Holding only VWENX for retirement

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KEVIN4091
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Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by KEVIN4091 »

Hi Everyone,
First time post here. Currently I hold all my retirement savings about 360K in Wellington (VWENX). I was wondering is it really a good idea to hold only one fund like Wellington for retirement. I'm 60 and plan on retiring at 65, would like to know the Pros and Cons or any suggestions if possible. Thanks

Thanks for all the replies, I'm fine with the asset allocation of around 60% to 70% equities and the rest in bonds. Its all in a IRA with Vanguard. I have been thinking about maybe going to a three fund portfolio of Total Stock Market (VTSAX),Total Int'l (VTIAX) and Total Bond Market (VBTLX) with about 20% in international.
Last edited by KEVIN4091 on Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
Gill
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by Gill »

As long as you’re comfortable holding about 2/3 equities I see no reason not to hold this fund exclusively.
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SimplicityNow
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by SimplicityNow »

KEVIN4091 wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 5:25 pm Hi Everyone,
First time post here. Currently I hold all my retirement savings about 360K in Wellington (VWENX). I was wondering is it really a good idea to hold only one fund like Wellington for retirement. I'm 60 and plan on retiring at 65, would like to know the Pros and Cons or any suggestions if possible. Thanks
Welcome:

We would need more information.

What's your risk tolerance? Are you ok with 65% stock as your asset allocation? If it is in a taxable account the bond distribution is taxable. If it is in taxable then it would be somewhat more tax efficient to have the bond portion in a tax deferred account.

It is a well regarded fund with a relatively low expense ratio. Other then the above there is nothing wrong with holding one fund. Othe one fund options are target date or Vanguard Life strategy funds.
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nisiprius
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by nisiprius »

Holding one fund is a fine idea if the one fund matches your desired allocation.

"Holding only VWENX" is well within the range of sanity.

VWENX has a stock allocation that would be too high for me. I won't get into whether or not VWENX is preferable to a pure index fund with 60/40 allocation, the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund.

Wellington is 100% US. <--- I was wrong, see KlangFool below.

Wellington is currently, according to Morningstar, 51.17% US stock and 13.45% international stock, meaning that 21% of its stock holdings are international. Depending on how you feel about international investing, if you want a higher amount of international stock exposure you might prefer LifeStrategy Moderate Growth.

If you want less volatility (I personally would but that is personal) you might consider LifeStrategy Conservative Growth or even LifeStrategy Income.

There is also a pretty new fund, less than a year old, with the name "Vanguard Global Wellington Fund," VGWLX (investor) and VGWAX (Admiral), an actively managed fund that invests globally. With actively managed funds I don't know how you would judge whether the "Global Wellington Fund" embodies the "same" investing strategies as the original "Wellington Fund," but, there it is.

I am not trying to sell you on international investing, it's just something that you ought to consider and make a conscious decision about. (Personally, I am at about 22% international stock myself, or about the same as Wellington. That is not a recommendation, just an observation.)
Last edited by nisiprius on Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:49 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by livesoft »

Cons: Manager risk. Not an index fund. Not as diversified as one could be. Also looks like one is basing decision only on past performance and expecting that to continue going forward.
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by KlangFool »

nisiprius wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:03 pm Holding one fund is a fine idea if the one fund matches your desired allocation.

"Holding only VWENX" is well within the range of sanity.

VWENX has a stock allocation that would be too high for me. I won't get into whether or not VWENX is preferable to a pure index fund with 60/40 allocation, the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund.

Wellington is 100% US. Depending on how you feel about international investing, if you want international exposure you might prefer LifeStrategy Moderate Growth. If you want less volatility (I personally would but that is personal) you might consider LifeStrategy Conservative Growth or even LifeStrategy Income.

There is also a pretty new fund, less than a year old, with the name "Vanguard Global Wellington Fund," VGWLX (investor) and VGWAX (Admiral), an actively managed fund that invests globally. With actively managed funds I don't know how you would judge whether the "Global Wellington Fund" embodies the "same" investing strategies as the original "Wellington Fund," but, there it is.

I am not trying to sell you on international investing, it's just something that you ought to consider and make a conscious decision about.
nisiprius,

<<Wellington is 100% US. >>

The foreign holding is about 12.5%.

https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-fu ... olio/vwenx

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30% VWENX | 16% VFWAX/VTIAX | 14.5% VTSAX | 19.5% VBTLX | 10% VSIAX/VTMSX/VSMAX | 10% VSIGX| 30% Wellington 50% 3-funds 20% Mini-Larry
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by nisiprius »

KlangFool wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:33 pm
nisiprius wrote:...Wellington is 100% US....
nisiprius,

<<Wellington is 100% US. >>

The foreign holding is about 12.5%.

https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-fu ... olio/vwenx

KlangFool
Ouch. Shame on me. Thank you for pointing that out. I've corrected my posting, above.
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by abuss368 »

KEVIN4091 wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 5:25 pm Hi Everyone,
First time post here. Currently I hold all my retirement savings about 360K in Wellington (VWENX). I was wondering is it really a good idea to hold only one fund like Wellington for retirement. I'm 60 and plan on retiring at 65, would like to know the Pros and Cons or any suggestions if possible. Thanks
Hi Kevin4091 -

My preference is to keep investing simple with total market funds. That said holding the Wellington Fund (or any fund for that matter) is acceptable if the fund matches an investors asset allocation based on goals, risk tolerance, and time frame.

Based on the limited information provided I am unsure if this is true. As such if you are contemplating a change, and the fund is in a taxable account, there may be a tax impact to consider.

Best.
John C. Bogle: “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by abuss368 »

nisiprius wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:03 pm
Wellington is 100% US. <--- I was wrong, see KlangFool below.

Wellington is current, according to Morningstar, 51.17% US stock and 13.45% international stock, meaning that 21% of its stock holdings are international.
That is interesting. I always assumed (incorrectly) that Wellington invested in only U.S. stocks and bonds.
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by nisiprius »

abuss368 wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:10 pm
nisiprius wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:03 pmWellington is 100% US. <--- I was wrong, see KlangFool below.

Wellington is currently, according to Morningstar, 51.17% US stock and 13.45% international stock, meaning that 21% of its stock holdings are international.
That is interesting. I always assumed (incorrectly) that Wellington invested in only U.S. stocks and bonds.
I think it used to be. But that's active funds for you. I don't know a quick place to go to check to see whether the international holdings are new, and, if so, when they were first added.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by abuss368 »

nisiprius wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:48 pm
abuss368 wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:10 pm
nisiprius wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:03 pmWellington is 100% US. <--- I was wrong, see KlangFool below.

Wellington is currently, according to Morningstar, 51.17% US stock and 13.45% international stock, meaning that 21% of its stock holdings are international.
That is interesting. I always assumed (incorrectly) that Wellington invested in only U.S. stocks and bonds.
I think it used to be. But that's active funds for you. I don't know a quick place to go to check to see whether the international holdings are new, and, if so, when they were first added.
Thank you again for pointing that out.
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

abuss368 wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:56 pm
nisiprius wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:48 pm
abuss368 wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:10 pm
nisiprius wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:03 pmWellington is 100% US. <--- I was wrong, see KlangFool below.

Wellington is currently, according to Morningstar, 51.17% US stock and 13.45% international stock, meaning that 21% of its stock holdings are international.
That is interesting. I always assumed (incorrectly) that Wellington invested in only U.S. stocks and bonds.
I think it used to be. But that's active funds for you. I don't know a quick place to go to check to see whether the international holdings are new, and, if so, when they were first added.
Thank you again for pointing that out.
I own Wellington in my retirement account, as long as I’ve had it (several years) the fund has had investments in international dividend paying large/mid cap value equities. The vast majority of holdings though are domestic.
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by KlangFool »

OP,

40% of my portfolio aka the largest portion of my portfolio is in the Wellington fund.

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30% VWENX | 16% VFWAX/VTIAX | 14.5% VTSAX | 19.5% VBTLX | 10% VSIAX/VTMSX/VSMAX | 10% VSIGX| 30% Wellington 50% 3-funds 20% Mini-Larry
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by MrG »

Here is the link to see what the fund contains as of December 31, 2018:

https://institutional.vanguard.com/VGAp ... undId=0021
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by dbr »

livesoft wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:29 pm Cons: Manager risk. Not an index fund. Not as diversified as one could be. Also looks like one is basing decision only on past performance and expecting that to continue going forward.
Yes, I would not hold everything in one single actively managed fund no matter what the track record or how much you think you trust the management.

As far as that goes, just as a matter of principle, I don't hold all my assets in the funds of one single company nor do I let only one single company have custody of all my wealth.
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Re: Holding only VWENX for retirement

Post by Vikingfan »

Quality companies and A rated mostly corporate bonds. Seems like a great holding.
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