Search found 793 matches

by red5
Thu Jan 07, 2016 4:30 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2015 Performance
Replies: 12
Views: 1599

Re: 2015 Performance

jfly wrote:Who made good money last year?

I've been doing an annual review and am dismayed. The closure of 2015 represents my 2nd serious year of investing, and it's tough to see that I lost money last year. Maxing out 401k, Roth IRA, and then putting some more in taxable, and also knowing about dollar cost averaging and staying the course...I've still got the pill stuck in my throat! Thinking the 2014 performance would trend through 2015 and imagining what I would have by end of 2015 may not have helped...ha!
My investment return was negative for 2015. It happens. If there was no risk the eventual reward would be smaller.

2015 was not even a bad year either. Just wait for a large bear market. Stay the course.
by red5
Thu Jan 07, 2016 4:27 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: VBTIX distributions
Replies: 5
Views: 1154

Re: VBTIX distributions

I was looking over the statement from my TIAA-CREF RA, where I bought a bunch of VBTIX near the end of October, and the end-of-October dividend looks way too small. It seems to me they scale the dividend amount according to how long you've owned the fund (of the period the dividend covers), instead of the usual scheme where you get the whole dividend if you own shares the day the dividend is paid (or the ex-dividend date, whatever). IOW, like CDs usually work. So there's no dip in the share price, corresponding to the amount of the dividend, the way there usually is. Is this right - maybe because it's an Institutional share class ? That has been my experience for most of my bond mutual funds (which isn't many). This is the first link that ...
by red5
Thu Jan 07, 2016 4:20 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Question about individual stocks versus index fund?
Replies: 29
Views: 2814

Re: Question about individual stocks versus index fund?

qwe7791 wrote:Thanks for the knowledge, everyone! I really appreciate it. :D

I've read up and decided an ETF would be the best for me at the moment. Should I just buy it at whatever the market price is or should I wait until VTI drops a little? Thanks!!
Don't time the market, buy it today. Sure, it'll probably go down, but it may not. No one knows.

You will be holding this for the long term, right?
by red5
Thu Jan 07, 2016 4:19 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Question about individual stocks versus index fund?
Replies: 29
Views: 2814

Re: Question about individual stocks versus index fund?

qwe7791 wrote:I'm going to be asking a very subjective question: Is owning a share of VTI better than a share of an index fund?
VTI is an index fund, just as VTSAX is. VTI is an ETF (exchanged traded fund) while VTSAX is its mutual fund counterpart.
by red5
Wed Jan 06, 2016 4:09 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: VWO: what a terrible performance!!
Replies: 79
Views: 15017

Re: VWO: what a terrible performance!!

I also bought some VWO on Monday as it was my biggest loser of 2015. By far.

This is what it feels like to buy low. It is hard.

Good luck.
by red5
Wed Jan 06, 2016 3:50 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How do you organize your finances? Do you use Mint.com?
Replies: 94
Views: 18175

Re: How do you organize your finances? Do you use Mint.com?

I use Excel. I have worries about linking accounts and using passwords in that way. They may be irrational worries.

I also like using Excel. So there's that.
by red5
Mon Jan 04, 2016 10:12 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Correlation: how low is "low?" A simple criterion.
Replies: 28
Views: 2376

Re: Correlation: how low is "low?" A simple criterion.

red5 wrote:The first thing that came to my mind was the volatile nature of correlations. Could someone merely cherry pick dates to find a low enough correlation in order to justify adding a certain sector / fund?
I was sort of playing devil's advocate. I should have said "Someone could merely cherry pick dates to find a low enough correlation in order to justify adding a certain sector / fund."
by red5
Mon Jan 04, 2016 10:09 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Index fund, TSP question
Replies: 8
Views: 1268

Re: Index fund, TSP question

Does anyone contribute to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) in addition to an index fund, say from Vanguard? My TSP is distributed among the DJIA index, the S&P500 index as well as a foreign stock exchange index, and I'm wondering if it would be redundant to start an index fund with Vanguard in addition to the TSP. Thanks for your time! The TSP does not have a DJIA fund. It has the S fund which has something to do with the Dow Jones completion fund. It's a small/medium fund. I used to contribute to the TSP but not anymore. I still have the TSP and I also invest through Vanguard. Whether it is redundant or not depends on your particular situation. The TSP is so good that I would invest with it until you max it out (if that comes). Then I wo...
by red5
Mon Jan 04, 2016 7:25 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Correlation: how low is "low?" A simple criterion.
Replies: 28
Views: 2376

Re: Correlation: how low is "low?" A simple criterion.

Your post is very interesting and insightful. The first thing that came to my mind was the volatile nature of correlations. Could someone merely cherry pick dates to find a low enough correlation in order to justify adding a certain sector / fund?
by red5
Mon Jan 04, 2016 4:24 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How do you keep your young kids busy/occupied?
Replies: 37
Views: 4841

Re: How do you keep your young kids busy/occupied?

My kids (6 and 8) love playing outside in the winter. We live in New England so it probably isn't to much different than PA. I think it's important to make winter fun as otherwise it'll just be 5 months of misery.

Otherwise, Legos will entertain them for hours indoors and by themselves. Also, board games, reading, Kindle (limited), puzzles, drawing, ...

We probably have less technology than the average family.
by red5
Mon Jan 04, 2016 4:12 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How did your retirement Portfolio do in 2015?
Replies: 95
Views: 10650

Re: How did your retirement Portfolio do in 2015?

Retirement portfolio increased in size by 5.49% (due to contributions) but market returns were -1.89%. Excellent! Bottom line you have 5.49% more money in your accounts and 1 year of expenses behind you. Sounds like a good 2015. I had an 84/16 split for the year of 2015. According to my XIRR calculation my portfolio growth came at -1.9%. My best performer was the TSP G fund at 2.04%. My worst performer was VWO emerging markets at -14.66%. About half of my portfolio is Total Stock which game in at around .2%. Happily my ending portfolio size is 6.4% HIGHER than it was at the end of 2014. I suppose that means I am closer to the beginning than the end of my retirement investing. My benchmark is the Vanguard 2045 retirement fund, which is a bi...
by red5
Sun Jan 03, 2016 3:52 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Where should I put more roth IRA money this year?
Replies: 3
Views: 974

Re: Where should I put more roth IRA money this year?

Have you established yourself an Asset Allocation? You should purchase varying amounts into your funds to meet your AA.
by red5
Wed Dec 30, 2015 5:59 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Either way it's market timing...but...
Replies: 7
Views: 1362

Re: Either way it's market timing...but...

Sometimes when one has different circumstances one can rationalize market timing. For example if one has a larger than anticipated portfolio (perhaps like you) then one may no longer have a need for as much risk. This should be a long term view though.

I would suppose that it is not technically market timing. It just happens that a rising market would coincide with your investments being worth more.

Good luck.
by red5
Tue Dec 29, 2015 1:23 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Different asset allocations for different accounts?
Replies: 18
Views: 1689

Re: Different asset allocations for different accounts?

red5 did not say wrote:No, this is mish mashing not Asset Allocation. The reason for an Asset Allocation is to match your tendencies, life tendencies
with expected portfolio performance and risk tolerance. Value is value, your portfolio is the entirety of your financial assets.
Not my quote.
by red5
Tue Dec 29, 2015 9:00 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Different asset allocations for different accounts?
Replies: 18
Views: 1689

Re: Different asset allocations for different accounts?

I think it makes sense. Everyone has been offering their own opinions for you and that is great. Just realise that there is *no* right answer. Do what is right for you. For what it is worth I hold different allocations for my taxable account and my retirement accounts. My taxable account is my emergency fund (which is a whole other conversation) and is quite conservative while my retirement accounts are quite risky. Yes. And also, my retirement accounts can't be touched for another 30+ years. In my taxable account, I have a medium-term goal for that money, maybe 15-20 years away. I would like to have a large down payment available in there. That's why I have a separate asset allocation. My retirement account is much larger and obviously th...
by red5
Tue Dec 29, 2015 8:55 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Different asset allocations for different accounts?
Replies: 18
Views: 1689

Re: Different asset allocations for different accounts?

Lanseril wrote:
red5 wrote:For what it is worth I hold different allocations for my taxable account and my retirement accounts. My taxable account is my emergency fund (which is a whole other conversation) and is quite conservative while my retirement accounts are quite risky.
That makes sense from a tax perspective since riskier funds have larger potential capital gains, so they benefit more from being in tax-advantaged accounts.
Not necessarily...there are a lot of factors to take into consideration. Each should make decision based on their own personal factors. For example bond fund distributions are not taxed favorably when in certain tax brackets.
by red5
Tue Dec 29, 2015 4:20 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 1 etf for 4
Replies: 15
Views: 3087

Re: 1 etf for 4

I would consider mutual funds; Lifestrategy or Retirement or whatever the Ameritrade equivalents are. Using mutual funds is not *that* much different than ETFs.
by red5
Tue Dec 29, 2015 4:15 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Different asset allocations for different accounts?
Replies: 18
Views: 1689

Re: Different asset allocations for different accounts?

I think it makes sense. Everyone has been offering their own opinions for you and that is great. Just realise that there is *no* right answer. Do what is right for you.

For what it is worth I hold different allocations for my taxable account and my retirement accounts. My taxable account is my emergency fund (which is a whole other conversation) and is quite conservative while my retirement accounts are quite risky.
by red5
Sun Dec 27, 2015 4:26 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Tracking Net Worth, insightful and motivating
Replies: 45
Views: 6204

Re: Tracking Net Worth, insightful and motivating

I began when I was 25 in 2007. I track it monthly. I don't have that many accounts so it is fairly quick.

From July 2008 to February 2009 I lost 60% of my net worth. Some of that was additional student loans however. Now when looking at a graph it merely looks like a moderate blip.
by red5
Sun Dec 27, 2015 4:16 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Bogleheads: Share how you like to vacation
Replies: 113
Views: 15070

Re: Bogleheads: Share how you like to vacation

VictoriaF wrote:
red5 wrote:With 30 pounds on my shoulders / hips and 100 miles ahead of me.
For me on the Camino, it's 18 pounds and 800 kilometers/500 miles.

Victoria
Someday I'd like to multiply my second number by about 20 or 25. Cheers.
by red5
Sat Dec 26, 2015 4:07 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Bogleheads: Share how you like to vacation
Replies: 113
Views: 15070

Re: Bogleheads: Share how you like to vacation

With 30 pounds on my shoulders / hips and 100 miles ahead of me.
by red5
Thu Dec 24, 2015 5:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: For those who have seen the new Star Wars movie
Replies: 36
Views: 5864

Re: For those who have seen the new Star Wars movie

Hulk wrote:I live in a fairly small town and paid $12. How in the world could you possibly pay $7?! Is your post from 1995?

P.S. the movie was awesome :D
My town as a town owned movie theatre that charges $5.00 per regular ticket, $3.00 matinees and $1.00 on Monday nights. However there is one screen, it is an old place with old equipment and we get the movies about a month after they come out. Still though, makes things quite affordable.
by red5
Thu Dec 24, 2015 4:47 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Market timing
Replies: 19
Views: 2664

Re: Market timing

When do you guys decide to actually trade an index fund? If you are doing lump sum, how do you decide what day you actually buy the index? Do you just do it ASAP, randomly, on a bad day? If you are doing DCA, same question. Do you DCA on the same day each month, randomly, on a bad day? Similarly to the above posters I purchase as soon as I have the money. I always make my full IRA investments at the beginning of the year. It just so happened that a couple of times it would be that the markets were up 1% or so on the first day of trading and this made me feel bad about making a purchase. So I would try to wait it out a day or two but the market just kept going up. When I finally made my purchase the market was a couple of percentage points ...
by red5
Thu Dec 24, 2015 4:32 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard Personal Performance?
Replies: 45
Views: 6947

Re: Vanguard Personal Performance?

As of November 30:

1 Yr -.4%
3 Yr 9.4%
5 Yr 8.5%
10 Yr 6.0%

This is for all retirement assets, not just Vanguard. Throughout I probably averaged 75% to 85% equities.
by red5
Thu Dec 24, 2015 4:27 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Thoughts on Bogle's bond portfolio advice?
Replies: 40
Views: 5486

Re: Thoughts on Bogle's bond portfolio advice?

From Bogle: "Investors might consider keeping half their money in a total bond market fund, he said, while shifting the other half to an intermediate corporate bond fund. By doing so, investors would end up with an overall strategy that’s about two-thirds in corporate debt and one-third in government securities." To take Bogle's advice, you could do a 50/50 split of VBMFX & VFICX and you'd end up with about 37% U.S. gov't debt and 63% investment grade corporate bonds. Does this make sense? This is nearly what I do. Because I have a couple of 401k accounts that don't offer Total Bond I choose to have two bond components: Relatively Safe (Total Bond) and Relatively Risky (intermediate investment grade corporates). My Relatively...
by red5
Thu Dec 24, 2015 4:21 am
Forum: Non-US Investing
Topic: Beginner investing [US ex-pat, living in Israel]
Replies: 46
Views: 3796

Re: A stupid question,But still

shlomi333 wrote:HI! I want to start investing I have read at the wiki I have a protfolio in mind I have saved some money, but where should I go with my money? to a broker? what is to be considerd a low commision fee? is there any online soluiton?
We use Vanguard products at Vanguard. I have heard that other brokerages have more bells and whistles but those are not important to me. I am a DIY investor. All Vanguard fund and etf purchases and sales are free (that I've come across anyways). No fees whatsoever.

Vanguard brokerage fee schedule

Good luck.
by red5
Thu Dec 24, 2015 4:16 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Shorting stocks during a crash?
Replies: 28
Views: 4188

Re: Shorting stocks during a crash?

qwe7791 wrote:Is there such a thing? I was reading over shorting stocks today and I was curious if that's possible. Since so many people are probably selling their shares like crazy, wouldn't the person who short stocks make huge profits during this time is shorting restricted during these types of situations?
Don't try it. Stay invested. Stay your course. So many people AREN'T selling their shares like crazy. It is incredibly impossible to predict when crashes are beginning and ending.
by red5
Wed Dec 23, 2015 5:01 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Buying Vanguard Funds
Replies: 7
Views: 1327

Re: Buying Vanguard Funds

DaveD1 wrote:
dbr wrote:On the other hand, it is not clear why it would be of any particular importance to get today's price rather than tomorrow's. After all, why not yesterday's price.
Mainly because, if I know the price will go way up tomorrow, I want to make sure to get today's price. :D
Wanting today's price is reasonable when making a mutual fund purchase, in my opinion. The price of a fund tomorrow is more cloudy (although admittedly will probably be quite close).

Also, note that there will be some holiday hours during the next week. Keep that in mind if you are going to be purchasing some mutual funds.
by red5
Wed Dec 23, 2015 4:37 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: For those who have seen the new Star Wars movie
Replies: 36
Views: 5864

Re: For those who have seen the new Star Wars movie

A). How many bought reserved seating as opposed to general (if you had a choice between theaters that offered both)? B) and did you pay more for reserved seating? I went last night at 10 PM and paid $10 a seat for four of us and drove 10 miles more for reserved seating. Our local theater (less than a mile away) had $7 seats but no reserved seating. I don't normally do that but was afraid of just a huge crowd and difficulty getting seats together - but at the reserved seating cinema it was very orderly and really looked/felt less crowded although all the seats seemed to be filled. I think - even though I rarely do it - will likely do this again for a highly anticipated movie - Any thoughts? Went on Tuesday afternoon after purchasing tickets...
by red5
Wed Dec 23, 2015 4:34 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Share your current asset allocation?
Replies: 94
Views: 11462

Re: Share your current asset allocation?

Fixed Income - 14%
Total Bond - 75%
Investment grade corporates - 25%

Equity - 86%
Total US - 50%
Small US Value - 10%
Total International - 25%
Emerging markets - 7.5%
Small cap - 7.55
by red5
Tue Dec 22, 2015 4:47 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How much do you spend on groceries?
Replies: 109
Views: 12780

Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

$325 for a family of four. That's comfortable and healthy for us.
by red5
Sun Dec 20, 2015 4:53 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Strange Vanguard Total Stock Market Dividend Behavior
Replies: 7
Views: 1720

Re: Strange Vanguard Total Stock Market Dividend Behavior

I have no idea if my situation is at all related to your situation but I will share anyways. It probably might be related to some of the other information in this thread.

When I "upgraded" to a VBS account some of my cost basis information changed ever so slightly (just a couple pennies). I e-mailed Vanguard asking about this. They came back and told me that the newer VBS platform rounds differently than the older mutual fund platform. This is how some of my cost basis changed.

He claimed it is more accurate this way. I don't believe it.

So it is probably just some kind of rounding issue.
by red5
Sat Dec 19, 2015 5:24 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: ETF or Fund - Which Do You Use?
Replies: 40
Views: 4956

Re: ETF or Fund - Which Do You Use?

both...mainly funds in tax advantaged and ETFs in taxable.
by red5
Fri Dec 18, 2015 12:01 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Do you reinvest your dividends/capital gains?
Replies: 76
Views: 13024

Re: Do you reinvest your dividends/capital gains?

I reinvest in both taxable and tax advantaged space. I do this to receive the total return of an investment. However I am thinking about changing my taxable to receiving dividends and CGs in a money market and using that money to invest in the lowest performer.
by red5
Fri Dec 18, 2015 4:31 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How do you reduce excessive risk in your AA?
Replies: 35
Views: 4006

Re: How do you reduce excessive risk in your AA?

walletless wrote:At this time, I feel the need to reduce this volatility. While I will continue to maintain my domestic/international split, I am looking to reduce my EM holdings to 15-20% of international. I believe that making this change will allow me to sleep better.
I understand your pain as I also tilt towards EM. It has been a rough year. I am not suggesting that you don't go through with this risk reduction idea. All I want to mention is that this is a classic case of "not staying the course" which is what can help many investors get in trouble. Just be cautious if EM begin to do well again if you feel that you want to jump back in.

Good luck with your decision.
by red5
Fri Dec 11, 2015 11:26 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Gliding To Small Value
Replies: 15
Views: 2462

Re: Gliding Small Value Tilt

packet wrote:
red5 wrote:...Eventually my modest tilts will be non existent.
So, you're doing the exact opposite?
Is this a move to simplify as you get older... or something else?

:beerCheers,
packet
I suppose it is to simplify (although what I have now is simple) and also just to have a less risky portfolio while maintaining the same desired equity/fixed income ratio.
by red5
Fri Dec 11, 2015 10:37 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Gliding To Small Value
Replies: 15
Views: 2462

Re: Gliding Small Value Tilt

I built in a gliding small value tilt into my AA, however it is a decreasing glide. It is short, over 10 years or so when I near retirement. Eventually my modest tilts will be non existent.

So I suppose as you are gliding towards a Larry portfolio I'll be gliding towards the 3-fund portfolio.
by red5
Thu Dec 10, 2015 7:12 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Feeling penny-wise and pound-foolish
Replies: 30
Views: 5333

Re: Feeling penny-wise and pound-foolish

[ And by the way, purchase Quality. :happy Can't argue with that. Often times people will buy an inferior product because it's cheaper yet they end up needing to replace it not too long after they bought whereas if they'd spent a little more up front they most likely would not have replacement costs. This is what I have concluded as well. Sometimes buying a more expensive quality item is the frugal thing to do. I'm still on the same winter jacket I purchased 15 years ago. I'd like to think of myself as a pretty frugal (not quite Mustachean) person. But every once in a while, when I have to pay for an expensive item, I feel as though all the effort I put in on a day-to-day basis to be frugal gets wiped out at once, and it's kind of demorali...
by red5
Wed Dec 09, 2015 4:49 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: USAA vs Vanguard
Replies: 67
Views: 16871

Re: USAA vs Vanguard

So how do I tell where I am getting my car and home insurance from? I checked a couple of my statements and it just says USAA. I know I get some money back every year (not much) but am not sure if it is SSA or some other kind of rebate.

I do get a Subscribers Account annual statement every year.
by red5
Wed Dec 09, 2015 4:44 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: deleted
Replies: 12
Views: 2372

Re: Critique my XIRR spreadsheet

henders wrote:Hi

Thank you all for your invaluable response.

I'm now trying to figure out how to organize this and put it in cruise-control. Should I have one dedicated tab for each stock? And then collate this information on another tab to get the average current, 1, 5 and 10 year return? Also, how frequently should I do this? After I have gathered all the information, should I only do this whenever I buy new stocks and also once at the end of each year to adjust for dividend reinvestment?

Thank you all.
I put all my individual investments in the same sheet. This way I can calculate each funds rate of return and at the same time I can calculate the entire portfolio's rate of return. I put a small example in your shared spreadsheet.
by red5
Wed Dec 09, 2015 4:36 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 10 year price return. USA 69% vs global ex USA 1%
Replies: 10
Views: 1806

Re: 10 year price return. USA 69% vs global ex USA 1%

jainn wrote:There is a part of me that wants to stay 70/30 but another part wants to divert all new contributions to international thinking it has to catch up, as well as the yield is ~3% all the while..

Thoughts?
Diverting all new contributions as part of a rebalancing plan is okay. But if you divert so much that you are going past 70/30 then you are market timing.
by red5
Wed Dec 09, 2015 4:29 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Tilt Question: Small Caps
Replies: 52
Views: 6878

Re: Tilt Question: Small Caps

I modestly tilt towards US small cap value and International small cap using VSIAX and VSS. I understand that "small value" has done well in the past and I understand that it very well could do better than the total market in the future but I am not willing to bet a significant portion of my portfolio on that. So therefore I tilt US small value at a 1:5 ratio with the total stock market and I tilt VSS at a 1:3.33 ratio with total international stock.

So far those tilts have outperformed...
by red5
Wed Dec 09, 2015 4:15 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Vanguard converting mutual fund accounts to brokerage?
Replies: 420
Views: 100854

Re: "Vanguard converting mutual fund accounts to brokerage?

scotthal wrote:Am annoyed - finally (today, tuesday 12/08) got the conversion popup on login, clicked on the "get started" link, & was informed that none of my accounts were eligible. Had hoped that Vanguard would have sorted out complexity issues by now.
This happened to me 2 or 3 weeks ago. I sent them an e-mail and shortly thereafter I was able to convert.
by red5
Tue Dec 08, 2015 8:18 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: deleted
Replies: 12
Views: 2372

Re: Critique my XIRR spreadsheet

henders wrote:I forgot to mention the spreadsheet link. So here it is: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0
Your XIRR function looks correct. I am not sure if your "absolute return" function is valid though. It is only relying on your initial investment (balance) and your final balance without taking into account the other two investments. In other words your current balance relies on all three investments but your formula omits the middle two.

I am not even sure if there is such a formula for total return when there are multiple purchases and sales. I could be wrong though.
by red5
Tue Dec 08, 2015 4:25 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Formula for returns after distributions
Replies: 1
Views: 352

Re: Formula for returns after distributions

Search for XIRR in Microsoft Excel (or other spreadsheet programs). It will provide you with a compound annual growth return while taking into account contributions and withdrawals.
by red5
Mon Dec 07, 2015 8:03 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: USAA vs Vanguard
Replies: 67
Views: 16871

Re: USAA vs Vanguard

Scottactual wrote:I think I do receive a savings off insurance and home insurance by having this but I think I could create a 1000 dollar CD and it would provide the same savings, not sure exactly how they compute the savings through (if its just having the account or the dollar value of the account).
Could you expand on that? I'd be interested in that as I use USAA or insurance. I don't recall hearing about that program.
by red5
Mon Dec 07, 2015 7:53 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: USAA vs Vanguard
Replies: 67
Views: 16871

Re: USAA vs Vanguard

I have noticed a few say that I could use USAA as the brokerage firm (not sure exactly what this means) for my Vanguard account? Is that something I should do or should I fully just create a vanguard account and transfer my Roth to vanguard from their website? I think I do receive a savings off insurance and home insurance by having this but I think I could create a 1000 dollar CD and it would provide the same savings, not sure exactly how they compute the savings through (if its just having the account or the dollar value of the account). Thank you again for all of your help, this site is making this process so much easier then going it alone. With a USAA brokerage account you are not limited to only being able to purchase USAA mutual fun...
by red5
Sun Dec 06, 2015 5:43 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: USAA vs Vanguard
Replies: 67
Views: 16871

Re: USAA vs Vanguard

I also went from USAA to Vanguard for my investments with absolutely no regrets. USAA is good for online banking and insurance; Vanguard is good for investing.