Bogleheads.org

Those individual treasures everyone hated in 2019 still delivered 1.5-2% annually. So you're saying that an intermediate treasury bond bought in 2019 could be sold today for a return of 1.5-2%/yr, even though it hasn't matured? I don't know, I'm just asking, and I would have guessed it couldn't be. I bought them off the market in 2019 expiring in 2020 to 2022. One of them I sold within a year for 4% profit but yes the rest earned 1.5-1.6% annually to their expiration - that was the going rate in 2019. I was buying I-bonds and EE bonds as they expired. I also bought 3.1% 5 year CD's in Feb 2019. Okay that makes sense; you bought bonds on the secondary market with limited duration remaining. So while they had been intermediate maturity bonds...

abc132 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 1:09 am
Those individual treasures everyone hated in 2019 still delivered 1.5-2% annually.

So you're saying that an intermediate treasury bond bought in 2019 could be sold today for a return of 1.5-2%/yr, even though it hasn't matured? I don't know, I'm just asking, and I would have guessed it couldn't be.

Can you please explain how Total Bond dividends will continue to go up to 5.5%- 6%? How do older bonds being replaced by new bonds raise the dividends? Why wouldn't Total Bond dividends continue to go up if prevailing interest rates went up? Whether they'll be 5.5% to 6% exactly at some particular point in the future isn't something anyone can predict. The previous poster didn't say anything about the prevailing interest rates going up, His claim was that total bond dividends would go up only because old bonds are being replaced by new bonds in the fund as they mature. HomerJ said "SEC yield on risk-free bonds is up to 4.5%. So corporate bonds are paying more..."; I don't know how that could be interpreted some other way than &qu...

msaffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:44 pm Is this a reasonable plan? What am I overlooking? Thanks.

I think it might frustrate you to be selling stocks at a time when they're down 30% but bonds are up 10%. The recent correlation in performance won't always be the case. Separating the asset classes would let you choose what you want to sell. Of course, "up" and "down" is relative and nobody really knows what up or down should be compared to.

There have been some discussion of what's "income" in this thread, and my take is that dividends from the fund are income, but capital gains aren't. The IRS has its own view of course but when you compare other fund yields to Wellington, I'd suggest only looking at dividends.

I don't know if that's true or not... SEC yield on risk-free bonds is up to 4.5%. So corporate bonds are paying more, and the Total Bond dividends will continue to go up as older bonds are replaced with newer bonds. I can certainly see them hitting them 5.5% or 6% this year. Maybe not 7.8%, but you may end up fairly close to 2.5% over the 7 years, and probably by 8 years. It's not exactly perfect. Can you please explain how Total Bond dividends will continue to go up to 5.5%- 6%? How do older bonds being replaced by new bonds raise the dividends? Why wouldn't Total Bond dividends continue to go up if prevailing interest rates went up? Whether they'll be 5.5% to 6% exactly at some particular point in the future isn't something anyone can pr...

I don't know if that's true or not... SEC yield on risk-free bonds is up to 4.5%. So corporate bonds are paying more, and the Total Bond dividends will continue to go up as older bonds are replaced with newer bonds. I can certainly see them hitting them 5.5% or 6% this year. Maybe not 7.8%, but you may end up fairly close to 2.5% over the 7 years, and probably by 8 years. It's not exactly perfect. Can you please explain how Total Bond dividends will continue to go up to 5.5%- 6%? How do older bonds being replaced by new bonds raise the dividends? Why wouldn't Total Bond dividends continue to go up if prevailing interest rates went up? Whether they'll be 5.5% to 6% exactly at some particular point in the future isn't something anyone can pr...

I'm still not aware of anyone able to have TIAA manage an account without an AUM fee. Historically you could consult with your dedicated TIAA adviser and they would prepare a detailed plan for you when you requested it, not just incorporating your TIAA assets but everything else you have as well. But they wouldn't manage the money; you had to d-i-y and implement the plan yourself. But I'm not going to research the disclosure documents to try to figure it out since I don't have any interest in TIAA managing an account.

gips wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 4:36 pm I once spent 80 hours researching which pair of sunglasses to purchase and where to buy them. I've mostly been able to turn that side of my brain off.

You should write a wiki page describing whatever solution you found for turning off that side of your brain; a lot of Bogleheads might find that helpful.

...their reasoning is as follows: In each market we examined, our analysis indicated that volatility was reduced most with an allocation to international equities of between 35% and 55%. While this observation may help investors determine the appropriate mix of domestic and international equities, volatility reduction is not the only factor to consider. Without veering too far off topic, I wonder what historical-range was used to build this assessment. A period that's too short, wades into "recency bias". But one that's too long, risks drawing purportedly timeless conclusions that are swayed by conditions now probably obsolete. An example of the latter is that other perennial bugaboo, that of small-cap vs. large, the point being,...

Wouldn't this be a software error, since when you use "transfer", it should only issue the warning if you ask to withhold taxes? Not really. Reading it carefully, it's warning the user that if they chose to pay taxes from the Roth conversion, they will incurred a 10% penalty. It then does not offer an option to do this from the GUI. To do this, you must call Fidelity and do it over the phone where someone who hopefully know what they are doing (not always) will double-check to make sure you really want to do this. I feel that this is actually a good way to do it since it prevents users from accidently withholding funds for Roth conversion tax. I've done conversions at Fidelity but never chose to take taxes out so I wasn't aware o...

AnnikaW wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 3:49 pm

tibbitts wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 1:51 am I've never understood why so many Bogleheads so casually accept the risk of being out of the market, but that's been pretty consistent over the years.

Sometimes you have to move investments and you have no choice.

Usually you can at least break large transactions apart to minimize the risk, and if not there's usually some other way to minimize the risk. Bogleheads seem to put more effort into saving $5 on HRB or TT every year than in avoiding potentially tens of thousands of dollars in losses from being out of the market. I assume the reasoning is that the $5 is s sure thing, and the tens of thousands of dollars more of a gamble.

Hi, I have a 4 year old dell 7390 lattitude laptop that is out of warranty. The laptop works well but the battery needs to be replaced. The battery is $119 on dell.com vs ~$40 on amazon vs ~$20 on ebay. I paid around $500 for the laptop on the dell outlet, $119 is a non-starter. My experience with Dell battery replacements has been they lose charging capacity more rapidly than the original battery. Wondering what your experience has been with non-oem laptop batteries? best, If you like the computer 4yrs isn't that old, especially given it's a business-class computer. Does it have an SSD? How much has it been used? For example, have you worn all the paint off the keys, and have a three-course meal embedded under the keyboard such that crumb...

With about $4 million in liquid asset it seems to me you already "won the game". You could generate over 100K worth of income with a conservative (50/50 stock/fixed income) portfolio. A few things I would do: 1) Like others mentioned, you could easily "earn" 20k a year if you scrap your financial advisors. 2) Have a plan to sell off a portion if not most of your stock options... I wouldn't be comfortable with 1/4 of my net worth tied to one stock especially during retirement. 3) Scrap the idea of a part time job unless you are doing it for passion. 4) Enjoy retirement and look for some hobbies. I agree with this. In general I think Bogleheads have romanticized views of the part-time, lower-paying job opportunities out t...

Wouldn't this be a software error, since when you use "transfer", it should only issue the warning if you ask to withhold taxes?

ekid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 3:24 pm

erp wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 3:09 pm

ekid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 2:44 pm With an average maturity of 13 days and a seven day yield of 4.55%....why wouldn't VMFXX be paying more- much more- than .71% ?

In another part of page I saw 0.98%YTD but that's no material difference.

YTD is not annualized, and we're at a little less than 1/4 of a year right now. With rates between 4-4.55 so far this year, .98% YTD sounds about right.

So I maybe (probably) misinterpret "YTD" ? I should multiply given figure by 4?

Well, not exactly 4.0, but how were you interpreting YTD?

Hi, I have a 4 year old dell 7390 lattitude laptop that is out of warranty. The laptop works well but the battery needs to be replaced. The battery is $119 on dell.com vs ~$40 on amazon vs ~$20 on ebay. I paid around $500 for the laptop on the dell outlet, $119 is a non-starter. My experience with Dell battery replacements has been they lose charging capacity more rapidly than the original battery. Wondering what your experience has been with non-oem laptop batteries? best, If you like the computer 4yrs isn't that old, especially given it's a business-class computer. Does it have an SSD? How much has it been used? For example, have you worn all the paint off the keys, and have a three-course meal embedded under the keyboard such that crumb...

lepa71 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 2:08 pm I'm wondering if it is a good idea to use this fund as bond allocation right now until the rates could go down.
This would be in tax-defer accounts.

"Until" the rates "could" go down? Couldn't they always go down? If you're thinking of trying to time the rates, some of us have tried doing exactly what you're thinking of. I actually succeeded once (cleverly not mentioning the times I wasn't); I believe I made double-digit (in dollars, not percentage) excess returns on something like $100k. Before taxes. But a day or two either way and it would have been a different story. Needless to say it wasn't worthwhile, but I was lucky enough that it wasn't harmful either.

CletusCaddy wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 1:21 pm

tibbitts wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 11:18 am

CletusCaddy wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:50 am I am looking for a way to lock in high long term interest rates.

What if it turns out the current long-term rates aren't high rates?

5% is good enough for me, when you consider that equity returns for 100 years have averaged 9% nominal

I seem to recall the last time I could have bought a longer-term CD in the 7% range I went with 18mo because I was sure 8% was right around the corner. That definitely didn't end well.

student wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:53 pm Me too. 18% to 82% chance of success? Any chance of mishearing? Eighty instead of eighteen or transposed two digits when the advisor typed the answer?

I could see 81% vs. 82%, but for me that would be statistically insignificant and not a practical benefit. But if I had low-80 percentages of not running out of money, I'd be making some other adjustments to improve my odds, unless this is entirely discretionary money - in which case I'd probably invest it more aggressively.

DesertGator wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:25 pm

Colorado Guy wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 8:44 am

Blue456 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 3:31 pm Interesting. My pass advisor was very strict, “we may not be a good fit” if you don’t agree with their recommendations.

Ha! That is exactly what my PAS advisor said when I wanted to change my international exposure!

This is a lazy, ineffectual and non-consultative response. The moment the paid “adviser” utters this phrase is the moment you fire them without a millisecond of delay.

If you pay the adviser more (at a full-service brokerage for example), you'll probably get a kinder/gentler/more-time-consuming approach. You might still end up at the same place, of course.

A few hours ago you were talking about 98% and 99%; now you're talking about 18% and 82%. That doesn't make sense either. Not me Your probably confused with another Post Sorry, my fault; that was in this thread but posted by someone else. In any case, it still doesn't make sense that you'd go from 18% to 82% (which still doesn't seem all that high, incidentally) by simply adding funds. I'm assuming when you mentioned three funds you have some variation on the three-funds discussed here. You'd have to have a very inappropriate allocation now to see such a change in success probability. Basically Target Ret 2025 Tr Sel $443K Instl 500 Index Trust $264K Inst Tot Bd Mkt Ix Tr 163K Just guessing that looks like maybe 50% equities 50% bonds with...

Zso wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 11:41 am

crefwatch wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 8:26 am
A few hours ago you were talking about 98% and 99%; now you're talking about 18% and 82%. That doesn't make sense either.

Not me Your probably confused with another Post

Sorry, my fault; that was in this thread but posted by someone else. In any case, it still doesn't make sense that you'd go from 18% to 82% (which still doesn't seem all that high, incidentally) by simply adding funds. I'm assuming when you mentioned three funds you have some variation on the three-funds discussed here. You'd have to have a very inappropriate allocation now to see such a change in success probability.

CletusCaddy wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:50 am I am looking for a way to lock in high long term interest rates.

What if it turns out the current long-term rates aren't high rates?

Zso, there are many complex issues involved. One that has not come up is whether an IRA (that you would have to roll over to [?]) has different lawsuit or marital protections than a 401(k). Another is whether you "like" the 401(k)'s prices and options. If you learn more about investing, you may find the options and Expense Ratios you have at Vanguard are much better. (Not sure, of course.) It is much easier to find customers that dislike TIAA than those who dislike Vanguard. OTOH, Vanguard's technology is so much better that they accomplish something like 97% of their customer interactions fully online. TIAA can only dream of that right now. But you "sound" like you want someone to hold your hand. (Sorry if that sounds ...

The .38% is the expense fee for the average of all funds. There is no AUM fee. I understand that Vanguard has the lowest fees. However I am inclined to put everything in TIAA. Just because it’s will be managed by TIAA. I'm not aware of TIAA providing management for only the cost of fund expense ratios. They used to provide a dedicated advisor who would come up with a specific plan, even incorporating non-TIAA investments, but eliminated that service for my account at least. It could be based on assets in the account and mine might not be sufficient, although I have transferred additional funds into TIAA (from Vanguard) since then. But even then TIAA would not implement the plan without an additional fee. If TIAA provided a specific plan yo...

I've never understood why so many Bogleheads so casually accept the risk of being out of the market, but that's been pretty consistent over the years.

fpt1988 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2023 10:19 am Why is there not more focus on a TMMF vs HYSA?

I haven't done a scientific study, but I'd guess there has been more "focus" (discussion?) about money funds than HYSAs ever since the former recently began out-yielding the latter. So I'm not convinced the premise of the question is correct.

Munir wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:02 pm Am I courting any risks by having that much money in one fund even though it is mostly a fund of US Treasuries?

As I've posted in other threads, I'd be more worried about someone stealing that much money because it was held in all in one convenient place than the fund failing. But if I split it up in two parts, I'd be twice as worried about someone stealing half the money.

Olufsen12345 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:19 am Given the recent collapse of SVB...which is not the same thing as this, but can someone educate me about this:

Is it possible for a single index fund to collapse? Is it safe to put one's entire equity portfolio into VTI/VTSAX? Should one diversify to include index funds from different firms even though they may be tracking the same index?

thank you

Aren't you worried about someone stealing your single index fund more than you're worried about a failure of the fund itself? I'm not saying either scenario is likely, but of the two I don't think the fund failing would be the most likely.

Sometimes we mentioning employer retiree insurance as if you can switch in and out of it depending on ACA, but often employers provide retiree supplements or advantage plans throughout medicare years as well. With some employers if you bail on the pre-medicare employer coverage at any time, you're done: there's no going back. So you may have to consider that.

I don't know what the wait times for RV repairs in Europe are like but in the US they are long enough to make DIY repairs my go-to option. Case in point: we got to our current campsite, settled in, connected the site water to our trailer and I hear my wife yelling that there's water spewing out of the bathroom toilet. Yikes. Turns out a part on the toilet had failed causing the spewing. Unfortunately there was no water cutoff valve for the toilet so that meant we couldn't run water anywhere in the camper. Double yikes. Doing a bit of YouTube research revealed something called Sharkbite valves. I was at Lowe's when they opened and had a cutoff water valve installed soon after and we were good to go with a new water assembly module from Amaz...

msaffer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:44 pm VGHAX and VGSLX kick off good amount of income so planning to hold onto those.

I don't know that it matters but I don't think you'll find much support for funds that "kick off good amount of income" here. You might find support for REITs but not necessarily because of income.

daacrusher2001 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:54 pm Mainly I am interested reducing taxable income in later years in case one of us doesn’t make it as long. With 100% survivorship pensions, my SS, and RMDs - a single filer would easily get into higher tax brackets and incur IRMAA surcharges.

Make sure the survivor is prepared to take advantage of that last MFJ opportunity after death. As you say everything will change after that. Sometimes there's only a short window (and occasionally none at all of course.) It seems like you're in one of those in-between situations where conversions will be of marginal benefit that will be highly dependent on how events play out (vs. say someone with a very high or low income), but you could model different scenarios and see what you think.

hotajax wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 11:51 am From anybody?

There are all sorts of funds depending on your definition of equivalent. If you mean one the IRS would consider "substantially identical", no.

Hmm, it's not every day that a 2007 post gets revived.

jplee3 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 3:55 pm

C_Smith_777 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 12:36 pm Is a M416 trailer an option? We bought one for camping. Absolutely love it. Put a RTT on there and call it good

Haha, that looks cool. I'm not sure if that would work out so well for us. My wife was complaining about hanging out in the hot tent in 100+ degree weather so I'm thinking a raised tent platform may not be that much better (hence why I made AC one of the 'requirements' lol).

That's one of the issues here: you're talking about "hanging out" in a very tiny space, and yes worse if it's not the right temperature.

Maybe I missed it but what's the use: relatively short trips for a weekend, longer trips, days in one place or moving every day ("touring")? You can store any vehicle at home?

Lee_WSP wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 9:27 am I do have children, but I would still opt for a professional fiduciary or trust company and bill pay manager. Managing someone’s finances is a burden, not a gift.

Besides, if I really can’t manage the money any more, then I’m pretty far gone mentally and I doubt much matters other than making sure the scammers don’t get me and that I’m comfortable in my decline.

That, or I’ve gotten to the point where I can be lazy and just golf all day without a care in the world.

I can understand that, although it might depend on what else the kids have going on and what their preferences are.

I don't understand, why do windows need replacing? I thought you just recaulk them every so often. My experience with wood windows previously was that over time, maybe due to moisture etc. they deteriorate, and also painting them (mine were painted, maybe some are stained) is difficult due to the somewhat intricate framing around the glass. And moisture does eventually work its way around the panes with expansion and contraction, even if you try to maintain that seal. And eventually the hardware deteriorates. Plus with vinyl windows now the glass seems to be a much higher percentage of the cost than it had been in the single-pane era with wood windows, so replacing the entire window (especially once the first replacement is done; subsequen...

visualguy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 1:15 am

nonnie wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 8:53 pm We moved to a CCRC a little over 3 years ago at 67 and 66.

Wow - that seems pretty early to do that, although I understand the motivation. Are there many there of a similar age? I always thought most people who move into these places are well into their 70s.

Possible there was a considerable financial incentive to moving in earlier?

Aside from the long term erosion of one's savings by excess fees, I think one of the biggest issues is the lack of transparency by advisors when it comes to letting a client know the effects of fees on their savings. I know most people would say that is the clients fault for not investigating the cost of fees/AUM's on one's investments, and they would be right. But it is a bit deceptive the way that aspect of business is conducted. There is a reason advisors do not send a quarterly or yearly bill to clients for their fees. Most clients would drop the advisor if they had any clue what 1-2% fees were actually costing them per year. I've wondered what an advisor would say if a person told them they wanted to pay them directly every quarter in...

"You" was referring to TN_Boy. Seeming repetitive now, so the last time I'll state these points namely: -The guaranteed income stream of an annuity may be a valuable protection against catastrophic loss of capital even in the case of a POA misappropriating funds, and also for many other risks confronting vulnerable seniors (other fraud, mismanagement, et al). -Therefore, for a vulnerable senior, assessment of risk vs reward may shift in favor of annuitization of some portion of assets. Note: I disagree with your statement that one should assess whether the annuity is a "good idea" independent of its potential protection from fraud. IMO the protection against total loss is part of its intrinsic value which must be consid...

Regarding the rent suggestions, I would say that kills a good part - maybe more than half - of the advantage of owning an RV, so you might not feel the same benefit as you would from owning. To me, renting an RV is something to do a few times to be sure you like the lifestyle. Or to accomplish a certain goal on a certain trip. Either you enjoy the RV lifestyle or you don't. Renting is a way to find out. If you do enjoy the lifestyle, renting is not going to be as satisfying as owning in my opinion. But only a part of the RV lifestyle will be available if you rent. A big part, maybe the biggest for a lot of people, is having all your "stuff" ready to go in the RV at all times, so you can just take off for a day or a week with virt...

I did a 10-year review of my funds and a surprisingly good performer was the Strategic Equity Fund (https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vseqx) It's focused on value in small/mid-cap. I like it because: a) It balances my large/mega-cap retirement funds. b) It has a relatively low (for an active fund) expense ratio of 0.17% c) It delivers capital gains so it is tax efficient in my after-tax account d) The management seems to be stable But it is actively managed and for that reason I'd like to diversify beyond Vanguard's offering. Are there similar funds or am I over-thinking the diversification aspect? I used to invest in this and understand the motivation for using it, but would absolutely never use it in ...

Regarding the rent suggestions, I would say that kills a good part - maybe more than half - of the advantage of owning an RV, so you might not feel the same benefit as you would from owning. To me, renting an RV is something to do a few times to be sure you like the lifestyle. Or to accomplish a certain goal on a certain trip. Either you enjoy the RV lifestyle or you don't. Renting is a way to find out. If you do enjoy the lifestyle, renting is not going to be as satisfying as owning in my opinion. But only a part of the RV lifestyle will be available if you rent. A big part, maybe the biggest for a lot of people, is having all your "stuff" ready to go in the RV at all times, so you can just take off for a day or a week with virt...

I have a lot of trouble with this recommendation -- i.e. annuitize *just* to make the money "safer." What if that is simply the wrong financial move? You are mostly just taking money from your heirs, in a very likely vain attempt to protect your money. The point is that someone who's really alone probably doesn't have heirs to worry about. And I wouldn't view it as "taking money" anyway since nobody is entitled to the money, especially under the circumstances we're considering. I disagree because I can think of situations where I would want money to go to somebody, but at the same time, that person simply cannot function as POA for me. For example, a relative that lives overseas. Or someone that I chose not to burden wi...

Hey all, I'm considering getting a hitch installed on my Mazda CX9 so I can eventually tow a lighter camper trailer (like an Aliner). Also nice to have the option to throw on a basket, bike rack, etc too as desired. Where would you suggest getting the hitch installed? Local body shop? Uhaul? I saw uhaul will provide the parts and wiring and do the install for around $550-600 or so... Too much? Is there somewhere else better I should do it? Not sure how comfortable I'd be DIYing something like this Try hardest to get the OEM. Usually that means buying a vehicle from factory that comes with hitch. I have seen so many uhaul hitches. They look very ugly and are almost always rusted on older vehicles. I would not be comfortable carrying anythin...

TN_Boy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 3:09 pm I have a lot of trouble with this recommendation -- i.e. annuitize *just* to make the money "safer." What if that is simply the wrong financial move? You are mostly just taking money from your heirs, in a very likely vain attempt to protect your money.

The point is that someone who's really alone probably doesn't have heirs to worry about. And I wouldn't view it as "taking money" anyway since nobody is entitled to the money, especially under the circumstances we're considering.

Regarding the rent suggestions, I would say that kills a good part - maybe more than half - of the advantage of owning an RV, so you might not feel the same benefit as you would from owning.

steve321 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 2:53 pm

mjg wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:43 pm Expensive. Depreciate terribly.

I get the impression they depreciate less than car though; perhaps because the ones I've seen have done fewer miles than a car of the same age would have(?)

Lately they've held their value or even appreciated, or at least have for the past few years until now.

I took ours advisor out to lunch. I told her to her face that her service and work had been appreciated but after careful consideration we had decide to make a change going forward. I said honestly I think your company is a good company and you are a solid but this lunch is one me and I wish you nothing but the best in your business. She had us in 30 odd funds and we were able to get that back under control in about a month with 4 ETFs and a few stocks that we still hold due to the gains in them. I got a very nice email from her a few days later and she said if we ran into any issues with the moves or tax time to let her know and she would be more than happy to help us. I gotta believe she was not shocked to be honest. Again...nothing wron...