Portfolio Review Requested Please

[dwright]

Hello all,

Like many others, I’m beginning to approach retirement age and I’m looking to maximize my finances/investments as well as reduce costs so that I can live a comfortable retirement. For the past few months I’ve been trying to educate myself as much on the Bogleheads approach, but would still appreciate some advice from the more senior members here. Frankly I’m still very clueless.

Looking at the "template" suggested by the forum, here is my information:

Emergency funds: $26k in a Discover HYSA at 4% APY

Debt: None. House, cars, student loans all paid off. No CC debt, always pay off in full each month.

Tax Filing Status: Single

Tax Rate: 22% Federal, 5% State

State of Residence: Massachusetts

Age: 57

Desired Asset allocation: Not sure. Perhaps 50% stocks / 50% bonds? Any advice is appreciated.

Desired International allocation: Again, not sure. Any advice is appreciated

Current Total Portfolio:


1st account
401K Schwab: $700k.
Current allocations are (as recommended by Morningstar):

Stocks
7% Columbia Dividend Income Inst ER 0.65%
5% Vanguard Small Cap Index ER 0.04%
9% Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index ER 0.09%
39% American Funds American Balanced R6 ER 0.25%

Bonds
3% Federated Hermes Instl High Yield Bd ER 0.50%
34% PIMCO Total Return Instl ER 0.51%

Capital Preservation
3% Galliard Retirement Income Fund (No ER Listed. Not sure what this is.)

The available stocks/bonds in my company’s 401K plan are as follows:

Stocks
Large Company
GSFTX - Columbia Dividend Income Inst ER 0.65%
MLAIX - NYLI Winslow Large Cap Growth Class I ER 0.73%
VIIIX - Vanguard Institutional Index Instl Pl ER 0.02%

Small/Mid Co.
SEI360 - American Century US Mid Cap Value Eq Tr (Not sure what this is? No info on Yahoo Finance)
LSSIX - Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl ER 0.94%
NDVVX - MFS New Discovery Value R6 ER 0.84%
TEGIX - Touchstone Mid Cap Growth Inst ER 0.87%
VMCIX - Vanguard Mid Cap Index Institutional ER 0.04%
VSCIX - Vanguard Small Cap Index I ER 0.04%

Intl/Global
ODVYX - Invesco Developing Markets ER 1.01%
OSCIX - Invesco International Small-Mid Com R6 ER 0.99%
VTSNX - Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index I ER 0.09%
WBIIX - William Blair Instl International Gr ER 0.94%

Specialty
MGLRX - MFS Global Real Estate R6 ER 0.85%
VGSNX - Vanguard Real Estate Index Institutional ER 0.11%

Balanced
RLBGX - American Funds American Balanced R6 ER 0.25%

Bonds
FIHBX - Federated Hermes Instl High Yield Bd IS ER 0.50%
OIBYX - Invesco International Bond Y ER 0.80%
PRRIX - PIMCO Real Return Instl ER 0.50%
PTTRX - PIMCO Total Return Instl ER 0.51%
VBTIX - Vanguard Total Bond Market Index ER 0.03%

Capital Preservation
WGRITX - Galliard Retirement Income Fund 35 (No ER)

2nd account
Rollover 401K with Schwab - $11K
Enrolled in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios consisting of:

1.88% Charles Schwab US Reit ETF ER 0.07%
0.95% Invesco Senior Loan ETF ER 0.65%
16.08% Ishares Mbs Etf ER 0.04%
0.89% Ishares Preferred Incomesec Etf ER 0.46%
15.88% Schwab 510 Year Corp Bond Etf ER 0.03%
1.92% Schwab High Yield Bond Etf ER 0.03%
7.12% Schwab Intermediate Termus Trs Etf ER 0.03%
19.15% Schwab Us Dividend Equity Etf ER 0.06%
1.9% Schwab Us Tips Etf ER 0.03%
1.72% Vaneck J P Morgan Em Lclcry Bnd Etf ER 0.30%
1.93% Xtrackers Inter Real Est EtfER 0.10%
17.95% Xtrckr Msci Eafe Hg Dv Yld Eq Etf ER 0.09%

12.62% Cash and Money Market (Not sure what this means, is this not invested?)

3rd account
Fidelity Brokerage Account - $1k
(This is my experimental account. The Fidelity shares were suggested by Fidelity. I started purchasing the Vanguard products after I began studying the Bogleheads approach.)

27.12% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares ER 0.03%
18.48% Vanguard Index Funds S&P 500 Etf Usd ER 0.03%
17.77% Vanguard Bd Index Fds Total Bnd Mrkt ER 0.03%
14.31% Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Core Etf ER 0.18%
9.12% Fidelity Total Market Index Fund ER 0.01%
4.61% Fidelity Intl Multifactor ER 0.18%
4.44% Fidelity Low Duration Bond Factor Etf ER 0.15%
1.81% Fidelity Emerg Mkts Mltft ER 0.25%
1.77% Fidelity Enhanced Mid Cap Etf ER 0.23%
0.55% Fidelity Enhanced Small Cap Etf ER 0.28%
0.02% Fidelity Government Money Market (Spaxx)

About me:

I make $88k per year. I’m 57 now and would like to retire at 65 at the latest. I’d like to live off my savings/401k until I can get the full social security benefit at 67 (approx $3066/month).

My monthly expenses average about $3,500. That’s $42,000 per year. Just to be safe I want to have enough money for 30 years (yes, my family tends to live a long time, many over 100. I’ve seen what it’s like to be old and broke.) That’s approximately 1.26 million dollars. I don’t think I’ll make it in the time available and the amount of money I make, but it’s a goal.

I’m currently investing 20% of my pay into my 401k. 10% is pre-tax, and 10% roth. I’m also receiving an employer match of 50% of the first 6%.

Questions:

Question 1: 401k.
Is the following a realistic investment strategy for my 401k? Some of my current investments have a high expense ratio so I’m looking to reduce it as well as simplify my portfolio.

Stocks (US):
10% VIIIX - Vanguard Institutional Index Instl Pl ER 0.02%
10% VMCIX - Vanguard Mid Cap Index Institutional ER0.04%
10% VSCIX - Vanguard Small Cap Index I ER 0.04%

Stocks (Intl)
20% VTSNX - Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index I ER 0.09%

Bonds:
50% VBTIX - Vanguard Total Bond Market Index ER 0.03%

Question 2: Rollover 401k
Is using the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios a good investment strategy, or should I try a more "Bogleheads" approach?

Question 3: Fidelity Brokerage account.
Should I dump the Fidelity investments and again, simplify using a "Bogleheads" approach? Perhaps a similar model to the 401k approach above?

I hope the information I've provided is sufficient and clear. If not, please let me know. Any advice is deeply appreciated.

Thank you.

[ruralavalon]

Welcome to the forum

Congratulations on being debt free. Your employer's 401k plan offers excellent funds with very low expense ratios, you are fortunate.

I hope the information I've provided is sufficient and clear. If not, please let me know. Any advice is deeply appreciated.

Does your current employer's 401k plan charge you any fees other than the expense ratios?

What percentage of the total portfolio is currently in each account?

About how much (in dollars) do you currently contribute to each account?

About how much in (dollars) do you expect to that you might be able contribute annually to investing (total, all accounts)?

Will you eligible for both a substantial pension and Social Security benefits?

You can simply add this to your original post using the edit button (the pencil icon near the upper right corner of your post), it helps a lot if all of your information is in one place.

Hello all,

Like many others, I’m beginning to approach retirement age and I’m looking to maximize my finances/investments as well as reduce costs so that I can live a comfortable retirement. For the past few months I’ve been trying to educate myself as much on the Bogleheads approach, but would still appreciate some advice from the more senior members here. Frankly I’m still very clueless.

Looking at the "template" suggested by the forum, here is my information:

Emergency funds: $26k in a Discover HYSA at 4% APY

Debt: None. House, cars, student loans all paid off. No CC debt, always pay off in full each month.

Tax Filing Status: Single

Tax Rate: 22% Federal, 5% State

State of Residence: Massachusetts

Age: 57

Desired Asset allocation: Not sure. Perhaps 50% stocks / 50% bonds? Any advice is appreciated.

Desired International allocation: Again, not sure. Any advice is appreciated

In my opinion the 50/50 stock/fixed income allocation is within the range of what is reasonable.

In my opinion an asset allocation of 20-30% of stocks in international stocks is reasonable.

That works out to about 50% fixed income, 10% International stocks and 40% U.S. stocks.

Hello all,
Current Total Portfolio:


1st account
401K Schwab: $700k.
Current allocations are (as recommended by Morningstar):

Stocks
7% Columbia Dividend Income Inst ER 0.65%
5% Vanguard Small Cap Index ER 0.04%
9% Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index ER 0.09%
39% American Funds American Balanced R6 ER 0.25%

Bonds
3% Federated Hermes Instl High Yield Bd ER 0.50%
34% PIMCO Total Return Instl ER 0.51%

Capital Preservation
3% Galliard Retirement Income Fund (No ER Listed. Not sure what this is.)

The available stocks/bonds in my company’s 401K plan are as follows:

Stocks
Large Company
GSFTX - Columbia Dividend Income Inst ER 0.65%
MLAIX - NYLI Winslow Large Cap Growth Class I ER 0.73%
VIIIX - Vanguard Institutional Index Instl Pl ER 0.02%

Small/Mid Co.
SEI360 - American Century US Mid Cap Value Eq Tr (Not sure what this is? No info on Yahoo Finance)
LSSIX - Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth Instl ER 0.94%
NDVVX - MFS New Discovery Value R6 ER 0.84%
TEGIX - Touchstone Mid Cap Growth Inst ER 0.87%
VMCIX - Vanguard Mid Cap Index Institutional ER 0.04%
VSCIX - Vanguard Small Cap Index I ER 0.04%

Intl/Global
ODVYX - Invesco Developing Markets ER 1.01%
OSCIX - Invesco International Small-Mid Com R6 ER 0.99%
VTSNX - Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index I ER 0.09%
WBIIX - William Blair Instl International Gr ER 0.94%

Specialty
MGLRX - MFS Global Real Estate R6 ER 0.85%
VGSNX - Vanguard Real Estate Index Institutional ER 0.11%

Balanced
RLBGX - American Funds American Balanced R6 ER 0.25%

Bonds
FIHBX - Federated Hermes Instl High Yield Bd IS ER 0.50%
OIBYX - Invesco International Bond Y ER 0.80%
PRRIX - PIMCO Real Return Instl ER 0.50%
PTTRX - PIMCO Total Return Instl ER 0.51%
VBTIX - Vanguard Total Bond Market Index ER 0.03%

Capital Preservation
WGRITX - Galliard Retirement Income Fund 35 (No ER)

In my opinion the better funds to consider using in your current employer's 401k plan include:
1) VIIIX - Vanguard Institutional Index Instl Pl ( a S&P 500 index fund) ER 0.02%
2) VTSNX - Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index I ER 0.09%
3) VBTIX - Vanguard Total Bond Market Index ER 0.03%

In my opinion a S&P 500 Index fund is good enough by itself for investing in U.S. stocks, it covers 80% of the U.S. stock market investing in stocks of selected large-cap and mid-cap U.S. companies. In the 30+ years since the creation of the first total stock market index fund the two types of funds have had almost identical performance.

Some years one fund type was a little bit ahead. Other years the other fund type was a little bit ahead. I would not bother adding another U.S. stock fund trying to better mimic a total stock market index fund.

Hello all,
2nd account
Rollover 401K with Schwab - $11K
Enrolled in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios consisting of:

1.88% Charles Schwab US Reit ETF ER 0.07%
0.95% Invesco Senior Loan ETF ER 0.65%
16.08% Ishares Mbs Etf ER 0.04%
0.89% Ishares Preferred Incomesec Etf ER 0.46%
15.88% Schwab 510 Year Corp Bond Etf ER 0.03%
1.92% Schwab High Yield Bond Etf ER 0.03%
7.12% Schwab Intermediate Termus Trs Etf ER 0.03%
19.15% Schwab Us Dividend Equity Etf ER 0.06%
1.9% Schwab Us Tips Etf ER 0.03%
1.72% Vaneck J P Morgan Em Lclcry Bnd Etf ER 0.30%
1.93% Xtrackers Inter Real Est EtfER 0.10%
17.95% Xtrckr Msci Eafe Hg Dv Yld Eq Etf ER 0.09%

12.62% Cash and Money Market (Not sure what this means, is this not invested?)

This would be a rollover IRA at Schwab, not a 401k.

Because your current employer's 401k plan offers excellent funds with very low expense ratios, I suggest simplifying by rollover of this account into your current employer's 401k plan and using the funds which I indicated above.

Hello all,
3rd account
Fidelity Brokerage Account - $1k
(This is my experimental account. The Fidelity shares were suggested by Fidelity. I started purchasing the Vanguard products after I began studying the Bogleheads approach.)

27.12% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares ER 0.03%
18.48% Vanguard Index Funds S&P 500 Etf Usd ER 0.03%
17.77% Vanguard Bd Index Fds Total Bnd Mrkt ER 0.03%
14.31% Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Core Etf ER 0.18%
9.12% Fidelity Total Market Index Fund ER 0.01%
4.61% Fidelity Intl Multifactor ER 0.18%
4.44% Fidelity Low Duration Bond Factor Etf ER 0.15%
1.81% Fidelity Emerg Mkts Mltft ER 0.25%
1.77% Fidelity Enhanced Mid Cap Etf ER 0.23%
0.55% Fidelity Enhanced Small Cap Etf ER 0.28%
0.02% Fidelity Government Money Market (Spaxx)

In your taxable brokerage account at Fidelity I suggest simply using Fidelity Total Stock Market Index Fund (FSKAX) ER 0.015% by itself.

In a taxable account stick with very tax-efficient stock index funds for better tax efficiency.

Wiki article, Tax-efficient fund placement

Hello all, About me:

I make $88k per year. I’m 57 now and would like to retire at 65 at the latest. I’d like to live off my savings/401k until I can get the full social security benefit at 67 (approx $3066/month).

My monthly expenses average about $3,500. That’s $42,000 per year. Just to be safe I want to have enough money for 30 years (yes, my family tends to live a long time, many over 100. I’ve seen what it’s like to be old and broke.) That’s approximately 1.26 million dollars. I don’t think I’ll make it in the time available and the amount of money I make, but it’s a goal.

I’m currently investing 20% of my pay into my 401k. 10% is pre-tax, and 10% roth. I’m also receiving an employer match of 50% of the first 6%.

. . . . .

The most important thing you can do is to establish a high rate of contributions.

It's probably better to make maximum annual employee contributions to your employer's 401k plan ($30k for 2024, $30.5k in 2025 and after) as a priority over contributions to a taxable brokerage account. Any employer match does not count toward the employee maximum, it's extra.

Wiki article, Prioritizing investments.

It may be that traditional 401k contributions, not Roth, might be better for you. Most people (without a significant pension or very large balances in traditional tax-deferred accounts) will likely be in a lower tax bracket during retirement, so most people will likely be better using traditional contributions.

TFB blog post, The Case Against Roth 401(k): Still True After All These Years.

Wiki article, Traditional versus Roth examples.

Wiki article, Traditional versus Roth.

[medchemguy]

Q1: Maybe consider even more simple.... 30/20/50 (VIIIX/VTSNX/VBTIX). If you feel the need for mid and small cap US to be included, then maybe 24/3/3 for the mix of VIIIX/VMCIX/VSCIX in place of 30 for VIIIX, as this would be closer to a total US stock market index.

Q2: Bogleheads approach, similar 50/50 with three funds (US stock/Int stock/bonds)

Q3: Bogleheads approach but only stock funds, a total US stock market ETF, like SCHB, VTI, or equivalent at Fidelity.

Some comments/questions to you.

• Seems you are comfortable with 50/50 mix of stocks/bonds, but you could increase the ratio to 60/40 if you were comfortable doing so. If it were me, I'd would go with 60/40 if not 65/35.

• Having International as 40% of the total stock position is ok, but personally I'd drop that to 3/1 or 4/1, so 75/25 or 80/20 ratio of US/Int. Some folks don't have any international stock.

• I'd suggest trying to keep the Bond position in the pre-tax account, if at all possible. Roth is best suited for stock, as they will grow faster than bonds over the long haul. And this will lower your tax burden, especially when you start taking RMDs.

• As a secondary consideration, consider putting International in the pre-tax as well. International kicks off more dividends than US stock, and it may grow slower.

• Consider only US total market stock fund for the taxable brokerage account.

• Do you anticipate collecting Social Security or a pension?

If I make some simple approximations based on your info:

• starting portfolio of $700K, balanced 60/40

• working for another 8 years

• contributing at your current rate of 23% of income, about $20K/year or $1700/month, when including the employer match

• assuming a real rate of return of 5% (guessing at 3% inflation and nominal rate of return of 8% - historical market performance/rate of inflation

• using this simple compounding calculator http://www.math.com/students/calculator ... pound.htm

==> Result estimates that you have about $1.25M (in real, tax inflated dollars) of savings
==> $42K/year (in real dollars at time of withdraw) based on a 4% withdrawal rate (and holding that constant while including inflation)

My gut tells me with SS and/or a pension, you will be able to meet your needs of expenses ($42K) + taxes if you continue to work and save as planned until 65.

[ruralavalon]

Here is a calculator you can use to assess the range of possible outcomes at different levels of contributions:
FIRECalc

What is your projected Social Security benefit?

[dwright]

Congratulations on being debt free. Your employer's 401k plan offers excellent funds with very low expense ratios, you are fortunate.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Below I've tried to answer your questions as best I can.

Does your current employer's 401k plan charge you any fees other than the expense ratios?

From my research, there are no other fees beyond the expense ratios.

What percentage of the total portfolio is currently in each account?

I’m not sure I fully understand the question. My assumption is that my 'total portfolio' includes my 401k ($700k), Rollover IRA ($11k), HYSA ($26k), and Brokerage account ($1k), which total $738K.

My only other assets are my house ($500k) and car ($20k).

About how much (in dollars) do you currently contribute to each account?

As of now (November 2024) I've contributed $16K to my 401K for the year. I haven't been contributing to the Rollover IRA on a regular basis, just adding $100-$200 here and there.

The brokerage account is only a few months old.

Frankly, I like the flexibility of being able to add funds when I can rather than having to commit to a specific percentage of my paycheck. I wish there was a way to just deposit random funds into my 401K whenever I have them.

About how much in (dollars) do you expect to that you might be able contribute annually to investing (total, all accounts)?

I'm afraid I don't know. Beyond the 20% to my 401K I've only saved whenever I've had the extra funds to do so. I could probably commit to perhaps $200-$500 per month in addition to the 401K.

Will you eligible for both a substantial pension and Social Security benefits?

No pension. Just the 401K and Social Security. My goal is to retire at 65 and live off my savings/401k until I can get the full social security benefit at 67 (approx $3066/month).

Moving forward, I plan to invest my 401k as follows:

60% Stocks
US
- 40% VIIIX - Vanguard Institutional Index Instl
- 5% VMCIX - Vanguard Mid Cap Index Institutional
- 5% VSCIX - Vanguard Small Cap Index

Intl
- 10% VTSNX - Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index

40% Bonds
- VBTIX - Vanguard Total Bond Market Index

[ruralavalon]

As of now (November 2024) I've contributed $16K to my 401K for the year. I haven't been contributing to the Rollover IRA on a regular basis, just adding $100-$200 here and there.

The brokerage account is only a few months old.

Frankly, I like the flexibility of being able to add funds when I can rather than having to commit to a specific percentage of my paycheck. I wish there was a way to just deposit random funds into my 401K whenever I have them.
. . . . . .
I'm afraid I don't know. Beyond the 20% to my 401K I've only saved whenever I've had the extra funds to do so. I could probably commit to perhaps $200-$500 per month in addition to the 401K.

How much (in dollars) do you contribute annually to your 401k account?

The only way you can contribute to a 401k is via deductions from payroll. You set this up with your employer. I suggest increasing the percentage contributions to your 401k account. Set the rate of contributions as high as is practical for you.