Anyone who's actually PAYING M* for Premium service is getting robbed.

How long have many of us been saying that? Gotta be at least 5 years now....

SO far so good with TMSRX but I didn't join the party until last fall.
I agree MERFX is disappointing, although I have owned it for years. This recent drawdown is one of the worst ever, especially in a rising market, and I really wonder if they are out over their skis.
While this loss ( 3-4% ) pales in comparison to some of the hits other alternative funds have suffered, I wonder if it is tie to sell. MERFX was supposed to provide a quiet 1-3% return without a lot of excitement
If the recent merger blowup was responsible, they must have had a large position

How to Be Proactive With Your Medicare Options:
planning-for-medicare

A very good piece that mentions many of the gotchas often omitted. For example, articles often note that HSA account money can be used to pay for Medicare premiums, but they don't clarify that one cannot use HSA money for Medigap premiums. This piece got it right.
This leads to a (weak) argument in favor of Medicare Advantage plans. MA plans can provide coverage (e.g. an out of pocket cap) similar to Medigap plans. And you can pay for their premiums with HSA money, unlike Medigap premiums.
There is a related gotcha that was omitted. You can only use money from your HSA to pay for Medicare premiums if you are over age 65. That may sound like a nobrainer, but you could have Medicare at an earlier age, or you might be paying your spouse's Medicare premiums while you yourself are still under age 65.
One detail that it got wrong is:

Unlike tax brackets, the [IRMAA] thresholds don’t automatically change with inflation.

But they do automatically change:

Starting on January 1, 2020, the threshold amounts will resume adjustment for inflation

20 CFR § 418.1105(c)
That comes from the ACA (which also suspended inflation adjustments for several years before 2020).

WOW I know I was correct to leave Vanguard except for some of the Muni Bond funds. At Schwab I get the same advisor by email, phone, text or whatever

It was instant gratification to leave the Vanguard mess some years back. The only thing I miss even a fraction of a millimeter is having easy access to Pimco institutional shares. But I've managed to live with that.

@davidmoran

So what's the point of going beyond SP500?

When it come to Large Cap Equity exposure, an S&P 500 index is a great choice. Many LC funds are nothing more than closet index funds with a much higher ER. Some LC managers differentiate themselves. It's important to have good reasons to own a LC fund because beating the index is a pretty high bar.
At times, Mid/Small/Micro Cap periodically out perform VONE, VFINX and VOO. Two fund I own that persistently out perform are T Rowe Price's PRNHX and Primcap's POAGX. Does owning a percentage of these funds in your portfolio add alpha? So far so good.
Here's a historical comparison of VFINX, PRNHX, and POAGX:
Comparing S&P 500 to Other Cap weighted Funds
I am guilty of owning sector funds that historically have better upside and downside capture than the index. These funds typically make more when the market is up and lose less when the market sells off.
This capture data can be found under the "risk tab" on the M* website. For example here's PRMTX's Capture data:
Here's the link to M* risk tab for PRMTX
morningstar.com/funds/xnas/prmtx/risk

Here's a Chart and table (linked below) that shows S&P 500 sector performance over the last 14 years.
novelinvestor.com/sector-performance

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/05/biden-pushes-for-evs-to-make-up-40percent-or-more-of-us-auto-sales-by-2030.html
President Joe Biden will set a new national target on Thursday for the adoption of electric vehicles, calling for them to represent half of all new auto sales by 2030, according to senior administration officials.
I'm curious if anyone knows of a fund or funds that are taking a large stake in the upcoming growth in electric vehicles, the infrastructure needed to support these vehicles and anything else in regards to what seems to be a large growth sector in the coming years. All I can think of is Tesla and other automakers who are moving into the EV space.
Thanks in advance for any and all replies!

Mergers seem to be part of the fabric of investing and is not always a positive sign for the company, nor their investors.
- Pepsi is selling Tropicana ($3.3 B will go private)...I wondered will this benefit Pepsi shareholders. Maybe.
/pepsico-sell-majority-stake-juice-business
- USAA Brokerage merged (sold) all of the assets to Schwab (for $1.8 Billion)... I asked the question to USAA...do USAA members receive any of the proceeds of this sale? Answer: no. So I moved my USAA brokerage assets to TD Ameritrade and received a $1K transfer bonus. Oops...come to find out, TD Ameritrade will soon also be Schwab (sold for $22B) .
Well at least I received something ($1K transfer bonus) for the disruption.
- Insurance companies merge...my life insurer "demutualized" and merged with Met Life. I received METLife stock as part of the merger...wished we had merged with Apple. As a result of this merger (demutualization) I will pay taxes on the capital appreciation of the stock shares I received when I sell them.

New England Mutual expects its credit rating to be raised to Met Life’s level, which could potentially attract more wealthy clients. Affluent policy buyers are particularly sensitive to low ratings of insurance companies.
The higher credit rating is also expected to make it easier for New England Mutual to dispose of troubled real estate assets that have dragged down its rating in recent years.

- Mutual funds merge into mutual funds:
When Funds Collide: What Happens When Funds Merge?

When Funds Collide, Survivors Often Suffer: Article (linked below) examines how business reasons that prompt fund mergers don't necessarily dovetail with the interests of the funds' shareholders. A fund company may simply be trying to bury a poor track record. More importantly, surviving funds tend to under perform after a merger

thestreet.com/investing/funds/mutual-funds/when-funds-collide

MERFX collapse was due to the collapse of the Aon/Willis Towers Watson merger agreement. DOJ had argued merger would reduce competition and raise prices in the insurance industry, so merger was called off due to regulatory concerns. This was a $30 billion deal, and the Merger Fund has 4+ billion in assets, so they figured this was an easy way to soak up some assets. Other event-driven funds with smaller asset bases stayed away from the deal, like VARAX . To me, it seems like Westchester Capital didn't perform due diligence with this deal, as apparently other fund houses sensed the deal's uncertainty. For me, I'm in the process of selling out of my entire position, and redeploying some of the assets into VARAX ntf at Schwab and Vanguard. ARBFX and BALPX were also hurt to a smaller degree by the collapse. I've invested in MERFX off and on for about 20 years, and this was a disappointing result that didn't have to happen !

Thanks for the info! Looking at PV it seems Merger has performed better than Vivaldi with limited exception, including this year. I hope Merger's misstep is not the start of a trend. I thought about the Nexpoint MA fund but I've had my fill of Dondero. I guess we'll see.

MERFX collapse was due to the collapse of the Aon/Willis Towers Watson merger agreement. DOJ had argued merger would reduce competition and raise prices in the insurance industry, so merger was called off due to regulatory concerns. This was a $30 billion deal, and the Merger Fund has 4+ billion in assets, so they figured this was an easy way to soak up some assets. Other event-driven funds with smaller asset bases stayed away from the deal, like VARAX . To me, it seems like Westchester Capital didn't perform due diligence with this deal, as apparently other fund houses sensed the deal's uncertainty. For me, I'm in the process of selling out of my entire position, and redeploying some of the assets into VARAX ntf at Schwab and Vanguard. ARBFX and BALPX were also hurt to a smaller degree by the collapse. I've invested in MERFX off and on for about 20 years, and this was a disappointing result that didn't have to happen !

I have owned MERFX for numerous years with a nominal investment. With the pending acquisition by Virtus, existing shareholders of MERFX will be exempt from the paying load that Virtus is planning to imposed as the investor class will be converted to "A" class shares.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/701804/000110465921088936/tm2121353d1_485apos.htm
Excerpts:
Class A shares. If you purchase Class A shares of a Fund, unless you qualify for a reduction or waiver of the sales charge you will pay a sales charge at the time of purchase equal to 5.50% of the offering price (5.82% of the amount invested). The sales charge may be reduced or waived under certain conditions, including that shareholders of Class A shares (formerly known as Investor Class shares) of a Fund as of [September 1, 2021,] will not be subject to sales charges on future purchases of Class A shares of that same Fund. (See “Initial Sales Charge Alternative—Class A Shares” below.) ...
(from page 81 of the above SEC filing)
Also, the filing states "If you fall within any one of the following categories, you will not have to pay a sales charge on your purchase of Class A shares, provided that such purchase is made upon the written assurance of the purchaser that the purchase is made for investment purposes and that the shares so acquired will not be resold except to the Fund:
(19)          Purchasers of Class A shares of a Fund who were already shareholders of that same Fund as of [September 1, 2021].
I own MERFX and EVDAX ( I was grandfathered from paying a load being an original investor in the Pennsylvania Avenue Event Driven Fund then with Quaker Funds and now Camelot).
Pennsylvania Avenue Event Driven Fund:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001199131/000127351510000065/pa-prosp2010v4.htm

For many years I observed the Merger fund without any real interest to buy. Seemed like a middling bond alternative in terms of performance. Not much to get excited about but a "safe" 2-4% return over time. Recently I had some money looking of a home and with both stocks and bonds seemingly overpriced I thought what the heck. Now, I know we all have experienced bad timing where good funds turn bad as soon as we invest...but this Merger thing has been a bit of a joke. It's down nearly every day and almost 4% since my purchase in June. I'd appreciate any insights from anyone more familiar with this fund.

Interesting path these two funds took over the last 34 years (VFINX verses PRWCX):
Compare

I ran these two funds (I changed VOO to VFINX) to allow PV (portfoliovisualizer) to go back to 2002. I included VWINX and PRWCX to further compare a withdrawal strategy over the last 19 years. I used a 6% withdrawal rate (pretty aggressive) for each of the 19 years to compare the income generation each fund would provide and their suitability as a long term investment for capital preservation and income.
Interesting results (click on Comparison between):
Comparison between VFINX, VTI, PRWCX, and VWINX
My observations:
Comparing these four funds from 2002-2021 provides insight into why allocation funds are so beneficial for both income and capital preservation. Both VWINX and PRWCX navigated the Tech Bubble and the Great Recession preserving capital while at the same time providing greater yearly withdrawal amounts than either of the etfs.
It took 14 years for both (VOO) VFINX and VTI to overtake VWINX. From 2002 - 2016 VWINX outperformed VTI and VOO (VFINX) on a rolling return basis. PRWCX accomplished this feat every year (2002-2021) providing both more income per year as well as higher yearly portfolio balances.
Future Consideration:
From the perspective of both income and capital preservation, would an investor be less harmed (opportunity cost risk verses sequence of return risk) owning VWINX verses an Total Equity Market Index?
At the start of retirement or the start of one's investment career, I would consider owning an allocation fund such as VWINX or PRWCX and consider reallocationg into VOO or VTI when markets periodically sell off.

Hi @David_Snowball , Nice to read that you two were apparently able to unwind some accumulated stress (that was the cracking sound one can hear at the base of the skull). Nice to also read that Will has a Roth IRA. I've pushed this investment with many I know; for their children and/or grandchildren, for several years.
I've placed this calculator again from a previous write. To the best of my knowledge, it is accurate.
--- The below Saving and Investing Calculator (new style, July, 2021) has some preset numbers I'd placed previous to help others with minor children envision the power of compounding to encourage them to help their children start a Roth Minor IRA from monies from part time work, etc. All of the values set now may be changed to whatever is suitable for you. You'll see the initial investment value and yearly contributions are small. I did not enter a future tax calculation, as hopefully; the Roth still won't be taxed. Also, I used 7% as an annualized investment return.....not, too hot, not too cold. Anyway, play with the numbers, if this would be of benefit. A few of the other tabs above for budgeting, etc.; may be of value, too; although this is an AARP site. :) ALSO: The calculator is set with Will's numbers, although at a 7% annualized.
NOTE: the 7% return in the calculator is of course an unknown going forward, but a reference point of one decent balanced fund, FBALX ,has an annualized return from its inception in 1986 of 9.3%. So, these have been and may continue to be achievable numbers. ALSO, read the descriptions below the calculator area.
Saving and Investing Calculator
Take care,
Catch

Detailed and valuable info, msf.... But why, HERE, are we talking about nickels and dimes? That's my reaction. OK, not LITERALLY nickels and dimes. But $20.00? What I'm trying to spit-out here is that it would make sense to do your homework and plunk down an amount into a chosen mutual fund that would MATTER. If I'm going to invest $1k and pull out again after a few months, it just seems kinda useless, no? I'm resurrecting the ZURICH AXIOMS lately, for myself. They make sense to me. There was a lively discussion about them years ago here. Others complained that many of the Axioms were self-contradictory. But I think they were never meant to be a step-by-step recipe. Rather intuitive, sometimes counter-intuitive. Valuable guidance, "in my book."

From the PR:
Multi-Sector Income Bond will offer exposure primarily to U.S. investment-grade securities, U.S. high-yield corporate securities, and emerging markets debt of all credit quality ratings.
This mirrors the prospectus text:
the Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in bonds, which include fixed income securities such as corporate bonds; emerging market bonds; and U.S. Treasury obligations and other U.S. government and agency securities.
Conspicuous by its absence is foreign developed market debt. While many multisector funds have rotated out of developed markets in the past several years, there's still a difference between avoiding developed market debt because of market conditions and doing that as a matter of policy.
In contrast, PIIDX's prospectus reads:
“Fixed Income Instruments” include bonds, debt securities and other similar instruments issued by various U.S. and non-U.S. public- or private-sector entities.
Its portfolio's top three countries are currently the US (62.59%), Germany (3.43%), and the UK (3.42%), per M*.
Admittedly 1/6 of its foreign holdings is not a lot, but that could change. Back in 2015, its top ten countries were the US (52.57%), UK (8.96%), Luxembourg (4.62%), Netherlands (4.45%), France (3.51%), Indonesia (2.99%), Ireland (2.86%), Switzerland (2.80%), Italy (2.62%), and the Cayman Islands (1.65%).
The Vanguard fund doesn't appear to have this degree of global flexibility.

I started a position in ATPAX at Vanguard (ntf, $1,000 minimum) For me the fund seems to have similar risk characteristics to OSTIX with the advantage of being sold ntf.

If you're not expecting to hold for an extended period of time, and you're investing relatively small amounts, that could make sense. Though you'll have to hold for 60 days at Vanguard to avoid a $50 redemption fee.
If one is investing say $10K, and plans to hold for a bit more than a year, then OSTIX winds up being cheaper. It costs $40 (or less) per round trip. But with an ER of 0.88% vs. 1.22% for ATPAX, the 0.34% difference in ER saves about $34/year. One breaks even after about 14 months.
Another alternative if one is planning to hold for a couple of years is to invest in ATPYX instead of ATPAX. It comes with a transaction fee ($40 round trip), but its ER is 1.02% vs 1.22 for ATPAX (including a 0.20% 12b-1 fee). On a $10K investment, the lower ER saves about $20/year, so in about two years one breaks even.

Definitely ! If there were multiple brokerage platforms that I could purchase Vanguard Funds ntf, I would have closed my Vanguard account years ago. E-Trade and Chase You Invest are the only non-Vanguard platforms that I can purchase VWINX without a transaction fee,and I don't trust either one to keep Vanguard Funds ntf. If Schwab would offer Vanguard Funds ntf, that would be a game changer for me !

It's not quite clear what you mean by "traditional passive investing firm dependent on very low management fees". Vanguard's Primecap funds come with lower management fees than Primecap Odyssey funds, yet they are managed similarly (after allowing for the fact that the Vanguard funds are larger). Lower fees does not mean less active management.
Regarding Vanguard's bond funds, I would agree that Vanguard tends to manage its funds more conservatively (even VWEHX, though that is outsourced to Wellington). Here, Vanguard relies, or if you prefer, "depends" upon its lower fees to compensate for sometimes less than inspired management.
To be clear, its actively managed bond funds are not managed by its quant or index teams. All twelve of its index bond funds are managed by Joshua C. Barrickman, who has no hand in Vanguard's actively managed funds.
Most of the active taxable, non-government (i.e. not Treasury, TIPS, etc.) funds (VGCAX, VCOBX, VIITX, VFICX, VFSTX, VUSFX, VWESX) are managed at least in part by Samuel C. Martinez, Daniel Shaykevich and Arvind Narayanan, a completely different team.
Two of these managers, Shaykevich (foreign debt) and Narayanan (IG corporate) are managing the new funds. Shaykevich is also the lead manager on VEMBX. A few years ago Chang came over from Goldman Sachs where he ran a HY fund.
To some extent I agree with what I think you may be saying. Cost is almost everything in IG bond funds, passive or active. As one moves down the credit scale or otherwise into less "conventional" arenas, bonds tend to correlate more with equities. Cost is still important, but as with equities, investment approaches and skills play a bigger role. That doesn't seem to be Vanguard's strength; it could have outsourced these funds as it did with VWEHX.

The top 10 holdings of Wellington has changed from value oriented to more like a blended. It now holds more growth names like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple other than the traditional value stocks. This change was noted in one of @msf posting earlier.
Wellington lagged other growth balanced funds for awhile as the growth stocks outperformed the values for the last 10 years. Investing more of the growth names would help to improve its performance. Don’t recall when the last time Wellington has the FAANG stocks on its top holdings.