Search found 38 matches

by Alphonse
Tue Jul 26, 2016 7:39 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard Int'l Bond (VTABX)
Replies: 2
Views: 1053

Re: Vanguard Int'l Bond (VTABX)

Thanks for the links. I learned a lesson on how to search here. I obviously searched for the Fund not the ETF. I could also have looked deeper for the topic using other terms.

Meanwhile I studied the links and found some of the insights that I was after. Thanks again.
by Alphonse
Mon Jul 25, 2016 4:17 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard Int'l Bond (VTABX)
Replies: 2
Views: 1053

Vanguard Int'l Bond (VTABX)

A Vanguard financial planner recommended a 28% of bond side allocation to Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund (VTABX). As you know this is a fairly new offering from Vanguard. I use a 50/50 equities to fixed income split for our asset allocation model. So this level of investment as recommended by the planner is 14% of our portfolio and feels quite substantial to me. As you likely know, VTABX is currency hedged. Has an average duration of 7.9 years. Its largest holdings are: Japan 22.1% France 11.8% Germany 10.4% United Kingdom 8.4% Italy 8.1% Canada 5.4% Spain 5.3% I am wondering what the latest insights and views are here from this august group on the need for an investment in international bonds. BTW, I did search the forum and ...
by Alphonse
Sun Apr 24, 2016 10:59 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: One bond fund, two, or three?
Replies: 33
Views: 5538

Re: One bond fund, two, or three?

abuss368 wrote:One bond fund is all that is needed. Two tops if you prefer. We have invested in Total Bond Index for many years and it has provided safety and income to our investment portfolio. This fund is low cost and very diversified. There is a reason this is the largest bond fund in the world!

If you prefer, Vanguard now recommends Total International Bond Index with Total Bond Index as a two fund bond portfolio.

Best.
l
Yes the question reference international bonds is another topic. I'm intending to study that in the coming days and will likely seek some late input here via a separate post.
by Alphonse
Fri Apr 22, 2016 8:57 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: One bond fund, two, or three?
Replies: 33
Views: 5538

Re: One bond fund, two, or three?

FelixTheCat wrote:The bond side always seems to drive me crazy. Should I tilt on Total Bond Market Index? I read people's theories and wonder if I should follow suit. Then I run it through https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/bac ... allocation to see how the tilt performed.

Total Bond Market is fine for my safety/income side. If I want to make a little extra money, I look to the growth side of my portfolio of Total Stock and Total International.

P.S. Your cat looks familiar.
Thanks for the visualizer link. I look forward to exercising it a bit. Yeap, Felix is an icon!
by Alphonse
Fri Apr 22, 2016 5:29 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: One bond fund, two, or three?
Replies: 33
Views: 5538

Re: One bond fund, two, or three?

I am retired and recently simplified our AA. Our AA is 40% equity and 60% fixed. 70% of AA is TIRA and 30% Roth or taxable. Most fixed income is in CDs, Vanguard Intermediate Bond Index (VBILX), and Vanguard Intermediate Investment Grade (VFIDX). We have an equal amount in the 2 bond funds. VBILX is fine by itself but I tilt to IG corporates just because I believe I can do a little better that way. We own no international or emerging markets bonds and do not plan to ever invest in those because I believe they are too volatile for my FI. As part of our simplification, I sold munis and put that money in Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) because I would rather have equity in taxable for tax considerations (LTCGs). Also, muni interest rates are dep...
by Alphonse
Wed Apr 20, 2016 10:32 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: One bond fund, two, or three?
Replies: 33
Views: 5538

Re: One bond fund, two, or three?

[/quote]
. . . . . . .
My take on all of this, and YMMV, is that I would like some return on the 60% of my portfolio that is in FI. That situation in retirement would tend to tell me I want several years of projected retirement withdrawals in a fund that does not dip when the lights go out, so to speak.
. . . . . . .[/quote]

Good point and agreed! At this point of my life bond side is there for safety more than ever.
by Alphonse
Wed Apr 20, 2016 10:13 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: One bond fund, two, or three?
Replies: 33
Views: 5538

Re: One bond fund, two, or three?

Munir wrote:Alphonse,

You may want to consider waiting a couple of months and checking out the duration and holdings of the new Core Bond Fund (VCOBX). It is similar to VFIDX with probably more US treasuries/govt.securities but not as much as TBM. It's duration will be shorter than the Intermediate Bond Index Fund (VBILX). Just like VFIDX, it will be a managed fund.
I saw that one, but as you point out there's not a lot of info on it at the moment. It will be interesting to watch as it unfolds. Thanks
by Alphonse
Wed Apr 20, 2016 7:19 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: One bond fund, two, or three?
Replies: 33
Views: 5538

Re: One bond fund, two, or three?

In my personal opinion (I'm sloppy and lazy and don't try to optimize), if an investor has half stocks, and is planning to stick to investment-grade bonds that are intermediate-term or shorter, then there's no reason to fuss much about the details of the bond allocation. Given the huge fluctuations in the stock portfolio, what you do on the bond side is hardly going to be visible to you. A good exercise for you would be to go to Morningstar, first plot Total Stock, and then plot your other bond funds on the same chart--and set the time scale so that it includes 2008-2009 and see how far any of the proposed bond funds fell in 2008-2009. I think you will find that the worst any of them fell was 10%. I know Total Bond fell much less than that...
by Alphonse
Tue Apr 19, 2016 10:38 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: One bond fund, two, or three?
Replies: 33
Views: 5538

Re: Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund

So my request: For the domestic bond makeup I am pondering keeping it simple and using one fund (Total Bond or Intermediate Term Investment Grade) or perhaps a mix of the two. Please share your views. Alphonse: Bonds are for safety. Higher return nearly always means higher risk in bonds. Use stocks for higher return. We have held Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund for many years and I am very satisfied with its performance -- especially when stocks tank. Keep investing simple. One good-quality, low-cost, short- or intermediate-term diversified bond fund should be enough. The only "free-lunch" in investing is "diversification." Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is the largest bond fund in the world--for good reaso...
by Alphonse
Tue Apr 19, 2016 4:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: One bond fund, two, or three?
Replies: 33
Views: 5538

Re: One bond fund, two, or three?

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I am selling Fidelity and Dodge & Cox and moving to VG funds.
by Alphonse
Tue Apr 19, 2016 3:50 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: One bond fund, two, or three?
Replies: 33
Views: 5538

One bond fund, two, or three?

We are recently retired, consolidated our holdings at VG for simplification, and have our asset allocation at 50% equities and 50% bonds. We have a 99%+ probability of leaving money to our heirs. We have adequate tax deferred accounts for the bond side holdings. On the domestic bond side, we currently own VG Total Bond (VBTLX), Dodge and Cox Income, and Fidelity Total Bond. I have liquidated some other bond side holdings as I go about simplifying the account. In a recent review with a Vanguard planner, he recommended a bond side makeup of: Domestic – 33% International – 14% Munis – 3% (held on taxable side) For the domestic side, he recommended the following: VG Total Bond Index (VBTLX) – 50% of domestic total VG Intermediate Investment Gra...
by Alphonse
Sun Jun 12, 2011 6:49 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard
Replies: 18
Views: 2883

low cost
by Alphonse
Sun Feb 20, 2011 11:24 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Ferri - 1st Quarter 2011 Conference Call
Replies: 11
Views: 3038

Thanks for the link.

It is great to get to listen to something you trust vs. all the other talking heads out there.

All the best,
by Alphonse
Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:42 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buying In - Fast or Slow
Replies: 11
Views: 2028

I will be a guy to give you a personal answer since I haven't read the other posts and am not worn out on the topic. :) I had read it all here, read the books, talked to advisors, and recently executed a plan. This was all done over a year of intensive study and work on my part. With all this study as a foundation and the establishment of a written plan, I recently restructured my assets to fit my new asset allocation model . As part of the implementation, I moved numerous accounts and simplified the account structure. There was also a very significant amount of cash that had accumulated over time and of course that was included in the implementation. After all my studies, I was convinced that all DCA would do was make my life more complica...
by Alphonse
Mon Feb 14, 2011 8:40 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advisor Recommends 20 Funds For Portfolio. Kosher?
Replies: 33
Views: 5035

Based on my many years of life experiences, "Insurance Advisor" is the red flag on this one. Many insurance agencies/sales folks are really pushing the financial services and investing side of their businesses now and I personally know of two cases in my local community of incompetents working this space. I suspect they get significant incentives from their underwriters for their efforts.
by Alphonse
Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:17 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What rebalancing guidelines do you use?
Replies: 18
Views: 2363

I found http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11512&postdays=0&postorder=asc&vote=viewresult by looking here: http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=bogleheads+forum+rebalancing+poll&cp=33&pf=p&sclient=psy&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=bogleheads+forum+rebalancing+poll&pbx=1&fp=92188ee12107320c In all fairness, people seem to find that going to Google and including "bogleheads" in the search string generates better results than trying to use the search tab in the forum. The topic comes up so often there are probably several more threads that would pop up. If you haven't already looked at it this might be helpful: http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Rebalancing I use...
by Alphonse
Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:08 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What rebalancing guidelines do you use?
Replies: 18
Views: 2363

livesoft wrote:

I feel the best day to rebalance into equities is the lowest point for equities during the year. I feel the best day to rebalance into bonds is the lowest point for bond funds during the year.
You must have a great crystal ball. :D Can you send me an email when its flashing?
by Alphonse
Sat Feb 12, 2011 9:37 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard's Financial Planning Services
Replies: 6
Views: 2093

Yes, I suspect you are correct. I have used Vanguard to review some of my plan and they were focused on reviewing my asset model and giving me constructive criticism on that versus a review of my entire financial plan. I must admit that is what I asked them to do. By the way, it is luck of the draw with Vanguard's planners. One planner I spoke with was very helpful and effective in his questions and discussion. Another I tried with them had the Retirement 2020 fund script in front of him and stayed with that theme. If you think you want a complete review, you might want to find a fee only planner and work with them to get a review. My personal experience on this front is it requires a lot of caution on how you choose someone. I didn't have ...
by Alphonse
Sat Feb 12, 2011 9:13 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What rebalancing guidelines do you use?
Replies: 18
Views: 2363

What rebalancing guidelines do you use?

I need to land my own rebalancing guide/limits and frequency. I am quite interested in your views on this and what guidelines you use.

Thanks in advance for sharing your approach.
by Alphonse
Thu Feb 10, 2011 10:25 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Reasonable return for a business
Replies: 9
Views: 1422

I am assuming there are some assets such as furniture, office equipment, etc. Is there a valuable business license that comes with the business? Worth of the business is the value of the assets, licenses that are difficult to obtain (if any comes with it), plus the goodwill (spelled customers). I do not believe that this sort of business could get a multiple of 4 to 6 unless there are some huge entry barriers. You would be buying a few assets and the existing business/clientele they have. To be provocative on the real value of the business: Alternatively open up across the street, cut the price by 5%, take their customers/business and put them out of business, and then raise the price. You've had to cash flow your startup but you didn't hav...
by Alphonse
Tue Feb 08, 2011 8:35 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Automatic Portfolio Rebalancing Tool
Replies: 11
Views: 3218

I use Excel 2007 and Excel 2010 (just happen to have both), and when I open the spreadsheet, the stock quotes are automatically updated from Yahoo. This makes rebalancing and purchase decisions easy; my spreadsheet tells me how many shares I should buy for each asset. This can also be done with earlier versions of Excel (like 2003). It's not super-trivial to do this, but if you're patient, once you get through the process, it is quite handy. No third-party downloads are required. Here's a link to a page for doing this with Excel 2007: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/get-external-data-from-a-web-page-HA010218472.aspx?CTT=1 If you Google "web query excel", you will find additional results and "how-to" guides....
by Alphonse
Tue Feb 08, 2011 11:37 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: T. Rowe Price Spectrum Income RPSIX
Replies: 7
Views: 5215

Perhaps new income prcix is available . Thanks for the response. I did consider TRP New Income (PRCIX) but its intention is to track the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The rising rate environment appears to be driving that negative at the moment. I think that if I were going to invest in that benchmark, I would simply buy the T. Rowe Price US Bond Index PBDIX at half the annual fees. My hope is to avoid entering into the bond market with new investments in a choice that could go underwater for the moment. Perhaps this is counter to the philosophy of not trying to time the market but when the interest rate environment is where it is at the moment, I think it would be foolish to put new money in without considering the current c...
by Alphonse
Mon Feb 07, 2011 2:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: T. Rowe Price Spectrum Income RPSIX
Replies: 7
Views: 5215

T. Rowe Price Spectrum Income RPSIX

I have a 401k at T Rowe Price that represents about 6% of my assets at the moment. I am stuck with T. Rowe Price funds and my allocation model pushes me to put the chips in the fixed income/bond side in this account. I can't roll it over because it is currently active.

I am considering the TRP Spectrum Income Fund (RPSIX) multi-sector bond fund. Like many, I am nervous at the moment about the bond side. From my reading and assessment thus far it appears that this may be a good choice in the rising rate environment that we are facing.

Comments on this particular fund would be appreiciated.
by Alphonse
Thu Feb 03, 2011 7:27 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Global REIT (ex-US) within allocation model?
Replies: 2
Views: 1107

Referenced posts interesting

Thanks for the reference posts, read them this morning.

I should have searched more thoroughly before I posted. I do not seem to get along too well with the search engine but must admit I didn't try too hard on this one because it was getting late and I had just gotten home after battling canceled flights for two days!
by Alphonse
Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Global REIT (ex-US) within allocation model?
Replies: 2
Views: 1107

Global REIT (ex-US) within allocation model?

My allocation model includes REITS at 5% of the total portfolio. I will use the VG REIT Index Fund (VGSLX) for the majority of this.

My question is: Should one include some Global REIT (ex-US) as a portion of this total REIT allocaiton? In this case the global would be an ETF (VNQI).

Thanks in advance for your input and help.
by Alphonse
Mon Dec 06, 2010 12:22 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: All eggs in one brokerage house basket?
Replies: 47
Views: 6996

livesoft wrote:Here is a pro to using different brokerages: You can buy/sell the same fund and/or ETF without regard to frequent trading restrictions because Vanguard won't know about what you do in your other accounts.
very good point
thx
by Alphonse
Mon Dec 06, 2010 12:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: All eggs in one brokerage house basket?
Replies: 47
Views: 6996

All eggs in one brokerage house basket?

I have three different brokerage accounts, Vanguard, Fidelity and TRP. Long story about why there are three which I will not bore you with here. They are a mix of tax deferred and taxable accounts.

What are the pros and cons of consolidating the three to one brokerage house? I am a bit old school and worry about having all my eggs in one basket. Vanguard would be the likely choice because of the availability of their low cost ETFs. BTW, I do subscribe to the passive investing approach and I am two to five years from retirement and am on a mission of simplification.

Thanks for the help - this forum is fantastic!
by Alphonse
Thu Dec 02, 2010 8:19 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity Acct. Rep. compensation/behavour
Replies: 31
Views: 6675

I guess I'll chime in as a former Fidelity Employee. Fidelity as the company specifically believes that active management can beat passive management. It was hanging on my wall in a lot more words. We did on occasion push but it was usually for people to get into the portfolio advisory service group. (fee managed account) And in reality it is probably better for many investors to be in that type of account. No one on this site though. (I say that due to human behavior of buying high and selling low as that is more expensive then paying a little extra for active management) Overall, lots of training to be more knowledgeable and helpful. And when I say push it was really more of a recommendation. That said with such a large organization ther...
by Alphonse
Sun Nov 28, 2010 4:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity Acct. Rep. compensation/behavour
Replies: 31
Views: 6675

Re: Fidelity Acct. Rep. compensation/behavour

Do any of you have similar experiences with Fidelity? I have not had that experience at Fidelity where my 401(k) is held. However, if I was this person's boss, I would expect them to do everything in their power to further the profits of my company including recommending Fidelity funds which are most actively managed and to try to increase the assets under our control by getting current clients to move all their other accounts to Fidelity. After all, you would not expect a Vanguard rep to tell you to move to a better place such as WellsFargo, would you? Glad your experience is positve, that is good news. I woudl say that running investors off with shallow sales pitchs, false arguments, and agressive tactics is not likely what the person's ...
by Alphonse
Sat Nov 27, 2010 7:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Deferred compensation = Bonds in AA??
Replies: 15
Views: 2148

Good points and queries on credit risk and yes, if they go under the plan is not qualified and I could lose it all.

Luckily it is a strong global firm with a solid credit rating; therefore I do not believe it would approach being junk category. I am quite fortunate because the responsible company recently bought my former employer and the strength of the fund improved as it moved to the new firm with the acquisition.
by Alphonse
Sat Nov 27, 2010 4:50 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Deferred compensation = Bonds in AA??
Replies: 15
Views: 2148

Deferred compensation = Bonds in AA??

I have a deferred compensation plan which will pay out in a sinking fund type arrangement over a 10 year period for each of the years that I deferred income/bonuses.

I include the current value within my “Bond” category within my Asset Allocation model. I see it as a corporate bond. Do you agree?
by Alphonse
Sat Nov 27, 2010 12:32 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity Acct. Rep. compensation/behavour
Replies: 31
Views: 6675

Re: Fidelity Acct. Rep. compensation/behavour

Paul[/quote] 1. You can't really expect the rep to comment on your Fidelity holdings in isolation. You apparently asked for advice. Even here, nobody wants to give advice without knowing the whole picture. I gave them the total value of my holdings (split between deferred and taxable), demographics, other pertinent info, and an AA model against which I would apply to them. My view is my exisiting holdings are irrelevant to the model at the moment. I must land a model and then go about the process of restructuring and morphing the investments to fulfill it. My careful and deliberate request was for a review of the model not a recommendation of how to satify it. Perhaps I was naive in my request but maybe I owe them a good bottle of wine for ...
by Alphonse
Sat Nov 27, 2010 10:42 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Fidelity Acct. Rep. compensation/behavour
Replies: 31
Views: 6675

Fidelity Acct. Rep. compensation/behavour

I have been in dialogue with my account representative at Fidelity. The initial contact was initiated by them about a year ago when a 401k was moved over to them by a former employer. I recently sent them my draft asset allocation model to critique. The model is percentages only and did not include any specific investments. I intend to settle on the AA model and then morph my investments over to it. The rep gave me no real constructive criticism on the model other the to comment on the limited granularity in the bond portion. When I explained that I was going to try to keep it simple by using broader indexes via ETFs and index funds, the rep immediately began to attack the principle of passive investing and push managed funds across the boa...
by Alphonse
Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:46 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: would a Boglehead own BRK?
Replies: 26
Views: 3833

would a Boglehead own BRK?

Would a real Boglehead own 10 to 15% of their portfolio in Berkshire?
by Alphonse
Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: do you invest in Int'l Bonds?
Replies: 22
Views: 3101

do you invest in Int'l Bonds?

Do you allocate some % to international in the "Bonds" part of your portfolio? I am a VG investor and couldn't find anything within the VG family in this area.

Opionions would be appreacited.
by Alphonse
Fri Nov 05, 2010 5:59 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best tool for Asset Allocation analysis?
Replies: 29
Views: 10741

foxfirev5 wrote:Likewise, I use the Vanguard Portfolio watch and enter the outside investments which are automatically updated
I am doing assessments against an Asset Allocation Model in order to restructure my portfolio. So at this point some of the importing may be inappropriate.

I am trying to model different options and then restructure when the direction is established.

Thanks
by Alphonse
Fri Nov 05, 2010 3:39 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Best tool for Asset Allocation analysis?
Replies: 29
Views: 10741

Best tool for Asset Allocation analysis?

Is the best Asset Allocation analysis tool Morningstar's X-ray?

One problem I noticed in the past is that it didn't allow you to use dollar amounts, you had to cipher the no. of shares and put that in. I need a tool that allows me to look at several different options.

Thanks
by Alphonse
Fri Jul 30, 2010 6:26 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Anyone in the New Orleans area?
Replies: 39
Views: 16661

I am new to the board.
I am in Spanish Fort, AL and would be interested in a N.O./LMA Chapter.