Bogleheads.org

Hi, is there any research or backtest on the return of holding treasury bills/bonds vs buying efts like $IEF, $TLT ? The assumption is that I'd hold treasury until maturity. It seems one can definitely lose money on bond ETFs. Thanks! Please say what kind of scenarios you're interested in. It really matters what you're trying to compare. Do you mean a "rolling ladder" where no money is ever withdrawn from the portfolio? The backtest would be somewhat complicated by the fact that an individual holding individual bonds has to do something with the interest coupons - invest it in a money market fund? Hold the interest until you have enough to buy another $1,000 worth of bonds, etc. A fund on the other hand presumably would just buy ...

I agree with KenKat's comment about sticking with your strategy. With bond investments, it's important to have your bonds' "average duration" roughly match your spending horizon. For a typical retired investor, you don't need to spend all of your bonds in just the next year, nor to spend all of your bonds 10 years from now. Rather you'll (typically) need to spend roughly the same amount each year for the rest of your life. If you knew your spending will end (yikes!) in exactly 10 years, your average duration should be about 5 years. Some people like to set up a "bond ladder" so they have one bond maturing for each year over the next 10 (or 15 or whatever) years. They like it because they know how much each bond will be w...

1.Does this mean looking at the tracking difference instead of the TER is the most accurate way of accessing the true cost of an ETF? At least for US Boglehead investors, when the expense ratio is very low, it's commonly suggested to look beyond the expense ratio / TER. Tracking difference is one good way to do that. Actual performance incorporates not just expense ratio but also transaction costs borne by the fund, as well as any expense-reducing mechanisms the fund managers might have (see next question). 2.Why is the tracking difference 0% when its expense ratio is 0.22%? How does that work? One explanation is "securities lending" -- Morningstar has an article that explains it in detail. Basically the fund manager lends some o...

1rl9DS5gl2 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 11:02 am How do I convert vsiax to vbr shares or vtsax to vti shares on the vanguard website?

I believe it's best to make sure you have established your desired cost basis method on the mutual fund before you convert it. E.g., if you never changed it from the default Average Cost Basis to SpecID, and want it to be SpecID, do so before converting.

Edited to add: this is important if you hold the mutual funds in a taxable account.

Here's are some "dividend growth" funds. Equivalent to VDIGX? No. Similar? Yes. Certainly not substantially-identical. - DGRO: iShares Dividend Growth ETF . "DGRO offers a straightforward execution of a dividend growth strategy. The fund aims to find stocks that pay steadily increasing dividends by requiring a 5-year track record of increasing dividends while ensuring that the firms pay out no more than 75% of earnings." - NOBL: ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF . "NOBL only selects companies from the S&P 500 that have increased their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years." - TDVG: T. Rowe Price Dividend Growth ETF . "TDVG is an actively-managed, non-transparent fund of global, large...

NYCaviator wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:47 am I apologize if this has already been answered, but do you HAVE to open a BoA checking account to have Preferred Rewards with ME? I’d ideally like to move 105k of VTI over to ME just to get the extra credit card rewards, but I don’t want another checking account if I can help it.

Yes. Scroll down https://promotions.bankofamerica.com/pr ... rewards/en and you'll see it mentioned - look for "To become a member, you'll need:"

1. I have a side business (side hustle) that I would like to start contributing income to an IRA. Can I do this if I already have a 401k with my main job (currently contributing 10% to)? 2. If I can start an IRA from my side job, what kind of IRA do I need to open (thorough Fidelity ideally) and how much can I contribute annually? 1. Yes but there may be a limit on how much of your contribution can be deductible. 2. You could open a regular individual IRA, or you could also open a SEP IRA -- see https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plans-for-self-employed-people. They have different contribution limits so check into the details before choosing. Lots of info in this Bogleheads wiki article https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/IRA

illinoisguy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 7:26 am 3. I have a regular brokerage account with Fidelity. Is there any way to roll the stock I already own in the brokerage account (less than $1k) over into the IRA?

No, alas. Contributions are in cash.

I've not done it but I've seen other Bogleheads mention their RMD of mutual funds was done in-kind from IRA to taxable account. Pretty sure it was at Vanguard. I don't imagine some brokerages allow for this, and some don't.

I wonder what size of bond can be transferred, e.g. only in $1,000 increments?

Assuming you can do it, one question is: what's the basis and holding period of the TIPS bonds that were transferred? Do they retain the original characteristics of when you bought them?

I'm not sure what we can reliably conclude about PAS based on just the OP's portfolio -- it contains not only what PAS suggested but also the OPs own choices. Not trying to defend PAS, just that it's not clear what control/responsibility they have over the whole portfolio.

But anyway I agree the portfolio is too complicated as is. The 3 fund or 4 fund portfolios are great choices.

Even better for someone who prefers simplicity, I'd go with:
1) only stock funds in the taxable account 2) in the IRS accounts, a combination of Target Date or LifeStrategy funds to reach the OP's desired asset allocation.

Could you share the numbers involved?

Only net income has to be distributed to shareholders, so perhaps most/some of the dividends paid by POAGX holdings goes to cover the fund's 0.65% expense ratio.

And I'd guess the fund's growth tilt means they don't get all that much in dividend income in the first place.

Presumably you could look up gross/net income and expense info in the fund's documentation. Prospectus or some other SEC document I'd guess.

^ right.

The relevant rule is that you need $X in compensation/earned income to contribute $X to the SEP IRA. That doesn't mean that $X must literally/virtually come out of your paycheck or bank account where your paycheck was deposited to. It's not like the IRS or your IRA custodian is tracking where the money "came from."

I am adding on to my ME account an individual taxable brokerage account. I am trying to fund it now. I want to fund it from a Trust account I have at Vanguard that holds VUSXX. I want to move $10k. Do I have to liquidate the $10k of VUSXX so it can be in my settlement fund and transfer from there, or can ME hold $10k of VUSXX? I don't want trading costs at ME. My intention was to hold $10k of TTTXX, but if I could hold VUSXX and not be dinged $$$ trading costs, then I'd prefer that. From an ME brokerage account, one can initiate an account/asset transfer out of a Vanguard brokerage account. The asset (VUSXX for example) would be transferred in-kind via ACATS. But in your particular case, you're transferring from a Trust account to an indiv...

rkhusky wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:18 am ...
The national fund will also have NY bonds. Vanguard has a document/page that shows the percentage for each state.

And sometimes the state by state breakdown is included in the 1099 document. OP, look in your consolidated 1099, probably somewhere toward the end.

ccf wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 9:17 pm I have a lot of those same annoyances every year.

I make a step by step list of what I need to do and then I follow it every year and update it with new situations as needed. Most years are the same as the one before.

+1
A checklist is very helpful.

OverseasBH wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 5:56 am I guess I am focused on whether it is rational to pursue an dividend-focused strategy. Countless posts on the forum make the case that it is not. Is there a scenario where a dividend focused strategy is rational?

Perhaps your focus is not focused enough.

Are you looking for a scenario where it's rational for a single person. Or rational for all people? Or rational specifically for you?

Surely you can think of a scenario where it's rational for at least one person.

Surely it's not rational for all people.

Tell us more about your situation and maybe we'll find a scenario where it be rational for you.

rrabick, Welcome to the forum! Below is my tentative plan. My 401k: move FSSNX small cap balance into FXAIX 500 index (for simplification purposes) move VAIPX tips to Fidelity FIPDX (similar duration 6.71/yr) Her 401K: maintain FXAIX 500 index move VAIPX tips to Fidelity FIPDX maintain FXNAX Do my bond moves look ok or since I am in the withdrawing stage should I move some of the VAIPX (6.9/yr duration) to a shorter duration fund like FNSOX bond fund (2.54/yr) or FUMBX short term treasury bond index (2.54/yr)? Welcome all input here. One general idea is to match your spending horizon with your investment horizon. That's easier said than done as it means tweaking your bond investments each year to reflect that your remaining investing horizo...

Are you trying to use the comparison tool at https://www.morningstar.com/funds/screener-compare ? I am able to compare two mutual funds using that tool. I am logged in to Morningstar using a "free" account (although a 7 day trial account would probably work too). What fund symbols did you want to compare?

I notice the tool says "This tool will be retired in the coming months."

I would likely use Merrill Edge now and then -- like when they offer transfer bonuses. But with no BoA rewards and no Edge bonuses I would not use them.

bertilak wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 11:58 am Do you use a different starting page to get to the other download page?

No - I don't normally use the download page, I was just trying it to see how it works.

Thank you everyone for your input. I'm going to keep an eye on this fund, right now I need the monthly income from it. I've been with Vanguard since 1984 and one of these days I'm going to go transfer my Vanguard mutual funds to the three-fund portfolio recommended by so many of you. I am having a hard time giving up some of my favorites: Primecap Admiral and Extended Mkt Admiral. Here are my current allocations if anyone has any suggestions once I go to the three-fund portfolio: Investment Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Admiral 22% Vanguard Treasury Money Market Investor 12% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Admiral 6% Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index Admiral 11% Vanguard High Yield Corp Admiral 43% Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index Adm...

strummer6969 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 12:01 pm I've always been curious about SCV tilting but it seems like timing is everything for this asset class. Do you guys think now is a good time for a SCV tilt with the small bank failures plastered all over the news, or is there further down to go? I really can't tell how serious of a crisis it is.

If you have to ask, you're not fit to buy SCV.

Just kidding

Some people are "committed" to SCV. It's like a relationship

Others will time the market -- see livesoft's postings about this.

Personally, I wouldn't make a buying or selling decision based on Boglehead's opinions about this or that. Ultimately you need to decide for yourself, otherwise you'll be changing your portfolio every other week, day, hour...

Hi, does anyone have a tutorial on how to sell your T bills on vanguard? Its confusing and doesn't really tell me what my expected sale price would be. Is there anything to adjust on the sale order? Also, are they sold in real time, or at end of day like mutual funds? Thanks! [Edit: good grief, I thought you were asking about buying :oops:] Briefly... There are two main ways to buy: at a Treasury auction, or on the secondary market. Harry Sit (he's a Boglehead) has a blog post about How to Buy Treasury Bills & Notes On the Secondary Market . There's a section specifically about Vanguard . Treasuries are traded on the open market -- there's no "net asset value" pricing like with mutual funds. The main thing you specify is how ...

When preparing my US taxes, I need to indicate the sum of my dividends and distributions that were from a foreign country or U.S. possession in a given year. E.g., in TurboTax: https://i.stack.imgur.com/Pw5Gl.png Where can I see on Merrill Edge the sum of the dividends and distributions that was from a foreign country or U.S. possession in a given year? Some brokers are better than others about providing the necessary info. Based on my consolidated 1099, Merrill Edge doesn't do it. E.g., I owned a Vanguard mutual fund that distributed both US and foreign dividends. The 1099-DIV itself didn't provide the info you're looking for, just the foreign tax paid (box 7). And the "2022 DIVIDENDS, QUALIFIED, 199A AND 897 DISTRIBUTIONS" sect...

Yesterday PM, when attempting to download CSV data from Vanguard, I got a message apologizing for not being able to download data at that time. This morning there was no apology message, but the downloaded data was old, from the day before yesterday. Is anyone else having this experience? What kind of data: transaction history or asset/account balances or something else? The data you get when you download from the "Download center." One's choics are: format: CSV vs Quicken date range account list What is the URL for "Download center"? It looks like there are two different pages that look similar. https://personal.vanguard.com/us/OfxWelcome https://personal1.vanguard.com/ofu-open-fin-exchange-webapp/ofx-welcome Maybe one...

Use the average of the two numbers

It sounds legal and legit to me. Is it frustrating? Yes. C'est la vie. You can make the situation better by making some slight adjustments to your portfolio. You say you wanted to move the SV money back into the stock market. And the SV money will only become available at, say, $X per year for the next five years. And you also have bond investments elsewhere. And presumably you have a target asset allocation for your whole portfolio. So why not sell (some of) your bond investments to buy stocks, and consider the locked-up SV money to be your bond allocation? Sure, SV is not the same as "bonds" but it may be close enough, at least to to tide you over until your SV assets transfer out of Voya. What matters most is meeting your portf...

If the market value of my holdings in VWIAX is $1,000,000 January 1 and I receive $58,000 in dividends during 2023 that $58,000 will not contribute a single dollar of additional growth to that $1,000,000 no matter the stock price into the future, correct or am I missing something? It would if you reinvested the $58k by buying more VWIAX. Then you would have $1,0058,000, which would throw off more dividends next year, which you could reinvest, and so on... Or maybe I'm misunderstanding your misunderstanding? To be picky, he wouldn't have 1,058,000 -- the price of the fund drops by the amount of the dividend. If he reinvested, he'd have 1,000,000 in shares. If he didn't reinvest, he'd have 942,000 in shares and 58,000 in cash. In both cases,...

Good to hear you're breaking up with the advisor

Assuming your solo 401k is intended for your retirement goal that's 10+ years away, I suggest starting with Vanguard Total Stock Market Index fund VTI. It's not for people who think they can beat the market

In addition to the Total Stock fund, I also invest in small-cap value (Vanguard's VBR). Instead of a market-cap allocation of 70/20/10 (large/medium/small), my portfolio is tilted to roughly 50/25/25. But my portfolio also has greater price volatility and I've had to live with years of underperformance - it's not for everyone.

As a TaxAide volunteer I'm seeing 1099 forms from various brokerages. One of my tasks is to look through a brokerage statement for info about "US government obligations". Some brokerages are better than others at providing the detail needed to prepare a return. I.e., some don't provide any at all, some provide all we need. Some only provide the details for certain funds and not others. Oh well. It's one of the more time-consuming aspects of return preparation.

Welcome to the forum inb4space!

inb4space wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 11:17 am ... wondering if anyone's seen similar issues?

Not me.

I rarely used the unrealized cost basis info at Vanguard because I keep my own spreadsheet to keep track of such things. But I did use both trade confirmation PDF statements and account transaction history to make sure my lot/purchase info matches theirs. What does that info show for you?

Hope it all works out for ya!

I wonder if TurboTax's calculation of $110 includes not just the tax but also interest ?

"Duets" from The Blind Boys of Alabama. They perform various gospel-tinged songs with other various well known singers/performers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UJzqDa ... qb&index=1

The song "Secular Praise" by Timothy B. Schmit (of Poco & The Eagles) stood out for me.

placeholder wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:56 pm Some of the bond funds can't be converted because of the way earnings are accrued and distributed differ between the fund and the etf.

Yep. And Vanguard has a list of funds that can be converted, see https://www.vanguard.com/pdf/etfpdf.pdf.

thetaxguy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 3:32 pm Thanks for the info. In that case it doesn't make sense to invest in treasuries in an IRA since it loses its tax exemption so I might as well go for the higher CDs.

Yes, but only given the current market conditions for CDs and Treasuries. Who knows, maybe in another week, month, year or whatever, Treasuries will beat CDs of the same maturity.

For Vanguard index funds with both mutual fund and ETF share classes, whether to use one or the other comes down not to tax advantages (same for both) but to personal preference on other factors. See https://bogleheads.org/wiki/ETFs_vs_mutual_funds for a discussion.

creant wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 9:26 pm I bought this fund on day 1 and sold maybe a week later. The amount from the sale was the same as the buy without any interest. When/how does this fund pay its interest?

The fund declares dividends daily and pays monthly. You may not see the dividend payout show up in your acct transaction history until late at night on the last day of the month, or even until the first day of the next month (though the transaction will likely be dated on the last day of the month).

Which brokerage did you use to buy the fund?

In general I don't think it's wrong to have all your investment accounts with one custodian / brokerage. Simplicity counts for something (although it doesn't outweigh bonus-chasing benefits -- I have accounts at four brokerages:) ).

But I would keep my at least one other bank or credit union account open with another company.

What's in your current portfolio? Maybe it's diversified enough already? A single broad stock market fund could be all you need, but maybe you want to diversify beyond stocks?

The Bogleheads approach is to first figure out your asset allocation (mix of stocks, bonds and/or cash like 80/15/5 or 60/40/0) that's appropriate for your goals and your personal risk tolerance. Once you know your target AA, picking the individual funds or ETFs is the easy part -- use low cost passive funds.

From my Vanguard IRA account, can I push money to an IRA housed at Chase Bank? I know that I can pull money into my Vanguard IRA account, from my Chase Bank IRA account, by executing a transfer through the Vanguard website. But, can I go the opposite direction? Using the Vanguard website (or through a Vanguard representative) can I transfer money to my Chase IRA account? Can you? Probably yes, assuming you set up your Chase Bank IRA as an external bank account at Vanguard just like any other non-IRA bank account. I was able to initiate a push & pull at Vanguard out of my (non-IRA) credit union account. I never had an IRA bank account so I never tried what you're suggesting. I have a vague concern that such transactions could be misclas...

My guess is you had Marketplace coverage in 2021, but didn't tell the Marketplace that you didn't need coverage in 2022, i.e. by opting out explicitly, or by updating your income info with them, circa late '21 or early '22 when you got your high income job.

I would go online to your healthcare.gov account and make sure you don't have coverage for 2023 either. And then work with the Marketplace customer support people to see what they can do. Doesn't sound promising, sorry to say

slalom wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 2:05 am Still waiting on my $100k ACH to Merrill, it's been pending for about a week, nice chunk of lost interest in there.

Curious what date the assets left your old brokerage, based on its account transaction history?

If you're particularly concerned about unexpected inflation you would also consider TIPS, although they bring along some tax complexity with them.

3rivers wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 9:12 pm I apologize if this subject has been discussed here; I don't check in often.

Vanguard recently informed me that I will soon be required to convert my mutual fund platform into a brokerage platform, signature required. I did not understand at all. Can anyone explain it to me?

Thank you.

3rivers, you're not literally required to convert your account but Vanguard is trying to "nudge" you along.

Vanguard has a document that explains things from their point of view: https://www.vanguard.com/pdf/vbafqm.pdf

I think the other replies in this thread are helpful in understanding what it all means for an investor.

bertilak wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 7:02 am Yesterday PM, when attempting to download CSV data from Vanguard, I got a message apologizing for not being able to download data at that time.

This morning there was no apology message, but the downloaded data was old, from the day before yesterday.

Is anyone else having this experience?

What kind of data: transaction history or asset/account balances or something else?

My tax software calculation shows that ESPP ordinary income is not subject to medicare tax. Is the software correct? Questions: 1.Why is ESPP ordinary income not subject to medicare tax but ESPP ordinary income is subject to federal tax? 2.Why is my 401k contribution subject to medicare tax but the 401k contribution is not subject to federal tax? 1. Medicare and Social Security taxes are applied to "earned income." The law that authorizes those taxes says so. ESPP income is not "earned income" but it is income and thus is subject to the Federal income tax. 2. Your 401k contribution comes out of your earned income. It's your earned income that has Medicare tax applied. Making a 401k contribution does not exempt you from ...

Taking a break from the SVB threads, I see not much going on here.

My small cap value fund (VBR) was down 7.8% the past week versus down 5.7% for Total Stock. Presumably a greater drop due to exposure to financial stocks?

Anyway, carry on fellow SCV investors.

My Roth IRA has $130K invested solely in Vanguard TR2035. I'm 58 years old. I will not be withdrawing from this account for five years minimum. I'm seeking feedback on a theoretical plan to put $100K in the highest-yielding, shortest-term CD, holding till maturity, cashing out, and then using that same money and repeating the same process for the next several years, depending upon available CD yield. I'm not concerned about callable or non-callable, as the duration will be short, and I'll hold till maturity. While this plan unfolds, I'll continue to fully fund my Roth, my 401K, and purchase $10K of I-Bonds per year. These are my questions: 1) Is that plan sound? 2) Am I correct that there will be no tax consequences because all funding/pur...

Hello. I appreciate any clarification regarding the qualified dividend holding period in regards to: 1. 1099 DIV, do I need to consider the holding period if I have not sold the shares? 2. 1099 DIV, does the holding period crossing to the New Year matter? 1. You had shares that generated dividends in December. It's now March. That's more than 61 days since the fund went ex-dividend. So the dividends are qualified. 2. Crossing to the New Year does not matter. What matters is the number of days you held the fund during the 121 day period around the ex-dividend date. Specifically, S&P 500 purchased early December. It says a dividend was paid late December. I still hold the shares and plan to hold for long term. So, holding period is compl...