Roth IRA questions after account transfer

[Boaters82]

Hello,

I recently moved my accounts from EJ to TD Ameritrade and had a few questions regarding my Roth IRA Holdings. I currently hold:

ETF's
1. Dgro (iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF) - qty 68 MKT Value $3117.12
2. IJR (iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF) - qty 14 MKT Value $1385.72
3. IVV (iShares Core S&P 500 ETF) - qty 9 MKT Value $3432.87
4. SCZ (iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF) - qty 20 MKT Value $1397.60

Mutual Funds
1. FFICX (American Funds Investment Company of America® Class F-3) - qty 54.54 MKT Value $2448.16
2. FNPFX (American Funds New Perspective Fund® Class F-3) - qty 56.91 MKT Value $3553.08
3. FNXFX (American Funds New World Fund® Class F-3) - qty 19.44 MKT Value $1752.01
4. MFEKX (MFS Growth Fund Class R6 ) - qty 19.57 MKT Value $3144.12
5. OGIIX (Invesco Global Opportunities Fund Class R6) - qty 17.90 MKT Value $1537.04

I also owned these mutual funds which were exclusive to EJ and will come over as cash totaling around $12K:

JVAYX - JPMORGAN VALUE ADVANTAGE FUND-R6 - qty 84.29 MKT Value $2949.02

JIGTX - JOHN HANCOCK INTERNATIONAL GROWTH FUND R6 - qty 96.63 MKT Value $3591.99

JHBSX - JOHN HANCOCK BOND FUND CLASS R6 - qty 259.23 MKT Value $4331.76

JPPEX - JPMORGAN MID CAP EQUITY FUND - R6 - qty 25.01 MKT Value $1408.56

I was just wondering if there are better ways to allocate between my ETF's/Mutual Funds or if I should just continue to add to these as is. Total roth value is roughly $35K and I also have a taxable account with roughly $25K in individual stocks. I'm 38 years old currently and contribute the max amount to my Roth each year. Just looking to get everything in order and start fresh. If any other information is needed or helpful please let me know.

Thank you!

[David Jay]

Welcome to the forum!

There are a zillion (technical term) different funds, it is best to spell out the names of funds in order to get help. We are pleased to help but I have no idea what DGRO or MFEKX are.

[Boaters82]

Thank you. I edited the post to show the names of the funds. Let me know if any other information would be helpful.

Welcome to the forum!

There are a zillion (technical term) different funds, it is best to spell out the names of funds in order to get help. We are pleased to help but I have no idea what DGRO or MFEKX are.

[David Jay]

Thank you. I edited the post to show the names of the funds. Let me know if any other information would be helpful.

Welcome to the forum!

There are a zillion (technical term) different funds, it is best to spell out the names of funds in order to get help. We are pleased to help but I have no idea what DGRO or MFEKX are.

OK, the next thing we need is the dollar amount or percentage of each holding. Quantity of shares means nothing because a share can be $1 or $1000 depending on the fund. We want to get a sense of the “balance” of your holdings, are you holding too much of some categories and too little of other categories.

[Boaters82]

I've added the market value for all holdings to the post as well. Let me know if any other info will help.

Thank you. I edited the post to show the names of the funds. Let me know if any other information would be helpful.

Welcome to the forum!

There are a zillion (technical term) different funds, it is best to spell out the names of funds in order to get help. We are pleased to help but I have no idea what DGRO or MFEKX are.

OK, the next thing we need is the dollar amount or percentage of each holding. Quantity of shares means nothing because a share can be $1 or $1000 depending on the fund. We want to get a sense of the “balance” of your holdings, are you holding too much of some categories and too little of other categories.

[retired@50]

Hello,

I recently moved my accounts from EJ to TD Ameritrade and had a few questions regarding my Roth IRA Holdings. I currently hold:

ETF's
1. Dgro (iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF) - qty 68 MKT Value $3117.12
2. IJR (iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF) - qty 14 MKT Value $1385.72
3. IVV (iShares Core S&P 500 ETF) - qty 9 MKT Value $3432.87
4. SCZ (iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF) - qty 20 MKT Value $1397.60

Mutual Funds
1. FFICX (American Funds Investment Company of America® Class F-3) - qty 54.54 MKT Value $2448.16
2. FNPFX (American Funds New Perspective Fund® Class F-3) - qty 56.91 MKT Value $3553.08
3. FNXFX (American Funds New World Fund® Class F-3) - qty 19.44 MKT Value $1752.01
4. MFEKX (MFS Growth Fund Class R6 ) - qty 19.57 MKT Value $3144.12
5. OGIIX (Invesco Global Opportunities Fund Class R6) - qty 17.90 MKT Value $1537.04


I was just wondering if there are better ways to allocate between my ETF's/Mutual Funds or if I should just continue to add to these as is. Total roth value is roughly $35K and I also have a taxable account with roughly $25K in individual stocks. I'm 38 years old currently and contribute the max amount to my Roth each year. Just looking to get everything in order and start fresh. If any other information is needed or helpful please let me know.

Thank you!

You might want to get rid of the red funds above, or at least stop contributing to them. The expense ratios are too high in my book. Try to aim for expense ratios of .15% or lower.

The iShares stuff seems to have low expense ratios, so those are okay. You might want to consider adding some international stock holdings like IXUS, the iShares Total International Stock ETF. You could also consider a bond fund at some point before retirement. Maybe BND would be a good place to start your research.

I'd also suggest you steer clear of buying individual stocks. This usually turns out lousy, or great, with the emphasis on lousy because most people aren't any good at picking individual stocks and tend to under-perform the overall market or the S&P 500. You can easily match the S&P 500 by buying more of the IVV ETF you already hold.

Some additional reading you might find helpful.
Expense ratios: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Expense_ratios
Boglehead philosophy: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Boglehe ... philosophy
3-fund portfolio: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio

Regards,

[Boaters82]

Thank you for the feedback. I'll look into IXUS and BND today. Realistically I'm trying to keep my Roth portfolio as simple as I can so the 3 fund portfolio may be something I should pursue?

Hello,

I recently moved my accounts from EJ to TD Ameritrade and had a few questions regarding my Roth IRA Holdings. I currently hold:

ETF's
1. Dgro (iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF) - qty 68 MKT Value $3117.12
2. IJR (iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF) - qty 14 MKT Value $1385.72
3. IVV (iShares Core S&P 500 ETF) - qty 9 MKT Value $3432.87
4. SCZ (iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF) - qty 20 MKT Value $1397.60

Mutual Funds
1. FFICX (American Funds Investment Company of America® Class F-3) - qty 54.54 MKT Value $2448.16
2. FNPFX (American Funds New Perspective Fund® Class F-3) - qty 56.91 MKT Value $3553.08
3. FNXFX (American Funds New World Fund® Class F-3) - qty 19.44 MKT Value $1752.01
4. MFEKX (MFS Growth Fund Class R6 ) - qty 19.57 MKT Value $3144.12
5. OGIIX (Invesco Global Opportunities Fund Class R6) - qty 17.90 MKT Value $1537.04


I was just wondering if there are better ways to allocate between my ETF's/Mutual Funds or if I should just continue to add to these as is. Total roth value is roughly $35K and I also have a taxable account with roughly $25K in individual stocks. I'm 38 years old currently and contribute the max amount to my Roth each year. Just looking to get everything in order and start fresh. If any other information is needed or helpful please let me know.

Thank you!

You might want to get rid of the red funds above, or at least stop contributing to them. The expense ratios are too high in my book. Try to aim for expense ratios of .15% or lower.

The iShares stuff seems to have low expense ratios, so those are okay. You might want to consider adding some international stock holdings like IXUS, the iShares Total International Stock ETF. You could also consider a bond fund at some point before retirement. Maybe BND would be a good place to start your research.

I'd also suggest you steer clear of buying individual stocks. This usually turns out lousy, or great, with the emphasis on lousy because most people aren't any good at picking individual stocks and tend to under-perform the overall market or the S&P 500. You can easily match the S&P 500 by buying more of the IVV ETF you already hold.

Some additional reading you might find helpful.
Expense ratios: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Expense_ratios
Boglehead philosophy: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Boglehe ... philosophy
3-fund portfolio: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio

Regards,

[lakpr]

Given that this is a Roth IRA, I disagree with the suggestion to include BND as part of the portfolio. I repeat this very frequently: the deal with the Roth is, in exchange for upfront taxes, all future growth is tax free (subject only to the age 59.5 rule). As such, it is in your advantage to maximize that growth. Or stated in other words, pack your Roth account with those assets that you think will provide you with the maximum growth.

That would be stocks. Depending on your specific outlook on the international equities, it can mean specifically US stocks only, or a mix of both US and international stocks.

That's not to say you should deviate from the 3-fund portfolio, it just means keep the international equities and bonds out of your Roth and into your 401k plan / Traditional-IRA / Rollover-IRA accounts (pretax assets or taxable, I mean, just not Roth).

[retired@50]

Given that this is a Roth IRA, I disagree with the suggestion to include BND as part of the portfolio.

I agree with the notion of not using bonds in a Roth IRA for all the reasons cited by lakpr.

However, if you have no other retirement accounts (401k, traditional IRA), then you'll have to put bonds somewhere...

I'd rather see an investor stick to a sensible asset allocation that they can live with for the long term, even if that means putting bonds in a Roth IRA.

So:
first choice, put bonds in a 401k or other tax-deferred account.
second choice, put them in a Roth or a taxable account.

See link for tax efficient fund placement: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Tax-eff ... _placement

Regards,

[lakpr]

Given that this is a Roth IRA, I disagree with the suggestion to include BND as part of the portfolio.

I agree with the notion of not using bonds in a Roth IRA for all the reasons cited by lakpr.

However, if you have no other retirement accounts (401k, traditional IRA), then you'll have to put bonds somewhere...

I'd rather see an investor stick to a sensible asset allocation that they can live with for the long term, even if that means putting bonds in a Roth IRA.

So:
first choice, put bonds in a 401k or other tax-deferred account.
second choice, put them in a Roth or a taxable account.

See link for tax efficient fund placement: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Tax-eff ... _placement

Regards,

I would rather put the bonds in taxable if there are no retirement plans available, than in Roth. Just my preference ...