OK. Now I'm loaded for bear. BTW, this question was not for me. I'm making an executive decision to move a friend's money I babysit out of MAPOX. It's falling down on the job, the last few years. Simpler is better. After all of this back and forth, I'm inclined to go with BALFX--- if they wouldn't mind taking his money in a T-IRA.

Sold DODIX and invested in ICMUX with the funds. In October ‘24 I had thought DODIX would be an appropriate place to re-enter intermediate bonds in 2025. After the last few years in bond fund land, my patience is short (as will my bond fund duration).

Shorter for longer. :)
Me too.

Sold DODIX and invested in ICMUX with the funds. In October ‘24 I had thought DODIX would be an appropriate place to re-enter intermediate bonds in 2025. After the last few years in bond fund land, my patience is short (as will my bond fund duration).

But why go out at all?
Is it a bet on declining rates?
Rates could easily be higher within 2 years.

Over at Schwab their prime Treasury MMKT SUTTX is down to 4.24%, and the 2-yr Treasury that I bought about a week ago is 4.29. The trick is to balance immediate yield against longer-term stuff, while keeping enough in MMKT to cover any immediate cash need. At 85, I don't want to go out much more than a couple of years.

Seems to me to be two completely different skill sets-
• A): Insuring that numbers are being computed and accounted for properly, according to established accounting principles.
• B): Manipulating numbers in an attempt to increase their values and sums to the maximum extent possible, while also remaining reasonably consistent with safety.
And like most skill sets, there may be some degree of natural interest or aptitude involved, but education and training are the most important factors.

Yeah, you seem to have missed my point. And other posters routinely missing my points is the primary reason why I don't post a lot. That said...
I said earlier "Conversely, the women, many highly educated and certified in high level finance positions, were largely uninterested, uneducated and inexperienced in wealth mgmt."
I cited their FEAR as the primary reason for this.
Having education and work experience in accounting, finance and bizness administration IMO should increase the likelihood that a person understands investing more than the next person, and is less FEARful in investing. (Duh, we not only read financial statements, we create them, audit them and issue findings and recommendations related to them!)
My family was blue collar. Nobody in my family ever owned a stock or bond until I did. We were collectively FEARful of markets, primarily due to inexperience and lack of financial intelligence.
I did not start investing until I got my degree. I would have remained terrified of financial markets had I not had my base level, formal education in accounting, then LT employment in accounting. So, I overcame my FEAR of markets largely due to formal, financial education and work experience.
Over the course of my 35+ years in the financial work force, and a similar amount of time assisting friends and relatives with their investments, I saw the exact same effect on other men. I did not see the same effect on women.
BUT, when the women I knew who did overcome their FEAR, they generally went on to be highly successful investors. And as some studies show, women tend to be better investors as men. The biggest problem appears to be overcoming their FEAR about it all. (The study I linked notes "stress." Stress is the condition. FEAR is the resulting emotion that is expressed.)
YMMV.

Re: 03 Jan, '25:
Expecting elevated volatility, uncertainty. The 2-10 year spread is at highest in over 2 years. Due to fiscal concerns. Davis (BMO) likes relatively attractive current yields on both Treasuries AND corporates. He's adding duration.
Ed Al-Hussainy (Columbia Threadneedle) is concerned about policy uncertainty, most. Political and fiscal policy. "Underneath," there is also the Fed's interest rate adjustment stance.
Leslie Falconio (UBS Global Wealth Management) sees the monetary side has been totally recalibrated. Her firm expects only two interest rate cuts in '25. (June and Sept.)
Al-Hussainy: watch to see what happens with tariffs.
Falconio: Fed will most likely wind-down QT in 1st or 2nd Q.
Duration, Leslie? Yes, more duration now, but only out to the belly, around 5 years. When UST reach 4.75 at 10-years, they'll add further out the curve.
Al-Hussainy: duration is becoming a good hedge vs. risk assets, yes. Long end, out to the end of the year, is still quite "scary."
***********
DELUGE of I.G. bond issuance expected.
Already, $15B of issuance from Credit Agricole, GM and Ford.
-A poll shows $200B of junk issuance in '25 is expected. (Expected to exceed last year's record.)
JoAnne Bianco (Bondbloxx:) Still see opportunity in credit, especially junk.
Akila Grewal (Apollo Global) Private Credit will benefit in the impending higher-for-longer rate environment.
Sinjin Bowron (Beach Point Capital) Currently deploying money across the quality spectrum--- including "distressed opportunities." Distressed HY in '24 was a big driver of returns. But FR outperformed fixed income. Going forward, more bets into FR makes a lotta sense.
(Akila: ugh! Her manner of delivery is off-putting. Sounds just rushed and canned.)
Anyhow: Apollo is still focused on higher quality, First Lien stuff.
Bowron: Coming into '25 there are both solid credit fundamentals and very tight valuations. And wider spreads should not come as a surprise, simply given political uncertainty into '25. Nevertheless, credit quality remains robust.

Sold a little VOO, added to ICMUX and also purchased a new 5 year Goldman Sachs 5.375% bond, matures 01/22/2030, callable 1/2027 so at least I'll get 2 years of 5.375%.

Its a bit ridiculous. I was conversing with a few friends who are advisors and they were talking about how they are spending a lot of time helping their clients try and even begin to understand these products. and not because they want them to buy them but their clients are inquiring.
IMO turn about is fair play. The industry has spent years purposely complicating their clients portfolios to keep the customer in the dark.
but its crazy, these are technically niche products that 30% of all new etfs are them in 2024 is nuts. although it begs the question of how many new etfs are actually being created. 30% of 500 is less than 20% of 1000.

This depends on your specific 401(k) plan.
As YBB mentioned, some plans allow in-service withdrawals while others do not.
You may want to check the 401(k) Summary Plan Description or contact your HR department.
My 401(k) Summary Plan Description states:
If you are age 59½ or older and still actively employed by company or a related company,
you can take a withdrawal from your pre-tax accounts once a year.
There are no early withdrawal penalties for this type of distribution.
You may roll over a pre-tax distribution to another eligible retirement plan or traditional or Roth IRA.
If you are age 59½ or older and still actively employed by company or a related company,
you can also take a withdrawal from your Roth after-tax account once a year.
There are no early withdrawal penalties for this type of distribution.
You will also not be taxed on distributions of your Roth after-tax contributions,
and the earnings on those contributions will not be taxed if the distribution is taken
after you have had a Roth after-tax account in the Plan for at least five years.

Are there AA-AAA rated companies that would do seller financed purchases, with or without life estate (i.e., lease back)? If not, I would think there is a lucrative market for this product.
I'm having trouble making sense of some of this.
"Do seller financed purchases". What does "do" mean? Are you thinking of brokering (arranging) purchases? That is, finding an interested buyer and/or handling the paperwork? For those types of services I don't see what difference a company's credit rating would make.
Or does "do" mean taking the buyer side in the transactions? There, the credit rating of the company (as borrower) would matter. But what's the business model? Would the company build up an inventory of homes that it is buying "on time" and resell them to other buyers?
"lucrative market"
Would the profit come from paying well under market value, as "we buy homes for cash NOW" companies do? But then the seller wouldn't have any motivation to provide financing.
Or would such a company pay a better price for the seller financed homes? It might hope to make a profit from the use of the cash (full price) it receives from the sale of inventory homes.
It would pay the original seller one rate of interest (the seller financing rate) and earn another rate of interest on the proceeds from reselling the home. But where's the spread? The company would be borrowing long term from the original seller. Or would you expect seller-financed sales to be relatively short term (say, five years) with a correspondingly lower rate of interest?
Can you offer an example of a transaction "done" by such a company? I don't get what you have in mind.
"life estate (i.e., lease back)"
These are two different things. A life estate is actual ownership of property. A lease back is a rental where someone else owns the property. If you want more clarification, look up the difference between freehold estate (ownership) and leasehold estate (rental). See, e.g. here (it's not letter perfect, but gets across the general idea).
As far as Selleck is concerned, it's not a bad ad.

Unfortunately, his message to “explore the potential” has been confused as a recommendation older homeowners should get one. This may not always be the case.
Obviously, the time restrictions of TV commercials limit content. To his credit, though, he created national awareness of a less-known and frequently misunderstood resource that has the potential to increase and extend financial security – a hugely common fear among aging Americans.

https://southshoresenior.com/2024/05/what-tom-selleck-did-not-say-about-reverse-mortgages/

These commercials do a good job of introducing the reverse mortgage product. However, the decision to secure the loan can be complicated and confusing.

https://www.boldin.com/retirement/tom-selleck-reverse-mortgages-telling-truth/

When you take out a reverse mortgage, the lender deducts an upfront fee. It also charges interest over the life of your loan. Reverse mortgage interest rates are usually higher than conventional mortgage interest rates, but similar to rates on home equity loans.

Kiplinger, 10 Things You Should Know About Reverse Mortgages

"I suppose that'll work unless and until he tries to remain in office beyond his 4 years."
No, he won't try that... the family presidential dynasty will be passed on to Trump Jr.

"Industry might have to drill a few test wells in the National Parks and Wildlife Refuges just to keep him happy."
I strongly suspect that groups opposed to such a proposition will keep that tied up in lawsuits & the courts until long after his coming term is up. I suppose that'll work unless and until he tries to remain in office beyond his 4 years.

No confusion. My assumption was before I read the thread, and was acknowledging you guys educating me. The only time I had previously heard about reverse mortgages was from the Tom SelecK Ads.
In any case,
Are there AA-AAA rated companies that would do seller financed purchases, with or without life estate (i.e., lease back)? If not, I would think there is a lucrative market for this product.
I would like to defer gain and reduce cap gain tax but have to balance the risks of being a creditor for 10 years or more. The 5% (20 to 15%) lower cap gain tax + 3.8% extra tax on NII + state tax income tax on higher brackets + extra Medicare premiums can all add up.
Let us see if the goodies Trump will dole out to unfreeze the residential RE market include targeted tax brakes.

In 2-3 years, I will get rid of a car due to auto insurance issue (just keep one) - not very much needed since I retired last year.

GLIFX/GLFOX is old-timey infrastructure that I would put in the category with widow and orphan investments. It's pretty much The Electric Company, Waterworks, and the Pennsylvania, Short Line, B&O, and Reading railroads.
I still own a chunk of GLFOX in my taxable that I bought on 3/18/2020. I become attached to such purchases. I sold a more recent position in GLIFX from the IRA in order to simplify it. I don't feel that need with the taxable. The proceeds from that sale went into IYK and FSUTX.
I think any discussion of new opportunistic infrastructure funds is incomplete without mentioning water funds. Start with PHO or FIW if you are H2O curious.
There are global water funds, but they have faced rougher sledding over the past three years. You could start with PIO and TBLU. I'm not smart enough to imagine how they might perform in the tariff regime promised by our new president.

Sold SCHD, JQUA and BIMIX. Decided that we weren’t going to build on them. Used part of the sale for starter positions in ICMUX and CBLDX. Like the horsepower in the former and the smoothness in the latter.
Really conflicted with a long time, large position in VWIAX (Wellesley). The last 3 years have been troubling even with the slight uptick in 2024. Looking for an exit there…

@Sven I looked up "short term bond" & received back, "Short-term bonds are debt securities that mature within one to four years:" Would you agree or more likely stay with one year or shorter ?

There's no sale involved in a reverse mortgage (who would the buyer be?). You may be conflating Yogi's two paragraphs. One is about reverse mortgages where you gradually borrow money against the value of your home. The other is about seller financed transactions where you loan the full sale amount and are gradually repaid.
Since they are different types of transactions, the mechanisms for continuing to live in your home are different. With a mortgage (forward or reverse) you continue to own the property so long as the mortgage isn't foreclosed. With a sale (seller financed or other), the buyer owns the home. You need to make some sort of arrangement (as a renter or as the holder of a life estate or owner for some period of years, or ...) to continue to use the property.

A reverse mortgage loan, like a traditional mortgage, allows homeowners to borrow money using their home as security for the loan.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, What is a Reverse Mortgage?
FHA-approved reverse mortgage lenders
https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/sfh/hecm/hecmlenders

@Derf,
I remember the chip was at eye level on the driver side. It was 5-10 years ago. The fix has held up. The kits are sold by all chain auto parts shops (Amazon might have it too). You have to use it before the chip becomes a spreading crack.
@Davidrmoran, So sorry for what you went through. I hope you make full recovery. I will keep the uninsured motorist insurance. I keep both bodily injury liabilities at $300/600k.