Search found 15249 matches

by Northern Flicker
Mon Mar 18, 2024 2:04 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Awesome Portfolio: 20% Stocks..20% Bonds..20% Cash..20%Real Estate, 20%Gold
Replies: 38
Views: 3893

Re: Awesome Portfolio: 20% Stocks..20% Bonds..20% Cash..20%Real Estate, 20%Gold

ScubaHogg wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2024 3:45 am
Northern Flicker wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2024 3:05 am
ScubaHogg wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2024 2:18 am
Northern Flicker wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2024 1:53 am
why not 1/3 stock - 1/3 real estate - 1/3 bonds?
Well that is historically much riskier

https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/bac ... KnaTuO7160
With REITs, yes.
Well…yeah?

What would you use?
I would only use a considerable allocation to real estate as a diversifier if it were directly held.
by Northern Flicker
Mon Mar 18, 2024 3:14 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Is active mutual fund’s capital gain always a bad thing?
Replies: 10
Views: 972

Re: Is active mutual fund’s capital gain always a bad thing?

If you didn't have the capital gain distribution, but wanted to rebalance, you still can take the same amount as a regular withdrawal, and some of it will be return of principal, which is not income and thus not taxed.

If you hold a tax efficient fund like VTI you still can track the distributions of some active fund for a rebalancing signal if that's your preference, but I think there are better rebalancing protocols.
by Northern Flicker
Mon Mar 18, 2024 3:05 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Awesome Portfolio: 20% Stocks..20% Bonds..20% Cash..20%Real Estate, 20%Gold
Replies: 38
Views: 3893

Re: Awesome Portfolio: 20% Stocks..20% Bonds..20% Cash..20%Real Estate, 20%Gold

ScubaHogg wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2024 2:18 am
Northern Flicker wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2024 1:53 am
why not 1/3 stock - 1/3 real estate - 1/3 bonds?
Well that is historically much riskier

https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/bac ... KnaTuO7160
With REITs, yes.
by Northern Flicker
Mon Mar 18, 2024 1:53 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Awesome Portfolio: 20% Stocks..20% Bonds..20% Cash..20%Real Estate, 20%Gold
Replies: 38
Views: 3893

Re: Awesome Portfolio: 20% Stocks..20% Bonds..20% Cash..20%Real Estate, 20%Gold

I just finished Jared Dillians Book, "No Worries" and while 90% of it is pretty standard stuff (How much house can I afford, student loans, marrying the right financial partner) what caught my eye is his "Awesome Portfolio" model. Jared was in charge of ETF's at Lehman (i know i know...) and preaches a "stress free" investment strategy. The portfolio is made up of 5 equal 20% parts (Stocks, Bonds, Gold, Cash, Real Estate). His backtesting since 1971, due to Gold standard changes, has produced an 8.1% annual return with max drawdowns of -9.8% in 09 and -14% in 22. I think there are a lot of us, myself included, who have a bit of stress envisioning another 08-09/2000 massive correction. Although I have managed t...
by Northern Flicker
Sun Mar 17, 2024 11:17 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medigappers: which plan do you have and why
Replies: 21
Views: 1739

Re: Medigappers: which plan do you have and why

gunny2 wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2024 9:37 pm I don't mean the specific company but is it A, B, C, etc.
My impression is that many if not most people turning 65 around now or in the near future who are taking Medigap policies are limiting their Medigap choices to Plan G, Plan G-HD, and Plan N.

While the insurer generally does not matter, that is not always true. One large provider where I live that operates hospitals and clinics also has their own insurance foundation, and gives some priority for appointments to medicare patients with their own Medigap or Advantage plans by having one pool of their physicians that only takes appointments from patients covered by their insurance plans (medigap, advantage, individual, or group).
by Northern Flicker
Sun Mar 17, 2024 10:13 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 401K Rollover to Vanguard IRA Question!
Replies: 17
Views: 1123

Re: 401K Rollover to Vanguard IRA Question!

T Rowe Price also currently offers institutional fund pricing for TRP funds with a balance over $50K if total of account balances at TRP (including non-TRP holdings) is at least $500K. This puts the ER of TSBLX (enhanced bond index fund) at 0.12% and the short-term TIPS index fund TLDUX at 0.11%, as examples. A Vanguard peer for TSBLX would be VCOBX, also at 0.12%. A Vanguard peer for TLDUX would be VTAPX at 0.06% or VTIP at 0.04%. Could hold whoever's stock ETFs and TRP bond funds if meeting the balance requirements (or bond ETFs).
by Northern Flicker
Sun Mar 17, 2024 12:48 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: More Evidence Against Factor Investing
Replies: 473
Views: 33840

Re: More Evidence Against Factor Investing

So does concentrating one's investment into a segment of the market that represents about 3% of all invested assets represent diversification or concentration of risk? Factors can be used to construct portfolios with properties that differ from the market portfolio in ways suitable for an investor's situation without the sort of concentration risk you describe. Avantis offers fund like AVUV with deep value exposure and size exposure. It is intended as a portfolio building block, not as a complete portfolio to hold. If you don't want to construct the portfolio yourself, Avantis offers the fund AVUS, which is a factor-tilted portfolio in a single fund. It is a diversified portfolio, not concentrated in 3% of the market. If you compare AVUS w...
by Northern Flicker
Sat Mar 16, 2024 8:08 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Seeking Advice: Early Retirement Funding Options and SEPP Withdrawals
Replies: 12
Views: 1164

Re: Seeking Advice: Early Retirement Funding Options and SEPP Withdrawals

Another strategy to get some penalty-free access to trad assets is that once per lifetime you can make a penalty-free trad IRA withdrawal before age 59.5 to fund HSA contributions. The HSA deduction cancels the tIRA distribution income. Then you can use the HSA balance to pay health care bills over whatever period of time. Can fund both spouses HSA in full. The distributions may have to come from each spouse's tIRAs, but I'm unsure about that.

Use HSA-eligible insurance for at least one year early in the retirement period, and you will have additional access some tIRA assets tax-free and penalty-free to pay health care bills.
by Northern Flicker
Sat Mar 16, 2024 7:53 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why does the stock market go down after some bad news?
Replies: 35
Views: 3074

Re: Why does the stock market go down after some bad news?

watchnerd wrote: Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:04 pm Why would it not respond?
Right-- it would be irrational if bad news about the economy, a business sector, or a particular company had no effect.
by Northern Flicker
Sat Mar 16, 2024 7:51 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why does the stock market go down after some bad news?
Replies: 35
Views: 3074

Re: Why does the stock market go down after some bad news?

nisiprius wrote: There's no question that the stock market responds to irrational short-term emotions. The efficient market hypothesis says that the irrational short-term fluctuations are an unpredictable random walk around the rational value.
That may be true, but I'm afraid that I disagree that it is not open to question. What the (original/standard form of the) efficient market hypothesis actually says is that all public information is priced in rapidly. It doesn't predict the nature of short-term variance and whether or not it is rational.

I do think that there sometimes is irrational market behavior, but I think that the market is rational most of the time.
by Northern Flicker
Sat Mar 16, 2024 7:37 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why does the stock market go down after some bad news?
Replies: 35
Views: 3074

Re: Why does the stock market go down after some bad news?

BHs: I see that the stock market goes down on a day like when hot inflation data is released or some sort of negative news release occurs. Why does it happen? Is it because the investors get jittery and liquidate their positions? If so, are these your typical retail investors or huge institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds? I can understand if it is the former as they may not be sophisticated to understand the markets. But wouldn't the institutional and sovereign wealth funds have possession of complex historical data that clearly shows staying the course eventually pays off? Thanks in advance. The market more or less continuously (not using the mathematical definition of the word) reprices risk and recomputes the net present va...
by Northern Flicker
Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:34 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Seeking Advice: Early Retirement Funding Options and SEPP Withdrawals
Replies: 12
Views: 1164

Re: Seeking Advice: Early Retirement Funding Options and SEPP Withdrawals

Do you have contributory Roth IRAs? You could withdraw contribution principal tax-free and penalty-free if meeting the 5-year rule, and replace the assets in the Roth account with a Roth conversion. This has the net effect of a penalty-free withdrawal from a tax-deferred IRA. You likely would have to roll one or both of the retirement plans to an IRA to get started with that. It might be easiest to convert into a different account than where withdrawing.
by Northern Flicker
Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Am I Only One Who Hates Having Left Over Pennies
Replies: 53
Views: 4131

Re: Am I Only One Who Hates Having Left Over Pennies

Some brokerages have connections to charitable facilities where small orphaned balances can be donated. With the pooling of many such, some meaningful grants can be made. I don't know how common this is or if Fidelity has such a thing. Probably not feasible in a tax-deferred account. Just clean it up with your first RMD.
by Northern Flicker
Sat Mar 16, 2024 12:56 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Avantis mix you prefer
Replies: 15
Views: 2277

Re: Avantis mix you prefer

This is putting the cart before the horse. The goal should not be to find two funds with which to construct a portfolio. The process should be to construct an asset allocation, and then find funds that are good implementations of the asset classes in the asset allocation.
by Northern Flicker
Sat Mar 16, 2024 12:17 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: It seems that intermediate bond funds generate the lowest yield now
Replies: 11
Views: 2318

Re: It seems that intermediate bond funds generate the lowest yield now

Looking at the yield curve: https://fixedincome.fidelity.com/ftgw/fi/FILanding?bar=p#tbcurrent-yields|median-yield It seems that intermediate bond funds generate the lowest yield now compared with short-term and long-term bond funds. And the phenomenon has last for a while. Not sure when this will change. Anyone thinks that we should swap current intermediate bond funds with short-term and long-term bond funds while keeping the duration of the bond portfolio the same? That is called a bond barbell. It is not a bad strategy, but it may lead you down the path of spending your free time tracking changes in the yield curve for an uncertain benefit that likely will be minimal at best. It is most useful when you want to maintain maximum liquidit...
by Northern Flicker
Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:07 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dumped from PT due to low Medicare reimbursements?
Replies: 59
Views: 3776

Re: Dumped from PT due to low Medicare reimbursements?

snowday2022 wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2024 8:29 pm Medicare reimburses poorly. Your PT isn’t obligated to treat you, even if you are exemplary. Different story if it were an emergency. I would ask the practice if you can make up the difference...
Are providers allowed to charge more than the Medicare allowable rate?
by Northern Flicker
Fri Mar 15, 2024 10:52 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Great news! No more [fixed real estate] agent commission
Replies: 163
Views: 15075

Re: Great news! No more agent commission

Does this mean there is less of an incentive now to buy a home without an agent? I was thinking of doing this by talking directly with the building company. I think the answer here is yes. For the past couple of decades, the seller paid for the buyer's agent. That will largely go away as buyer's will not see as much value in full buyer's agent representation, and when it is coming out of the buyer's pocket...... Hence, the post above about having it added on the buyer's side on the loan. It will be interesting to watch. The seller has never paid for the buyer's agent. That was all a scam perpetuated by NAR. The buyer has always paid the full commission for both sides. Just because the closing sheet shows the commission coming out of the se...
by Northern Flicker
Fri Mar 15, 2024 10:46 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tricare Retired Reserve: wow it sucks wth?
Replies: 25
Views: 2333

Re: Tricare Retired Reserve: wow it sucks wth?

gunny2 wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2024 2:14 pm $585/mo with a $4400 max out of pocket?? I could get cheaper insurance on my own to put it mildly.
Have you priced it? With a premium tax credit, it may be cheaper. It also may not be.
by Northern Flicker
Fri Mar 15, 2024 8:24 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Great news! No more [fixed real estate] agent commission
Replies: 163
Views: 15075

Re: Great news! No more agent commission

Duzz78 wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2024 5:35 pm But most buyers go down to the local brokerage firm (ReMax, Keller Williams) and finds an agent to help them purchase a home. Doing so, means the buyer is accepting a selling agent to represent them.
That is not correct. In many or most (but maybe not all) states, a buyer's agent takes on fiduciary obligations to the buyers they represent even without a buyer's agency agreement when an offer is written.

Without listing agents paying a buyer's agent commission, buyer's agents will need some contractual basis for getting paid, and I think buyer's agency agreements will become the norm instead of the exception.
by Northern Flicker
Fri Mar 15, 2024 8:19 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Need Help Finding a Hobby
Replies: 76
Views: 5995

Re: Need Help Finding a Hobby

What do you enjoy doing?
by Northern Flicker
Fri Mar 15, 2024 4:49 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Great news! No more [fixed real estate] agent commission
Replies: 163
Views: 15075

Re: Great news! No more agent commission

Got this from another article: 4 Ways a Settlement Could Change the Housing Industry 1. Home prices will drop. 2. The 6 percent commission will cease to be the norm. 3. Steering — the practice of agents directing buyers to more expensive houses — will be less common. 4. About one million real estate agents could leave the profession. Any suggestions about how agents *would* be compensated? RM Presumably, sellers who want an agent to list their homes will pay a listing agent commission (which may increase due to the change), and buyers who wish to be represented by an agent will pay a buyer's agent commission. That may involve a buyer signing a buyer's agency agreement with an agent that will lock the buyer into paying that agent a commissi...
by Northern Flicker
Fri Mar 15, 2024 2:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio
Replies: 63
Views: 6218

Re: How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio

Vanguard paper (March 2012), "Considerations for investing in non-U.S. equities", available as an archived pdf. Historically, allocating 20% of an equity portfolio to non-U.S. stocks would have captured about 84% of the maximum possible diversification benefit, and allocating 30% of an equity portfolio to non-U.S. stocks would have captured about 99% of the maximum possible diversification benefit (p. 6). The diversification benefit has varied over time. Moreover, the last sentence explains why the bias in any sample, including the one Vanguard used, implies that the difference between 99% or 95% and 100% of the diversification benefit is not statistically significant or generalizable. And Vanguard's risk measure being minimized ...
by Northern Flicker
Fri Mar 15, 2024 2:46 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio
Replies: 63
Views: 6218

Re: How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio

... I want 80% domestic, 20% international. That's interesting. I sometimes wonder when someone chooses an apparently arbitrary weighting instead of market cap. I guess either they must know something the market hasn't yet figured out or they just don't subscribe to the "own the haystack" strategy. No problem. The market does not discount in a higher premium to compensate for the higher transaction cost or higher risks associated with a US resident investing in stocks out of the US in comparison to the residents of the country where the stocks are domiciled. This motivates a strategy of holding the lowest int'l allocation that meets one's diversification requirements for mitigation of other risks. "Owning the haystack" ...
by Northern Flicker
Thu Mar 14, 2024 11:37 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio
Replies: 63
Views: 6218

Re: How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio

One way you could estimate it for different years is to use portfoliovisualizer to compare VTI with a mix of VOO and VXF in a backtest starting at the given year, and find empirically the mix that replicated the return of VTI. Set dividend reinvestment and rebalancing off for the test.

Example:

https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/bac ... HvJk91M4pt

So, the S&P500 included about 83.8% of the market cap of a total market index in Oct 2010.
Could use VFINX, VEXMX, and VTSMX to go back further.
by Northern Flicker
Thu Mar 14, 2024 6:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Election spam texts
Replies: 41
Views: 2465

Re: Election spam texts

pennsylvania211 wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2024 8:52 pm Do you get election spam texts? I'm sick and tired of it. Every other day I get some candidate or committee trying to hit me up for money. .
Check your private messages here.
by Northern Flicker
Thu Mar 14, 2024 6:38 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Realtor representing two firms?
Replies: 7
Views: 858

Re: Realtor representing two firms?

Ask him where he hangs his license. An agent licensed through a brokerage can organize his or her business as an LLC for instance, at least in some states (and maybe all).
by Northern Flicker
Thu Mar 14, 2024 6:07 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio
Replies: 63
Views: 6218

Re: How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio

... Wiki says 82%. Does wiki need to be updated? (If so, I'm happy to apply to be wiki editor.....) It would have to be updated regularly as the ratio changes daily when the markets are open. Don't be silly. A yearly update would be sufficient. I suspect that's how often many users rebalance their portfolios. Relying on stale 2021 approximations is suboptimal. My point was not that it should be updated daily. The wiki should explain how to calculate it rather than have a fixed value for a single point in time. The easiest thing to do is to decide on a fixed allocation with the SP500 at 80-85%. Unless you calculate the weighting regularly, automatic new investment weightings will drift anyway. You don't need the precise weighting. This is n...
by Northern Flicker
Thu Mar 14, 2024 5:04 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio
Replies: 63
Views: 6218

Re: How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio

Thanks again everyone. I retitled to "How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio". If you want to approximate the total international market you can go to the VTIAX (or vxus) page scroll down to "Portfolio Composition" and then scroll down to "Weighted Exposures/Regions". Currently you should have about 24.7% Emerging Markets. Very helpful, thank you. Now I see where the wiki ratios come from. If you wish to use market capitalization when choosing fund ratios and if you wish for a more recent and precise ratio, at least with your initial allocation, then consider using the market capitalization from the most recent benchmark index factsheets. For example, the most recent (Feb 29,2024) index factsheets repor...
by Northern Flicker
Thu Mar 14, 2024 5:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Travel Medical Insurance for Europe Trip
Replies: 16
Views: 1425

Re: Travel Medical Insurance for Europe Trip

DW and I are both on a Medicare Advantage plan. We are traveling to Europe later this year, any feedback on trip medical insurance to cover unanticipated illness/injury? I'm thinking COVID and hospitalization. Will be traveling to Switzerland (Zurich, Lugano) and Italy (Milan, Florence, Rome). We will be there for 3 weeks. What does your advantage plan cover? If it covers emergency care and urgent care worldwide, the biggest gap would be medical evacuation insurance. A travel policy with that usually would have some medical coverage as well that can fill in gaps with the advantage plan emergency/urgent care coverage. If the advantage plan does not cover care outside the US, then the maximum coverage amount needed for the travel policy come...
by Northern Flicker
Thu Mar 14, 2024 2:16 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Total International Bond Index Fund?
Replies: 6
Views: 948

Re: Total International Bond Index Fund?

Vanguard's position is based on reducing risk. Their white paper reported that a 70/30 mix of US and hedged int'l bonds minimized volatility in their sample. When running large funds, a bias to holding the whole market facilitates having enough liquidity to execute large trades effectively. Individual investors don't have that constraint and can consider other mixes of bond subclasses. For example:

https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/bac ... mAQjJNvdeT
by Northern Flicker
Thu Mar 14, 2024 1:55 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio
Replies: 63
Views: 6218

Re: How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio

For some reason it is normal for 401k plans to offer an S&P500 fund and an extended market fund instead of a Total Market fund. I'm not sure why that is. Some investors prefer to hold the market portfolio. Others prefer to tilt away from large caps, and still others prefer to hold just the S&P500. It is worth noting that the weighting of the S&P500 in the total market currently is a little higher than the historical 80%. While holding the two funds at market cap weighting will avoid having to rebalance existing holdings, it would mean that the weighting of new contributions would be fluctuating. Thus, it is most convenient to pick a fixed weighting, use it for automatic investment of new contributions, and rebalance to the fixe...
by Northern Flicker
Wed Mar 13, 2024 10:04 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How is a broker going to make money off me?
Replies: 62
Views: 5786

Re: How is a broker going to make money off me?

I agree that ETFs are harder to quantify. But this has been a problem with mutual funds for time immemorial. Bid-ask spreads may not be easily determined, but broker commissions, securities lending costs (including SL revenue retained by the fund co.), and interest paid on loans from other funds in the fund family certainly are.

A purchase of shares of the same stock by multiple funds may be commingled as one transaction, but the portion of the cost born by each fund is traceable to the fund.
by Northern Flicker
Wed Mar 13, 2024 10:00 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How to use Google 401k for 2-3 fund portfolio
Replies: 63
Views: 6218

Re: Google 401k choices shockingly bad

I'm trying to implement a simple 2-fund portfolio: Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX) Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VTIAX) However, Google Vanguard 401k offers neither of those. The only 401k funds relevant to 2 or 3-fund portfolio are (neither of these have a ticker symbol): Vanguard Institutional Extended Market Index Trust - 7553 Vanguard Institutional 500 Index Trust - 7554 From the name, "Vanguard Institutional Extended Market Index Trust" 7553 sounds like a different share class of VXF "Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund", which I could use. However, I called Vanguard 401k helpline and the representative could not confirm if those two are the same. Does anyone here know? Better yet, i...
by Northern Flicker
Wed Mar 13, 2024 8:11 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How is a broker going to make money off me?
Replies: 62
Views: 5786

Re: How is a broker going to make money off me?

I think it should not be controversial to say that total cost of ownership of fund products could be more transparent than it is.
by Northern Flicker
Wed Mar 13, 2024 7:16 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How is a broker going to make money off me?
Replies: 62
Views: 5786

Re: How is a broker going to make money off me?

alex_686 wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2024 12:50 pm
Northern Flicker wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2024 12:40 pm Mutual fund and ETF providers should publish 12-month trailing expense ratios of all expense cash flows annualized (analogous to an IRR calculation) that include all expenses, not just what the SEC requires in standard expense ratios.
How is that different from what they do today?
Transaction costs are not included in ER as one example.

Imagine going to the grocery, and egg prices displayed do not include the cost of the carton, while the carton costs vary significantly from one product to another.
by Northern Flicker
Wed Mar 13, 2024 5:54 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What Platforms are DIY Investors Using to Manage Portfolio
Replies: 26
Views: 2546

Re: What Platforms are DIY Investors Using to Manage Portfolio

In IRAs, you can use all-in-one funds and the portfolio manager will do everything your current advisor is doing. The all-in cost including the expense ratios of the underlying funds will be in the range of .08% to .13%.

Look at:

Vanguard Target Retirement Funds
Vanguard LifeStrategy Funds
Vanguard Balanced Index Fund

or at Fidelity:

Fidelity Freedom Index Funds

The Target Retirement series at Vanguard is the lowest cost of them.

The LifeStrategy and Balanced Index funds use a fixed allocation. The others use a glide path that back off from stocks gradually as you move closer to the target date. The Balanced Index fund is US securities only. The others have international diversification.
by Northern Flicker
Wed Mar 13, 2024 12:40 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How is a broker going to make money off me?
Replies: 62
Views: 5786

Re: How is a broker going to make money off me?

Mutual fund and ETF providers should publish 12-month trailing expense ratios of all expense cash flows annualized (analogous to an IRR calculation) that include all expenses, not just what the SEC requires in standard expense ratios. Probably the SEC would need to standardize such a calculation, or it would be gamed. Perhaps the SEC would have the authority to do that if it were optional, eg if you wish to do this, this is how it is defined.

Then the low total cost of ownership providers would be incentivized to publish it voluntarily.
by Northern Flicker
Tue Mar 12, 2024 10:14 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How is a broker going to make money off me?
Replies: 62
Views: 5786

Re: How is a broker going to make money off me?

Fidelity and Vanguard do not accept payment for order flow.
by Northern Flicker
Tue Mar 12, 2024 1:48 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?
Replies: 156
Views: 9916

Re: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?

hvaclorax wrote: We have a retired internist friend who says “we will never receive the service that we gave.”
It seems like that the more advanced our health care becomes, the more that barriers to delivering it are created.
by Northern Flicker
Tue Mar 12, 2024 1:36 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Previously taxed reinvested Dividends reduce Capital
Replies: 14
Views: 1162

Re: Ed Slott's Feb 29 comments regarding dividend reinvestment and... cost basis?

Since the law passed requiring covered shares, it no longer is an issue, but there were alot of people in the past who held a stock for decades with dividend reinvestment but did not keep records to track and demonstrate the cost basis. It appears the person is a a CPA/tax preparer, and I imagine has had to clean up a fair number of such situations.
by Northern Flicker
Mon Mar 11, 2024 10:45 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?
Replies: 156
Views: 9916

Re: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?

A Medicare Spending Account Advantage plan would be another option for a snowbird-- network is any provider who accepts Medicare.
by Northern Flicker
Mon Mar 11, 2024 10:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?
Replies: 156
Views: 9916

Re: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?

I have Aetna MA PPO plan. My wife has Excellus BC/BS PPO. Both plans are in upstate NY. Both plans have a $0/month fee. I’ve had a Medicare Advantage plan for 9 years. My wife for 5 years. Coverage has been great. Savings over traditional Medicare has been has benefited both of us. So what happens if you snowbird to Florida or NC, staying 1/2 your time in a place other than NY. Do your MA plans cover doctors or treatments in Fl or NC? My brother and his wife are moving to NC from NY and currently under a NY MA Plan, Under his NY MA plan, he tells me he can get care or treatment for emergencies or at an urgent care facility in NC during the frequent and long visits here in NC. What about travel abroad? If you get medically sideline in Europ...
by Northern Flicker
Mon Mar 11, 2024 8:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is Calif Really That Expensive - Or Am I Missing Something?
Replies: 133
Views: 15487

Re: Is Calif Really That Expensive - Or Am I Missing Something?

However, when comparing costs, I'm amazed how much cheaper NV prices out, especially in terms of electricy, property taxes, income taxes, HOA fees, gas, etc. It seems one of the main financial incentives for Californians is very long-term home ownership, since property taxes hardly ever increase if you hold the home as your primary residence. However, this doesn't help a new home buyer. (NV has something similar but new buyers inherit the tax rate of the sellers.) Am I missing something important that might tip the financial scales a bit more for us toward CA? (I'm aware CA has an amazing higher education system, which NV lacks, but we're not at a stage to benefit from that.) 1. Don't make a long term decision like this based on cost alone...
by Northern Flicker
Mon Mar 11, 2024 8:34 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any unusual medicare advantage benefits - I get $10 a month to exercise
Replies: 39
Views: 3589

Re: Any unusual medicare advantage benefits - I get $10 a month to exercise

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General "Some Medicare Advantage Organization Denials of Prior Authorization Requests Raise Concerns About Beneficiary Access to Medically Necessary Care" https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/OEI-09-18-00260.pdf "What OIG Found Our case file reviews determined that MAOs sometimes delayed or denied Medicare Advantage beneficiaries’ access to services, even though the requests met Medicare coverage rules. MAOs also denied payments to providers for some services that met both Medicare coverage rules and MAO billing rules. Denying requests that meet Medicare coverage rules may prevent or delay beneficiaries from receiving medically necessary care and can burden provider...
by Northern Flicker
Mon Mar 11, 2024 8:24 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?
Replies: 156
Views: 9916

Re: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?

I didn't know this, but Source: How your in-network health coverage can vanish before you know it. I think that would apply to some Medicare Advantage plans. It would, but if you receive care from a provider who leaves the network, I believe that is a qualifying event for guaranteed issue of Medigap or to change to a different Advantage plan. Interesting. I had not heard that and would like to know more about that if it is true. Do you have any links to share? Is this across all of medicare, or something that only some medigap insurers do? It's a liitle vague, and it seems somewhat narrow, but see section 100.1.2.5. I don't think it clearly supports what was just posted about switching, but who knows with the government? https://www.cms.go...
by Northern Flicker
Mon Mar 11, 2024 7:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?
Replies: 156
Views: 9916

Re: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?

I didn't know this, but Patients can change insurance only during end-of-year enrollment periods or at the time of “qualifying life events,” such as a divorce or job change. But insurers’ contracts with doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies (or their middlemen, so-called pharmacy benefit managers) can change abruptly at any time. Source: How your in-network health coverage can vanish before you know it. I think that would apply to some Medicare Advantage plans. It would, but if you receive care from a provider who leaves the network, I believe that is a qualifying event for guaranteed issue of Medigap or to change to a different Advantage plan. Assuming you're right, I don't see how this would apply to Medigap (Medicare supplemen...
by Northern Flicker
Mon Mar 11, 2024 7:05 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?
Replies: 156
Views: 9916

Re: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?

Interesting. I had not heard that and would like to know more about that if it is true. Do you have any links to share? Is this across all of medicare, or something that only some medigap insurers do? From a United American (Medigap provider) document describing one of the requirements for guaranteed issue: You are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Organization under a Medicare Advantage Plan under Medicare Part C, and any of the following apply: ... (d) The Medicare Advantage Plan in which you are enrolled reduces any of its benefits or increases the amount of cost sharing or premium or discontinues, for other than good cause relating to quality of care, its relationship or contract under the plan with a provider who is currently furnishin...
by Northern Flicker
Mon Mar 11, 2024 2:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?
Replies: 156
Views: 9916

Re: Your Original Medicare OR Advantage Experience: Nightmare or Sublime?

nisiprius wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 6:24 am I didn't know this, but
Patients can change insurance only during end-of-year enrollment periods or at the time of “qualifying life events,” such as a divorce or job change. But insurers’ contracts with doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies (or their middlemen, so-called pharmacy benefit managers) can change abruptly at any time.
Source: How your in-network health coverage can vanish before you know it.

I think that would apply to some Medicare Advantage plans.
It would, but if you receive care from a provider who leaves the network, I believe that is a qualifying event for guaranteed issue of Medigap or to change to a different Advantage plan.