Bogleheads.org

We replaced an 8 year old Kenmore front loading washer and dryer with SQ TR5 6 months ago and have been pleased. The only issue we've had is when the washer was overloaded and stopped running, exhibiting a blinking error code. The TR5 manual was tricky to find on the website and it didn't discuss the pattern of blinks the washer was displaying. Otherwise both the SQ washer and dryer have been solid.

Pls define sub-optimal thx.

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 Amazo...

One rainy day in that space with small children will change your mind about any of the tiny solutions. Buy an old Suburban (Expedition, Land Cruiser, whatever) and pull a reasonably sized trailer. We had a 27 foot bunkhouse from the time our two kids were little until the older one left for college. Lots of great memories. Agree with David. We bought a 24 foot bunkhouse toy hauler and love it. I'm camping in it right now at the beautiful Topsail Hill campground near Destin, FL. We bought this one because of the toy hauler feature, because it has a king bed on a slideout, and because my F150 pulls it pretty easily. We went from the Gulf Coast to Denver last summer over a couple weeks, from literally sea level to over 7,500 feet, with no pro...

Spouse age: 54. Pension age is 60 for no reductions. 6% for each year under 60. SS: no reduction. SS projected amt is over $40k at age 67. No WEP. The pension cannot be claimed while working for this employer, obviously . This assumes working for another employer. It can be claimed upon retirement or when separated. She does not plan to stay with this employer (local gov't) to age 60. Sorry: re the breakeven point, taking a $3k reduction on a $50k payment means that the breakeven would be 16 years (50/3 = 16.6). Sorry, I'm slow and trying to understand your wife's situation. If she continues to work at same employer to 60 then retires/claims she gets 100% of her benefit. If she works 5 more years at current employer to 59, retires/claims, ...

Spouse age: 54. Pension age is 60 for no reductions. 6% for each year under 60. SS: no reduction. SS projected amt is over $40k at age 67. No WEP. The pension cannot be claimed while working for this employer, obviously . This assumes working for another employer. It can be claimed upon retirement or when separated. She does not plan to stay with this employer (local gov't) to age 60. Sorry: re the breakeven point, taking a $3k reduction on a $50k payment means that the breakeven would be 16 years (50/3 = 16.6). Sorry, I'm slow and trying to understand your wife's situation. If she continues to work at same employer to 60 then retires/claims she gets 100% of her benefit. If she works 5 more years at current employer to 59, retires/claims, ...

This is a question within a question...sorry. Would Schwab's Intelligent Portfolios service sway anyone toward them? For $360 per year, you get an ongoing personal advisor contact. I was a Schwab managed portfolio customer for 15 years until I discontinued the service in 2020. If you are as I was a person who wasn't ready to manage their own account then it isn't a terrible option but the criticisms you see here of them holding too much cash, having too many investments, and in my case holding many mutual funds with high expense ratios are valid. I didn't have the robo advisor service at Schwab, instead I had an assigned advisor who was a nice person but who was a bottleneck if I needed cash from the account quickly as I always had to go t...

muffins14 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 06, 2023 9:10 pm What was the result of your follow up call with vanguard?

I would not have called this “70% international”, instead I’d have called it 40% of stocks in international.

Nonetheless it’s a bizarre allocation for the reasons others said
1) all international bonds is weird
2) going 100% mid/small for US for a conservative investor is bizarre

Do not accept this proposal

We immediately discontinued Edelman management and declined the Vanguard Digital Advisor.

The rep said it will take a couple business days and during that time we won't be able to make changes but after that we should have full control of her account.

ADDENDUM: I checked the account this morning and we have full control so it didn't even take 1 business day.

2fund wrote: ↑Mon Mar 06, 2023 9:41 am Would your wife feel comfortable with you taking over AA responsibilities? Being that you’re posting on here, that should instill some confidence I would think. Though I do not like TDF myself (too conservative imo) that may give her the peace of mind needed without the need of the digital advisor.

She's fine leaving the asset allocation as is, the way Edelman left it, for the time being and I'm good with that. If her portfolio's asset allocation changes enough to warrant re-balancing I'll discuss it with her then do it myself.

FWIW we called Vanguard today and discontinued all account management. The change to all international fixed income and no US large cap was going to be too drastic and we can always enroll later. I was very impressed with the help we received from their customer service.

MrJedi wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 4:48 pm Did you have to input other account balances to get this recommendation?

I wonder if your other accounts are heavy in US stocks and that's why it's not recommending much to you in this account.

I didn't have to input other account balances but I did tell them the amount of my TIAA account balance. However, I didn't input its asset allocation so they'd have no way of knowing if it was 100/0 or 0/100 or anything in between.

I will show my ignorance of target funds here as I've never owned one: what target date would someone who retired 3+ years ago at 56 choose? If already retired, you don't need a glide path, just a fixed allocation all-in-one fund. Vanguard examples with international diversification: VSMGX LifeStrategy Moderate Growth 60% stock VSCGX LifeStrategy Conservative Growth 40% stock VTINX Target Retirement Income 30% stocks, includes short-TIPS VGSTX Star Fund 60% stocks, actively managed, asset allocation may drift a little above or below 60% stocks, 58-64% is the range I've seen Vanguard examples with US-only portfolios: VBIAX Balanced Index Fund 60% stocks Wellington Fund 60-65% stocks Maybe 85-90% VSMGX / 10-15% VTAPX? Thank you. I appreciate...

Yes on staying in the 401k, but how are you going to stop them from implementing the planned reallocation? I believe she can tell them to stop managing the account. That would be my recommendation to her. However, she likes having it managed, and in addition the previous management fees were relatively low as are the proposed new ones. I agree with the earlier suggestion of a target date or other all-in-one fund, in lieu of the digital advisor who is giving her screwy suggestions. They are the cheapest way to get portfolio management, including automatic rebalancing. I will show my ignorance of target funds here as I've never owned one: what target date would someone who retired 3+ years ago at 56 choose? If you want to stick with close to...

There seems to be a concern that this is a misunderstanding but I am pretty sure that I've interpreted the Vanguard Digital Advisor recommendations correctly. Here is a screenshot I took of them where I redacted the amounts and the name of my wife's employer. All of the investments in the "What we'll sell" section are being 100% liquidated.

Does this recommendation think your wife does not live in the United States, but rather possibly UK? Otherwise your listed recommendation is not a discussion but is just plain nonsense. Note before rolling the 401k to an IRA check your state law on non-bankruptcy liability protection. There is a handful of states where you can lose the protection against creditors that you do have with a 401k. She's never lived anywhere but in the US so it seems unlikely Vanguard would assume this. The letter we received regarding the change in account management was sent to our US address. I think we'd both prefer to leave the money in her 401k for now as she just turned 60. Yes on staying in the 401k, but how are you going to stop them from implementing ...

I believe she can tell them to stop managing the account. That would be my recommendation to her. However, she likes having it managed, and in addition the previous management fees were relatively low as are the proposed new ones. Well, that suggested asset selection can't be right. It has to be a misunderstanding, a mistake, or some kind of IT glitch. Maybe talking to someone to ask is indicated. It does look like OMLO.L is VXUS, all international. 30% in small and medium stocks is crackpot as well. This reminds me of someone brainlessly running a mean variance optimization without setting bounds on the answer where instability to data fluctuations can easily dump completely bizarre recommendations on the user. Thanks we'll talk to someon...

I can’t even find a fund called “Vanguard International Equity Index Fund.” I googled it and found this: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/0LMO.L?p=0LMO.L OLMO appears to trade on the London Stock Exchange. Does this recommendation think your wife does not live in the United States, but rather possibly UK? Otherwise your listed recommendation is not a discussion but is just plain nonsense. Note before rolling the 401k to an IRA check your state law on non-bankruptcy liability protection. There is a handful of states where you can lose the protection against creditors that you do have with a 401k. She's never lived anywhere but in the US so it seems unlikely Vanguard would assume this. The letter we received regarding the change in account ma...

mhalley wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 3:02 pm Of course there is always vanguard pas and vanguard digital advisor in an ira. Vanguard does like a lot of international, but not as much as in your example.

The proposed portfolio recommendation came from Vanguard Digital Advisor.

That is unlike any other portfolio I've seen proposed by Vanguard, either through an advisory service or for target date funds. Does the 401K offer Vanguard Target Retirement or LifeStrategy funds or the Star Fund? I can’t even find a fund called “Vanguard International Equity Index Fund.” I googled it and found this: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/0LMO.L?p=0LMO.L OLMO appears to trade on the London Stock Exchange. Does this recommendation think your wife does not live in the United States, but rather possibly UK? Otherwise your listed recommendation is not a discussion but is just plain nonsense. Note before rolling the 401k to an IRA check your state law on non-bankruptcy liability protection. There is a handful of states where you can ...

cadreamer2015 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 2:32 pm If I read your original post correctly, your DW is no longer working. If that’s the case she could roll over her 401k to an IRA at Vanguard or elsewhere and save the 15 bps.

Yes this is true. However it is her account and she likes having it managed.

delamer: Name (Ticker) - Projected % of assets - Expense ratio Vanguard International Equity Index Fund - 20.4% - 0.05% VTIFX Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund Institutional Shares (VTIFX) - 49.0% - 0.07% Vanguard U.S. Small and Mid Cap Equity Index Fund - 30.6% - 0.02% delamer: Are you sure that you do not want to invest in the largest and most successful companies in the United States? Consider The Three-Fund Portfolio . Best wishes. Taylor Jack Bogle's Words of Wisdom "The Three-Fund Portfolio will help you to develop a sound asset allocation strategy, make smart investment selections, and guide the implementation of your plan." -- "There may be better investment strategies than owning just three broad-based in...

delamer wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 2:13 pm

Northern Flicker wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 2:09 pm That is unlike any other portfolio I've seen proposed by Vanguard, either through an advisory service or for target date funds. Does the 401K offer Vanguard Target Retirement or LifeStrategy funds or the Star Fund?

I can’t even find a fund called “Vanguard International Equity Index Fund.”

I googled it and found this: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/0LMO.L?p=0LMO.L OLMO appears to trade on the London Stock Exchange.

Northern Flicker wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 2:09 pm That is unlike any other portfolio I've seen proposed by Vanguard, either through an advisory service or for target date funds. Does the 401K offer Vanguard Target Retirement or LifeStrategy funds or the Star Fund?

Her account has been managed by Edelman Financial Engines since 2019. While it is under management I don't think we can see what other investment options are available for it.

delamer wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 1:59 pm

beernutz wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 1:52 pm

delamer wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 1:51 pm Do you have the option of declining the digital advisor, and taking it over yourself?

Yes, she can decline now or discontinue it at any time in the future without penalty. The management fee is .015%

If I’m getting this right, there are no large cap US stocks in the new portfolio? And there are international bonds but no US bonds?

That’s pretty weird.

Vanguard always puts international bonds in their portfolios. Not for me, but I don’t really like non-government US bonds.

That's my assessment as well and the reason I posted.

delamer wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 1:51 pm Do you have the option of declining the digital advisor, and taking it over yourself?

Yes, she can decline now or discontinue it at any time in the future without penalty. The management fee is .15%

chinchin wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 1:39 pm How are you calculating 70% international from the new allocation?

Vanguard International Equity Index Fund - 20.4%
plus
VTIFX Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund Institutional Shares (VTIFX) - 49.0%
=
69.4%

My wife has a Vanguard 401k which is currently managed via Edelman Financial Engines. We just received a letter that on March 28th, 2023 the Edelman management will end and her account will be enrolled automatically in Vanguard Digital Advisor. We went through the digital profile as some of the assumptions Vanguard made about her account which would be used as input for Digital Advisor were incorrect such as that she's still working and single. After going through a risk profile analysis the Digital Profile showed that her proposed 51/49 asset allocation would consist of: Name (Ticker) - Projected % of assets - Expense ratio Vanguard International Equity Index Fund - 20.4% - 0.05% VTIFX Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund Instituti...

gips wrote: ↑Sun Feb 26, 2023 9:20 am

beernutz wrote: ↑Sun Feb 26, 2023 9:12 am

Robdac wrote: ↑Fri Feb 24, 2023 1:45 pm I’d rather be broke than drink tea or instant coffee on a daily basis.

This. Thankfully I am very content with my Keurig and Kirkland medium blend. At about 33 cents a cup plus an equal amount for heavy whipping cream that's the best ~$250 I spend all year.

i’m surprised to hear people use heavy cream in coffee, where we live coffee shops offer milk and half and half. must be a regional preference.

I eat mostly low carb and got the heavy cream suggestion many years ago from one of their forums. IRL I don't know anyone else who uses heavy cream in their coffee. I also fast a couple days a week and coffee+heavy cream is a good way for me to start a fast as it both suppresses appetite and satiates hunger.

8301 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 25, 2023 9:01 am When the last parent of my spouse passed, I made it crystal clear that I would not accept any inheritance. One of the few things I have done right in my life.

Were YOU named in the will?

Robdac wrote: ↑Fri Feb 24, 2023 1:45 pm I’d rather be broke than drink tea or instant coffee on a daily basis.

This. Thankfully I am very content with my Keurig and Kirkland medium blend. At about 33 cents a cup plus an equal amount for heavy whipping cream that's the best ~$250 I spend all year.

My wife and I were there in 2017 and had a good time doing the Wind & Wine Sunset Sail with Danger Charters. It was a bit pricey at ~$90 each and the wine, beer, and appetizers weren't spectacular but the view was amazing and we met some nice fellow passengers. It also helped that it was 95 degrees on shore and 75 on the water.

We love the Hogfish Grill too fwiw.

I've been retired 14 months and my wife since 2019 and we've gone from 54/46 (E/FI) at my retirement to 25/75 currently with the biggest change in AA occurring in August 2022. I am waiting for equities to go on sale before DCAing our AA to a higher percentage of equities.

75% of our current expenditures are covered by my pension and we vastly oversaved for retirement.

If your parents "don't especially need this money" then leave the situation as is. You aren't going to make an appreciable difference but run the risk of irritating or alienating a parent if things don't work out better than they currently are.

Everything I own at TIAA is in TIAA Traditional fwiw.

I'd suggest getting some retirement planning software and mapping both where you are and where you want to be in retirement. I use and recommend Pralana Gold (about $99) but it is basically a complex series of spreadsheets and if you aren't comfortable with spreadsheets it may not be for you however there are many other options including free ones.

OP I for many years I used TISPX, TIAA's SP500 fund with a .05% NER, which was available in my GSRA account along with TIAA Traditional in lieu of a total bond fund to create a 2 fund TIAA asset allocation. TILIX is a large cap growth index fund which has performed better than TISPX since they were both created in 10/2002 and has the same .05% net expense ratio. If I didn't use TIAA Traditional for my fixed income component, I think I'd use some combination of Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund Admiral[VAIPX] with its .10% NER and CREF Core Bond Account (R3)[QCBMIX] (.22% NER) for that side of things. But I am retired and like the stability of TIAA Traditional. However all funds such as TISPX and TILIX aren't available in all TIA...

OP I for many years I used TISPX, TIAA's SP500 fund with a .05% NER, which was available in my GSRA account along with TIAA Traditional in lieu of a total bond fund to create a 2 fund TIAA asset allocation. TILIX is a large cap growth index fund which has performed better than TISPX since they were both created in 10/2002 and has the same .05% net expense ratio. If I didn't use TIAA Traditional for my fixed income component, I think I'd use some combination of Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund Admiral[VAIPX] with its .10% NER and CREF Core Bond Account (R3)[QCBMIX] (.22% NER) for that side of things. But I am retired and like the stability of TIAA Traditional. However all funds such as TISPX and TILIX aren't available in all TIAA...

gatorking wrote: ↑Wed Feb 15, 2023 12:35 pm Can money from a rollover IRA be used without penalties to purchase additional years of service? If possible I would prefer to use pre-tax money since the pension income will be taxable.

I don't know whether you can but I did this in 2021. I used money in a TIAA 403b employer match RA account to buy an additional year of service credit in my state pension. I was able to do this because the first year of my employment was as a temporary employee where I was not subject to the normal 7.5% pension contribution.

FWIW, my buying the extra year of service credit has an 8.1 year payback period of which I'm already 1.1 years into.

My TIAA inherited funds are in a Savings and Investment Plan (SIP) account and my first RMDs were taken proportionately from each investment in the account. Now the entire SIP account is invested in TIAA Traditional so the RMDs are 100% from that.

$1,227 this year up from about $850 last year. It is fun asking for it in cash.

We sold a second home last week and because the buyers were in a hurry to close we asked for a couple weeks to move everything out post closing. They were fine with it and no rent was requested.

I am sorry I didn't realize this discussion was going on so long ago. I thought I signed up for notifications, but I never got any. I would like to emphasize that this TIAA Traditional RA situation is peculiar to a 1984 contract between a Louisiana state educational institution and TIAA. This is NOT the situation where I am now, in Maryland, where all of the above comments regarding 10-year withdrawals seem to apply. Unless two different TIAA agents are lying to me, I CANNOT right now - age 70- take 10% out a year for 10 years and move funds to an IRA-like contract (as I had always thought I could) while maintaining current interest rates on the remainder. The ancient contract apparently states that to maintain my interest payouts at the c...

With the Old Breed: On Peleieu and Okanawa by Eugene Sledge
Devil at My Heels by Louie Zamperini

are by far my two favorite WW2 biographies

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand is Zamperini's story from an outsider's perspective.

this chart made me chuckle given that a $500,000 US net worth without counting home equity puts you in the 84th percentile according to dqydj.com and 78th if you count equity. https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc7820a80-9ca5-461c-86ad-3403420b61f6_441x421.png What a stupid chart... But that said, I'd want to stay under $2 billion and remain "filthy" rich... That sounds far cooler than just "super" rich. And I definitely would rather be called "wealthy" than "lesser rich". I'd try to blow past that whole $30M - $80M range as quick as possible. Even "comfortable rich"...

I bought a classic $40 Casio DW-290, which has been around since the early 70s, because Tom Cruise wore one in a Mission Impossible.

Actually I bought one because it was cheap and has great reviews but Tom did wear one in the movie and I don't think it was product placement as you have to freeze frame to see it.

I cannot relate because I have never done the high income part you wrote about. However, you should read this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/29/400000-a-year-rich-feeling-poor/ and this https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/20/opinion/fleishman-meritocracy.html and this https://bowtiedbull.substack.com/p/going-through-levels-of-wealth Then go back into Stealth Mode. I couldn’t access the first two, but that third link is pure genius. Bookmarked ;) I don’t see it, but if there’s genius there, that’s either as satire or as marketing for whatever it’s selling. To me, it reads like it comes from the same family of genius advice as cryptotouts. I don't either but this chart made me chuckle given that a $500,000 US net worth without ...

In the early 2000s I spent about $4,000 to build some Linkwitz Orion speakers (https://linkwitzlab.com/orion-rev3.htm) version 3-1, then spent another $2,000 on amps, cables, and a modded Squeezebox digital music player. The system sounded amazing but the Orions had less than zero wife acceptance factor (WAF) so after several years in the living room they've spent the last decade in a closet.

In a desire to hopefully better understand buckets myself I'm posting an image of my own TIAA Traditional as I can't remember seeing a similar image posted to bogleheads. I hold TIAA Traditional in 3 separate TIAA accounts as shown below. One is an inherited Savings and Investment Plan (SIP) SRA type account; the second is an illiquid RA type account which holds the matching funds that my previous employer (I'm retired) put into TIAA for a few years; the third is my main liquid GSRA account which holds my contributions and their earnings. In May of 2020 I moved a large part of my GSRA account to TIAA Traditional then in August 2022 I moved everything in the SIP account, which I'd had since 2020, and the remaining equity funds in my GSRA acc...

Suggesting a 100+ year old company's featured fixed annuity product is a Ponzi scheme seems a bit over the top imo.

There's a lot of good info on Traditional here: https://www.tiaa.org/public/pdf/t/TT_FAQ.pdf

Coincidentally I'll start the Income Phase of my TIAA Traditional in a couple days as I've set up 22 months of withdrawals which will end the month my wife can apply for social security. I have no plans to annuitize it for various reasons but it's nice that I have that option.

Am I right in assuming your yearly expenses are $90k and you have $6,000k in investments? If so, that's over 66 years of expenses and I think you've won the game--congrats.

Apologies if I misread or misinterpreted something.

I understand there has been consolidation in that industry, and most appliances are made by a small number of manufacturers. Speaking of consolidation, Speed Queen is made by ALS which is probably the largest washing machine manufacturer in the world and now controls at least five brands of washers if not more. A dirty secret that isn't commonly known, is that they don't always make those machines but buy machines from other manufacturers and rebrand them. I know because my company sold them machines for many years rebranded under their label. We finally stopped because it became not in our interest to do so but I'm sure the practice still exists. But I wouldn't be disappointed with either a Speed Queen or a Whirlpool. I personally own Whi...