My task this year will be to start, in baby steps, to take T-IRA money and convert it into taxable accounts. I know I'm doing this prematurely, before RMDs must be taken, in 5 years' time. But when the time comes, my required RMDs will be not so big. A back-handed blessing. I'm tracking several funds that y'all suggested to me. Thanks.

Found this old post by Junkster concerning HOBEX concerning MLPs in retirement accounts:
https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/110225/#Comment_110225

DFDPX Dropped 42.20% in 2008, worse that the Large Growth category average. Agree with jim0445.

Taking the initiative to start a new B/S/P thread.
Bought starter set of 500sh TEAF (a Tortoise CEF) specializing in what I see as interesting alternative income investments.

I second Gary1952, AKREX it’s an excellent fund.
I’ve been transitioning POGRX into AKREX for two years and am very happy that I did.
The risk/reward profile is far superior to primecap. It is a bit pricey though.

I have noticed that the Brown Advisory website is ridiculously slow to load, trying just to get to the home-page. Further, it appears to me that someone (the idiot webmaster?) has decided to make it confusing to sign-into one's own account. You have to hit upon the correct webpage, and then it's standard procedure, and quite simple: username, password. But using google or yahoo or any other search engine brings up several other false links which LOOK like the one you'd probably want. I just did it again, just to see it. There's multiple clickable links for :
1. TouchPoint
2. Austin Clients (what about the REST of us??????)
3. Brokerage accounts
4. Mutual fund access (THIS is what we want)
5. something called "PIVOT."
6. something called "Trust Now."
...I'd have simply cut-and-pasted the URL link here, but this borrowed Mac makes it impossible to find where the actual URL link is hidden. Apple's done a great job of not making it obvious. The specific URL just isn't anywhere where it can be spotted, seen and identified. The only thing in the address-bar says "brownadvisory.com." About as helpful as a bicycle is to a dead carp.

Either the columns were briefly mislabeled or you misread them. They currently show a 2018 return of minus 9.46% and a YTD (as of 12/31/2019) of 17.07%.
As of 12/31/19, the year was 2019, so the YTD return was the return for 2019.
According to the FMIJX prospectus, the 2018 return was minus 9.46%.
According to FMI's Current Performance page, the 2019 return was 17.07%.

Invesco Oppenheimer Real Estate Fund will be reorganized into Invesco Real Estate Fund, a series portfolio of AIM Investment Securities Funds (Invesco Investment Securities Funds).
See towards the bottom of this link:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/105377/000119312519313341/d849009d497.htm

According to Morningstar's total return chart for FMIJX, as of 12/31/2019 the fund's 2019 total return was minus 9.46 and the Year to Date return was 17.07. How is this possible? Yesterday was December 31st. Today is Jan 1st, a holiday. How could a fund’s return rise by 26.53% literally overnight? Either there has been an error in the numbers or I am missing something. I have sent a message to Morningstar asking the same question.

@msf beat me to the punch (and no offense taken),
A recent SEC filing may shed some light:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1112996/000119312519313349/d849009d497k.htm
The reorganizations are expected to be consummated in or around April or May 2020. Upon closing of the reorganizations, shareholders of the Target Fund will receive shares of a class of an Acquiring Fund that are equal in value to the shares of the corresponding class of the corresponding Target Fund that the shareholders held immediately prior to the closing of the reorganization, and the Target Fund will liquidate and cease operations.
A combined Information Statement/Prospectus will be sent to shareholders of each Target Fund which will include a full discussion of the reorganization and the factors the Boards of Trustees considered in approving the Agreement. Shareholders of each Target Fund do not need to approve the reorganization.
It is currently anticipated that the Target Fund will close to new investors approximately two business days prior to the closing date of the reorganization to facilitate a smooth transition of Target Fund shareholders to the Acquiring Fund. All investors who are invested in the Target Fund as of the date on which the Target Fund closes to new investors and remain invested in the Target Fund may continue to make additional investments in their existing accounts and may open new accounts in their name. The Acquiring Fund will remain open for purchase during this period.
The above link was in the "Invesco/Aim Funds name changes & reorganizations (a lot of them too many to identify)" which is now in the Bullpen:
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/54627/invesco-aim-funds-name-changes-reorganizations-a-lot-of-them-too-many-to-identify
(See the fifth and eighth links in the hyperlink above)

Very likely. These three funds (and many others) are being acquired by other existing funds. In the case of five-star OUSGX, that's being absorbed by three-star STBAX.
With apologies to Shadow, who likely already posted this SEC filing, here's a short (2 page) filing on the acquisitions:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/105377/000119312519313341/d849009d497.htm
It says that "The reorganizations are expected to be consummated in or around April or May 2020." Also that "It is currently anticipated that the Target [old] Fund will close to new investors approximately two business days prior to the closing date of the reorganization to facilitate a smooth transition."
Maybe they just decided to close off new investments early, especially since it seems that the acquiring funds already exist and are open for business. As you wrote, communications don't seem to be great here. Maybe the notation just means that you should expect the fund to be closed soon. Or maybe the legal beagles just haven't communicated to the tech staff that the restrictions are not to be implemented now but in the future.

Just my opinion based on what is available at Schwab brokerage--not sure about other brokerages, but here are some of the lower volatility, low risk bond oefs you might consider for your taxable account:
Short Term Investment Grade bond oefs--DBLSX/DLSNX is a very solid, very conservative fund, which I periodically use as a very safe haven option. DHEAX/DHEIX is very similar to DBLSX/DLSNX, but with a bit better TR and yield. FIJEX is a hidden gem short term bond fund, in the institutional class but cheap to buy, but holds lower class investment grade bond oefs that has produced more volatility but higher TR than most short term bond oefs.
Low risk nontraditional bond oefs--MWCRX/MWCIX is one of my favorites and cheap to buy. CUBAX is very similar to MWCRX and cheap to buy. PMZIX/PMZAX is an excellent fund from PIMCO, with a solid TR history, good yield, and PIMCO investment expertise--it is not as tax efficient as some funds buy very conservative. SEMMX/SEMPX is a low volatililty, very consistent TR fund, with higher TR and yield than almost any of the lower volatility funds available--holdings are more in the HY category but excellent management history to control risk with solid TR. IISIX/ISIAX is a great TR fund, very similar to more aggressive multisector bond oefs, but pays a solid yield--not as good tax efficiency as other nontraditional bond oefs.
Short Duration HY bond oefs--ZEOIX is an excellent fund, and institutional class fund, but cheap to buy at Schwab--very consistent and low risk performance history. AAHMX is another excellent fund, with a slightly better TR history. SSTHX is another good fund.
Short Term Muni Bond funds, with emphasis on investment grade bonds: BTMIX is my favorite, but other good funds are VMPAX, and ORSTX.
HY short duration Muni Bond oefs: NVHAX and SDHAX are my favorites and much lower risk than most HY Muni Bond oefs. NVHAX had a significant peak to trough performance in the 2015/2016 meltdown, but since then has been solid as a low risk Muni option.

I agree that I don't want to turn over my personal information to obtain an annual report, which I did see on their website.
Here is a list of their holdings as of 9/30/19 (11/27/19 from the SEC filing) fwiw:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1548609/000114554919049272/sustainablegrowth-nport.htm

Yeah I could go to the SEC for the required reporting but normally a fund company would have links to their own annual reports hosted on their site. I find it odd that it's not the case here. And if what I'm looking for - ie a fund's annual report - is indeed contained in the 'sustainable' report they offer on their site, on principle I refuse to fork over my contact information to access it, and would question their decision to require obtaining marketing information before allowing (prospective) investors to access fund/firm documents most other companies publish 'for free'. They're not catering these funds to so-called accredited investors anyway.
... or maybe I'm being overly grumpy and/or just haven't found the correct link on their site yet.

There is a "sustainable" page on Brown's website (not sure if it has the fund you are looking for though):
https://www.brownadvisory.com/us/investment-strategies
or try the SEC link I attached:
https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/series?ticker=biawx&CIK=&sc=companyseries&type=N-PX&Find=Search
From the SEC link above, here is a 485BPOS filing as of 10/31/19:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1548609/000089418919007325/baf_485b.htm

There is a "sustainable" page on Brown's website (not sure if it has the fund you are looking for though):
https://www.brownadvisory.com/us/investment-strategies
or try the SEC link I attached:
https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/series?ticker=biawx&CIK=&sc=companyseries&type=N-PX&Find=Search
From the SEC link above, here is a 485BPOS filing as of 10/31/19:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1548609/000089418919007325/baf_485b.htm

From the AAII Journal, January 2020. Written by Julie Jason.
"For those who are soon to retire or have recently retired, there is an inflection point between receiving a paycheck from an employer and a paycheck from your portfolio. For retirees who rely on their investments for retirement income, it is also one of the riskiest, if not the riskiest, time in an investor’s life. After all, you won’t go back to work for 45 years to recover from mistakes.
What type of financial service is best for the retiree who needs to “live off of” their investments?"
ARTICLE

dtconroe mentioned 1 possible fund above. It is DBLSX. It is low duration not short term bond. 1 step up in volatility.

I have DLSNX - the class N share with a minimum of $2000 and an SEC yield of around 2.66%. I use it as a cash alternative and have actually found it less volatile than all of my other short term funds - and even ultrashort funds. I highly recommend it.

There has been a range to around 15%. I’m too lazy and I only allocate 7-8% of my AA. This info is from M* and they are notorious for bad info. I am not so worried about the ER as long as the fund performs. 35% this year.

https://www.newsmax.com/t/finance/article/947882?section=robertross&keywords=history-longest-bull-market&year=2019&month=12&date=31&id=947882&oref=www.google.com
Why History's Longest Bull Market Is Just Getting Started
'Doom and gloom predictions about the stock market drive click. I get it.
But those predictions have fallen flat for 10 years straight.
U.S. stocks keep marching higher, and history’s longest bull market keeps getting longer.
Here’s a chart of the S&P 500 since February 2009. It’s climbed 325%:'

In NYS your tax bracket won't be that much lower in retirement - the first dollar of taxable income is taxed at 4%, and it doesn't take much ($23K for couples) to see that go up to 5.25% or even 5.9% (at $28K).
Of course NYS doesn't tax SS, so let's say that you'll be saving around 2% on the difference in rates between now and when you retire. (NY recaptures the deduction by taxing the past contributions when you make nonqualified withdrawals. See IT-201 Line 22.)
Assuming that the excess contributions earn a cumulative return of at least 20% over the years, the 10% penalty on the earnings will more than wipe out any savings on the NYS side.
Beyond that, what you've got is essentially a non-deductible IRA. The money goes in post-tax (federal), the earnings are sheltered, and then taxed as ordinary income rather than cap gains/qualified divs when withdrawn.
Post-tax contributions can make sense if you're planning to invest in very tax-inefficient funds, like the 529 Income Portfolio. But if you're planning on investing in something more tax-efficient, I don't think that nondeductible contributions pay off.
Here's another way to ask the question: are there readers who would contribute to a nondeductible IRA if they could not convert it to a Roth? If this is not a winner, and if the 10% penalty consumes any benefit you get from the (temporary) NYS tax deduction, then there's not an obvious benefit in making the excess contributions.