Search found 358 matches

by Morgthorak
Wed May 10, 2017 8:59 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Johnny Depp:What happened to $650 million?
Replies: 2
Views: 2081

Johnny Depp:What happened to $650 million?

What happened to $650 million? An explosive legal battle between one of Hollywood's best-paid actors and the business managers he fired has laid bare tumultuous finances, outrageous spending and troubling behavior on Disney's new 'Pirates' movie in a case that could even change how the industry does business. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/johnny-depp-a-star-crisis-insane-story-his-missing-millions-1001513 Someone should have told him about Vanguard's index funds. Wow. $650 million. Imagine if he had just stuck half of it into the Vanguard 500 or Total Stock Market or Vanguard Balanced Index fund. Edit: The more I think about Depp and all the money he has lost, the more grateful I am for John Bogle and the Bogleheads here who tu...
by Morgthorak
Tue Feb 07, 2012 12:28 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why is it so darn hard to be a "Couch Potato" investor?
Replies: 45
Views: 5588

Re: Why is it so darn hard to be a "Couch Potato" investor?

Laziness is truly a virtue when it comes to investing. This is why I prefer balanced funds or funds like the TR ones. Set it and pretty much forget about it. Let the money do the work for you. I have never understood the slice and dice, zillion different fund mentality.

Be lazy. It will help you over the long haul with your investments. :D
by Morgthorak
Mon Feb 06, 2012 5:43 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Dividend stocks are not bonds.
Replies: 21
Views: 3029

Re: Dividend stocks are not bonds.

People seem to be desperate for yield. You know what they say about reaching for yield and losing money...

:shock: :evil:
by Morgthorak
Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:23 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard's simplified "core fund" lineup
Replies: 21
Views: 4779

Re: Vanguard's simplified "core fund" lineup

I hate to wade into the "active versus passive argument as it's old and tired. However, Wellesley and Wellington are both worth owning and holding for long periods of time as part of a portfolio. I have half my money split between both of them, with the other half split between two LifeStrategy (index) funds. I see no reason why someone cannot own active and index funds.

:sharebeer
by Morgthorak
Mon Feb 06, 2012 9:55 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Gold IRA?!
Replies: 5
Views: 1283

Re: Gold IRA?!

Is it me or has this “invest in gold” gotten out of hand? I heard this commercial about rolling over your 401(k) or IRA into a gold IRA. At first I thought this was some brand of IRA but no it is not. It is rolling over your entire portfolio to ultra safe gold! I looked it up an sure enough it exists: http://www.americanbullion.com/gold-ira-info2/?gclid=CIWPlfy0ia4CFScRNAodJx1l3A I am also beginning to hear more and more stories about how so and so made tons of money investing in gold. I realize gold could go up forever but it really appears to have a few of the bubble signs. I was too young to appreciate the tech bubble and I’m not comparing it with any sort of gold bubble but it is interesting to watch. It's not so much about "makin...
by Morgthorak
Sun Feb 05, 2012 11:39 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard's simplified "core fund" lineup
Replies: 21
Views: 4779

Re: Vanguard's simplified "core fund" lineup

It appears that the powers that be at Vanguard have dumped the actively managed funds. I think this is a mistake, Wellesley and Wellington are certainly worth investing in and it seems strange to me to see them missing. I, of course, am probably part of a minority here in the forum. That's okay though. :lol:
by Morgthorak
Sat Feb 04, 2012 10:18 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Anybody had success w/ 50%stock..50%bond allocation....
Replies: 37
Views: 5968

Re: Anybody had success w/ 50%stock..50%bond allocation....

amitb00 wrote:When folks are responding, does it include just the money allocated to Equities and Bond or does it include total portfolio (cash, metals, real estate) included? Cash and gold need to be part of a well balanced portfolio in addition to equities and bonds.
I own some gold and silver, but I do not count that as part of asset allocation.
by Morgthorak
Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:29 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Anybody had success w/ 50%stock..50%bond allocation....
Replies: 37
Views: 5968

Re: Anybody had success w/ 50%stock..50%bond allocation....

I wish everyone success with this, it seems like a good idea depending on your age and desire to take risk.
by Morgthorak
Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:18 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Excellent Article 50/50 Porfolio
Replies: 11
Views: 2982

Re: Excellent Article 50/50 Porfolio

1210sda wrote:Maybe Vanguard will follow their research and offer a 50/50 LifeStrategy Fund.

1210
You can get this now by doing:

50% LifeStrategy Conservative Growth
50% LifeStrategy Moderate Growth
by Morgthorak
Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:12 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Anybody had success w/ 50%stock..50%bond allocation....
Replies: 37
Views: 5968

Re: Anybody had success w/ 50%stock..50%bond allocation....

I am 50/50 and it works for me.

25% Wellesley
25% Wellington
25% LifeStrategy Conservative Growth
25% LifeStrategy Moderate Growth

This is the portfolio I am comfortable with so I am sticking with it.

:sharebeer
by Morgthorak
Wed Feb 01, 2012 10:24 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Ferri Advice on Retiree Investing
Replies: 71
Views: 10373

Re: Ferri Advice on Retiree Investing

The fed can do whatever it wants, I'm not changing my AA to take on more risk for a bit more yield. Frig that. :shock:

I am also in the "conservative saver/investor" group since I have 50% stocks and 50% bonds, and I'm in my early 40s. I just keep funneling cash into my SEP IRA after maxing out my Roth. In the short term these low rates will screw me, but in the long term I think I will be fine with my contributions.

All other things aside, it feels good to be a conservative saver. I'm not going to change because the Fed puts the squeeze on me via interest rates. I do feel for the retirees though, it's harder for them to deal with this. I hope many of them have some other income stream besides just their portfolios.
by Morgthorak
Wed Feb 01, 2012 10:14 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: POLL: How many funds do you hold?
Replies: 49
Views: 5844

Re: POLL: How many funds do you hold?

I hold four funds:

Wellesley
Wellington
LifeStrategy Conservative Growth
LifeStrategy Moderate Growth

This gives me a 50/50 stock/bond allocation, with a value tilt. :sharebeer
by Morgthorak
Sun Jan 29, 2012 10:04 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Will you be investing in the Facebook IPO?
Replies: 67
Views: 10101

Re: Will you be investing in the Facebook IPO?

No, I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. No way.
by Morgthorak
Sun Jan 29, 2012 10:02 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Low interest rates
Replies: 14
Views: 2151

Re: Low interest rates

dbr wrote:
Certainly a better choice by comparison, but an investor who is in money market and short term bond funds for a good reason would be making a significant shift in asset type to buy Wellesley. It is possible, of course, that the decision to be in "cash" was ill-considered, but we don't know that.
Good point. It would be different. I was trying to find something that would be less prone to a market downturn yet still give him some sort of yield. But you're quite right to point out that it would be moving him in a significantly different direction.

I wish him well whatever he ends up choosing.
by Morgthorak
Sun Jan 29, 2012 12:14 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Low interest rates
Replies: 14
Views: 2151

Re: Low interest rates

harryr3 wrote:If interest rates are not going to be raised for 2 years, is it advisable to move money out of money market funds and fixed income (short term) funds into say a dividend paying mutual fund or more growth orientated mutual fund?
BTW, if you must move your money then consider Wellesley. It's 65% intermediate corporate bonds and 35% dividend oriented stocks. It yields about 3.61 percent now or something like that. Probably a far better option for you then pursuing yield in pure dividend funds.
by Morgthorak
Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:58 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Automatic Frequent Investing
Replies: 10
Views: 1221

Re: Automatic Frequent Investing

I'd dump it all in now then set up your Vanguard funds for weekly investing if you can. That's how I do it. I have a SEP IRA that I contribute to automatically each week.
by Morgthorak
Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:55 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Low interest rates
Replies: 14
Views: 2151

Re: Low interest rates

No, I would not take on extra interest rate risk. Just because the Fed says they intend to keep rates low doesn't mean they can in all circumstances. What will you do if you're on long term bonds and the Fed loses control of interest rates? You can get whacked hard.

I have my asset allocation set and I'm not changing it, regardless of what the Fed is doing with interest rates. Half my money is in Wellington and Wellesley and the other half is in two LifeStrategy funds. This means that most of my bonds are intermediate bonds. I'm not changing that to try and get a little more yield via longer term bonds. It's a risk I'm not willing to take.
by Morgthorak
Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:53 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Do you have a small pool of $ for trying to time the market?
Replies: 50
Views: 3893

Re: Do you have a small pool of $ for trying to time the mar

No, I do not. I make weekly contributions to my SEP IRA and I max my Roth out ASAP each year. I hate paying attention to the market, it's boring and I find it an irritating waste of energy and time.
by Morgthorak
Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:52 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Allocation Nervousness!
Replies: 8
Views: 1318

Re: Allocation Nervousness!

Our savings are invested as approximately as follows 1- 30% in a reasonable mix of low cost SP500,Russell,REIT, and foreign index funds 2- 15% in individual TIPS 3- 55% in low cost US bond funds( mostly government and some corporate) with a duration of 3.5 years. 4-an overvalued West Coast house that could always be sold if needed By any Monte Carlo modeling standard, we have more than enough to live in retirement(e.g. a 2% withdrawal rate meets are needs), and I have no great desire to leave a large estate. And yet, I am bombarded by financial institutions, recommending a much more diversified bond portfolio (longer duration, foreign etc. etc .) So occasionally I get nervous about the simple way that we are proceeding-and today seems to b...
by Morgthorak
Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:48 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Are my allocations way off?
Replies: 8
Views: 1325

Re: Are my allocations way off?

kuli48 wrote:Hello All

Thanks for the replies. I edited my original post, I'm sure I will have to add additional information. I have enjoyed all replies, this is a great site, and its free.

Thank you

Mike
I'll reiterate my earlier comment. A 50/50 split between Wellesley and Target Retirement Income should work well for you. Simple and lots of diversification. At your age I'm not sure you really need to bother with Wellington. It's a great fund, I own it. But I'm in my early 40s and still accumulating. Wellesley is a better bet for your age group. As I get older I will be moving my Wellington funds into Wellesley.
by Morgthorak
Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:24 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: PIMCO ETF a nail in the coffin of mutual funds?
Replies: 13
Views: 2416

Re: PIMCO ETF a nail in the coffin of mutual funds?

I toyed with ETFs but have no desire to use them now. I prefer my mutual funds. I can automatically invest weekly and not have to pay attention to it. Nor do I have any desire to do much rebalancing myself, which is why I use balanced mutual funds. ETFs have their place but I have no interest in using them.
by Morgthorak
Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:14 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Do you hold your age in bonds?
Replies: 133
Views: 11330

Re: Do you hold your age in bonds?

I do not hold my age as I am in my early 40s. I prefer a 50/50 stock/bond allocation. So I am more conservative in that regard than others.
by Morgthorak
Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:13 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Roth IRA Portfolio advice for a lowly substitute teacher?
Replies: 5
Views: 1163

Re: Roth IRA Portfolio advice for a lowly substitute teacher

I agree with YDNAL, this is too many funds. Try the LifeStrategy funds at Vanguard if you can do a transfer. Simplify as much as possible to make it easy on yourself to maintain your preferred asset allocation.
by Morgthorak
Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:10 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fed Says No Rate Hikes Until at Least Late 2014
Replies: 73
Views: 7817

Re: Fed Says No Rate Hikes Until at Least Late 2014

grayfox wrote:
I think that means you can extend maturities in order to get yields that are higher than inflation. In other words, YTM more than 2-3% So my guess is that longer term bond funds look less risky now. Forget the short-term bond funds. They will return less than inflation.
This presumes that the Fed can and will maintain control of interest rates. I will stick with my intermediate corporate bonds in Wellington and Wellesley, and my intermediate bonds in Total Bond Market in my LifeStrategy funds.

I will not be transferring any money into longer term bonds. There is still risk there and I don't think the additional yields are worth taking on that risk or worth messing with my asset allocation.
by Morgthorak
Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:15 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Results of gently following mainstream trends?
Replies: 25
Views: 2216

Re: Results of gently following mainstream trends?

I don't know how to formulate this cleanly, and frankly doing the research would be too much work... but it would be interesting to know the comparative results of a) blindly staying the course in something like a LifeStrategy fund or a Target Retirement fund or Balanced Index or a three-fund portfolio, with no adaptation whatsoever, and b) gently adjusting year by year in accordance to the mainstream conventional wisdom. Let's say the "reference portfolio" is 42% Total Stock, 14% Total International, 40% Total Bond. For example, it seems to me that that mainstream conventional wisdom for 2011 would have been "shorten duration in bonds," so a "follower" would have shifted to 42% Total Stock, 14% Total Internat...
by Morgthorak
Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:11 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why isn't everyone using a 3-Fund portfolio?
Replies: 89
Views: 12234

Re: Why isn't everyone using a 3-Fund portfolio?

I've been an active-fund investor for years but have finally seen the light of indexing. :D I've been doing lots of research on lazy portfolios and tilting to determine what's right for me. But, what I keep coming back to is if you're truly a Boglehead and believe that you can't beat the market, why would anyone (including an Adviser) recommend anything other than a 3-Fund portfolio of Total US, Total International, a Bond Index, and maybe TIPS? Isn't anything else just an attempt to beat the market? But, we can't consistently beat the market, right? That's what I'm wrestling with. For those not using a 3-Fund portfolio by choice, I'd be very interested in understanding how and why you made your decision? I like to value tilt, so I have ha...
by Morgthorak
Sun Jan 22, 2012 12:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Are my allocations way off?
Replies: 8
Views: 1325

Re: Are my allocations way off?

Hello all I was retired 1 year ago, 63. I receive a pension of $20K, SS of $20K, 2 houses with $500K equity. IRA of $475K, stock options and misc of $75K. I see no need to take any IRA money for 2 years. My $475k of IRA is in vanguard Wellesley $235K, Wellington $125K, and vanguard health care fund of $55k. the rest is in curington stock fund. I have a few CDs worth 20K. Married, wife gets $10k SS. No other debt. Long term insurance will pay $125/ day for life and health insurance until 65. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice. Thanks Mike I'd take the Wellington, Health Care fund and perhaps the Curington money and stick it into Total Retirement Income instead. That would give you a nice amount of diversification. Ideally you c...
by Morgthorak
Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:52 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: When do you invest in your Roth?
Replies: 87
Views: 8480

Re: When do you invest in your Roth?

AustenNut wrote:I have a monthly automatic purchase set up for the funds in my Roth. Since I'm new to this stuff here, is there really an advantage to trying to put a lump sum in early? I know one poster said it was to get their money working tax-free as early as possible, but I still wonder about the chances of people buying high on their one day a year, vs averaging it out over the course of the year.
I don't think there's necessarily an advantage, I just like to get mine done. I do a weekly contribution to my SEP IRA though, so that can work quite well too. Do it any way you like. Whatever works for you is best. :)
by Morgthorak
Sun Jan 22, 2012 9:36 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How much do you tilt?
Replies: 79
Views: 8030

Re: How much do you tilt?

I tilt to the value side. My portfolio is as follows:

25% LifeStrategy Conservative Growth
25% LifeStrategy Moderate Growth
25% Wellesley
25% Wellington

This gives me about a 50/50 split between stocks and bonds across all funds, and it splits my portfolio into active/value and index funds.

:sharebeer
by Morgthorak
Sun Jan 22, 2012 9:33 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard - What we believe: Risk
Replies: 21
Views: 2591

Re: Vanguard - What we believe: Risk

plannerman wrote:Perhaps more important than the numbers is the implicit assumption that the retiree with the 100% stock portfolio doesn't cut and run when the market goes south. Remember all the conversations here about "Plan B" a couple of years ago. Not many folks can stomach 50% declines in their retirement nest-egg, particularly early in retirement. And those retirees with 100% stock portfolios who capitulate and sell out when the stock market swoons will be faced with much reduced portfolio withdrawal amounts.

plannerman
Excellent point. As people get older their tolerance for risk usually declines to one degree or another. Imagine another situation like we had in 2008/2009 and I wonder how many could leave their portfolios alone? :shock:
by Morgthorak
Sun Jan 22, 2012 9:30 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Risk: 3-Fund vs. Slice/Dice?
Replies: 30
Views: 3229

Re: Risk: 3-Fund vs. Slice/Dice?

You have not accounted for the laziness factor. I am a lazy investor. I cannot be bothered with slice and dice. It is too much work for me. Thus I prefer the LifeStrategy funds, along with Wellington and Wellesley. These balanced funds make life easier and I do not need to pay too much attention to my portfolio.

Plus the use of balanced funds "hides" stock losses a little bit, thus making it easier to stay the course in bad times. Yeah, you're still taking stock losses but it sort of looks like it's not as bad. Ha, ha, ha! :lol
by Morgthorak
Sun Jan 22, 2012 9:20 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need help with AA choice - 70/30 or 60/40??
Replies: 46
Views: 10081

Re: Need help with AA choice - 70/30 or 60/40??

Please consider: I am really torn between an AA of 60/40 or a 70/30 - Equity/Fixed Income I have all of my investment assets with Vanguard and use all of their funds and aim for their 3 target funds of Total Stock, Total Bond, and Total International for simplicity sake. Once my AA is in line, I'd like to splice/dice that out into more specific funds in the future. I will not have the time to do it this year. When I spoke with a CPF at Vanguard, ( a woman I respected and could relate well to) she suggested a 70/30 AA because I am a saver, decrease my costs when my living expenses increase, stay the course, and won't use my investment assets for over another decade. I hope. I know that the 70/30 portfolio is more of a growth AA than the 60/...
by Morgthorak
Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:08 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 28 y/o new investor, pregnant, and husband wants 25% silver
Replies: 31
Views: 4080

Re: 28 y/o new investor, pregnant, and husband wants 25% sil

A large investment in precious metals is not a mainstream, middle-of-the-road, ordinary, prudent investment. It's an investment that tends to be made by people who have a somewhat heterodox view of the economic future and are willing to put their money behind their personal macroeconomic forecasts. Precious metals are wildly speculative investments. There is some truth to the idea that they hold real value over time, but only over long periods of time- -like centuries --and in between, they have crazy booms and catastrophic collapses that make the stock market look tame. Right now, precious metals are in the middle of a wild boom. They might keep booming and it might collapse. When it's over, some people investing at about this time will h...
by Morgthorak
Sat Jan 21, 2012 12:58 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 28 y/o new investor, pregnant, and husband wants 25% silver
Replies: 31
Views: 4080

Re: 28 y/o new investor, pregnant, and husband wants 25% sil

I see way too many funds, I'll get to the silver in a moment. Instead of having all those different funds, why don't you look at the LifeStrategy funds instead? I use two of them for half my portfolio (LifeStrategy Conservate Growth and Moderate Growth) and it's much better than having to fart around managing a bunch of different funds. The other half of mine is split evenly between Wellington and Wellesley. So I get about 50/50 stocks/bonds that way. The use of balanced funds makes it much simpler than messing with lots of different funds. Now, about that silver...I own some of that too. I like buying silver. I enjoy it, as well as a few gold coins here and there. However, I buy coins only. If you are going to buy precious metals then plea...
by Morgthorak
Sat Jan 21, 2012 12:43 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Suze Orman's new newsletter
Replies: 18
Views: 2718

Re: Suze Orman's new newsletter

Who cares what that woman thinks about investments? Or the other guy? Good grief, when are people going to learn that these people are charlatans out to make money off selling their snake oil? :roll:
by Morgthorak
Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:30 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: When do you invest in your Roth?
Replies: 87
Views: 8480

Re: When do you invest in your Roth?

I just got a nice check for around $5000. So I maxed it out already for the year. I like to do it as soon as possible. Then it's off my to-do list for the year and I can forget about it.
by Morgthorak
Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:22 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Wellington
Replies: 13
Views: 3217

Re: The Wellington

alanf56 wrote:
Ahh ok... Interesting mix. Would there be a lot of overlap with these?
Lazyfabs covered some of it. The gist of it for me is having about a 50/50 stock and bond allocation in both sides of the portfolio (active and index). So that's why I have it set up this way.
by Morgthorak
Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:03 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Wellington
Replies: 13
Views: 3217

Re: The Wellington

alanf56 wrote:
Morgthorak wrote: I do something similar though I prefer a 50/50 split between stocks and bonds. So I have Wellesley and the LifeStrategy Conservative Growth fund too, with about 25% of my portfolio in each fund.
So if you have 50% in these two funds where do you put the other 50%???
Sorry, I wasn't clear.

25% Wellesley
25% Wellington
25% LifeStrategy Conservative Growth
25% LifeStrategy Moderate Growth
by Morgthorak
Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:40 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Balanced Index Admiral or Wellington
Replies: 27
Views: 4097

Re: Balanced Index Admiral or Wellington

Toons wrote:If You had to choose between Balanced Index Admiral or Wellington which fund would be your choice,thoughts :D
My portfolio consists of the following:

25% LifeStrategy Conservative Growth
25% LifeStrategy Moderate Growth
25% Wellelsely
25% Wellington

So you can own indexes and active funds. Balanced Index is okay, but I prefer the LifeStrategy funds after Vanguard changed them. I have about a 50/50 bond/stock split.
by Morgthorak
Tue Jan 17, 2012 3:11 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Life-Cycle Funds: Life-Strategy or Target ?
Replies: 16
Views: 2952

Re: Life-Cycle Funds: Life-Strategy or Target ?

Exige wrote:I am currently in the target 2030 fund and just got over the 3k mark in my roth IRA. Would it be a problem to switch from that to the life strategy fund with the same AA and .01% less expense ratio? My question is will it cost or change anything if I simply transfer it all to the strategy and continue contributions to that one instead while still accumulating?
You can transfer your money into the LS fund. You won't be penalized by Vanguard for switching funds. Just remember to switch your automatic contributions too if you have any set up.
by Morgthorak
Tue Jan 17, 2012 3:10 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Wellington
Replies: 13
Views: 3217

Re: The Wellington

If you want you could always do 50% in Wellington and 50% in LifeStrategy Moderate Growth fund (Total Stock, Total Bond and Total International in one fund). Each of them has about 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds (give or take a bit). So you would have half your money in the actively managed fund and half in indexes.

I do something similar though I prefer a 50/50 split between stocks and bonds. So I have Wellesley and the LifeStrategy Conservative Growth fund too, with about 25% of my portfolio in each fund.

So no need to choose between Wellington and indexing. You can own both. :beer

Link:

Vanguard LifeStrategy Moderate Growth Fund (VSMGX)
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/ ... IntExt=INT
by Morgthorak
Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:02 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Ultimate beginner question re investing/speculating
Replies: 20
Views: 2086

Re: Ultimate beginner question re investing/speculating

Say you have 30k to invest. Now looking at the price of silver or oil for example, as it is always going up and down, why couldn't you simply invest in oil and hold on to it until it goes up, then sell it. I am assuming that you don't need the money and am prepared to put it aside and wait for however long it takes. Is it about weighing up the risk of it going down and staying down, vs holding something risk free that provides low returns? OK, now rip me apart. ty. I speculated in a silver ETF a while back. Never again. Silver is a rocket ride that could go up or down VERY fast. My recommendation to you is that you buy silver (and gold) coins and then hang onto them over the course of many years. Do not speculate in the short term with pre...
by Morgthorak
Tue Jan 17, 2012 9:17 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Life-Cycle Funds: Life-Strategy or Target ?
Replies: 16
Views: 2952

Re: Life-Cycle Funds: Life-Strategy or Target ?

Sheepdog wrote:Life Strategy looks reasonable except for the Income fund. Target Income has 30% stocks while the Life Strategy Income has only 20%. If the retiree wishes only one fund for simplicity, Target Income's 30% may be suitable for all ages, but the Life Strategy Income's 20% stock is likely not to be for those 75 and younger. At age 80, it may be okay. What is the logic in having so little?
Vanguard might have wanted to offer an even more conservative option for some investors. It wouldn't make much sense if it was exactly the same as TR Income (though TIPS obviously isn't in the LS funds either).
by Morgthorak
Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:50 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Life-Cycle Funds: Life-Strategy or Target ?
Replies: 16
Views: 2952

Re: Life-Cycle Funds: Life-Strategy or Target ?

For accumulators, I vote for the LifeStrategy funds. It's much easier to keep a set asset allocation that matches a person's age rather than the insane bond/stock allocation found in the Target Retirement funds. And it does no good to pick a Target Retirement fund that matches your stock/bond allocation because the glide path is probably going to be too conservative too soon going forward. The root of the problem with the Target funds is that Vanguard messed up when they made the stock allocation so aggressive. I think perhaps the Target Retirement Income fund could be good as a final fund for those switching out of LifeStrategy funds at some point. But the rest of the Target Retirement funds still have too aggressive a stock allocation for...
by Morgthorak
Mon Jan 16, 2012 11:23 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: From WSJ - Target Funds Miss Their Marks -- Again
Replies: 45
Views: 5034

Re: From WSJ - Target Funds Miss Their Marks -- Again

I am in agreement with those who mentioned the revamped LifeStrategy funds. They seem to be a much more coherent offering than the Target Funds. I considered the Target Funds but I do not wish to have to switch between funds to maintain an AA. For those who don't know, here's a list of the LifeStrategy funds: LifeStrategy Conservative Growth - 60% bonds, 40% stocks LifeStrategy Growth VASGX - 80% stocks, 20% bonds LifeStrategy Income VASIX - 80% bonds, 20% stocks LifeStrategy Moderate Growth - 60% stocks, 40% bonds These funds are invested in vary percentages in Total Stock Market, Total Bond and Total International. So if you use one of these funds or a combination of them, you have an AA that will stay where you want it to be and you won'...
by Morgthorak
Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:42 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Easiest 50/50 Active/Index Portfolio Ever Created!
Replies: 18
Views: 2775

Re: The Easiest 50/50 Active/Index Portfolio Ever Created!

DSInvestor wrote:You could simplify your 4 fund portfolio to a 2 fund portfolio.

Option 1:
50% Wellesley Income (40/60) and 50% Lifestrategy Moderate Growth (60/40)

Option 2:
50% Wellington (60/40) and 50% Lifestrategy Conservative Growth (40/60)
That works very well too, I like it. :sharebeer
by Morgthorak
Fri Jan 06, 2012 4:51 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Easiest 50/50 Active/Index Portfolio Ever Created!
Replies: 18
Views: 2775

Re: The Easiest 50/50 Active/Index Portfolio Ever Created!

EN61577 wrote:Wouldn't you still need to rebalance to maintain the 50/50 split that you desire?

You have 25% in each fund. After a period of stocks outperforming bonds, Wellington and LS Mod Growth would become larger resulting in a larger overall equity position. Whenever bonds outperform you would end up with larger portions of Wellesley and LS Con growth and a larger overall bond position.
Hmm. Well, you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs! :wink: :shock:

Yes, eventually you would probably have to assuming that there was a very long performance difference. But who knows? It could change up or down either way in the short term. So perhaps looking at it every 3 - 5 years or something like that would work.
by Morgthorak
Fri Jan 06, 2012 3:55 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Easiest 50/50 Active/Index Portfolio Ever Created!
Replies: 18
Views: 2775

Re: The Easiest 50/50 Active/Index Portfolio Ever Created!

jumpin wrote:A better way would be this:

tax shelter:
Wellington
Wellesley
Total Bond market
REIT

taxable:
total stock index
total int'l stock index
Interesting point, but the idea here was to not have to rebalance ever. Or at least until you decide you want to leave the 50/50 ratio. Your idea works well for those who wish to manage their rebalancing themselves, and it's good for splitting the bonds into retirement accounts and stocks into taxable. I like it, but it doesn't cut it for me for the lazy/hands off portfolio I desire. :wink: :lol:
by Morgthorak
Fri Jan 06, 2012 3:53 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The Easiest 50/50 Active/Index Portfolio Ever Created!
Replies: 18
Views: 2775

Re: The Easiest 50/50 Active/Index Portfolio Ever Created!

When I first came to this forum I had the idea, too, to combine passive and (those same two!) active funds ... not doing it (i.e. going all-passive) was probably the best decision I could have made (or rather: it was the best advice I got and followed). What I finally realized was that I was just layering manager risk on top of equity/bond risk, and statistically that risk just isn't rewarded over time. You raise a good point and folks like you would do well to use the two LifeStrategy funds mentioned. They'll give you a 50/50 stock bond portfolio that is only index funds. I personally like the Wellington/Wellesely approach so I'm willing to take that manager risk for that half of my portfolio. But other people's mileage may vary. It's ver...