Bogleheads.org

@KenKat - ah, yes, the portfolio link to update in real time. Thank you! I had forgotten about that!

@KenKat - Yes, you are correct, I can manually input a specific bond using M*, but the pricing will not automatically adjust day-to-day. My goal is to build a bond ladder and have the pricing adjust automatically in the portfolio. Manually adjusting the pricing for 10+ bonds is tedious. Hence the need for a CUSIP. Thoughts?

Hi!
I've been using the M* portfolio tracker for years. Currently, I'd like to add some individual government bonds and find that the M* portfolio tracker is unable to use a CUSIP. Of course, Vanguard's "Portfolio Watch" can track it, but that tool isn't as helpful as the M* one.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a robust portfolio tracker (hopefully free or low cost) that can use a CUSIP?

Many thanks!

Thank you! That's what I thought.

Hi,
I can't seem to get a straight answer from the websites I've looked at, so I thought I would ask the experts here...

Here's my background...

1) I am recently, fully retired. While I may pick up a part time job at some point, I have no plans to contribute to a 401K moving forward.
2) I am 66 and I don't plan on taking RMDs until I have to when I am 73.
3) At Vanguard, I have a traditional IRA, a rollover traditional IRA (with a zero balance that I set up years ago) and a Roth IRA.
4) I've decided not to do anything like Roth conversions, backdoor Roth's, etc.
5) I currently have an existing, traditional, tax deferred 401K at my previous employer that I want to move to Vanguard.

Question....

1) I have the option of moving the 401K to ...

Thank you all for the great perspectives! It helps me get a handle on the situation

Hi All,
My wife and I just retired so employment income is now zero, and I am delaying SS until I am 70, about 3 years from now. The portfolio, however, has ample investments - cash, bond funds, stock funds in about a 60% stock and 40% bond allocation - for us for the rest of our lives and well beyond. No issues there. We hold pretty standard accounts - 401K, Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, brokerages, etc. We are both in good health.

As I look at M* Lifetime Portfolio allocations, the moderate and aggressive portfolios for 2025 have TIPS at about 8.8% and 6% respectively. The Vanguard Target Allocation fund for 2025 has TIPS at 6.8%. These data points suggest to me that I should have at least some allocation to TIPS, but I am unsure if I ...

Thank you for the insight. When I look at M* X-ray, for my portfolio, Large Value and Large Core are slightly overweight and Large Growth is a bit underweight when compared to VTSAX. Mid and small caps are pretty much "spot on" so eliminating IVOO would, indeed, blow a hole in the portfolio. I don't think I would have looked at it that way. Appreciate it!

Hi All,

A question about valuation of IVOO (Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 ETF). Retirement for me is at the end of the year (I will be close to 67). My exposure to stocks right now is about 63% and my goal is 60%. IVOO is held in a traditional IRA and represents about 3.7% of my total portfolio. I wish to rebalance back to around 60% stocks and redeploy the IVOO funds into bonds. All other aspects of the financial plan - wills, trusts, debt, mortgage, living expenses, low-cost index funds (mostly) etc., etc., are in good order.

Currently, M* and others are saying small cap and also value are undervalued and investment in these areas may be prudent. Understood that is a bit of market timing and "Mr. Market" would say that IVOO is priced fairly ...

many thanks to all for the insights and commetary!

Hi there,

I am seeking to create a "hands off" automatic porfolio for a taxable account. I've more or less landed on the Vanguard Life Strategy Conservative Growth Fund (VSCGX). I could have picked Vanguard Tax Managed Balanced (VTMFX) but it's municipal bonds and a US centric portfolio which isn't exactly as diversified as I'd like.

Background
1) I am doing this for my wife for when I am no longer around.
2) Understood that this is not tax efficient and that it would be better to manage 2 or 3 more tax efficient funds, rebalance as needed and do tax loss harvesting. Additionally, when I sell, I know I'm selling stocks and bonds at the same time.
3) Wife has no interest in managing a portfolio and wouldn't do it. Even if it was M1 or ...

Hi All,

I need some help please. I am looking for an "all-in-one" fund that's a balance of 50% stocks and 50% bonds. There is Vanguard Tax Managed Balanced (VTMFX) that pretty much fits the bill, but it's all municipal bonds and the stocks are US focused. Probably not something for a tax-sheltered account. Is there anything else from Vanguard, iShares, etc.?

Understood there are some (Life Strategy, Wellington, Wellesley, etc.) that are kind of close with a 40% or 60% allocation. I could also do something sort of automatically with the Fidelity Basket Portfolio service at $4.99 monthly (this service strikes me as a gimmick, and I don't know if it will be around 20+ years from now). There are the Vanguard target retirement funds that are ...

WOW! Many thanks to all. My eyes are now wide open. Appreciate it!

[thread moved to Personal Consumer Issues - moderator prudent]

In a few short years, it will be time for Medicare for me. I see the infomercials for Medicare Advantage Plans - they throw in dental, gym membership, vision, drugs, an extra $1,000 to use on whatever medical items you want like hearing aids, etc. etc.. It sure looks enticing versus the standard Medicare Part A, Part B, Part D and then another Medicare Gap policy that you have buy on your own and it doesn't cover some items like dental. Lots of moving pieces for Standard Medicare with apparently less benefits vs. the easy Medicare Advantage plan with lots of stuff. There are even Medicare Advantage plan "counselors" to steer me to the "best" Medicare Advantage plan for me ...

Many thanks to all for the great insights! This is the answer I was looking for!
Livesoft said this: "I believe there is a Form that you fill out and send to Medicare to inform Medicare that while you are 65-and-over that you are still employed and using your employer's health insurance."
I am not familiar with this form - does anyone have information about it?

The form contemplates an "excess contribution for the calendar year." Given the situation, all contributions for the calendar year would be under the IRS maximum. It is silent about whether or not the Medicare "look back" period contributions would be consider "excess contributions" because they would all be contributions under the normal IRS calendar maximum. In rethinking the question, I suppose it's this - "Are contributions, which are in violation of the Medicare 6 month look back period, considered "excess" and are therefore eligible for withdrawal to essentially "fix" the excess to align with the 6-month Medicare look back period?" Any thoughts are most appreciated.

[Topic is now in Personal Finance (Not Investing) - mod mkc]

Hi,

I'm not exactly sure how to approach a potential HSA/Medicare issue...

1) I contribute to an HSA and my employer kicks in some also each quarter.

2) While I'm over 65, I am fully employed, insured through my employer via a high deductible plan and not taking Social Security.

3) It's always possible I (or anyone else) could be laid off at a moments notice forcing me to switch to Medicare.

4) Medicare has a 6 month "look back" period where if I contributed to an HSA during that period, the IRS penalizes me. COBRA doesn't count if I use it as my insurance in the intervening 6 months - I would still be penalized. I guess I could use Obamacare as a fill in or switch to my ...

Many thanks to all for the insightful perspectives - much to think about, and I sincerely appreciate it!

Hello!
While I try to track to the 3-fund philosophy, the pull of Vanguard Dividend Growth (VDIGX) is strong, and I have been an investor in VDIGX for years.

In March, Vanguard announced a new manager - Peter Fisher, will be taking over for long-time manager, Don Kilbride. M* reduced the manager rating by 1 notch to above average for the manager although it still maintained the fund's gold rating. My Fisher has very strong credentials and is said to continue the current fund strategy. What I really like is that he and Mr. Kilbride also have over $1 million invested in the fund. If you look the ETF, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index (VIG), the managers don't have as strong credentials and don't have a dime invested in the fund.

I'm ...

Many thanks for the quick and strong guidance - really appreciate it!

I've used M*'s X-Ray feature for years as I am paid subscriber. I REALLY like that if offers some basic guidance such as ..."your portfolio is aggressive" or "you have a lot invested in emerging markets", etc.

I recent months, M* is migrating everyone to their new Morningstar Investor platform and the X-Ray feature looks really pretty, but the commentary about the portfolio is abscent. The new platform is really dumbed down.

Is their an alternative that will not only track your investments but also provide some commentary? Vanguard's "portfolio watch" sort of does that but I find the information kind of sketchy. For instance, for Dodge & Cox Income (DODIX), Vanguard's "portfolio watch" says about 37% of DODIX's portfolio is in low ...

Hi -
I used to use M*'s tax cost ratio comparison tool that would give 1, 3, 5 and 10 year tax cost ratios for various funds and you could compare them also. That appears to be long gone and M* now only provides the 3 year ratio.

I am looking for a similar comparison tool that gives similiar 1, 3, 5 and 10 year tax cost ratios.

Some thoughts...
1) Understood that this tool on M* is (or was) a blunt instrument
2) That the M* tax cost ratio is often wrong because it doesn't include qualified distributions.
3) That I can and should do it myself and apply my particular tax situation.

I found that the M* tool though was convenient and offered at least a rough "first cut" in winnowing down a pool of potential funds. If a fund's ratio was say ...

Hi - MANY THANKS for the great discussion and recommendations! I knew about some of them, but I appreciate understanding the personal experience with them. Some I didn't know about and will give them a good look. In the end, I decided to start working with Mark Zoril at PlanVision. While I will still work on the DIY aspect with the great tools that were suggested, I think there is a lot of value in working with someone, one-to-one, and for them to say something like...."You know that assumption you've been making for the past 10 years with all your DIY tools? Well, it's wrong and here's why." ...and maybe Mark will say something like..."Well done!" Who knows, but it's very much worth getting another set of eyes on it.
Thank you all!

Hello Friends!

I came across this interesting Morningstar article about managing retirement withdrawal strategies to at least minimize the "tax torpedo" when I start making RMD's. Here is the article: https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1077620/how-retirees-can-avoid-the-tax-torpedo

My finanicial life is a bit complex and my overarching goal is to maximize social security (age 70 retirement) and withdrawal only the RMD and nothing more. Between my wife and I, we have 2 Roth IRA's, 2 traditional IRA's, a 403b, a 401k, an employee stock purchase plan allowing a 15% discount, an HSA and two non-retirement brokerage accounts. Our debt consists of only a fixed rate 30-year mortgage (2.875%) that would normally be paid off in 2050, but we are ...

Hi
I hold Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund (VFWAX). If I read the news correctly, FTSE is removing Russia from its index and, I think, Vanguard has to adjust VFWAX to accomodate that. Russia accounts for a tiny portion of VFWAX - about .4%. So if Russia is elimated, is it the same as those Russian holdings going to $0 and the price of VFWAX just goes down accordingly?

Thanks!

Hi - my wife worked for a hospital and contributed to a 403B. Her employer also has another account for her and they call it a "savings plan." I think it's some type of a pension. She doesn't contribute to that one, but her employer does. She is 100% vested in both accounts and both are well over $5K. My wife is in her very early 50's.

In mid-November, she resigned from the hospital and they paid out unused vacation and she is no longer an employee. We've been in contact with the custodian of the funds. The custodian is allowing a rollover transfer and they are combining both accounts (403B and savings plan) and are ready to do a trustee-to-trustee rollover to her IRA at Vanguard.

Yesterday, she accepted an offer from another division of ...

Thank you all for the very thoughful replies!

This is awesome, thank you! It appears that "IE" isn't available in the US as when I search for it on M* and elsewhere, nothing show up. When I click the link provided, I can see the description and quote, but the quote is in Euros, which makes me think I can't get it in the US. Thoughts?

Hi All,
I am looking for a fund that tracks to all (or most) developed markets, including US. I'm trying to keep things simple and am not excited about EM. I found an index for it - MSCI Developed Markets Index - but I can't find a mutual fund or ETF that tracks to it. It doesn't have to be this particular index, just a fund that tracks developed markets, including US.

Any recommendations from Vanguard or other providers?

Thanks!!

Hi - I've used BrigthScope's 401K rating tool for several years and find it useful. Today, I went on their website and it appears they were acquired by ISS and it looks like the free 401K review tool is no longer available. Has anyone found a workaround or an alternative?
Thanks!!

THANK YOU! I really appreciate the "collective wisdom" that you have shared!

I've been using VEXAX (Vanguard extended market index) for some time as a SMID to balance some legacy large cap holdings. In August, Morningstar downgraded this fund's "process" to "average" resulting in a Bronze rating and suggested that it has a "quirky" index that drives an unintentional, persistent mid-cap growth bias.

This rating change doesn't sit well with me, but I am at a little of a loss to find a suitable replacement so I thought I would tap into the collective wisdom of Bogleheads. I have been thinking that Vanguard's small cap index (VSMAX) might be a suitable alternative although it does have a 60% small cap and 40% mid cap split.

Any thoughts? Is there something better than VSMAX in Vanguard's fund lineup that's a more ...

Hi!
I hold Vanguard International Bond (VTABX) in an inherited IRA. Since 2017, Morningstar described the fixed income style as "moderate quality/extensive duration." The 2021 fixed income style, however, has changed to "low quality/extensive duration" (the lower right corner of the nine block). After scouring Morningstar and Vanguard, I can't come up with a reason for the change. I usually hear about a larger countries debt being downgraded, but I haven't heard anything about that either. Does anyone have an idea as to why the quality of VTABX's portfolio is now considered "low?"

Thanks!

Sorry, I wrote too quickly. What I meant to indicate is that I started maxing out my IRA in 1980 and invested in stock funds like Fidelity Contra. Today, the IRA has grown to the point where a backdoor Roth would trigger a tax bill so huge that it's not practical. My financial advisor and I ran the numbers - one scenario as is and one scenario with with backdoor Roth. The backdoor roth strategy is only slightly advantageous to me when I get to the year 2044. We mapped it out, year by year, and I'm not willing to pay a giant tax bill now for some slight benefit way into the misty future. Hope that helps.

I've investigated the backdoor Roth with a financial advisor that specializes in such things. The backdoor Roth, for me, would trigger massive capital gains taxes from the regular IRA's that have been built up over decades - it's a like an avalanche waiting to happen, so that's off the table. Withdrawals for these IRA's over time would likely be invested in a taxable account.

Living free asked: Another question - if you have to take the RMDs and re-invest them, will you be doing so in a regular taxable brokerage account? Or will the spouse be able to invest all of their money into retirement accounts and then you can just live off the RMDs? I presume you'll start taking SS at some point prior to spouse turning 65 too, is that correct?

My answer: Spouse makes too much money to invest all of it in a retirement account, but she will continue to invest in her 401K until she retires at 65. I will take SS at 70. Any RMD's will be re-invested in a regular taxable brokerage. We make too much, currently, to invest in a Roth and any investment in a traditional IRA wouldn't be deductible. We also have a HSA which we max ...

Hi - thanks for the replies. We will live off of my wife's income until she retires at age 65 in the year 2035. Of course, I'll have to do the RMD's but those funds will be immediately reinvested.

Hi -
I plan on retiring in 2028 (age 70) but my wife is 13 years younger and she will retire at age 65 in 2035. I have read that you should plan your allocation based on the age of the younger spouse. I earn about 3X what she does. Currently, Vanguard Target 2035 has nearly 75% in stocks. That % seems high to me for someone my age (of course, maybe not so much for my wife's age). The 2030 fund has about 67% in stock and the 2025 fund has about 59% in stocks. I am looking at the target series because my wife has minimal interest in managing investments. While I have been investing since I was 13 years old, the 2025 fund 59% allocation to stocks seems so much more "comfortable" to me as I am a mildly conservative investor. My concern is that ...

Hi - thank you for the thoughtful replies. Understood that M*'s tax cost ratio calculation leaves a lot to be desired and that it's better to calculate the tax cost ratio yourself. But, let's say I do calculate it myself and I come up with a tax cost ratio of X. How do I know if X is good or not? How low would X need to be before I would say..."Yes, X is pretty darn good, you don't have to go through the task of swapping out funds in order to get it lower."
Thoughts?

M* provides tax cost ratios for funds and indicates the average is 1 to 1.2. Of course, the lower the better. However, i can't find anything that suggests something along the lines of..."if your fund has a tax cost ratio of X, you are doing pretty darn good and don't sweat trying to optimize it any further." Any thoughts? Thanks!

Hi - I have been a premium Morningstar member for years and regularly used their Sortino (not Sharpe) ratio and tax cost ratios. With the recent "upgrade" to their site, the Sortino ratio is no where to be found and they only provide a 3-year tax cost ratio rather than 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 year tax cost ratios. You can "sort of" get to some longer term tax cost ratios using their fund screener tool, but boy is it klunky.

Anyone know of alternative sources for these two ratios?

Thanks!

I love Wellington (VWELX) but I can't get it in my 401k. In playing around with Portfolio Visualizer and using VWELX as a benchmark, it appears that 50% VPMAX and 50% VBTLX (rebalanced quarterly) pretty much gets you the same dollar results as 100% VWELX, but it does so with a much lower standard deviation and a much higher Sortino Ratio. Assuming you start in January 2002 which is the earliest data available The blended ER is pretty much spot on with 100% VWELX also.

I've seen on the board that people say..."It will keep doing that until it doesn't." And, that's fair. But the blended funds have been tracking VWELX since 2002 and that seems pretty good.

Anyone care to share why they think this blend behaves this way and if they think ...

Hi,
This is my first time posting. I have been following Vanguard IVOO (S&P 400 index ETF) for over a year. The fund portfolio is adjusted quarterly or so but it has always been about 50% to 60% mid caps, 30% small cap and 20% micro cap. This is reported by M*. Today, I noticed that the composition has changed dramatically and M* now reports 82% mid cap and about 17% small cap and 0% micro-caps. This change seems to have occurred for all of the S&P 400 indexes M* tracks such as IJH, etc. I know S&P adjusts the index quarterly and here in late March is about the time they do it, but the change is so dramatic it suggested to me that M* may have made a mistake. Is there a way to confirm what the % breakout should be by capitalization size (mid ...