Search found 25 matches

by Shilo777
Sun May 18, 2014 1:41 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Inland American REIT - Should we sell?
Replies: 19
Views: 4330

Re: Inland American REIT - Should we sell?

Greetings....

I've been away from Bogleheads.org for several weeks. I just realized this evening that I had not provided an update on our Inland American REIT. I am happy to report that on 5/6/14 we were paid a redemption of $6.50 per share, totaling $45,500. The cash will be moved to Vanguard. Yes, it's a far cry from the $10 a share we initially paid for our 7000 shares, but we are delighted to have one less investment stuck at Ameriprise.

One REIT down.....3 REITs and 1 Variable Annuity to go.

Thanks for all the input and advice.
Shilo
by Shilo777
Tue Mar 25, 2014 10:52 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Inland American REIT - Should we sell?
Replies: 19
Views: 4330

Inland American REIT - Should we sell?

Greetings.... For the past year my husband and I have been in the process of getting ourselves untangled from the grips of Ameriprise and moving our retirement funds to Vanguard. We have been very grateful for the advice of you Bogleheads on this forum. We have another decision to make and thought we'd run it by ya'll. One of the four reits still stuck at Ameriprise is a non-traded reit called Inland America. This reit was purchased for us in 2008 by our helpful financial advisor. (Our bad....we trusted them. :oops: ) We invested $70,000 at $10.00 a share. Five and one half years later, the current share price is $6.94, with the market value of our account now at $48,580. We receive a monthly divdend of about $291.00. For the last several y...
by Shilo777
Sat Jan 11, 2014 12:44 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How would you invest this cash?
Replies: 15
Views: 1942

Re: How would you invest this cash?

Thanks very much to those of you who responded. After I posted, I realized I should have provided a little more info for you to understand our situation. We retired 5 years ago at 55. No pension, no SS now, no debt, just living off investments. 33% of our portfolio is still "stuck" at Ameriprise in 4 REITs and 1 variable annuity. The $105,000 cash is from an IRA Reit we just redeemed. The cash is still at Ameriprise. When we started the process to move to Vanguard we set our goal at 50/50. (Right now it's a little out of balance due to a recent transaction.) At any rate. Tonight I calculated the percentage rate of our seperate portfolios and an overall breakdown of our total assets. Perhaps this info will give you a better idea of...
by Shilo777
Fri Jan 10, 2014 12:21 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How would you invest this cash?
Replies: 15
Views: 1942

How would you invest this cash?

Hello,

Currently at Vanguard our asset allocation is 50/50. In addition, we have enough cash to cover about 18 months worth of living expenses. Recently we were able to get out of an investment at our old brokerage firm. We have $105,000 cash sitting in an IRA account trying to decide what to do with it. We can't seem to make up our minds. My husband told me to ask you Boglehead experts. :greedy

1. Would you move the entire amount to Vanguard investing 50/50?
2 Woud you move half to Vanguard 50/50 and take the other half to open a 5 year PenFed CD @ 3% interest?
3. Or.....take the entire amount and move it to a Pen Fed CD?

Just wondering......Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks
by Shilo777
Wed Nov 27, 2013 11:40 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Tax Consequences of selling an IRA REIT?
Replies: 5
Views: 678

Re: Tax Consequences of selling an IRA REIT?

Thanks so much guys! I appreciate your response. It's been a stressful process getting untangled from our old brokerage and moving to Vanguard. One less account to worry about now. :D
by Shilo777
Wed Nov 27, 2013 11:23 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Tax Consequences of selling an IRA REIT?
Replies: 5
Views: 678

Tax Consequences of selling an IRA REIT?

Three weeks ago, my husband submitted a redemption request for a non-traded IRA REIT he holds at our old brokerage firm. After paying a hefty surrender fee, he will still net a $25,000 gain from what he initially paid 5 years ago. When the redemption is made, the cash will be deposited back into his IRA account. Our plan is to then move the funds over to his Vanguard IRA account. When we first started this process we didn't even think about tax consequences. We just assumed that because it was staying within an his IRA account we didn't need to worry. For some reason, now that a four day weekend is upon us and I can't get a hold of our tax person to verify, I'm starting to worry. Can any of you experts our there verify this for me? Are we c...
by Shilo777
Mon Nov 04, 2013 11:32 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Non-Traded REITS….Should we take the hit?
Replies: 17
Views: 3243

Re: Non-Traded REITS….Should we take the hit?

Thank you all for taking the time to respond to my post. We value your input very much. It's good to be reminded of different perspectives. We are going to mull it over just a little longer and then make a final decision. I think we are leaning towards getting the cash from CPA17 Global and reinvesting at Vanguard. We agree that the fees for this fund are just too expensive. As painful as it will be on paper, to see our portfolio balance be reduced by such a large penalty, having it invested at Vanguard in low cost funds makes more sense. Hopefully, the two smaller Reits will still be redeemable in 17 months.

Can't wait to have our Ameriprise experience completely behind us.......

Shilo
by Shilo777
Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:44 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Non-Traded REITS….Should we take the hit?
Replies: 17
Views: 3243

Re: Non-Traded REITS….Should we take the hit?

Thanks for your responses. I do appreciate the ability to bounce this decision off you guys. Obviously, we have not made the best investment decisions in the past! Our CPA17 Global REIT has a current market value of $113,132. This is a gain of $33,132 from our initial $80,000 purchase 5 years ago. Deducting a $9,000 surrender charge would still leave us a return of $24,132 and a $104,132 chunk of change we could move to Vanguard. The other two REITs were purchased in 2011 for $30,000 each. One is valued at $36,663 now and the other is $35,991. I realize that if you deduct 5% from each of these it does not amount to the $3,200 for each fund I quoted. What was explained to me was that the dividends which were reinvested were purchased at a di...
by Shilo777
Thu Oct 31, 2013 7:03 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Non-Traded REITS….Should we take the hit?
Replies: 17
Views: 3243

Re: Non-Traded REITS….Should we take the hit?

Thanks everyone for your replies. Your input is most appreciated.

Jdilla1107……That emotion you describe is exactly what we are trying not to guide our decision. Thank you for the confirmation.

Valuethinker……The money in these accounts is not something we need at this time. I think splitting the difference might be the way to go.

DualIncomeNoDebt…….Yes, we agree! If only we knew then what we know now!

Bbberris…Thanks for your reply. What you stated has been our fear. I guess 17 months isn’t that long….now 11 years is another story.

Bogle101…..Yes, just prior to our leaving we started asking lots of questions. The last few meetings were very uncomfortable and I do believe there was quite a bit of squirming. :?

Shilo777
by Shilo777
Wed Oct 30, 2013 7:32 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Non-Traded REITS….Should we take the hit?
Replies: 17
Views: 3243

Non-Traded REITS….Should we take the hit?

Hello, Six months ago my husband and I started the process of moving our funds from Ameriprise to Vanguard. At present we have moved 67% of our portfolio. Unfortunately, the other 33% is still at our old brokerage, split between 5 non-traded REITS and one variable annuity. Yes. I know. What were we thinking when we allowed our advisor to purchase these for us!!! We were totally ignorant. :oops: At any rate, two of the REITS we hold (Inland America and CNL Lifestyle Properties) started out well, but are now paying reduced dividends and not taking redemption requests. The remaining three REITS (Hines Global, Industrial Income Trust and CPA17 Global) are doing well and paying decent dividends. My husband and I are now trying to decide what to ...
by Shilo777
Sun May 19, 2013 12:46 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Questions about Vanguard Advisor & Large Index Fund Purchase
Replies: 2
Views: 608

Questions about Vanguard Advisor & Large Index Fund Purchase

Greetings….. First I apologize for the length of this post. Two months ago I posted on this forum about my husband and me moving our accounts from Ameriprise to Vanguard. Currently about 52% of our portfolio has been moved. REITs, an annuity and a CD had to be left behind for now. Our goal during this next year is to gain the knowledge and confidence to manage our own investments. For the first year, however, during this transition period we opted to pay for a Vanguard financial advisor. Expensive hand-holding I know...but certainly cheaper than where we came from. The service we received from Vanguard when we first started making inquiries was great. The concierge service persons were excellent. If I sent an email, we received an immediate...
by Shilo777
Wed Apr 03, 2013 11:03 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Asset Allocation @ age 60
Replies: 8
Views: 3069

Re: Asset Allocation @ age 60

Thank you so much for your responses. I just reread chapter 8 in The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing about asset allocation. Finally, it's all starting to sink in! I've come a long way in the last few months.....but can't wait to learn more. I actually understood what you all posted! :happy I can't believe it took us this long to wake up! :oops:

Thanks again for your help!
by Shilo777
Wed Apr 03, 2013 3:40 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Asset Allocation @ age 60
Replies: 8
Views: 3069

Asset Allocation @ age 60

Prep work has been completed and we are almost ready to move funds over to Vanguard. Due to a lock in time of some of our investments at Ameriprise we are only able to move about $826,000 at this time. $140,000 is cash, $686,000 in IRAs. Later we will discuss the pros and cons of taking penalty hits on our REITS. Our annuity will move in 2015 and our CD in 6 months. After reading posts from this forum and reading The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing, I realize our portfolio is going to be changed in a very big way. Of the $826,000 we will be transferring there are 32 different funds. Coming to Vanguard, we know things will be simplified. That is what we desire. It’s just hard wrapping our minds around having so few investments. I’m wondering ...
by Shilo777
Fri Mar 29, 2013 6:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Yet another Ameriprise customer... [Wrap acc't, performance]
Replies: 27
Views: 6117

Re: Yet another Ameriprise customer...

Hello ExMex…. My husband and I are the most recent “bad” examples of what can happen in an Ameriprise portfolio. We are in the process of gathering information about our accounts and getting ready to make the jump to Vanguard. Both of your questions are issues we have just recently discussed with our Ameriprise Financial Advisor. We are also in a wrap account with an asset-based fee, paying .85%. When we finally started asking questions about our accounts, we were told that Front Load and 12b1 fees were waived when our Mutual Funds were purchased. When we asked if there were other expenses we were told “no”. We left that meeting feeling a little better. Then we went home, continued studying, and learned a new term, “expense ratio”. During o...
by Shilo777
Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:56 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Ending Advisor Relationship & Getting Cost Basis
Replies: 19
Views: 2481

Re: Ending Advisor Relationship & Getting Cost Basis

Thanks again for all of your comments and suggestions. We are feeling much better about our decision. Within the next week we should be making the formal announcement to our advisor. The last few days, we've been gathering info about the non-traded REITS we have. Yikes! What a mess....and some of the fees are outrageous! :oops: We're going to have to figure out what to do with them since they can't be moved to Vanguard.

In regards to our cost basis, I was told the other day that for the funds we have in our IRA accounts, we shouldn't need the cost basis. I'm hoping they are right. This would certainly make things much easier. Does anyone know, by chance, if this is correct?
by Shilo777
Tue Mar 19, 2013 9:43 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Ending Advisor Relationship & Getting Cost Basis
Replies: 19
Views: 2481

Re: Ending Advisor Relationship & Getting Cost Basis

Thanks so much for your replies. Looks like we will start working on a spreadsheet and preparing a nice email to our advisor. :wink:

Thanks!
by Shilo777
Mon Mar 18, 2013 10:24 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Ending Advisor Relationship & Getting Cost Basis
Replies: 19
Views: 2481

Ending Advisor Relationship & Getting Cost Basis

Hello all.... After lurking, learning, posting and discussing the very messy details of our Ameriprise portfolio, my husband and I have decided to move everything over to Vanguard. Before we actually start the process we have two concerns. I am hoping for some advice from you experts. 1. Because of the personal relationship we've had with our current advisor, we are at a loss as to the best way to end the relationship. Yes, I know, it's best to leave the emotions out of investing, but..... We still want to do it with integrity. We share in the responsibility of what occurred for the last several years as we allowed it to happen. That was our bad! 2. Because we have so many funds, we are very concerned about getting the cost basis info for f...
by Shilo777
Tue Mar 12, 2013 9:18 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Leaving Ameriprise..Wondering about Vanguard Asset Mgmnt Svc
Replies: 19
Views: 2347

Re: Leaving Ameriprise..Wondering about Vanguard Asset Mgmnt

Thank you all for your suggestions. Today we will begin to explore the possibility of finding a fee only advisor to help us sort out this mess. :oops:
by Shilo777
Mon Mar 11, 2013 9:06 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Leaving Ameriprise..Wondering about Vanguard Asset Mgmnt Svc
Replies: 19
Views: 2347

Re: Leaving Ameriprise..Wondering about Vanguard Asset Mgmnt

More info…… My husband and I are retired. We would qualify for Flag Ship service. We have an existing portfolio holding nine separate accounts. Our funds include one variable annuity, a CD, 25 mutual funds, IRAs, an inherited IRA and 5 non-traded REITS (don’t know what to do with them!). Our Ameriprise statements are 30 pages long. We are a bit overwhelmed thinking about doing this on our own. Tax consequences are another big concern to us, as well as the Ameriprise fees we will be hit with if/when we move to Vanguard. Our thought is, if we can get personalized help to begin with and get settled, later down the line when we are more confident, we could then manage our accounts on our own. Our disappointment with our appointment today was th...
by Shilo777
Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:29 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Leaving Ameriprise..Wondering about Vanguard Asset Mgmnt Svc
Replies: 19
Views: 2347

Leaving Ameriprise..Wondering about Vanguard Asset Mgmnt Svc

After eight years of blissful ignorance, my husband and I are finally taking steps towards learning how to manage our own investments. (Or at least be able to make an informed decision.) This forum has played a huge part in waking us up to the many fees and expenses we have been paying all these years. (Thank you!) :happy This morning we had our first telephone appointment with a Vanguard CFP. The phone call from them came at the exact appointed time. The only surprise was that it was a different rep than our appointment had been made with. We were told he was given our appointment due to illness on the part of our scheduled CFP. Unfortunately, it was a very unproductive meeting. Several days ago we had forwarded detailed information about ...
by Shilo777
Wed Mar 06, 2013 11:31 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need Advice.....Better Late Than Never
Replies: 31
Views: 5060

Re: Need Advice.....Better Late Than Never

nydad.....
Thank you for all the information and guidance. I appreciate the time it took for you to write it all down. You have confirmed that nagging feeling I started to get when I first started reading Bogleheads.org. Yikes! What a mess! My husband is now totally onboard with us making a change. It doesn't matter how nice, sweet or friendly our advisor has been these last 8 years. We do have other friends! :happy

I called Vanguard this afternoon and set up an appointment for my husband and I to speak with one of their Certified Financial Planners. Hopefully, we are on our way to untangling this mess..... and we won't have to eat beans and rice for the next 25-30 years! :wink:
by Shilo777
Wed Mar 06, 2013 1:56 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need Advice.....Better Late Than Never
Replies: 31
Views: 5060

Re: Need Advice.....Better Late Than Never

nydad...... Thanks for your input! Yes, I have been reading about the REITS we hold and I have been very concerned. I know that our Inland America REIT cannot be redeemed or sold at this time and pay no dividends. Every few weeks we receive a letter from outside companies offering to purchase our shares of Inland America. It would be a cash out offer, with us taking a loss. Between my husband and I we have about $250,000 in 5 REITS. After much reading I have realized that all of ours are "non-traded" REITS. When I asked our advisor why they purchased "non-traded" REITs we were told it was because they are less volatile than listed REITS. I'm wondering if this is true. :confused Levett.....I do believe we will be calling ...
by Shilo777
Wed Mar 06, 2013 1:36 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need Advice.....Better Late Than Never
Replies: 31
Views: 5060

Re: Need Advice.....Better Late Than Never

Thanks to all who have commented on our situation! I am reading as fast as I can! It has been a long time since I have had to study this hard and absorb so much. :confused My husband and I feel very blessed that we were able to retire so early. We don't mind paying anyone for good advice. Everyone is entitled to be paid for their services. I am, however, overwhelmed by the complexity of our portfolio (9 accounts) and wonder if the driving force behind the fund selections made had more to do with commissions and fees than our best interest. I so appreciate the encouragement from this board. Bertie....I called the company my advisor works for (Ameriprise) and was told that they do not offer Vanguard funds. My advisor was suggesting I purchase...
by Shilo777
Tue Mar 05, 2013 10:57 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need Advice.....Better Late Than Never
Replies: 31
Views: 5060

Re: Need Advise.....Better Late Than Never

Thank you for the encouraging responses to my post. After the meeting we had with our advisor last week, I asked for the ticker symbol of additional funds they thought should be purchased for us. When I received their suggestions, I went to the Vanguard web site and located comparable Vanguard funds. I forwarded my suggestions back to our advisor to see if the Vanguard funds could be purchased instead because they were similar and had low expense ratios. The following quote was the response I received: “Vanguard ONLY sells their funds through Vanguard. You have to deal direct with them and their 800#. You cannot buy them through xxxxxx or any other firm, except Vanguard. And Vanguard does not have financial advisors to assist you. They are ...
by Shilo777
Tue Mar 05, 2013 2:26 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Need Advice.....Better Late Than Never
Replies: 31
Views: 5060

Need Advice.....Better Late Than Never

Hello everyone. This is my first post after lurking for several months. My husband and I each retired in 2008 at the age of 55 after long careers with our companies. Several years prior to retiring we hired a financial planner recommended to us by a friend. This adviser guided us over the years as retirement became a reality. Upon retiring, our 401ks were rolled over into various accounts by our planner. A few months ago I ran across this forum. Since then I have spent every evening reading all of the posts. What a wake-up call! I have realized how totally negligent my husband and I have been in understanding what is in our portfolio. I am so ashamed to admit that. We were just so very happy to know that we had enough to retire. All these y...