FYI: Every summer for the past several decades I have organized a series of Friday lunches in eastern Long Island for serious investors. More than 100 people attend the four sessions, with 25–30 at each one. The participants include hedge fund, private equity and real estate billionaires, venture capitalists, an academic and some corporate leaders. I moderate a discussion of the key issues facing the financial markets for the better part of two hours. This year, several significant events occurred between the first two and the second two sessions. First, the Federal Reserve cut the Fed funds interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point; second President Trump announced a 10% tariff increase on $300 billion of Chinese goods; third, China allowed its currency, the renminbi, to decline to more than seven to the dollar; and fourth, the Hong Kong disturbance took place.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2019/08/22/plenty_to_worry_about_but_not_much_for_investors_to_do_103868.html

It is true that while Merrill Lynch invented cash management accounts (CMAs) 42 years ago, Vanguard takes the opposite approach and focuses strictly on brokerage services. It was just three weeks ago that it discontinued its Vanguard Advantage CMA service. A service that it only offered to Voyager Select ($500K+) customers for $30/year and to Flagship ($1M+) customers for free.
But I wouldn't get too excited about Merrill Edge. This is a brokerage that sometimes sweeps free cash into a 0.05% APR bank account (Vanguard pays 2.11% on its VMFXX settlement fund), and sometimes just leaves the cash siting in the brokerage earning 0.00%. Even when it pays that paltry interest on the sweep money, it deposits that interest back into the 0% brokerage account where it may sit earning nothing. (What other bank refuses to credit interest on an account directly to the account that earned the interest?)

fascinating discussion. It's been a good 10 years in the market so I have reduced equity holdings to about 50%. More of a tactical move though. Probably more driven by my fears of what the great idiot is going to do. I have alot in money markets and short term treasuries right now. Waiting for some kind of move and will probably open an initial position in IOFIX. @bee what are you doing with your "income milk."

It is closed unless you purchase directly from Vanguard. (M* lists it as limited, not closed.)
From the summary prospectus:

Important Note Regarding Vanguard Wellington Fund
Vanguard Wellington Fund will be closed to all prospective financial advisory, institutional, and intermediary clients (other than clients who invest through a Vanguard brokerage account).

Vanguard fund page: https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/VWELX

If I want to move money into or out of my Vanguard account, I have to initiate the transfer at Vanguard. I cannot have another institution initiate the transfer.
My preference is to initiate all transfers (in and out) and all bill pays at a central institution. That makes it easier for me to track. It also means that regardless of where I want to move money to or from, I know I can do it from a single place.
Here's a Bogleheads thread on how Vanguard restricts ACH transfers from an external account:
https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=125763
And how to set up ACH transfers that you initiate from the Vanguard side:
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/whatweoffer/accountservices/banking

@Crash, if you want to play you can get in at any amount of whole shares. At $1.15 per share on that stock you can spend $11.50 for 10 shares (without trading costs). Have some fun!

@Bee, I have a large cash pile from account consolidations in recent years that for the most part has yet to be deployed into anything other than rolling-over t-bills. I've been using that dry powder to buy new / add to existing positions in recent weeks to my otherwise rather healthy longterm portfolios and am becoming more aggressive b/c I hate to have it just sitting there.
(I don't consider that cash as part of my investment 'holdings' per se, which is why I say that 90% of what I'm invested in are stocks and stock funds -- I don't own much FI or alts or commodities, etc.)

@rforno, if you are presently 90 % invested in equities and your equities tank, how will you by equities hand over fist? One needs cash or non-equity correlated assets to exchange into equities when they fall in price.
Over the last couple of years I have milk my equity cows when they have out performed. That milk represents growth above the long term average for that investment ( for example I use yearly growth above 10% as my trigger for Large Cap).
This "milk" is stored for future retirement income to pay for things) or, as you mentioned, to potentially buy things on sale.
So far I have enough stored "income milk" for 3 - 5 years. This should keep me from selling my equities when they temporarily tank.
My next goal is to store some dry powder from out sized gains if equities continue to out perform.

@rforno, if you are presently 90 % invested in equities and your equities tank, how will you buy equities "hand over fist"? One needs cash or non-equity correlated assets to exchange into equities when they fall in price.
Over the last couple of years I have milk my equity cows when they have out performed. That milk represents growth above the long term average for that investment (for example, I use yearly growth above 10% as my "milking trigger" for Large Cap).
This "milk" is stored for future retirement income (to pay for things) or, as you mentioned, to potentially buy things on sale.
So far I have enough stored "income milk" for 3 - 5 years. This should keep me from being forced to sell equities when they are temporarily under valued.
My next goal is to store some dry powder from out sized gains if equities continue to out perform. This could serve as a source of money to buy equities when they temporarily go on sale.
Your thoughts?

@Crash, try BDRBF, without the dot. That's the symbol at Schwab.
This stock is down 65% since last October. What makes it interesting to you? Just curious.

I wish I had some "play money." I might go after Bombardier. I've looked at its stats. And I've seen a couple of very recent news items about the company and its stock. It used to be spread all over from hell to breakfast. The Province of Quebec had to come to its rescue. Bombardier is currently busy getting focused again on just a couple of money-making avenues. Analysts like what they see. This is a company which is restructuring and seemingly has nowhere to go but up. It has been around since 1951, if I recall correctly, making snow-go machines and specialty Arctic transport vehicles. No more. Corporate jets are one emphasis. And I see Bombardier has a contract to service a bunch of trains over in England. The company is pulling out of military and commercial aircraft products, too. Quebec has too much at stake to let this established, legacy name just fail.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rail-deal-to-help-keep-bombardier-on-track-rlmtl9m5j
https://dsm.forecastinternational.com/wordpress/2019/08/19/a-new-bombardier-aviation-is-formed-as-it-exits-commercial-aerospace/
https://www.morningstar.com/stocks/pinx/bdrbf/quote
Morningstar rates it at a -37% discount to fair value right now. "Simply Wall Street" rates it currently at a -50% discount to fair value.

I have been reading about all the woes about to befall the junk bond market because of how levered companies are, the maturity wall, etc. for several years now. I would love to exploit it but the opportunity of a lifetime and most likely to never be seen in anyone’s lifetime was 2009 when the Merrill Lynch High Yield Master II Index was up something like 56%. Back in 2008 junk bonds were predicting a default rate (21%) much worse than what occurred during the Great Depression (16%). The next recession may be shallower than most predict and junk bonds at worst will be down more akin to late 2015/early 2016 when oil prices crashed. We heard this same pessimistic song and dance about junk bonds in late 2018 but in reality what occurred was all times highs in 2019.

@Crash, try BDRBF, without the dot. That's the symbol at Schwab.
This stock is down 65% since last October. What makes it interesting to you? Just curious.

Stops are generally defensive orders (hence "stop loss"). You place a stop sell order on a security you own at a price below the current market price. That way, you protect against backsliding too much. (If you're looking to buy a security, you place a stop buy order above market price, so that you catch the trend before it runs away from you.)
The problem is that a jolt to the market could cause a sharp, temporary downward spike. That would trigger your stop order, but because the market was moving rapidly, your sell order could execute at a price well below your trigger price. Then the jolt subsides, the stock price recovers, and you're out a pretty penny. Stop limit orders address this situation. Perhaps that's the kind of order entry you're seeing at Firstrade?
Schwab: Mastering the Order Types: Stop-Limit Orders
https://www.schwab.com/active-trader/insights/content/mastering-order-types-stop-limit-orders
Firstrade stock trading screen:

With regard to free, or even $4.95 trades not being profitable, surely you've heard the old punchline: we lose money on every trade but we make it up in volume.

FYI: Applying religious screens to mutual funds and ETFs is sometimes compared to investing with one hand tied behind your back, but that's just fine for a large and growing number of investors.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=lRRdXY2hBMuosgXmqoyIDg&q=+Investing+Faith-based+funds+attract+loyal+investors+&oq=+Investing+Faith-based+funds+attract+loyal+investors+&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i299.8802.8802..10138...0.0..0.149.240.1j1......0....2j1..gws-wiz.6j-rvgiB9gI&ved=0ahUKEwjNv77a2JPkAhVLlKwKHWYVA-EQ4dUDCAc&uact=5

FYI: Our guest on the podcast today is Rob Arnott. Arnott is partner and chairman of the board of Research Affiliates, a firm he established in 2002, following stints at First Quadrant and Salomon Brothers. He also runs several prominent mutual funds, including PIMCO All Asset. In addition to these duties, Arnott is an accomplished thought leader, having published more than 100 articles in professional journals. Among other plaudits for his work, he has received seven Graham and Dodd Scrolls, awarded by the CFA Institute to the top financial analyst journal articles of the year. An innovator, Arnott popularized the concept of fundamental indexation, which some refer to as smart beta.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.morningstar.com/articles/943058/arnott-dont-sleep-on-value-investing-especially-emerging-markets-value

@wxman123 Hello. How does Firstrade manage NOT to charge any commission at all on standard stock trades? I just opened an account. I see that electronic statements are the norm. Paper statements through the mail incur a charge. But are not all such companies required still, to send official tax documents by snail-mail? They wanted a phone number, so I gave them 111-111-1111. The wonderful system gave me no arguments. I've not funded it, yet.

I'm not sure but I've been with FT for many years and never had a problem. Very secure, I get an email with every login. The website is basic but easy to use. You also need to download quicken files to update if you use Quicken BUT they do offer free MS and still use the older (usable) format. I don't think brokerages earn much charging 4.95 a trade. The free trades is probably a loss leader. They pay almost nothing on idle cash so you will need to buy a cash equivalent fund/etf.

@davidmoran: I already stuck it !
Regards,
Ted :)
M*: Want To Test Your Managers' Mettle? Ask Them To Work Backward: (VCHOX):
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/52169/m-want-to-test-your-managers-mettle-ask-them-to-work-backward-vchox#latest
M*: How To Lose A Lawsuit: (MWTIX) - (FKUSX)
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/52171/m-how-to-lose-a-lawsuit-mwtix-fkusx#latest

and this:
https://www.morningstar.com/articles/943057/want-to-test-your-managers-mettle-ask-them-to-work-backward

Cool.. In 25 yrs most of us will eat veggies because of global warming

Updated:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/915802/000139834419014680/fp0045254_497.htm
497 1 fp0045254_497.htm
FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST
RiverFront Asset Allocation Income & Growth
RiverFront Asset Allocation Growth
SUPPLEMENT DATED AUGUST 20, 2019 TO THE SUMMARY PROSPECTUSES,
PROSPECTUS AND STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
DATED FEBRUARY 28, 2019,
AS SUPPLEMENTED FROM TIME TO TIME
This Supplement updates certain of the information previously provided in the supplement dated June 13, 2019.
At a meeting held on June 11-12, 2019, the Board of Trustees of Financial Investors Trust (the “Trust”) approved Agreements and Plans of Reorganization providing for the reorganization of RiverFront Asset Allocation Income & Growth and RiverFront Asset Allocation Growth, each a series of the Trust (each, a “Target Fund” and collectively, the “Target Funds”) into RiverFront Asset Allocation Moderate and RiverFront Asset Allocation Growth & Income, respectively, each a series of the Trust (each, an “Acquiring Fund”) (each, a “Reorganization” and collectively, the “Reorganizations”).
Shareholders of each Target Fund as of the close of business on August 20, 2019 will receive more information about such Target Fund’s Reorganization in a separate information statement. The Reorganizations do not require shareholder approval and therefore no action is being requested of shareholders. The closing of the Reorganizations will occur in the 3rd quarter of 2019 with an expected date of on or about September 9, 2019.
As a result of the Reorganizations, shareholders of each Target Fund will become shareholders of the corresponding Acquiring Fund. Shareholders of each Target Fund will receive shares of the corresponding Acquiring Fund with an aggregate value equal to the aggregate value of their shares of the Target Fund held immediately prior to the Reorganization. After the Reorganizations are complete, the Target Funds will be liquidated and terminated. Each of the Reorganizations is expected to be a tax-free, therefore shareholders should not realize a tax gain or loss as a direct result of the Reorganization. The expenses incurred in connection with the Reorganizations will be paid by ALPS Advisors, Inc.
Purchases with respect to the Target Funds have been disallowed since the close of business on June 21, 2019.
INVESTORS SHOULD RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

Yay! Let's all put all our faith in AI; that way we won't have to be bothered to think for ourselves any more. Let's just use whatever tools are available to us without understanding their inherent limitations, or the assumptions that are baked into them. The little discussion surrounding Monte Carlo methods was a good example; it's one possible means to an end.
Maybe it's just me, but I've always been one to check my assumptions when someone's version of reality doesn't jive with mine. WRT VG's calculator, what I would have done (even before consulting the calculator) was laid out an expected set of annual expenditures- a tentative spending plan of sorts. It doesn't become my 'budget' until I decide to adopt it and control my spending to conform to it. If my spending plan says that I need $190K/yr despite some automated thing telling me that I need $225K/yr, I say WTF? One of us clearly doesn't understand the problem. If I decide to go ahead with an annuity, and there is going to be a shortfall of $TBD, it's incumbent on me to revisit my spending plan and make adjustments. You know, cash-flow management.