Hi Hawk,
I'm thinking back years now ... and, I had to file a return on my son because of the amount of his unearned income. With this, I located an article that covers what tax payers must do. Scroll down to you come to dependents and also other situations that might apply.
https://www.thebalance.com/are-you-required-to-file-a-tax-return-3192868
I'm no tax expert now ... but, with them holding roth ira's I going to say yes so that the funding amount in the roths can be tracked along with the verification of earned income.
Hope this helps ...
Skeet

If you believe the stock market follows trends, that's a very informative article.
Bear markets occur about twice each decade, and the longest gap between these occurring is 8 years. We're on year 6 since the last.

@bee. Yeah I think I heard someone say this on NPR couple of weeks back. Stock Prices have been influenced more because of cheap money funneled into buybacks rather than producing any economic benefit.
But as you know, this time is different. Sure. We will have different percentage downturn in the stock market. There are times I feel it might be catastrophic if it does not happen until 3rd year of Presidency. 3rd years are when they pull out all stops to make sure things stay "good" while they are campaigning. Better take a 20% correction before 2018. If we wait till 2020, who knows what will happen.
Also, didn't someone post article on MFO about subprime autoloan problem being the same size as the home subprime problem?

Mr Ivascyn and Mr Murata discuss their strategy on Pimco Income Fund. In one of the previous threads a question came up about asset bloat which they answer.
https://www.pimco.com/en-us/insights/investment-strategies/strategy-spotlight/income-strategy-10-years-of-meeting-the-income-challenge

@Willmatt72,
I have owned BAICX for the past couple of years and I am pleased with its performance along with its ability to position. I hold BAICX in my income sleeve. I also kicked NWQAX to the curb a few years back due to its high volatility for a 15% to 30% equity allocation fund; but, I can not knock its performance. Some of my recent adds to my hybrid income sleeve are APIUX, DIFAX and PMAIX. Recently, I sold some equity funds and have been putting the money to work in my hybrid income sleeve.
My current possitions in my income sleeve are as follows: BAICX, CTFAX, FMTNX, GIFAX, LALDX, LBNDX, NEFZX, THIFX & TSIAX. In my hybrid income sleeve they are as follows: APIUX, CAPAX, DIFAX, FISCX, FKINX, ISFAX, JNBAX, PGBAX & PMAIX.
In the income area of my portfolio I have recently gone from 12 funds to 18.
Skeet

Years ago when I ask if any of our 403(b) vendors acted as my fiduciary the answer was, "No, why is that important to you?" or "Hmmm...let me get back to you." I took the issue it up with the teacher's union and they had no clue what a "fiduciary" was.
It's an uncommonly used word, wonder why?
Here's wiki's write up of Fiduciary:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiduciary
We, as teachers, fought for 403(b)(7) offerings (primarily Vanguard) which help lower costs, but still these plans were not held to fiduciary standards.
I believe all 401(k) plans are required by law to be held to fiduciary standards, why not 403(B) plans?
Consistency, fairness and Rule of Law matter.

Hi@BobC
Fully agree with the POA side and I have pushed reminders to family/friends over the years regarding the thoughts and wording in a will, VERSUS an "override" affect of a beneficiary set into any monetary account(s). And to the more simple side of adding an adult child to a savings/checking acct.
'Course, these items noted presuming the full trust among family members.
I'm sure many of these arrangements become very difficult for too many folks.

FYI: Maybe you've been riding that bull for eight years and feel like it might be getting tired. Maybe you're getting a little jumpy yourself, with all that money in stocks and now the Trump-rally turbulence.
You could use this slightly queasy moment to improve your finances without getting anywhere near the big, (currently) booming equity market.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.fa-mag.com/news/ten-ways-to-get-a-good-return-on-cash--stocks-not-included-32020.html?print

>> Why not just look at 10 years? I give you WWWFX
Just plot it at 3-4-5y, and there's the answer to why not. But if you believe in the decisionmaker, sure. Same as CGMFX and Heebner. 'Twas ever thus. Gotta believe the manager's skills abide.

Why not just look at 10 years? I give you WWWFX, just plot it @ Morningstar. Best yet, plot it at portfoliovisualizer from 2007 through 2016. Look at all the ratios too. WWWFX according to M* I think is worse than the worst. At some point in time because they couldn't call it "negative" they simply dropped coverage. But who remembers?
WWWFX is substantially in cash right now. I've been waiting to buy this fund for a long time. Next correction it's going to be perfect for a trade.
Btw, I like it how IBD slipped in the word "best". Not the "outperforming", but rather, the "best".

FYI: A mutual fund exists for virtually any and all your investment needs in your retirement or other accounts. The challenge is in choosing the right one for your portfolio from the more than 8,000 mutual funds available.
The second annual IBD Best Mutual Fund Awards makes the task a lot easier. Every one of them has beaten its benchmark for the past one, three, five and 10 years — a feat that fewer than 4% of U.S. diversified stock and U.S. bond funds can claim.
Look at the list and see if you already own any of these top performers. If you don't, compare them to the ones you do own and see if they might make a better fit in your portfolio. If you're looking for a fund to start or add to your portfolio, this best-of-the best list is a great place to start.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.investors.com/best-mutual-fund-awards/ibd-best-mutual-fund-awards-growth-value-large-cap-small-cap-muni-bond/

Old_Joe: Nice to see an article written by Kathleen Pender, an excellent financial writer, who's articles I have linked for many years both here at MFO and FundAlarm.
Regards,
Ted

First things first ...
@JoJo26,
Yes indeed I find a good number of spelling errors in my writting this is due in part to, at times, a sticking key board and coming form the deep south plus a little European background. Perhaps, I'll upgrade my tablet and get one with spellcheck. But, spelling has not kept me of actively engaging the markets and trolling good money from them through the years. I think I'll take the money over good spelling in my casual writting. Seems, also, my brain moves faster than my fingers.
@bee,
I don't own SFAAX but due to my study of interesting mutual funds it is one that I have kept on my list along with a sister fund EKSAX which is another five star asset allocation fund that uses some interesting an adaptive allocation strategies to position. I found the SFAAX fund for my engineer budy to compare and measure his success to that of this "professional money" fund as a benchmark.
For CTFAX (COTZX), I own this fund in my income sleeve becuse as it is currently about 90% fixed and 10% equity. This fund throttles its allocation based upon the price movement of the S&P 500 Index. Last year it held a high of about 25% equity, or there abouts, to a low of 15% possibly 10%. A good fixed income fund from my thinking that can load equities during a stock market pullback. I'm thinking it should do well in a rising interest rate environment.
And, yes I can buy in some fund families at nav. However, know that I am not an investment advisor nor broker and what I write about is things I do within my own personal portfolio. And, all those sites you have linked above I have used, or currently use, in the discovery of what others are thinking towards positioning.
@BrianW,
When you get right down to it selling one security and buying another by some is market timing and also throttling one's asset alloction is market timing. To me, market timing is going completely all in and then back out of the markets. Adjusting one's alloction is a form of rebalancing from my perspective but to some others being active is market timing.
@MJG,
No doubt MJG has his perspectives and sides more towards being a passive investor much like my high school budy who by profession is also an engineer like MJG. Because, my budy, "thought" he could enage the markets with some short term packaged timing strategies (day trade) he lost a bundle. With this he went to two funds a stock index fund and a bond index fund and throttles the asset allocation between 40% to 60% equity based upon some technicals of the 500 Index. I call this throttling, some call it rebalancing, some call it makret timing ... in the end he now earns good returns where before those that made the most money were the software and platform folks which he traded through. The two of us together had hands in the development of Old_Skeets market barometer and equity weighting matrix which we both use. I added a fundamental feed (earnings) while he moves from the other two feeds which are the technical strength feed and the breath feed. He uses only two while I use all three.
There you have it folks ... Market timing is most anything you want it to be because form time-to-time securities get added and/or removed even the indexes through repositioning; and, even doing this by some folks makes it an active fund perhaps streaches it on out to market timing by addition and deletion of securities.
Time to move on. I've got things to do ...
And ... @JoJo26, I sincerely wish you the very best with your investing endeavors as you progress and become a more seasoned investor.
Old_Skeet

Hi Guys,
The active vs. passive debate will never end. Mostly because a case for either side of that argument can be made depending on the timeframe being measured. As a generic rule I subscribe to the belief that active investing is indeed a Loser's game, but there are many exceptions.
Like in so many real world situations and various circumstances, the 80/20 distribution rule applies. In general, 20% of the input or people or effort generates 80% of the output. That observation seems to work most of the time.
In the investment universe, most active tactical asset allocation funds underperform simple buy-and-hold funds, yet they are specifically designed to do so. But some do although persistence is a standing issue. Most mutual funds underperform also but some manage their performance goal over long periods. Of course, the challenge is to choose wisely before the fact. That's not an easy job.
Personally, I own a mixed portfolio of both active and passive mutual funds. To cut costs, I have decided to move more heavily into passive components, but I plan to maintain some actively managed units. That's just me; you folks do whatever allows you to sleep comfortably.
Here is a Link that might contribute to you making a decision on this controversial subject:
https://www.advisorperspectives.com/articles/2016/08/09/how-tactical-allocation-mutual-funds-fared-over-the-last-five-years
The Vanguard balanced fund comes out looking pretty attractive in this comparison, but this is just one of hundreds of professional and academic papers and studies that explore this issue. Most of these studies demonstrate the futility of active investing, but it is never 100% conclusive. If it were so, the debate would end. And still the debate continues.
Best Wishes

Hi Ted,
Thanks very much for this excellent Vanguard study reference. It is a nice supplement to the Credit Suisse study that I referenced earlier. A diversity of perspective is always useful to provide a welcomed.balance.
The Vanguard work looks at a ton of what-if scenarios. Note its emphasis on portfolio volatility in terms of standard deviation. The study demonstrates the benefits of diversification, but also it shows relatively little sensitivity of those benefits as a function of the percent of foreign holdings. The parametric plots show rolling hills rather than cliffs. And the benefits seem to be decreasing in recent years. The world is becoming more tightly correlated with increasing trade and communication. Globalization is happening.
Thank you again for your find and Link. I,would expect nothing less from a Marine, and my expectations are never disappointed.
Best Wishes

@JoJO26,
Don't have to. Those that have followed my post on the board through the years know of my calls. What is at hand though is for you to now prove long term market timming strategies don't work. Are you up to it?
Years back when I started posting I made some statements and Derf is one that called me out. After I postured my position as I have asked you to do I earned the respect of others.
Going forward please don't make statements that you can't posture.
Old_Skeet +100

Thanks @Ted,
Mr. Rodgers didn't mention his companies own stock (TROW) which pays a 3.23% dividend and "over the long run" has done very well against the S&P 500, his own fund (PRFDX) as well as highly rated (PRWCX). Here's the performance chart over the last 30 years (his tenure). TROW in green, as in "money".

Thanks @Ted,
Compliment me if I'm right, but wouldn't LEXCX be a concentrated (21 holdings, ER = .52) way of investing in a well managed fund that holds a pretty good slug of the Dow?
LEXCX has been around for 76 years and here is it's chart (@rono would like):

Good idea to move the thread.
My only add about APPLX is that the asset class breakdown apparently hasn't changed much in the past few years at least, so I wouldn't think of it as a go-anywhere fund with much flexibility. I'd think of it more like the Pimco All Asset siblings (PASDX, PAUDX) which have a definite thesis that basically never changes and an asset allocation to match, a pretty bad record in recent years hanging onto a thesis that's not been working, and just about always qualifies for the ol' "stopped clock" saying.
Keep in mind this is coming from a guy who thought he'd found a keeper & was subsequently very much underwhelmed and disappointed in the management team's direction, beyond the results alone.
No opinions on the other funds - never had any experience with them.

FYI: The Dow Jones Industrial Average is one of the oldest and best-known indexes in the world. It has, by its nature as a benchmark for the largest stock market in the world, become an important barometer of global confidence over the years.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-dows-tumultuous-120-year-history-in-one-chart-2017-03-23/print