Following up on Shadow's round 2, and the original thread "Transition your Vanguard account to a Brokerage Account".
https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/36197/transition-your-vanguard-account-to-a-brokerage-account
https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/41030/vanguard-brokerage-account-conversion-round-2
I've gotten a couple of emails from Vanguard in the past few days, and its site puts up a dialog box (Action needed: Your account needs to be transitioned) when I log in. Vanguard's getting aggressive now. Or, given that this is Vanguard, is that passive aggressive? :-)
I expect that pretty soon they'll push everyone onto their brokerage platform. Highlights from the last email received:
We're retiring our old investment platform, which is what you're using today. We'll need you to take a few minutes to complete a 3-step transition to our new investment platform. [This is also essentially what's in the dialog box.]
Why do we need you to do it?
Having all of our clients on a single, more flexible platform will allow us to save money and make service improvements faster. Ultimately, this will benefit you as we expect to lower costs and improve your client experience.
What actually happens?
To illustrate what happens when you transition, we'll use a hypothetical example. Let's say you have a Traditional IRA today. Once you complete the transition, we'll take the investments in that Traditional IRA and move them into a new Traditional IRA Brokerage Account (a brokerage account is just the financial industry's name for a general investment account).

I gather you've been watching the esurance commercials ("Let's be honest. Nobody likes dealing with insurance.") :-) See video below.
That aside, IMHO people focus too much on cost as opposed to value received, but only from some products and services. Do people complain about how little Apple products cost to manufacture compared with the price they're paying? To keep it in the financial industry, does it bother you that banks pay you so much less in interest than they make by lending your money out? Or do you just shop for higher APYs?

Rational life cycle consumers with no interest in leaving a bequest would always choose to annuitize 100 percent of their wealth. After all, they face a choice between a traditional investment with a market return and an annuity with a market return plus a mortality credit.

You appear to be saying that because the insurance company is skimming some unknown ("true cost") amount, you're getting less than "a market return" with the annuity. Fair enough, but because of mortality credits, one still comes out better than making "a traditional investment with a market return." The paper uses the net value of immediate annuities, so its results do incorporate their underlying costs.
Health insurance companies are required to spend at least 80% (85% in the case of large employer plans) on actual health care (Medical Loss Ratio). The amount they are allowed to spend on administrative costs and profits combined is limited to 20%. These figures are already audited, and I've received checks back from my insurer because it spent less than 80% for a couple of years.

Thank you @Ted. Here I’m guilty of sloppy research. Should have Googled the fund code. Wikipedia also explains it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SICAV
An interesting question is why T Rowe hasn’t gotten around to offering a precious metals fund yet, seeing as how they offer virtually everything else under the moon in terms of investing approaches? While not a ringing endorsement, there was at least a “nod” in favor of p/m investments in their recent “T Rowe Price Reports”, a section of which I posted yesterday.
Here’s the line that caught my attention: “The similarities with the economic conditions of the 1970s suggest that stagflation trades, such as gold and inflation-linked securities, could be effective.”
Here’s the link to the TRP commentary I posted: https://www.troweprice.com/financial-intermediary/pt/en/thinking/articles/2019/q3/why-central-bank-independence-could-become-a-thing-of-the-past.html
And here’s a link to my earlier thread: “Central Bank Independence Could Become a Thing of the Past”: https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/54294/why-central-bank-independence-could-become-a-thing-of-the-past-t-rowe-price
Most interesting that a day after I posted, the Prez and Powell met at the WH. Quite unusual I think.

Anybody know about this one? I dug SICAV up while searching the web to see if TRP might have added a precious metals fund in recent years. The linked commentary describes SICAV as a “Global Natural Resources Equity Fund.” However Lipper can’t seem to find it and M* seemed to think it was a Russian fund. I’m thinking maybe it’s only offered in some foreign countries?
https://www.troweprice.com/financial-intermediary/is/en/funds/sicav/global-natural-resources-equity-fund.html

How about using a trusted family member with this financial matter ?
Derf

There are the matters of withdrawal (income) stream and investments.
To keep it as simple as possible, I would suggest whittling the accounts down to five (assuming you trust your spouse enough to keep all taxable moneys in a joint account):
1. JWROS (or C/P WROS) joint taxable account
2a and 2b Traditional IRA account for each spouse (with other spouse as beneficiary)
3a and 3b Roth IRA account for each spouse (with other spouse as beneficiary)
There are situations where this is not the best arrangement, but it is the simplest and will work for many couples. At death, the IRAs are rolled into the surviving spouse's respective IRAs.
Keep all accounts with a single brokerage (e.g. Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, TDA, etc.) Again for simplicity.
A simple robo advisor or a basic target date fund will automatically maintain the selected glide path/asset allocation. IMHO there isn't a huge amount of difference in behaviour or cost between these approaches.
If one wants a little interaction (hand holding) a hybrid robo like Vanguard's (30 basis points, uses Vanguard index funds) may suffice. That also provides someone familiar with the basic needs of the surviving spouse in case questions arise.
There's a fair amount of automation that can be set up for withdrawals, though it might fall just short of what's needed. One can set up automatic RMDs from the traditional IRA to the taxable account, and automated periodic withdrawals from the taxable account to a bank account. I'm not sure how to automate drawing additional money from the IRA to cover the taxable account cash withdrawals. (One can set up a fixed IRA withdrawal amount, but what happens once the required RMD exceeds that amount?)
Drawing only from the T-IRA is sometimes not the optimal withdrawal strategy from a tax perspective. It might be better to split withdrawals between the traditional and Roth IRAs to stay in a lower tax bracket. You could automate that as well, but it would not have the flexibility that an advisor managing a discretionary account could provide.
Absent the discretionary account, the surviving spouse would be responsible for executing advice provided by a financial advisor. That's not completely hands off. Having seen people who freeze at something as simple as moving money from a 0% interest account to a 1.5% bank account, I view "hands off" as a stringent requirement.

For those of us that have a spouse that DOES NOT want to OR cannot participate in portfolio development, modification, monitoring, withdrawal strategies and etc.
How do you set up a Portfolio/Retirement/Withdrawal (KISS) strategy that will sustain your spouse throughout the rest of their life AND does NOT require your Widow/Widower to get involved. In other words, an "auto pilot" portfolio and withdrawal strategy?
Is this possible for the DIY investor? OR
Do you need to turnover your portfolio to a Full-service wealth management firm? OR
Another type of wealth management firm OR
A Financial Adviser (fee only?) OR
Someone else?
Thank you for any and all thoughts, suggestions and guidance!!!
Matt

according to Super Safe Dividends ( great dividend site) MAC yields 10% but pays out 80% of FFO in dividend and has a debt to EBITDA ratio of over 9.
"During the financial crisis, MAC's sales were down -11.9%, which was about average performance at the time and indicates the company has some sensitivity to the economy. MAC was ultimately forced to cut its dividend and appears to be somewhat sensitive to the economy.
In addition to slashing its dividend, MAC's stock plunged -91% during the Great Recession while the S&P 500 lost 55% from peak to trough between 2007 and 2009"
No Thanks

It's an excellent article, but I could never bring myself to invest a single penny in LEXCX. It has one of the worst ESG ratings I have yet to see. It should be renamed Voya Corporate Polluters. A true dinosaur of a fund whose relevance in the modern world has become extinct.
Why invest in a fund which is killing us and causing the catastrophic loss of pristine environments and their habitats? We simply cannot continue destroying the Earth in pursuit of financial gain.
On a brighter note I really appreciated Dr. Snowball's inclusion in this month's newsletter of a website new to me called asyousow.org. I encourage everyone who cares to see how the environment and wider society are affected by the underlying companies in their mutual funds. Nice one, Dr. S.
https://www.asyousow.org/invest-your-values

https://www.google.com/amp/s/finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/hedge-fund-still-deliver-double-210937573.html
This Hedge Fund Can Still Deliver Double Digit Returns: Here Are Its Top Picks
Sieni Kimalainen
Insider MonkeyOctober 29, 2019, 9:09 PM UTC
Tamarack Capital Management was founded by Justin John Ferayorni, who remained the fund’s Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager. Mr. Ferayorni holds A.B. degree in Chemistry from Princeton University, as well as Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Prior to founding Tamarack Capital Management, he worked as Healthcare Analyst and Portfolio Manager.

FYI: Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway were digging around in a Scottish cave. They discovered a special map that, they hoped, held the key to the origin of life on Earth. It was one of the earliest scenes in the science fiction thriller, Prometheus. And their discovery was a bit like the 4 percent rule.
OK, I might be stretching things a bit. But who’s to say William Bengen didn’t discover the 4 percent rule in a man-cave of his own? Bengen, a financial planner from MIT, published his discovery in a 1994 publication of the Journal of Financial Planning. He tested several portfolio models back to 1926. His research showed that if retirees had diversified portfolios comprising at least 50 percent in stocks, they could have withdrawn an inflation-adjusted 4 percent per year and not run out of money over a 30-year retirement.
Regards,
Ted
https://assetbuilder.com/knowledge-center/articles/how-retirees-can-withdraw-more-than-4-percent-per-year

Psychologically, what helps me (in these uncertain times) is having already set up my multi year "withdrawal" bucket for retirement. The rest of the portfolio I let ride in a balanced portfolio and don't worry about trying to time a down term. I'm still working full time and plan to work part time next year, so the W-bucket allows me not to change those plans and if I want to stop working altogether, even if the market crashes, I still have that multi-year safe bucket where I can let the market recover.
In any case, the safe bucket has allowed me to not worry about what the financial market has instore.

I and others have speculated that this is a result of M* shifting its business model to focus on software and data that targets the financial industry. That includes licensing its proprietary indexes. For all we know, its industry software may be truly best in class.
M* seems to look at its retail online services as a cash cow, by which I mean "a legacy product with a slowly declining market share."
https://simplicable.com/new/cash-cow
See, e.g., Dead Man's Funds. "From 1988 until 1998 the fund did not acquire any new investors. But many current investors simply failed to sell, which enabled Steadman and his family to continue to milk the funds as a source of income for themselves. "
https://www.cognizantwealth.com/2016/06/16/the-worst-mutual-fund-in-history/?referrer=https://www.google.com/
The retail website isn't their core competency, which makes upgrading inefficient (if done in-house) or costly (if outsourced). Either way, they may have made a calculation that maintaining it is not worth their effort, even if over the long term they lose the entire retail business.

FYI: U.S. stock index futures were lower Tuesday morning, amid the busiest week for earnings.
At around 0454 a.m. ET, Dow futures fell 40 points, indicating a negative open of more than 23 points. Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq were mixed.
Wall Street ended Monday’s session on a strong note after the S&P 500 hit a record high. Strong earnings and news of further progress in trade talks between the U.S. and China helped boosting prices.
Stocks ticked lower as investors look ahead to corporate earnings and fresh U.S. data for cues on the health of the global economy.
The Europe Stoxx 600 declined 0.4%, led by losses in financial services and the oil and gas sectors. U.S. stock futures linked to the S&P 500 index was mostly flat a day after the gauge hit a record.
Major U.S. businesses reporting Tuesday will include private-equity giant KKR, drugmaker Pfizer, food-manufacturer Kellogg, auto maker General Motors and financial-services firm Mastercard.
Investors with interests in U.K. assets will be watching Parliament closely again for Brexit developments Tuesday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is poised to try once more to secure an early general election on Dec. 12 to break the parliamentary deadlock over his divorce deal with the European Union.
The pound dropped 0.4% against the U.S. dollar, while the FTSE 250 index declined 0.4%.
Across Asian markets, the picture was more mixed, with the Nikkei 225 index up 0.5% while the Shanghai Composite gauge was down 0.9%.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.6% to $60.88 a barrel following data showing rising U.S. inventories Monday. Investors will look at American Petroleum Institute data due out later Tuesday
Regards,
Ted
WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-slip-as-investors-look-ahead-to-earnings-11572341316
Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-28/asia-stocks-to-gain-after-u-s-record-bonds-drop-markets-wrap?srnd=premium
IBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-futures-google-stock-falls-beyond-meat-grubhub-dive-sp500-hits-high/
CNBC::
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/dow-futures-earnings-china-trade-talks-in-focus.html
Reuters:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-fed/three-peat-fed-copies-1990s-playbook-in-bid-to-avert-a-downturn-idUKKBN1X80EZ
U.K.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/bp-pulls-down-uk-bluechips-as-brexit-uncertainties-mount-idUKKBN1X80T1
Europe:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/european-shares-take-a-breather-focus-shifts-to-fed-idUSKBN1X80T5
Asia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-little-changed-as-investors-weigh-trade-war-developments-2019-10-28/print
Bonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/us-bonds-treasury-yields-tick-lower-amid-trade-optimism.html
Currencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/forex-markets-us-china-trade-war-federal-reserve-in-focus.html
Oil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/oil-markets-us-china-trade-war-in-focus.html
Gold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/gold-markets-us-china-trade-talks-federal-reserve-in-focus.html
Cuirrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx

I was a subscriber for a few years after the financial crash and agree that the changes are lamentable. When looking for new funds to buy the 'Purchase' tab was so helpful viewing the different share classes and expenses etc.
Dryflower, is this what you are missing? Click on the 'Equity Prices' tab at left above the list of securities and you can see daily prices. Change the ticker to the fund you want in the address bar. It's the only way to do it.
http://portfolios.morningstar.com/fund/holdings?t=DODGX&region=usa&culture=en-US

FYI: U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher Monday morning, as investors prepared for the busiest week of earnings season.
Around 6:30 a.m. ET, Dow futures indicated a positive open of nearly 70 points. Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq were both slightly higher.
Market focus is largely attuned to global trade developments after U.S. and Chinese officials said they were “close to finalizing” some parts of a trade agreement. The world’s two largest economies have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of one another’s goods since the start of 2018, battering financial markets and souring business and consumer sentiment.
European stocks wavered Monday as investors wait to see if U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will succeed in his call for general elections.
The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 index drifted down 0.2%, led lower by banks. HSBC HSBC 0.15% Holdings was the biggest loser in Europe, shedding 4% after the bank dropped its main financial target and said it would speed up plans to revamp its U.K., U.S. and European businesses.
he U.K.’s FTSE 100 gauge dropped 0.3% as Mr. Johnson urged lawmakers to support his push for a Dec. 12 general election as a way to clear a path to Brexit. EU leaders agreed to a three-month extension to the Brexit deadline, extending the political uncertainty until Jan. 31. The British pound was mostly flat against the dollar.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.2%.
The yield on 10-year Italian government debt rose to 0.991% from 0.948% Friday following preliminary results from local elections this weekend. The results will allow center-right political leaders to campaign against the current administration in a bid to boost their popularity, according to analysts at UniCredit. The FTSE MIB index for Italian equities fell 0.2%.
Asian markets had a stronger start to the week. The Shanghai Composite Index gained almost 0.9% and Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 0.8%.
The yield on 10-year Treasurys rose to 1.826%, its highest level since mid-September as investors, anticipate the Federal Reserve will deliver another 25 basis point cut.
Regards,
Ted
WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/european-stocks-off-to-weak-start-amid-brexit-uncertainty-11572256781
Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-27/stocks-in-asia-to-rise-as-u-s-flirts-with-record-markets-wrap?srnd=premium
IBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-futures-apple-stock-market-rally-test-microsoft-wins-jedi-duel-with-amazon/
CNBC::
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/28/stock-market-investors-monitor-busiest-week-of-earnings-season.html
Reuters:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests/hong-kong-enters-recession-as-street-protests-erupt-in-flames-idUSKBN1X706F
U.K.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/hsbc-update-sparks-selloff-in-uk-banks-drags-ftse-100-lower-idUKKBN1X70O8
Europe:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/hsbc-pulls-european-shares-lower-luxury-stocks-in-focus-idUSKBN1X70OI
Asia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-stocks-rise-ahead-of-a-busy-week-for-markets-2019-10-27/print
Bonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/bond-markets-investors-await-corporate-earnings-economic-data.html
Currencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/28/oil-markets-chinas-economy-in-focus.html
Oil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/28/oil-markets-chinas-economy-in-focus.html
Gold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/28/gold-markets-us-federal-reserve-in-focus.html
Cuirrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx

I won't say the name for privacy reasons, but I know some graduates from a very prestigious school and what is interesting is many of those grads from earlier generations went to work on Wall Street, but more recently they were going to work in Silicon Valley. The thing is the puck to financial wealth--if that is what one most seeks in life as there can be far more rewarding alternatives--is always moving. I doubt there will be another Warren Buffett in stocks. Times have changed. America has changed. I firmly believe the next billionaires will find their fortunes outside of Wall Street--in biotech perhaps, alternative energy, or puppet dictatorships, war profiteering and massive corruption.

I feel like I'm both but probably not either in strictly financial terms. It all depends on ones perspective I suppose.

I’m always thinking, “There but for the grace of God go I ... ”
No matter how well-off you feel, there’s a plethora of things that can jump up and bite you - “Riches to Rags” call it. For some perspective on how well we have it, take a walk down the sidewalks of virtually city and witness those less fortunate camped out under the store fronts and overpasses.

FYI: (This Is A Follow-Up Article.)
The latest tally shows more than $3 billion in client assets pulled from Fisher Investments since the Oct. 8 comments were initially criticized in a video posted on Twitter.
Most of those departing assets are represented by public pension plans and high-profile companies like Goldman Sachs that are showing their own PR prudence by distancing themselves from Fisher.
But Fisher Investments, as the nation's second-largest RIA behind Financial Engines Advisors, has over the past few years undertaken an aggressive retail branding campaign and could also be vulnerable on the consumer side.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ACYBGNQfxbvLiQf4TfPJXK_NCyTHTdBEtw:1572078987192&source=hp&ei=iwW0Xf2UCcjmsAXbk404&q=Is+it+time+for+Ken+Fisher+to+step+down?&oq=Is+it+time+for+Ken+Fisher+to+step+down?&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i299.4920.4920..6175...0.0..0.93.93.1......0....2j1..gws-wiz.D0GWZyMH8wA&ved=0ahUKEwi9htrMwrnlAhVIM6wKHdtJAwcQ4dUDCAc&uact=5

I feel like I'm both but probably not either in strictly financial terms. It all depends on ones perspective I suppose.