I just did a little tax-loss harvesting and am considering how to proceed next.
What I did: Sold Total Bond Market (VBTLX) and bought Intermediate Bond Market (VBILX).
What I am considering: Stay with VBILX. In other words, don't by back VBTLX.
Question: What are the considerations for and against VBTLX vs VBILX?
Total Bond vs Intermediate Bond
- bertilak
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Total Bond vs Intermediate Bond
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
Re: Total Bond vs Intermediate Bond
There are many many prior threads on this one. I believe the main difference is total bond has mortgage-backed, while intermediate bond has more corporates and is overall a little riskier. IMO they are similar enough to be identical. Who knows which will do better over any given time period?
- dratkinson
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Re: Total Bond vs Intermediate Bond
As MBS are deprecated (down-side risk, no corresponding high-side benefit), VBIIX/VBILX was what I was considering as a TBM substitute. (Before I decided to use munis in taxable.)
See: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Mortgag ... d_security
See: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Mortgag ... d_security
d.r.a., not dr.a. | I'm a novice investor; you are forewarned.
- bertilak
- Posts: 10711
- Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:23 pm
- Location: East of the Pecos, West of the Mississippi
Re: Total Bond vs Intermediate Bond
Thanks all.
Sorry for not doing a search. I see now there is a lot of info on this.
Before I even posted I did look at Mornngstar charts and saw:
I'll look a bit deeper into the MBS factor but chances are, now that I've harvested my tax loss, I will sit tight.
Sorry for not doing a search. I see now there is a lot of info on this.
Before I even posted I did look at Mornngstar charts and saw:
- VBILX is a bit more volatile than VBTLX, BUT ...
- That tiny difference is swamped In comparison to Total Stock Market.
I'll look a bit deeper into the MBS factor but chances are, now that I've harvested my tax loss, I will sit tight.
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
- bertilak
- Posts: 10711
- Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:23 pm
- Location: East of the Pecos, West of the Mississippi
Re: Total Bond vs Intermediate Bond
I also looked at Munis, in the guise of Vanguard's Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Bond Fund (VWIUX). At my tax bracket, Its SEC yield of 2.30% compared to VBILX's 3.12% does not come close to breaking even.dratkinson wrote: ↑Fri Feb 23, 2018 1:02 pm As MBS are deprecated (down-side risk, no corresponding high-side benefit), VBIIX/VBILX was what I was considering as a TBM substitute. (Before I decided to use munis in taxable.)
See: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Mortgag ... d_security
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet