@john
I didn't find where the author stated that these 3 reits were a buy in case of a market crash. Where does this statement arrive from ???
ADD: nice to view that you changed the subject line to remove the "market crash" aspect (Dec., 2011).
The 3 stocks noted in article, 20 year cycle. The returns are impressive since the market melt, but also have quite the up/down cycle, for the faint of investment hearted. I'll have to review further, these indicated % returns. https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.php?AIV,EPR,WELL&p=6&O=011000
Below link is for about 2.5 years, being Nov., 2007 - March, 2011 (which allows for a 2 year period after the market bottom). This chart suggests these are not appropriate holds for a down market, IMHO, yes???
https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.php?AIV,EPR,WELL&l=2221&r=3062&O=011000

M* (quote page) shows that this bond matures 2/15/2025, so in all likelihood it is CUSIP 645913BD5. As you said, a zero.
According to EMMA, it is currently trading at a YTW of about 4.2% (priced about 77 where 100 is par). While the underlying bond is rated BBB+, its insurance wrapper raises it to somewhere between A and AA (depending on the rating agency).
That seems like a pretty reasonable yield on a six year taxable bond of that quality. (Fidelity shows AA corporates maturing in five years to be yielding around 4%.). Otherwise I'd be wondering what a muni bond is doing in a taxable bond fund. 30% of the fund is in munis (even though M* doesn't show munis among the fund's top sectors).

SPRXX at Fidelity has a 7 day SEC yield of 2.09% and a $0 minimum.
https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/mutual-funds/summary/31617H201
You may be able to buy Vanguard MMFs at Vanguard and then transfer the shares in kind to Fidelity. At Fidelity, there is no commission to sell the shares. Not a good day-to-day strategy, but could work for holding cash.
I think I did something like this many years ago, well before Vanguard forced people into brokerage accounts. So I don't know whether such a transfer from Vanguard would even be free now.
You might also look at Firstrade accounts. They currently charge no transaction fee on any mutual fund they carry. You can't look up MMFs there by ticker, but if you go to their fund research page and select a fund family, you can find money market funds that are open at Firstrade. I found that VMMXX is open. Its current (Dec 7) SEC yield is 2.33% ($3K min at Vanguard; don't know about Firstrade's min for the fund.)
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/VMMXX
https://www.firstrade.com/content/en-us/researchtools/mutualfund
Here's Barron's list of top yielding MMFs (I don't know why Vanguard doesn't show up). The funds listed tend to be high min share classes, but there are usually lower min shares, albeit with somewhat lower yields.
http://barrons.wsj.net/public/page/9_0204-trmfy.html

I'm 2 months short of 4 years since I got into PRSNX. I got nothing but love for that fund. It's held up nicely in terms of share value. TRP tells me I'm down YTD by just a quarter percent. That's -.25%. I've added a big bunch to it a couple of months ago. INCOME for the duration: $2,126.68. SHARE VALUE has sunk by a mere -$187.73. Actual, hard-dollar figures. The TRP performance number, tailored to my own account, tells me that over the past THREE (3) years, it's up +4.16%. No complaints.

I've watched this board for years and seen multiple threads come and go, but this is the fund I've chosen for my grandchildren (who need no bonds) and for my RMDs since my family history of dementia suggests I shouldn't rely on my fund or stock-picking ability. It's low cost, has oversight management that isn't driven by profit for the owners or stockholders, and gives you wide exposure to various markets. (I'm using my SSI payments as my bond funds, ala John Bogle's recommendations.)
Since I know I'm not smarter than people who spend all their time watching and analyzing the market, I'm not going to pick the fund of the decade (or less) or presume that I know which stock is the next Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Worldcom, or Xerox. Were I you, I'd put most of my stock money in this fund and the amount that I could afford to lose in frontier or emerging markets funds (not just one; and I don't have any suggestions, except that you choose more than one.) If you don't want to take this flier, keep it all in VMVFX.

I just don't understand why DSENX hasn't been generating a big tax hit all these years, with its regular rebalancing. I guess the derivatives somehow save on taxes? I hold it in a Roth IRA, so I'm just curious.

WHOA ! Ya must have done a select all for that paste.
Well, anyway..........ya, got a push the metal story from a push the metals site......I'm sure there is not bias, only data.
I'm reminded of a partial lyric from a '60's song.
"It's your thing, do what you want to do..."
Just for the heck of it........took a look at these that came fast to the mind..................about 8 years worth of data.
https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.php?GDX,GDXJ,IAU,GLD,SIL&p=6&O=011000
ADD: @rono has the proper eye for this area; being, if one pays proper attention, good money may be made in the silver's equity areas.
Good Night, folks.

Several folks have shared articles on minimum volatility funds recently -- VMVFX being one. In the tumultuous market that we find ourselves in I wondered where such funds should fit into an overall equity strategy. I'd value your thoughts. I'm 10 years from retirement with holdings that are 70% allocated to equities and 30% to fixed income and cash. Do these types of funds make sense as core holdings and if so what % should one consider allocating to them? thanks for the advice.

That 'regional bias' has been a checkmark next to the fund for nearly it's entire existence. While the fund will rarely, if ever, shoot out the lights it won't leave you cringing in despair either. It's shareholders have been satisfied and amply rewarded for it's strong, steady returns over the years. You could certainly do worse.

Decent fund imho, but I think growth has had its time in the sun in recent years .... I think value is slowly coming back into vogue and would be more inclined to look there.
But if you want a solid LCB fund? Check out PRBLX, which I hold in my Roth IRA.

He's got a webcast coming up on the 11th. Like all of his 'casts, it's ostensibly about one of the Dbline oef's, DBLTX in this case, but he always spends most of the time on macro, econ indicators, and the direction of different debt classes. Since it's looking more and more like we could be on a big divide here between past and future, that's one I won't miss.
I also kinda wonder how he'll put his predictions of a wild ballooning in rates over the next couple of years in the current context.

Howdy @Crash
My last for this.......
You noted: "I found out she's got debts to pay."
This doesn't preclude not investing, yes? Had this household shunned investing in IRA's or 401k's because of debt, we wouldn't have as large a monetary smile, this 4th day of December, 2018.
So, with debt; one has bad debt (spends and doesn't pay down credit cards,etc.) or good debt (needs a vehicle for work which requires a monthly payment).
One of several key words with living, money and investing is "prudent". If this lady is prudent with spending habits, which means a "budget"; she may also invest some amount, correct?
We here at MFO have discussed this area of portfolio "suggestions" for many years; and it still remains that too often, not enough information is provided to be of consequence for a fruitful presentation.
--- For the below chart list and the funds within: all are within a moderate allocation range, with a prospectus of 50-70% equity, generally U.S. oriented. A range of loss for these funds during the market melt 10 years ago was more/less a -30 to -40%. The annualized total return for 15 years ranges from, +7.1% through 8.1%. Current yields range from 1.9% through 2.4%.
Almost a 20 year view of some of the "balanced" funds mentioned:
https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.php?MAPOX,FBALX,JABAX,VBINX,ABALX,DODBX&p=6&O=011000
Lastly, a so called balanced fund has many names, too, yes?
Cest tout for this person. Chores call.
Catch

After several years of almost no year-end distributions, this year the tax man cometh. NAV is around $15.50 and the total distribution is estimated at about $1.65. Ouch. Still, it's hard to complain about the performance. The ETN, CAPE, does not make big distributions.
For a really tax-efficient, winning equity fund, check out AKREX.

Reviewed:
MAPOX PRWCX JABAX RPBAX VTMFX DODBX. This is not for me. Someone who's a babe in the woods wants to get a rather late start, saving/investing for retirement. I wanna KISS the whole thing. Keep it simple, stupid. A single fund should be fine, starting from scratch. DODBX is already where another individual has money, per my recommendation. Could be that I'll recommend that one for this other person too, since PRWCX is still closed. But starting at 50 years old may present both a challenge and opportunity to decide upon another. I'm starting to do some preliminary looking for her, is all.
I see RPGAX up there, but I've not looked at it yet. Thanks, guys.

TRP's RPGAX has an eclectic global mix plus some black box hedge fundyness if that's your thing. MFO reviewed it a few years ago.

"Still believe the market will hit 3000 by year end, but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I done very well over the years, and can now completely relax and enjoy the fruits of my labor."
I find this remarkable because "enough" is such an elusive target for most of humanity; "enough" is always in perpetual motion. Even people surrounded by abundance seem to have a "shortage" outlook on things. Including me: I'm not sure I'll recognize "enough" until and unless I take my last breath and I'm still in the black. A tip of the hat to someone who feels he has achieved it.

The QQQ and international tech heavy stuff really took a beating over the past few months, that's for sure. I have another 10-15 years before I bail out myself. In 2019, I'm definitely dialing down my equity exposure.

@Ted: I was thinking along those lines when I read your post and honestly if I didn't need the income I'd be right there with you. Normally I am near 100% in the breach but over the past few years I have added bond funds and this year I have actually been accumulating cash as I've sold off my more risky assets. Fair seas old friend.

@Mark: Still believe the market will hit 3000 by year end, but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I done very well over the years, and can now completely relax and enjoy the fruits of my labor.
Regards,
Ted :)

Interesting move for a guy who thinks the S&P will be at 3000 by years end. However there is nothing wrong with preserving capital or perhaps sanity in uncertain times.