Portfolio Help Please

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Topic Author
cprice4265
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 8:36 pm

Portfolio Help Please

Post by cprice4265 »

Hello everyone.
I'm posting my portfolio again since I was unclear last time.
Many thanks to all that provided comments before and for giving my portfolio a look over.

Emergency funds: expenses for 12 months
Debt: None (Renting)
Tax Filing Status: Single
Tax Rate: 22% Federal, 9.30% State
State of Residence: CA
Age: 62
Desired Asset allocation: Unclear. Info I’ve gleaned from studying this website points to 28% US stocks / 20% International stocks/52% Bonds (Short Term/Ultra Short Term) I’m open to advice.
Size of your current total portfolio: Mid six-figures.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
43.8%of Total Portfolio - Brokerage at Vanguard (Transferred from Edward Jones 4/27 need to wait 60 days before trading non-Vanguard funds to avoid transfer fee of $50. per trade).

Invesco Real Estate Fund Class A- -ARAX-0.51%-1.23

Appharvest INC-APPH-0.49%

iShares MSCI USA Min Volatility Factor ETF -USMV-11% (0.15)

Invesco Global Short Term High Yield Bond ETF-PGHY-0.92% (1.23)

iShares US & Intl High Yield Corp Bond ETF-GHYG-0.35% (0.40)

iShares Morningstar Mid Cap Growth ETF-IMCG 1.28% (0.06)

iShares Morningstar Small Cap Growth ETF-ISCG 1.17% (0.06)

PIMCO Income Fund Institutional Class-PIMIX 0.99% (1.09)

Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index Fund ETF -VXUS 1.38% (0.08)

Vanguard Emerging Mkts Govt Bond Index ETF-VWOB 0.37% (0.25)

Vanguard Mega Cap Index ETF-MGC 7.5% (0.07)

Vanguard S&P Mid Cap 400 Index ETF-IVOO 1.4% (0.07)

Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund Investor Shares-VIPSX 4.35% (0.20)

Vanguard Long-Term Tax-Exempt Fund-VWLTX 11.11% (0.17)

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF-VTI 1.65% (0.03)

VANGUARD MID CAP VALUE ETF-VOE 2.39% (0.07)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
41% of Total Portfolio - Rollover IRA at Vanguard (Transferred from Edward Jones 4/27 need to wait 60 days before trading non-Vanguard funds to avoid transfer fee of $50. per trade).

Invesco Developing Markets R6-ODVIX-1.98% (0.82)

Chipotle Mexican Grill-CMG-0.9%

First Trust Nasdaq Clean Edge Green Energy Index ETF-QCLN 1.36% (0.60)

Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund Trust Discovery Portfolio Class IS MMCGX 2.97% (0.64)

iShares U S Medical Devices ETF-IHI-1.69% (0.42)

iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF-HEFA-1.57% (0.70)

JPMorgan Core Bond Fund Class R6-JCBUX-3.53% (0.34)

JPMorgan Equity Income Fund Class R6-OIEJX-2.76% (0.48)

JPMorgan Large Cap Growth Fund Class R6-JLGMX-6.98% (0.53)

JPMorgan Small Cap Growth Fund Class R6-JGSMX-3.64% (0.77)

JPMorgan International Equity Fund Class R6-JNEMX-3.17% (0.61)

Schwab U S Tips ETF-SCHP-3.62% (0.05)

Spdr Bloomberg Barclays Emerging Markets Local Bond ETF-BND-3.47% (0.30)

Stericycle Inc-Srcl-1.37%

Vanguard Mega Cap Index ETF-MGC-7.5% (0.07)

Vanguard Long Term Corp Bond ETF-VCLT-3.43% (0.05)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4% of Total Portfolio 401A Nationwide
Invesco Global Fund A –OPPAX (1.06)

Mystery Stock – WF VT 2

Fidelity Advisor Emerging Asia Fund Class I – FEIRX (1.00)

Fidelity Advisor Growth Opportunities Class M – FAGOX (1.30)

BNY Mellon Core Plus Fund A – DCPAZ (0.7)

Pioneer High Yield Fund Class A – TAHYX (1.10)

Neuberger Berman Short Duration Bond Fund Trust – NSBTX (0.66)

Company match: Not applicable. All money coming from my company – no match from me allowable
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Current Contributions
$25k 457B (+ employer match dollar to dollar)

11% of Total Portfolio 457B (By default, enrolled in Nationwide Destination 2025 (NWHSX). No managed fee.
NWHSX= 22.09% US Stocks,17.17% Non-US Stocks, 40.34% Bonds, 7.39% Cash, 13.01% Other

Available funds
I believe that, due to age, all funds are considered available

Questions:

1. Feedback on my desired asset allocation detailed above welcome. I'm currently much higher in stocks (about 65%) but fear that I won't have enough time to recover if we have a significant market correction (2008).
2. I'm beginning to worry that my portfolio is out of control in my Vanguard account because there are so many funds. I've been reading about the 3 fund portfolio on this site and feel energized by its simplicity. I'm thinking I should do this as soon as my 60 days are up in my non-taxable account.
3. Opinions welcome with regards to VWLTX in my Brokerage account. It holds a 21% weight in that account and I'm getting nervous that it's a long-term muni bond.


Thanks for your input!
Last edited by cprice4265 on Sun May 23, 2021 5:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Bear906
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2021 12:07 am

Re: Portfolio Help Please

Post by Bear906 »

1. I would study this fee disclosure from Vanguard:
https://investor.vanguard.com/investing ... tual-funds
The only $50 fee I see on the schedule is for selling shares within 60 days of purchasing them. Perhaps you could avoid the $50 transaction fees you mentioned by simply waiting 60 days from the transfer-in posting date before making any trades. I would call up Vanguard and get confirmation on this.
You're still going to get stuck with a $20 fee for trading your load funds, such as your position in IARAX.
In any case, you'll want to place your trade orders online to avoid the broker-assist fee levied for placing orders via telephone.

2. If your current income level doesn't disqualify you from contributing to a Roth AND you expect to remain in the same tax brackets upon retirement, then a Roth could make sense. In addition to investment gains being tax-free, you won't have to worry about RMDs at age 72, and you'll have added flexibility when it comes to managing taxes on your portfolio withdrawals.

That said, we don't know how long you're going to continue working, and you'll be only be able to contribute $7000 annually to a Roth IRA. If you work until age 67, that's $35,000 of a ~$500,000 portfolio. It might not make enough of a difference to bother with.

Congratulations on navigating away from Edward Jones! I ended up getting dumped as an Edward Jones client a couple of years ago and transferred over to Schwab. What a revelation it was to suddenly have an entire galaxy of no-fee investment options at my disposal. I'm sure you're just as excited about the new possibilities as I was!
Eschew obfuscation.
Topic Author
cprice4265
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 8:36 pm

Re: Portfolio Help Please

Post by cprice4265 »

Bear906 wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 1:14 am 1. I would study this fee disclosure from Vanguard:
https://investor.vanguard.com/investing ... tual-funds
The only $50 fee I see on the schedule is for selling shares within 60 days of purchasing them. Perhaps you could avoid the $50 transaction fees you mentioned by simply waiting 60 days from the transfer-in posting date before making any trades. I would call up Vanguard and get confirmation on this.
You're still going to get stuck with a $20 fee for trading your load funds, such as your position in IARAX.
In any case, you'll want to place your trade orders online to avoid the broker-assist fee levied for placing orders via telephone.

2. If your current income level doesn't disqualify you from contributing to a Roth AND you expect to remain in the same tax brackets upon retirement, then a Roth could make sense. In addition to investment gains being tax-free, you won't have to worry about RMDs at age 72, and you'll have added flexibility when it comes to managing taxes on your portfolio withdrawals.

That said, we don't know how long you're going to continue working, and you'll be only be able to contribute $7000 annually to a Roth IRA. If you work until age 67, that's $35,000 of a ~$500,000 portfolio. It might not make enough of a difference to bother with.

Congratulations on navigating away from Edward Jones! I ended up getting dumped as an Edward Jones client a couple of years ago and transferred over to Schwab. What a revelation it was to suddenly have an entire galaxy of no-fee investment options at my disposal. I'm sure you're just as excited about the new possibilities as I was!
Thank you Bear 906! I knew it was a mistake to be with Edward Jones almost immediately but kept talking myself out of leaving. It was reading all the great articles here that helped me become confident.
I appreciate your time and sending the fee disclosure from Vanguard and also your advice about the Roth. That makes total sense to me!
User avatar
retiredjg
Posts: 53989
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:56 am

Re: Portfolio Help Please

Post by retiredjg »

Welcome to the forum. :happy

Tax Rate: 22% Federal, 6% State
Depending on where you are in the 22% federal bracket, contributions to the rollover IRA may or may not be deductible. Do you know if your contributions were deductible or not? If not deductible, have you been filling out form 8606 each year you make a non-deductible contribution?

The way you have presented your information, it is very difficult to know what accounts you have and what you are putting into each. To separate accounts, please use the edit button (little pencil in the corner of your post) to put some spaces in between different accounts.

While there, combine all your contributions into 1 place.

Also, we need to know the relative size of each account in your portfolio. Add the entire portfolio together and tell us what percentage is in taxable, what percentage is in the rollover IRA, etc.


1. Best route to gain control of Vanguard accounts to get to goal. When I transferred over, I was told that I would be required to pay $50. for every trade except the Vanguard funds.
This needs clarification. I believe you pay to sell non-Vanguard mutual funds and I think that might be $50 each. I'm not sure it is that high for ETFs. I'm not sure it is that high if you sell online as opposed to calling them.

You have a lot of holdings that are not Vanguard. If you pay $50 each it is going to cost you a lot. I counted 22 non-Vanguard holdings - that would be $1,100 to sell them all if each one costs $50.

It makes me wonder if you enrolled in Vanguard's Personal Advisor Service if you have to pay these transaction fees. If not, you might do well to enroll for a year or so and let them sort out your portfolio before you take it back over.

. At my age, is there an advantage to starting a Roth instead of investing in my rollover IRA?
Yes. But you still need to find out if you have non-deductible contributions in that IRA.
escondida1
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 3:15 pm

Re: Portfolio Help Please

Post by escondida1 »

I'm scared of all the long-term bond funds you carry.
Interest rates are low and rising.
Risk spreads are low.

Therefore, I think risk/reward is unfavorable for bond holdings.

I'd rather see you in short-term or ultra-short-term bond funds.

That said, it's a judgment call.
Topic Author
cprice4265
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 8:36 pm

Re: Portfolio Help Please

Post by cprice4265 »

Thanks everyone for taking a look and for your great advice.

Retiredjg - let me regroup my mess and submit again. Appreciate the guidance on how to better post.
Topic Author
cprice4265
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 8:36 pm

Re: Portfolio Help Please

Post by cprice4265 »

escondida1 wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 3:29 pm I'm scared of all the long-term bond funds you carry.
Interest rates are low and rising.
Risk spreads are low.

Therefore, I think risk/reward is unfavorable for bond holdings.

I'd rather see you in short-term or ultra-short-term bond funds.

That said, it's a judgment call.
Thank you! I super appreciate you taking a look. Yes, the long-term bonds feel like dead weight.
User avatar
retiredjg
Posts: 53989
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:56 am

Re: Portfolio Help Please

Post by retiredjg »

cprice4265 wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 8:48 pm Thanks everyone for taking a look and for your great advice.

Retiredjg - let me regroup my mess and submit again. Appreciate the guidance on how to better post.
So sorry to complain, but I could not figure out which comments belonged to which accounts.
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