Anyone who wants to see 'only' those discussions with comments merely needs to click on the "Discussions +" category in the far left column upon logging into the Discussion Board. This negates those discussions that have had no comments since posting which may or may not be indicative of overall general interest. It also reduces the amount of scrolling needed to find a particular post. I might add that the 'Search' box also provides that capability. Readers that also want to follow a particular post can bookmark it and retrieve it quickly as well.
One other thing - if you think that posts of interest get scrolled off of the main page to quickly for your liking you should have been a poster here back in the days of Ted who almost regularly posted conservatively 15-20 new discussions per day. If anything that is probably an understatement.
To be honest what I really believe I am hearing you say is that you want this discussion board to operate the way you want it to or you will not participate. Obviously that's your choice but everyone else try's to play by the rules realizing that they may not be exactly what we think they should be. In my experience this is by far the friendliest discussion board you are likely to encounter IMHO.

Added vanguard 2045 and vppcx today..one bond matured

@_FD1000 yes sir indeed..gots lots divs came in from one bond called and other misc-Divs...will convert them into vgstx vppcx and vtivx (2045) since still overweight in bonds

I want to give a 'shout out' to @TheShadow for providing the SEC files for new funds and status of existing funds (opens/closes). 95% of the time (except for recently), I come here just to see these filing by clicking his 'user name' and 'discussions'. One of the most useful posts in the discussions section of the site.

Ignore gold shills.
Rebalancing is not too hard. Don't be afraid of capital gains taxes, they are at historic lows if you have little or no earned income.
I am wary of bond funds. As I shave off my stock index fund gains little by little, I've actually been buying individual bonds of 1 to 2 year duration until recently. The offerings really dried up in January, though, and even money markets are paying more than 1-2 year near-junk-grade stuff. Once rates hit zero (and I think they will) what will happen to valuations? I dunno.
My calculations say I can live for a few years off my for-now 3% bond ladder yield so I am buying my time. 15% cash as well, shooting for higher.
Don't forget that I-series savings bonds pay over 2% if you are willing to hold them a long time.

A later headline - Franklin Buys Legg Mason in Effort to Survive Passive Era
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/franklin-resources-nears-cash-deal-071816557.html
Good luck to the affected investors. I remember when my workplace 403-B withTempleton became part of the Franklin group. IMHO - the former Templeton funds lost something in the process. One benefit, however, was that Franklin picked up Mutual Shares around the same time and it did open up additional interesting opportunities.
More recently, my small stake in Oppenheimer (started in the 90s) became part of Invesco. Both have / had higher fees, but my sense is that Invesco’s are a bit more moderate. Not a pleasant experience to go through, as at least 2 of the Oppenheimer funds I’d used previously are being merged into Invesco funds or eliminated: OUSGX, OQGAX.

Look like a done deal. Got an email this morning:
"Legg Mason, the majority owner of Royce Investment Partners, to be acquired by Franklin Templeton
"Transaction Structured to Ensure Continued Autonomy of Royce Organization
New York, NY February 18, 2020 – Royce Investment Partners, a small-cap equity specialist for more than 45 years, announced that its parent company, Legg Mason, is being acquired by Franklin Templeton, a global investment management organization. Royce Investment Partners will continue to operate as an independent investment organization with its own brand to reinforce the distinctiveness of Royce’s investment culture and processes. There are no changes planned to the management of the organization or investment teams as a result of this transaction."
Well, I've had a good nearly-20-year run with RYPNX. It was a good performer if not particularly tax efficient, and their shareholder communications were always interesting.
I was a reluctant participant in an employer's overpriced underperforming Franklin 401k once and Franklin's on my list of hated fund companies. But I'm not tempted to bail out right away as long as their fees don't go any higher, and current management sticks around.

Yes it is unfortunate now it is $ 250 a year for anything but the most basic tools.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-18/franklin-resources-is-said-near-all-cash-deal-to-buy-legg-mason
or
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3542525-franklin-resources-nears-deal-for-legg-mason

Hi @Mark
At this time, I don't share the views in the M* write; but thank you for the link.
Our portfolio has it's equity side in the large cap growth area with technology and the side sauce being healthcare and medical technology equity. The technology areas continue to travel the hot path. Our continued concern is what will become of the COVID19 virus and its impact on supply chain for various sectors. Tech. in particular could be an overwhelming favorite for profit taking.
***30 year bond yield dropped below 2%
Side note: Much reduced Chinese tours globally is going to cause many local problems; although not directly related to most investment areas. But, money not spent; may become a problem for consumers who rely on tourism.
Maintaining a clear and mindful eye globally.
I mostly agree with this short write regarding potential problem areas and the continued spending by American on just about everything, apparently. Most of the restaurants in our greater metro area remain busy, even on days I thought they wouldn't.
Folks are spending the money they have or pushing it forward with a credit card. This, in spite of what I consider being a fairly expensive market place; especially for a family dinner.
Still sleeping without problems.
Catch

Rebalancing is a pretty easy task for me. Since I am not using distributions yet for expenses, I generally will put them where I want to build a position. Right now all goes into my favorite bond OEF.

+1. Brilliant. Why didn't I think of that? :)

Feb 14, 2020 , Reuters Feb 14 (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway:
* BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY TAKES SHARE STAKE OF 18.9 MILLION SHARES IN KROGER- SEC FILING
* BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY UPS SHARE STAKE IN GENERAL MOTORS CO BY 3.8% TO 75.0 MILLION SHARES - SEC FILING
* BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY UPS SHARE STAKE IN RH BY 41.4% TO 1.7 MILLION SHARES
* BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY UPS SHARE STAKE IN OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP BY 153.5% TO 18.9 MILLION SHARES
* BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC - CHANGE IN HOLDINGS ARE AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2019

Sorry @catch, I'm missing what your point or conclusion is on owning physical gold vs an ETF. There is no load on the ETF (a .25% expense ratio though on IAU) but as you point out there is a sales charge in and out of physical gold. Is that your point that the return is less for physical?

@joe74 posted some of what I was constructing below, though I may still be filling in a little:
"other EM debt local currency funds". Is either fund primarily invested in unhedged, locally denominated debt?
Vanguard says of its fund that "the majority of bonds are expected to be invested in in U.S. dollar-denominated bonds or hedged back to the U.S. dollar. "
Meanwhile, until this month, Matthews benchmarked MAINX against the Markit iBoxx Asian Local Bond Index. According to the fund prospectus, Mathews just changed the fund's benchmark to 50% of this index, and 50% of J.P. Morgan Asia Credit Index, which is dollar-denominated. That seems to suggest that the fund had been invested primarily in local currency bonds but has recently moved closer to a 50/50 mix (currently 54% in US dollars).
With international investments, currency movements can play such a large role in performance that much of the difference between funds can be explained by this alone. I'm not saying that's the case here. Rather the suggestion that these are local currency funds invites checking further into how accurate that is.
Other notable differences:
Vanguard is virtually all sovereign debt; Matthews is 20%. (From M*'s new portfolio pages for the funds.)
Most of the Matthews fund is invested in east/southeast Asia, with the remainder (19%) in south Asia (India, Sri Lanka), while little of Vanguard's fund is in either east/southeast Asia (5% in Indonesia, 2% in China) or south Asia (1% in India). The little exposure that Vanguard has in Asia comes from central Asia (a couple of "stans"), and from the Asian countries of the Middle East (Saudia Arabia, Bahrain, etc.). Very different regions.
Maybe Vanguard alters its mix depending on the investment climate, or maybe these are geographically complementary funds.
A quick check of (semi) annual reports suggests that the Vanguard fund has had consistently little interest in east/southeast/south Asia aside from Indonesia (4% - 8%).
March 31, 2016 report
Sept 30, 2016 report
March 31, 2017
Sept 30, 2017 report
March 31, 2018 report
Sept 30, 2018 report
March 31, 2019 report
Sept 30, 2019 report

Appears to be primarily government debt. Higher on quality scale. Exposure in Central and South America, some Middle East and Africa. Little Asia. Not sure about duration but yields around 5%. High turnover. Also about 5x the size of MAINX though half its age.

As to buying gold bullion, in my example; non-numismatic, as with American Gold Eagle or Canadian Maple Leaf, 1 oz.
One of the lowest cost Canadian Maple Leaf 1 oz, .999 bullion coins that I may purchase today (Feb. 16, 2020) has a 4.29% premium over the gold spot price. With the assumption that one may anticipate a 2-5% premium to buy and the same going into the sell side; a bullion purchase should have these numbers in mind.
To me, the equivalent is a load to buy/sell a mutual fund/etf.
Assuming whatever performance with a fund over a 10 year or whatever period, and using the above percentage range for bullion buy/sell using 4% for easy numbers; one would be buying a fund at a 4% premium and selling at a 4% discount. Front and back load city, eh?
Have a good remainder.

Just like anything else you read here and elsewhere. Got to do your homework and ascertain whether the data make sense.
Rupal Bhansali's Arial International fund is fair on its 3 and 5 year track record. FMI International is better choice with respect to return and risk. I look for consistency, low downside risk, and reasonable ER. Alex Umansky manages 5 Barons funds. Not one of my favorite fund family.

It was going bad for YEARS. I'm still not sure if they ever got all the data problems worked out .. but after a decade+ I quit a few years ago, and the forums there are a shadow of their former lively selves --- many of the regular posters there, including me, threw up our hands in disgust at their new horrid forum site.
If M*Premium was $50/yr I'd consider re-upping and paying for a few years at once. But IMO it is NOT worth the price they're charging for it, especially given many of the useful features/data they had have been removed and switched over to their professional platform instead.

A lot of peeps cancelled their premium membership after MS re-did the website and forum (making everything worse) last year.

Moved away from Matthews funds awhile back when Andrew Foster left. Nothing today at Matthews are truly exceptional but the fee are above average. I can always find more cheaper alternatives while having the same performance.
We owned MAINX in the past, but switched to Vanguard EM bond, VEGBX. The expense ratio is at 0.45%, less than half of that of MAINX.

https://www.investopedia.com/news/black-swan-investors-lose-big-stocks-thrive/
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-3-words-describe-one-black-swan-investors-approach-to-managing-his-5-billion-fund-through-a-market-crash-2020-02-13?siteid=rss&rss=1
Its very difficult to be more than 50% right w market timings...I think just go with the waves probably best ways forward