FYI: Many U.S. households find themselves in a fragile position financially, even in an economy with an unemployment rate near a 50-year low, according to a Federal Reserve survey.
The Fed’s 2018 report on the economic well-being of households, published Thursday, indicated “most measures” of well-being and financial resilience “were similar to, or slightly better than, those in 2017.” The slight improvement coincided with a decline in the average unemployment rate to 3.9% last year, from 4.3% in 2017.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/almost-40--of-americans-would-struggle-to-cover-a--400-emergency-45065.html?print

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1040612/000104061219000058/madisonsmallcapprospsupple.htm
Madison Funds
Supplement dated May 22, 2019
This Supplement amends the Prospectus of the Madison Funds and the Summary Prospectus
for the Madison Small Cap Fund dated February 28, 2019
Small Cap Fund
Madison Asset Management, LLC (“Madison”), the investment adviser (the “Adviser”) to the Madison Funds (the “Funds”), has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Broadview Advisors, LLC (“Broadview”) pursuant to which Madison has agreed to purchase certain assets relating to Broadview’s advisory business (the “Transaction”). As part of the Transaction, Madison will assume the assets of the Broadview Opportunity Fund (the “Broadview Fund”), the sole series of Broadview Funds Trust, by reorganizing it with and into the Madison Small Cap Fund (the “Small Cap Fund”), a series of the Madison Funds (the “Reorganization”).
On May 8, 2019, the Board of Trustees of the Madison Funds, including a majority of the independent trustees, approved the Reorganization and determined that the Reorganization was in the best interests of the Small Cap Fund and its shareholders and that the interests of shareholders would not be diluted as a result thereof. The Board of Trustees of the Broadview Fund approved the Reorganization on May 13, 2019.
The Reorganization shall be effective as soon as practicable following notice to Broadview Fund shareholders pursuant to a combined information statement/prospectus, currently anticipated July 26, 2019 (the “Effective Date”). Shareholder approval is not required to effect the Reorganization, and shareholder approval is not being sought.
In connection with the Effective Date of the Reorganization, the Board of Trustees of the Funds approved the following:
1. Madison will continue to manage the Small Cap Fund, which is currently subadvised by Wellington Capital Management LLP (“Wellington”). Wellington will cease to be the sub-adviser as of the Effective Date. Three of the four existing portfolio managers of the Broadview Fund, Rick Lane, Faraz Farzam and Aaron Garcia, will become employees of Madison and will manage the Small Cap Fund. Rick Whiting, the remaining portfolio manager of the Broadview Fund has elected to retire and will not be joining Madison. Biographical information regarding the portfolio managers is provided below.
•Mr. Richard E. Lane, CFA, currently serves as the President and a Member of Broadview, which he founded in 2001. He has served as a portfolio manager to the Broadview Fund since November 29, 2013, and to the FMI Focus Fund (the Broadview Fund “Predecessor Fund”) from October 1, 1997 until its reorganization into the Broadview Fund on November 29, 2013 (the “Reorganization”). Mr. Lane has worked in the financial services industry since 1982 and has a BA in Economics and an MS in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
•Mr. Faraz Farzam, CFA, has been with the Broadview since 2001 and is currently a Portfolio Manager and a Member of Broadview. Mr. Farzam has served as a portfolio manager to the Broadview Fund since November 29, 2013, and to the Predecessor Fund from January 2010 until the Reorganization. Mr. Farzam has worked in the financial services industry since 1999 and has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• Mr. Aaron J. Garcia, CFA, has been with Broadview since 2003 and is currently a Portfolio Manager and a Member of Broadview. Mr. Garcia has served as a portfolio manager to the Broadview Fund since November 29, 2013, and to the Predecessor Fund from January 2010 until the Reorganization. Mr. Garcia has worked in the financial services industry since 2002 and has a BA from Rice University.
2. An amendment to the Services Agreement between the Adviser and Madison Funds to reduce the service fee with respect to the Small Cap Fund from an annual rate of 0.25% to 0.21%, and cap total annual operating expenses for a two-year period to 1.21% for Class Y (which is the current expense ratio of the Broadview Fund share class, excluding acquired fund fees and expenses), and to 1.46% and 2.21% for Class A and Class B, respectively (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses).
3. The legal survivor of the Reorganization will be the Madison Small Cap Fund, however, the accounting survivor will be the Broadview Fund therefore its performance and financial history will survive the Reorganization.
Please keep this Supplement with your records.

@Ted, Your author would have us delve into the childhood of our fund managers before investing? That raises a whole lot of other “pertinent” issues: Did they have behavior problems in third grade, suffer from bed-wetting or perhaps have a Pa who was drunk a lot of the time?
Nice going. Financial porn at its finest.

It's good to see a financial academic whose grades and intellect were too poor for him to make it in the real sciences figured out a way to pay his bills.

I agree in theory that someone just out of high school would be best served by investing long term in pure equity. But I also remember starting out and being spooked by the idea of investing, period. You mean I could lose money?
While pure equity is better, a hybrid fund might be a reasonable compromise, especially for someone watching his first investment going up and down.
I like the idea of going global. So no "total" stock market where "total" means US. Rather something like VTWAX/VT. In the 50-70% allocation arena, davfor and hank mentioned RPGAX which seems like a good choice. Vanguard Star VGSTX would seem to be a good candidate as well, especially given the interest in a low minimum balance. It would take $1K to start, but then one can add $1/investment.
If this would be a joint account, it couldn't be an IRA. Still, taxes would likely not be a consideration for some time. Further, it might make sense to sell before earning "real" money, to recognize the gains with no taxes and reset the basis. Contributions to an IRA would be limited to compensation. Though the money could come from someone else as a gift.
(Financial institutions are funny in the ways they accept money. I recently lent a friend cash for a couple of days which she repaid by depositing a check to my Fidelity account. No problems. On the other hand, to bootstrap a BofA checking account I deposited $100 cash which I took directly from their ATM to their teller. I was required to show two forms of ID. Perhaps they thought the bills they were handing out were counterfeit?)
@catch22 I've never seen Fidelity (or most brokerages) offer to sell fractional shares of ETFs or stocks. (There are a few brokerages that offer "curated" baskets of securities where you can own fractional shares.) At Fidelity, when I go to buy a security like ITOT, there's a "calculate quantity" button. When I use that and input $100, it calculates 1 share; it doesn't offer me the option of buying 1.3 shares, give or take. Are you talking about buying fractional shares or reinvesting divs?

FYI: Avoiding disastrous mistakes in retirement with award-winning financial planner Mark Cortazzo..
Regards,
Ted
https://wealthtrack.com/avoiding-disastrous-mistakes-the-danger-of-portfolio-volatility-in-retirement/

Dear Mr. Brett Arends,
Your brief "bio" indicates some of your educational background includes Cambridge and Oxford, with my presumption being the well known higher education schools in England.
From Forbes, and an apparent self-bio: Contributor
Brett Arends
Most people are surprised that I used to be a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. So am I. (So were some of my colleagues at McKinsey, for that matter). Today I'm a columnist for the Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch. I've appeared on 60 Minutes, the NewsHour on PBS and numerous other radio and TV programs. I've also been a Fleet Street tabloid journalist, a research assistant at the London School of Economics, a Chartered Financial Consultant, and an extra on the stage at Covent Garden. I was educated at Oxford and Cambridge universities, and I’ve written three books nobody has read.
I reviewed his current twitter feed, and another article he posted in about the same time frame as this dribble writing about what the implications of tariffs are and would be to the U.S.; is a write about diets and the health benefits.
I can think of several folks here who are able to write a precise overview of tariff impacts with the same number of words.
His write blames the media for misdirection and yet he doesn't mention the misdirection from the verbal statements of Trump, Kudlow and other associates.
Sidenote as to the real tariff impacts: A budget minded married couple I know had to replace unreliable 15 year old clothes washer and dryer. This was in November of 2018. I happened to discover this and noted that they should do this now, if within their budget; as the new steel tariff was going to cause a price increase. When arriving at their local appliance store; the owner had already posted a large sign on the door stating that most appliance prices would increase 10% after Jan. 1, 2019. Their $1,200 dollar purchase was indeed going to cost $1,320 after Jan. 1.
Lastly, I won't be taking his investment advice any time soon. @Ted . This is your normal copy/paste with a link post. Have you no comment to add about the validity of this misinformation???
Take care,
Catch

Lipper has SFGIX 78% Asia. But at least half of that is in Taiwan, Hong Kong Singapore and S. Korea, all of which are considered developed markets. I also noticed unusually heavy concentration at the top (37% in top 10 holdings). http://www.funds.reuters.wallst.com/US/funds/holdings.asp?YYY622_tNYDpo1qU/MLQg9W+6KX6RuZTH3KwZb8EX/lL+8rQLcFNPvJvJFoMad8BeSVDYky
Interesting name (Growth and Income). Price’s TRIGX was called G&I until maybe 5 years ago when they dropped that description and renamed it a “value” fund. When I looked at its 1-year performance, it’s done far worse than SFGIX with more than a 13% loss. But it never was a good performer. (TRIGX is concentrated in Europe.)
International have lagged U.S. equities for a while. One reason has been the very strong Dollar. While I like to hedge against the Dollar, I do it using less volatile EM and global bond funds. As far as being an EM in disguise, it’s hard to say. Even non-EM international funds usually dabble in EM. Sometimes that exposure can be “unlimited” per Prospectus.
No opinion on whether you should buy, sell, hold this one. Generally after I sell a fund it bounces back with outperformance. The financial media is hot with stories of how the EM markets stand to lose big in the Trump trade war. Again, by the time you and I hear this type news it’s likely already been discounted by the markets.

FYI: Fidelity Investments®, one of the industry’s most diversified financial services organizations with more than $7.4 trillion in client assets1, today announced the launch of Fidelity Women’s Leadership Fund (FWOMX). The actively managed mutual fund is available with both retail and advisor share classes, with no investment minimums.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190508005124/en/Fidelity-Investments®-Launches-Fidelity-Women’s-Leadership-Fund

@jerry : try googling headline.
Derf

It’s better to google the exact passage that’s been cut and pasted here (without proper punctuation and attribution). That’s because editors often alter the title from one publication to another. But the text should remain mostly unchanged.
Well, we seem to have hashed and rehashed target date funds over the past couple years. No two are the same - nor do they claim to be. What’s in a name? Very little. Best to read and understand the prospectus, look at how the fund is currently allocated and than do your own analysis of how you’d expect it to perform. Very few here appear to use them.
Admittedly, many are sold to investors with limited financial knowledge or experience. But given regular contributions and enough years left untouched, virtually all these funds should profit the individual better than had he / she stashed the money under the mattress or in a low yielding savings account. Since many are bought within a workplace plan, let us hope the employer has done his homework and acted in good faith on the part of the employees. It’s important to use funds with lower fees.

FYI: A decade after target-date funds were damaged during the financial crisis, they have re-emerged bigger than ever as retirement investments. But they still have vulnerabilities.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-weve-learned-about-target-date-funds-10-years-later-11557108540?mod=article_inline

I'm not commenting on any particular fund in your holdings, but I believe that putting your entire resources into ANY one holding is close to insanity, for the reasons that Old_Skeet mentions. The person who made that suggestion is very wealthy, no longer active in the markets (albeit after doing very well there), and he can personally afford to do just about whatever he wants.
To make that suggestion to someone else without having any idea of all of the circumstances and factors involved is not only reckless and irresponsible, but close to incompetence, in my opinion. If a similar recommendation were made by a professional financial advisor it would likely be considered actionable malfeasance.

this is the second article on tax wash out- it also leaves a lot to be explained but more than the first
The first to benefit was the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. Investors’ end-of-year tax forms abruptly stopped showing capital gains in 2001
"Top executives at the Malvern, Pennsylvania-based firm don’t want U.S. policymakers looking too closely at how they’re doing it, according to a former insider."
"But a review of financial statements and trading data shows that Vanguard relies substantially on so-called heartbeat trades, which wash away taxes by rapidly pumping stocks in and out of a fund. These controversial transactions are common in exchange-traded funds—a record $98 billion of them took place last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News—but only Vanguard has used them routinely to also benefit mutual funds."
"Here’s how it works: Vanguard attaches a more tax-efficient ETF to an existing mutual fund. Then the ETF siphons appreciated stocks out of the mutual fund without incurring taxes, often using heartbeat trades. Robert Gordon, who has written about the concept and is president of Twenty-First Securities Corp. in New York, calls it a tax “dialysis machine.”
If I personally did a wash sale I would get wacked. Still don't understand!
"Rapidly pumping money into and out of the exchange-traded portion of the Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund removes taxable gains for the benefit of the mutual fund’s shareholders."
"Rich Powers," ( YOU SLY DOG) "Vanguard’s head of ETF product management, acknowledged the design’s tax advantages. But he said in an interview that they’re not the driver of the company’s strategy and that all of its trading complies with the law."
"Taxable Gains Begone
Unlike competitors that follow similar indexes, Vanguard mutual funds stopped saddling investors with ◼ taxable gains once ETF share classes were added."
"The main benefit of avoiding taxable gains in a mutual fund is tax deferral. Funds distribute their taxable gains to investors, who pay income taxes on them in the same year. By avoiding tax events within the fund, investors get to delay taxes until they sell the fund, which could be years or decades later. It’s akin to a zero-interest loan from the IRS."
"Theoretically, owning stocks through a mutual fund or ETF works the same way. If the fund sells a stock for a profit, the taxable gain shows up on each investor’s end-of-year Form 1099."
"But thanks to an obscure loophole in the tax code, ETFs almost always avoid incurring taxable gains."
Any one else know about this loophole???
"The rule says that a fund can avoid recognizing taxable gains on an appreciated stock if the shares are used to pay off a withdrawing investor. The rule applies to both ETFs and mutual funds, but mutual funds rarely take advantage of it because their investors almost always want cash."
"ETFs use it all the time, because they don’t transact directly with regular investors. Instead, they deal with Wall Street middlemen such as banks and market makers. It’s those firms, not retail investors, that expand the ETF by depositing assets or shrink it by withdrawing. These transactions are usually done with stocks rather than cash. The middlemen, in turn, trade with regular investors who want to buy and sell ETF shares."
What is the charges of fees by the middlemen surely they are not doing this out of the kindness of their hearts??
Does the VANGARD and the middlemen eat all your capital gain?
To me it looks like Vanguard has found a way to feast on your cap gain so you don't have to pay taxes on them. How sweet a deal------ For Vanguard and the MIDDLEMEN!!!
THE DEVILS IN THE DETAILS
QUOTES FROM Bloomberg
JUST MY 2 CENTOVOS!!

Hank I agree!! I used to love reading USNWR -- and the old Business Week -- back in the '80s and '90s when in high school, college, and beyond. Since then both publications have deteriorated considerably and I long-since gave up reading them. :/

U.S. News tends to be big on “splashy” headlines nowadays and low in quality. A step above the financial porn served up by the now defunct Money Magazine - but not by far. They’ve taken a once reputable name in news (the long extinct U.S. News & World Report) and converted it into some remotely related online publication. I’d much rather do my own investigating by digging through actual prospectuses and annual reports (from the fund companies) and the fund data and analysis from the likes of Lipper, Morningstar, Max Funds and, of course, at MFO. If you can get 3 of those to agree on a fund’s desirability, it’s probably worth considering.
The article takes a scatter-shot approach. Why on earth would a younger 401-K investor want to hold a corporate bond fund? Index 500 = duh. I’m not opposed to holding index funds, but they’re pretty much all the same - save for fees. Yes, VG is a low cost leader, but you hardly need third party “study” or “recommendation” to know that.
I long for the days when as a “nerdy” teen I subscribed / eagerly anticipated my weekly copy of U.S. News & World Report. Money was tight growing up. I typically devoured these cover to cover twice before discarding. While conservatively slanted, you couldn’t beat it for covering the week’s hard news.

U.S. News tends to be big on “splashy” headlines nowadays and low in quality. A step above the financial porn served up by the now defunct Money Magazine - but not by far. They’ve taken a once reputable name in news (the long extinct U.S. News & World Report) and converted it into some remotely related online publication. I’d much rather do my own investigating by digging through actual prospectuses and annual reports (from the fund companies) and the fund data and analysis from the likes of Lipper, Morningstar, Max Funds and, of course, at MFO. If you can get 3 of those to agree on a fund’s desirability, it’s probably worth considering.
The article takes a scatter-shot approach. Why on earth would a younger 401-K investor want to hold a corporate bond fund? Index 500 = duh. I’m not opposed to holding index funds, but they’re pretty much all the same - save for fees. Yes, VG is a low cost leader, but you hardly need third party “study” or “recommendation” to know that.
I long for the days when as a “nerdy” teen I subscribed / eagerly anticipated my weekly copy of U.S. News & World Report. Money was tight growing up. I typically devoured these cover to cover twice before discarding. While conservatively slanted, you couldn’t beat it for covering the week’s hard news.

@Derf - Understanding how sentence structure affects meaning has many useful applications other than being an English teacher. Do you not suppose more than a few have needlessly compromised their financial well-being by signing-off on mortgage documents or other financial disclosures they didn’t fully comprehend?

https://news.yahoo.com/7-best-vanguard-funds-retirement-portfolio-173144548.html
7 Best Vanguard Funds for Your Retirement Portfolio
Ellen Chang
Ellen Chang
U.S.News & World ReportApril 30, 2019, 12:31 PM CDT
High-performing Vanguard funds for your 401(k).
Vanguard revolutionized the investing industry with index mutual funds. The company's founder and former CEO, John Bogle, was an avid fan of low expense ratios and passive investing, believing that it democratized investing for individuals, since the majority of active investment managers fail to beat market averages like the S&P 500. Passive investing along with the perception that it yields better returns is gaining in popularity among consumers, says Grant Easterbrook, co-founder of New York-based Dream Forward, which sells 401(k) plans. "Consumers looking for low-cost retirement options ask for Vanguard funds from financial advisors or buy them directly," he says. Here are seven top Vanguard funds for retirement portfolios.

@Ted- According to additional info in the WSJ article, Occidental said that “We are thrilled to have Berkshire Hathaway’s financial support of this exciting opportunity”.
Anadarko doesn't seem to mind having two prospective buyers outbidding each other.
That leaves possible "hostility" over at Chevron, but that certainly doesn't directly impact Berkshire.

If there’s such a thing as good financial porn that was it. Remember grabbing a copy or so off the supermarket stands in the spring of ‘97 and enjoying them outdoors as it warmed in these parts. Those were transitional years. One year from retirement and had recently let go of my fee-based plan advisor - ill prepared to manage the accumulated assets on my own.
Some other things which helped shape my thinking back than were Andrew Tobias’ The Only Investment Guide You’ll ever Need and a recent book by John Bogle: Bogle On Mutual Funds: New Perspectives for the Intelligent Investor. The WSJ was still pretty good reading. And, of course, Rukeyser’s weekly interviews with the likes of John Templeton / Perter Lynch were influential. Bill Fleckenstein had some good free columns online in those years and helped instill in me a wariness of markets (probably excessive) which still prevails today.

Anyone using this up tick as a reason to take some profit ?

Interesting question. But why are you calling today’s market conditions an

“uptick” ? U.S. equity markets today have barely clawed their way back to where they were 6-12 months ago. “Rebound” or “recovery” might better describe today’s market. @Derf, I share your apprehension. While I don’t have access to the Barrons story, I suspect it’s bearish in sentiment. Problem is: These warnings are becoming like a “broken record”. (For those too young to remember vinyl, “broken record” was a phenomenon characterized by the unstoppable repetition of a few notes or words - over and over again.)
Read virtually any respectable financial publication from Barrons to the MFO Monthly Commentaries over the past 8-10 years and you’ll find warnings about overvaluation, lofty levels, dangerous markets, overbought markets, over exuberance, etc.. Yet, had you heeded those warnings 3, 5 or 8 years ago and moved to ultra-safe investments like cash and limited duration bonds you’d likely have been left standing in the dust along the road as markets marched higher.
Does this make me optimistic going forward? No - not in the least. But something isn’t adding up when you compare the decade old flood of warnings about valuations alongside actual U.S. stock market performance over the same period. One possibility (but only a possibility) for those fixated on indexes is that the 10-year steady march higher since 2009 will eventually be erased by a sudden, rapid, downward spiral in valuations. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. Should it occur, however, it might make the roughly 18 months slide from late ‘07 to early ‘09 look like a Sunday picnic.*
I don’t get paid to give investment advice here, so offer none. :) I share your concerns and I’ve done what I can to lower overall risk in how my retirement monies are invested - appropriate to age and a 10-20 year time horizon. But there are no guarantees. And, whatever plan / course one decides on, it needs to be tailored to age and circumstances. @Derf, I realize this does nothing to satisfy your concerns. But thanks for the question anyway.
*From its peak in 2007 to its low in 2009, The S&P 500 Index fell roughly 50%.
https://www.frbatlanta.org/cenfis/publications/notesfromthevault/0909

Absolutely super post Hank. One that younger investors should save as a reference.