so I am waiting to add another 25K for admiral shares. Ditto for Capital Opportunity fund. I like PRIMECAP Core as we...

SpringMan

In a state with an income tax, I might use a state specific tax exempt bond fund. Unfortunately Vanguard does not have a Michigan TE bond fund. Fidelity does have such a fund, FMHTX but the ER is .49%. I am torn between a national Vanguard Tax Exempt fund with a decent ER and the MI Tax Exempt bond ...

SpringMan

Fidelity's website does not mention free turbo tax as a benefit. If this benefit exists for larger accounts you would think they would advertise it.

SpringMan

Retired at 57 and am now 70. I still have PTSD from my years of working for EDS (Electronic Data Systems). I had a good job at of GM in 1984 when GM bought EDS and transferred their computer people to EDS. Though at the time EDS was a wholly owned subsidiary of GM, it had its own set of inferior ben...

SpringMan

Be sure to check that the TV actually has a tuner builtin. IMO any TV without a tuner should be called a monitor and not a TV but some brands don't do that. Many folks want to get over the air TV with an antenna and keep the option of cord cutting open. Today I would probably go for 4K and HDR but s...

SpringMan

Fidelity does not offer free TT either. Last year Fidelity offered a discount on TT. When I looked into it, I could get the same discount from Amazon so no big deal. Maybe Fidelity has different perks for super sized accounts. I am more minnow sized than whale sized.

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