FYI: Retirement plan sponsors, participants and many advisors often struggle to determine how much someone can safely spend in retirement – now, there’s an easy-to-use tool for that.
On Wednesday, BlackRock launched the LifePath Spending Tool, designed to help retirees estimate spending over the course of their lifetimes. The tool is initially being shared with retirement plan sponsors, but over time will be made available to the general public via BlackRock’s website.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/blackrock-launches-retirement-spending-tool-for-plans-37754.html?print

Would anyone comment on the etf DIVY? This is a great owl alternative fund that I can find very little info about apart from the issuer's marketing material. The etf has done its job since it started in 2015 but not received very much investor interest. Is there a liquidity risk when trading at these volumes? Any thoughts on the viability of this ETF would be appreciated!

Related news
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelfoster/2018/03/20/how-to-buy-your-favorite-stocks-for-19-off/#5fd1b1da5ec6
How To Buy Your Favorite Stocks For 19% Off
M. Foster

It's really hard to get an SEC yield down to zero. In a sense, a fund's SEC yield is an average of its individual bonds' yield to worst (maturity or call). It's very rare that someone would buy a bond that pays out less than it costs (better to stick that cash under a mattress). Perhaps if one is making a currency bet that the foreign currency would appreciate more than the bond would lose value in local terms. But generally, don't expect a zero or below SEC yield.
BBC, Why use negative interest rates: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32284393
More likely, it's an error. M* doesn't compute SEC yields, it gets the figures from the funds themselves. If the figure is too old, M* doesn't report a figure at all (it doesn't use zero as a placeholder).
M* glossary: SEC Yield. http://www.morningstar.com/InvGlossary/sec_yield.aspx
So if an SEC yield looks strange, it's best to go straight to the source - the fund itself. T. Rowe Price reports the SEC yield (as of 2/28/18) to be 3.54%.
https://www3.troweprice.com/fb2/fbkweb/snapshot.do?ticker=PRSNX

@bee - if you've got income to allow adding money to your own Roth, and you don't need the RMD, then using the RMD to fund the Roth seems like a great idea.
@Graust - strange as it may seem, FKINX is not load waived at Fidelity (though FISCX is).
https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/mutual-funds/summary/353496300?type=o-NavBar

Franklin Income Fund Class A
Transaction Fee/Load1 • See Fund Picks from Fidelity® for no transaction fee alternatives

@msf,
As a matter of instruction to beneficiaries of an inherited Roth IRA, and so long as the beneficiaries have earned income in the year of RMDs... could you imagine (Jay-dreaming here) a strategy where the Inherited Roth IRA withdrawal is used to strategically fund the inheritance's own individual Roth IRA?
It would seem the withdrawal (both required and voluntary) from the inherited Roth could provide a funding source for an individual to contribute to their own Roth IRA ($5500 or $6500...catch up).
As you have said money is fungible, but when money is unexpectedly blessed through inheritance, especially Roth (tax free) inheritance...keeping a Roth a Roth seems like the Roth thing to do.

Thanks @Old_Skeet for the suggestion. Franklin is also well known for its Income Fund FKINX (FRIAX...low ER, High minimum option). M* star is quoting performance YTD for FISCX closer to 5% (4.93%).
A no load version of FISCX is FCSZX. ER of .59, though requires a $100k investment through my brokerage.
Has anyone invested in high minimum funds and do these funds require one to maintain that high minimum?
Jaywalking...@msf?

FSICX is load waived af Fido. As is FKINX. Low minimums, especially in retirement accounts

Not sure how SEP-IRAs entered this thread, but many institutions provide them for free, since they're little more than traditional IRAs. I opened a free one at Fidelity about a decade ago. As I vaguely recall, I opened it for a partial year where I couldn't have contributed more had I created an individual (solo) 401(k) account instead.
Main upside is simplicity:, no special filings (no 5500 form), basically follows IRA rules (including April 15 deadline to open). Main downsides are lower contribution limits than for individual 401(k), and no Roth option is available.
Inherited Roth IRAs and all Roth 401(k)s (post-retirement) are subject to RMDs. Note that if a surviving spouse treats an inherited IRA as his or her own, the assets are transferred to a different IRA in the spouse's name and there is no longer an inherited IRA.

at vanguard sepIRA free if you have enough capital. I think we pay tax nor or pay whenyou are 59.5 yo, either way would be big payments

No, the account at Fidelity where I keep this low balance MMF is a Roth IRA. (SEPs and Keoghs have a $500 maintenance min, while traditional and Roth IRAs supposedly require you to keep $10K in the fund.)
Though that account is subject to RMDs, in case that makes a difference. That's why I keep a small amount of cash around in the account.

@MikeM - ?
See if this comes up:
https://www4.troweprice.com/iws/wps/wcm/connect/cb07f2804dc1463caf7dbf2f8c725be8/RetirementFunds_Glidepath_HardCard.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=cb07f2804dc1463caf7dbf2f8c725be8

@bee, I also find it very confusing on TRP's side. The funds named "Retirement" are essentially asset allocation funds. I don't believe they change much if at all in equity/bond allocation. They should be called more appropriately '60:40 fund', or '50:50 fund' or '70:30 fund', whatever the allotment.
My 401k was with TRP for many years. I can remember them sending information a couple years ago when they decided to go the 'target date' and the 'retirement' funds as different style offerings. I don't remember the rationale .

@MikeM, That's interesting.
I have a 65 year old friend working and participating in a "mandatory 401K plan" through his employer.
Related IRS Reg change:
corporate.findlaw.com/corporate-governance/irs-approves-mandatory-401-k-contributions-if-appropriate.html
Getting a little deeper into the weeds...your ticker (PAIRX) is the advisor share class with a (.43) Expense ratio. TRRUX is the slimmed down ER version at (.18). My friend share class offered through John Hancock (plan administrator) has it's own ticker different from either PAIRX or TRRBX and I am now wondering if it is a TDF or a RF. I made the assumption they were one in the same. Hancock's version of TRRUX or TRRBX carries an ER closer to 1.18% vs 0.18% from TRPrice...so much for lower costs for investors.
TRPrice also offers a "Personal Strategy Income Fund", (PRSIX), which seems to be a pretty close slice of bread when compared to TRRUX. Is PRSIX the fund a retiree settles into once their TDF reached its target date or do they settle into a Retirement Fund?
Finally, For each coinciding Target Date Fund their is a Retirement Fund with a similar year designation offered at TRP. T.Rowe Price has Retirement Funds (2010, 2015, 2020, 2030, 2040, 2050) and Target Date Funds (2010, 2015, 2020, 2030, 2040, 2050)...I'm confused!

@bee, not sure if you know the difference between the TRP "Target Date" funds and the TRP "Retirement" Funds. My understanding is the target date funds reduce equity as they get closer to the stated date. The retirement funds keep the same equity bond distribution. For example the TRP 2020 target date fund (PAIRX) has 45% stocks. The 2020 retirement fund (TRRBX) you used in you chart is around 60% stocks.
I think your analysis and post was much better than the rather useless article though.

You will get the best information on these funds directly at the fund sponsor's website.
You can get general info from a site such as cefa.com or M*
https://www.cefa.com/FundSelector/FundDetail.fs?ID=4350
Lastly I suggest this M* discussion forum site if you have specific questions:
http://socialize.morningstar.com/NewSocialize/forums/100000006.aspx

Hi bee.. Great question
45 yo.
Value investor. Hate to loose $$
100% index stocks with 401k all across board (spy mid stock em etc)
50/50 with private investment

I will add this... for those invested in TDF and within 15 years of retirement:
Do some homework. Figure out your retirement income sources and your likely retirement budget.
Any shortfall will need to be made up by withdrawing from other investments. This should be considered "safe asset money".
Find some alternatives to even the most conservative TDF (TRRBX for example). Here are a few funds that I quickly compared to TRBBX (VWINX, PRSIX, and AONIX).
Looking at the 2007-2009 time frame is important in this comparison. Find other funds to compare and possibly decide on a few that would appropriate for your "safe asset money" Funds.
Remember volatility can be both negative and positive:

@JohnN what is your "buying strategy"?
Are you a DCA investor?
What are you presently invested in?
What are your allocations?
What are your goals for these investments?
Where are you, age-wise, in your investment horizon...30,40,50,60,70,etc.
Hard to suggest investments without goals, age, tolerance to risk, allocations, etc.

Thanks @Old_Skeet for the suggestion. Franklin is also well known for its Income Fund FKINX (FRIAX...low ER, High minimum option). M* star is quoting performance YTD for FISCX closer to 5% (4.93%).
A no load version of FISCX is FCSZX. ER of .59, though requires a $100k investment through my brokerage.
Has anyone invested in high minimum funds and do these funds require one to maintain that high minimum?
Jaywalking...@msf?

For melt up: great economic fundamentals, Fed that appears moderate to dovish, an administration eager to cut whatever taxes / regulations business wants it to
For "this is it": high valuations in nearly every market, several common signs of a peak (e.g. a clearly insane mania, now bitcoin, 20 years ago pets.com etc; or bigtime fraud, now Theranon, then Enron), possible trade war, an executive branch that appears (to me) utterly incapable of handling any kind of crisis, and the chance that Mueller will find a smoking gun and political instability will result.
Hard to say what it'll be, but I've been slowly selling equities, bringing my allocation down to 65% from 80%.