https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/know-these-3-facts-to-avoid-paying-half-your-retirement-income-to-the-irs-january-30-2020
Know These 3 Facts to Avoid Paying Half Your Retirement Income to the IRS - January 30, 2020
If you do not make a required minimum distribution (RMD) from your own or an inherited IRA by the specified deadline, the IRS could hit you with a big penalty - 50%! For example, if you were required to withdraw a minimum of $4,000 and you did not, you would be obliged to pay $2,000. Plus, beginning January 1, 2020, the rules concerning RMDs were updated.

(From John’s link) “In a recent survey, Schroders Investment Management questioned 1,004 men and women aged 45 to over 70 about retirement planning. ... Some 55% of respondents admitted they didn't know how their assets were allocated.”
This might explain that: Vanguard: More than half of DC participants investing solely in target-date funds Story
Makes sense to me that if someone who is not financially inclined defaults to their 401-K (or other employee plan’s) target date fund they would not be able to explain the “ins & outs“ of how that fund invests. Seems to me those funds are designed for precisely that kind of individual.
It would be nice if they all became fund junkies like most of us here - but that is not the reality. I don’t think any amount of citizenry education is likely to alter that. However, as one moves from contribution years to distribution years it’s likely their interest in financial matters grows. Experience on this forum testifies to that subtle transition,

More Than Half of Retirement Savers Don't Know This
/You might be missing the very information you need to succeed in retirement.
Catherine Brock
Running a marathon without training is a bad idea. Same goes for betting your last $100 on lucky 17 at the roulette table, or trying to save for a comfortable retirement when you know little about investing. The odds of coming out ahead all around are pretty low./
https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/01/29/more-than-half-of-retirement-savers-dont-know-this.aspx
•••I do believe most or more than 95% of regular MFOers know about diversification distributions and reimbursements issues regarding investments firms /investments related issues

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3536491-emerging-markets-etfs-sink-red-for-year
Emerging markets ETFs sink into red for the year
Seeking Alpha
Emerging market indices are more or less proxies for China, so they've had a rough run the past few sessions thanks to coronavirus worry.
Chinese names make up five of the top ten holdings in the iShares Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:EEM), and a Taiwanese name (Taiwan Semi) makes for a sixth. The EEM is off 2.4% today and now about 5% for the year.
The Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:VWO) might be even a hair more weighted to China. It's off 2.25% today and also about 5% for the year.

It's an interesting situation. Just my personal opinion, but I equate value stocks with the old economy (20th Century) and growth stocks with the new economy (21st Century). And from my point of view I don't see value making a comeback and achieving parity with growth anytime soon - if at all. That's why I don't own any value funds, apart from one dividend growth fund (which is a core fund in reality).

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/277751/000119312520018227/d870665d497.htm
497 1 d870665d497.htm JANUS HENDERSON SMALL CAP VALUE FUND
Janus Investment Fund
Janus Henderson Small Cap Value Fund
Supplement dated January 29, 2020
to Currently Effective Prospectuses
Effective at the close of business on February 28, 2020 the following is added to the Shareholder’s Guide (or Shareholder’s Manual if you hold Class D Shares) of the Prospectuses following the “Redemptions” section.
CLOSED FUND POLICIES – JANUS HENDERSON SMALL CAP VALUE FUND
The Fund has limited sales of its shares because Janus Capital and the Trustees believe continued sales are not in the best interests of the Fund. Sales to new investors have generally been discontinued; however, investors who meet certain criteria described below may be able to purchase shares of the Fund. You may be required to demonstrate eligibility to purchase shares of the Fund before your investment is accepted. If you are a current Fund shareholder and close an existing Fund account, you may not be able to make additional investments in the Fund unless you meet one of the specified criteria. The Fund may resume sales of its shares at some future date, but it has no present intention to do so. Investors who meet the following criteria may be able to invest in the Fund: (i) existing shareholders invested in the Fund are permitted to continue to purchase shares through their existing Fund accounts (and, for shareholders of Class D Shares, by opening new Fund accounts) and to reinvest any dividends or capital gains distributions in such accounts, absent highly unusual circumstances; (ii) registered investment advisers (“RIAs”) may continue to invest in the Fund through an existing omnibus account at a financial institution and/or intermediary on behalf of existing or new clients; (iii) under certain circumstances, all or a portion of the shares held in a closed Fund account may be reallocated to a different form of ownership; this may include, but is not limited to, mandatory retirement distributions, legal proceedings, estate settlements, and the gifting of Fund shares; (iv) employer-sponsored retirement plans that are offered through existing retirement platforms which held a position in the Fund as of the date of the Fund’s closure, as well as employees of JHG and any of its subsidiaries covered under the JHG retirement plan; (v) Janus Capital encourages its employees to own shares of the Janus Henderson funds, and as such, employees of Janus Capital and its affiliates may open new accounts in the closed Fund; Trustees of the Janus Henderson funds and directors of JHG may also open new accounts in the closed Fund; (vi) Janus Capital “fund of funds,” which is a fund that primarily invests in other Janus Henderson mutual funds, may invest in the Fund; (vii) accounts maintained by a financial intermediary that invest pursuant to Janus Henderson proprietary model strategies; (viii); certain institutional investors approved by Janus Henderson Distributors, including but not limited to, corporations, certain retirement plans, public plans, and foundations and endowments; (ix) certain accounts maintained by a self-clearing financial intermediary for which investment decisions are determined by such financial intermediary’s home office recommended list and/or pursuant to such home office’s model portfolios (approved and/or research-covered fund lists are not included within this exception); and (x) in the case of certain mergers or reorganizations, retirement plans may be able to add the closed Fund as an investment option. Such mergers, reorganizations, acquisitions, or other business combinations are those in which one or more companies involved in such transaction currently offers the Fund as an investment option, and any company that as a result of such transaction becomes affiliated with the company currently offering the Fund (as a parent company, subsidiary, sister company, or otherwise). Such companies may request to add the Fund as an investment option under its retirement plan. Requests for new accounts into a closed Fund will be reviewed by management and may be permitted on an individual basis, taking into consideration whether the addition to the Fund is believed to negatively impact existing Fund shareholders.
Please retain this Supplement with your records.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Janus Investment Fund
Janus Henderson Small Cap Value Fund
Supplement dated January 29, 2020
to Currently Effective Statement of Additional Information
Effective at the close of business on February 28, 2020 the following is added to the Shares of the Trust section under “Closed Fund Policies” of the Fund’s SAI:
CLOSED FUND POLICIES – JANUS HENDERSON SMALL CAP VALUE FUND
The Fund has limited sales of its shares because Janus Capital and the Trustees believe continued sales are not in the best interests of the Fund. Sales to new investors have generally been discontinued; however, investors who meet certain criteria described below may be able to purchase shares of the Fund. You may be required to demonstrate eligibility to purchase shares of the Fund before your investment is accepted. If you are a current Fund shareholder and close an existing Fund account, you may not be able to make additional investments in the Fund unless you meet one of the specified criteria. The Fund may resume sales of its shares at some future date, but it has no present intention to do so.
Investors who meet the following criteria may be able to invest in the Fund: (i) existing shareholders invested in the Fund are permitted to continue to purchase shares through their existing Fund accounts (and, for shareholders of Class D Shares, by opening new Fund accounts) and to reinvest any dividends or capital gains distributions in such accounts, absent highly unusual circumstances; (ii) registered investment advisers (“RIAs”) may continue to invest in the Fund through an existing omnibus account at a financial institution and/or intermediary on behalf of existing or new clients; (iii) under certain circumstances, all or a portion of the shares held in a closed Fund account may be reallocated to a different form of ownership; this may include, but is not limited to, mandatory retirement distributions, legal proceedings, estate settlements, and the gifting of Fund shares; (iv) employer-sponsored retirement plans that are offered through existing retirement platforms which held a position in the Fund as of the date of the Fund’s closure, as well as employees of JHG and any of its subsidiaries covered under the JHG retirement plan; (v) Janus Capital encourages its employees to own shares of the Janus Henderson funds, and as such, employees of Janus Capital and its affiliates may open new accounts in the closed Fund; Trustees of the Janus Henderson funds and directors of JHG may also open new accounts in the closed Fund; (vi) Janus Capital “fund of funds,” which is a fund that primarily invests in other Janus Henderson mutual funds, may invest in the Fund; (vii) accounts maintained by a financial intermediary that invest pursuant to Janus Henderson proprietary model strategies; (viii); certain institutional investors approved by Janus Henderson Distributors, including but not limited to, corporations, certain retirement plans, public plans, and foundations and endowments; (ix) certain accounts maintained by a self-clearing financial intermediary for which investment decisions are determined by such financial intermediary’s home office recommended list and/or pursuant to such home office’s model portfolios (approved and/or research-covered fund lists are not included within this exception); and (x) in the case of certain mergers or reorganizations, retirement plans may be able to add the closed Fund as an investment option. Such mergers, reorganizations, acquisitions, or other business combinations are those in which one or more companies involved in such transaction currently offers the Fund as an investment option, and any company that as a result of such transaction becomes affiliated with the company currently offering the Fund (as a parent company, subsidiary, sister company, or otherwise). Such companies may request to add the Fund as an investment option under its retirement plan. Requests for new accounts into a closed Fund will be reviewed by management and may be permitted on an individual basis, taking into consideration whether the addition to the Fund is believed to negatively impact existing Fund shareholders.

You might want to check out dt's thread: https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/54717/bond-oef-investing-for-more-conservative-investors/p1

I think this was just a wake up call to take some profits and not stay 100% invested. Stop fretting what will happen. If you are 100% invested, just sell a little and go away. It's not going to matter that much.
When $USD starts going up, International and EEM are going to go down in relative terms to US stocks. Sell your least favorite international fund a little and buy your most favorite us stock fund a bit.

How is TIAA for a broker? I only have my work 403(b) with them (holding 1 American Fund - RWMGX) but have thought about moving some of my retirement investment acounts from TD there to consolidate things and let TIAA be my 'retirement account broker' so to speak. My other taxable longterm accounts at TDA/Schwab and WF are probably going to stay put, though.

honestly, their web interface lives a lot to be desired. I hold my nose and take what I can from it. They do have access to some funds NTF no one else does. They don't make it easy to find necessarily. However, with a single malt in hand on the weekends, I manage.
If you are looking to consolidate, IMO Schwab will be better option.

By Alpha Gen Capital at SeekingAlpha.com
Summary
° Retirees have an over-reliance and spend far too much time on rates of return. Instead, investors should focus on cash flows, both in and out of your household.
° This is a construct of Wall Street who wants you to be placing all your investable assets into the market, while placing all the risk on your retirement on you.
° We think the next few years will show a significant shift in the way investors/retirees manage their financial retirement.
° It is our belief that a focus on cash flows, not rates of return, will be the future, including the use of income annuities.
Article Here

"Value investing is undoubtedly one of the most famous strategies, and many legendary investors, including Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio), have continued to highlight the importance of adopting this strategy for many decades.
However, the performance of value stocks trailed behind that of growth stocks for the best part of the last decade and especially the last year, raising questions regarding the success of this technique.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Seth Klarman (Trades, Portfolio), who runs Baupost Group, does not agree with the critics. In a letter to investors dated Jan. 23, 2020, he defended sticking by value investing even though the performance of the fund lagged behind that of the S&P 500 Index in 2019:"
From Gurufocus.com
Better Article View

Just a note that I do not "analyze" funds mentioned in this thread based on a single day's performance, or one month's performance, or 3 month's performance. When I provide information about funds, I try to provide 1 year and 3 year total return and related fund information, and I also look closely at bond oef performance in some severe downmarket periods (like 2015 and 2018), to see how well they protected principal in those periods. My overall objective on this thread, is to provide you with information about funds, and categories of funds, that generally are considered conservative. What you choose to do with that information is beyond the scope of this thread.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/874964/000093041320000153/c95084_497.htm
497 1 c95084_497.htm
THE LAZARD FUNDS, INC.
Lazard US Realty Equity Portfolio
Supplement to Current Summary Prospectus and Prospectus
By supplements dated October 25, 2019 and November 22, 2019, it was announced that the Board of Directors (the "Board") of Lazard US Realty Equity Portfolio (the "Portfolio") had approved temporary postponement of liquidation of the Portfolio.
In light of other potential options that are being pursued for the Portfolio other than liquidation, the Board has approved, subject to certain conditions, a further postponement of the liquidation of the Portfolio. The Board expects additional disclosures about the Portfolio to be made during the first quarter of 2020.
Dated: January 27, 2020

Lots of funds are NTF without a 12b-1 fee. That just means that the servicing fee isn't called out explicitly, not that it doesn't exist.
For example, JACTX class T (retail class) has ER of 0.91%, no 12b-1 fee, and is NTF at several brokerages. The institutional class, JCAPX has ER of 0.72% and is available with a $2500 min and TF at Fidelity. The only difference according to the summary prospectus, is the amount of "other expenses".
"Other expenses" is a catchall for burying expenses. As the SEC writes, "If shareholder service fees are paid outside a 12b-1 plan, then they will be included in the 'Other Expenses' category." Those fees are still being collected from the retail fund. They're just not called out explicitly as 12b-1 fees.
Retail class funds tithe their investors for servicing fees, regardless of whether they're called out by an explicit 12b-1 line item.
It gets worse. American Century funds often have a single "all in" management fee. This makes it look as if investors aren't bearing any costs, that management is. The reality of course is that management isn't forgoing profits; the investors are simply paying higher management fees to cover the costs. How much of those fees are going toward operating/servicing expenses is completely opaque.
ACIIX (institutional class) charges a management fee of 0.72%, and that covers everything. TWEIX (retail investor class) charges a management fee of 0.92% and that covers everything. The managers aren't getting paid more to manage one share class than another - they manage the entire portfolio underlying all share classes Rather, the higher fee is used for covering the cost of servicing the retail share. ERs are from the summary prospectus.

How is TIAA for a broker? I only have my work 403(b) with them (holding 1 American Fund - RWMGX) but have thought about moving some of my retirement investment acounts from TD there to consolidate things and let TIAA be my 'retirement account broker' so to speak. My other taxable longterm accounts at TDA/Schwab and WF are probably going to stay put, though.

An NTF fund and also no 12b-1 fee? I doubt this will happen.
Anyways, TIAA has some surprises in the NTF line up. A lot institutional fund shares are NTF and enable you to get in at lower minimums. I own BEGIX and BOPIX that way.

LDVAX is up 10% YTD. I'm afraid, very afraid.

@MikeW: "DHEIX has an average annual return of about 4% and a MAXDD of only 0.2%. Looks like a very interesting fund. SD is only 0.7."
Also, DHEIX has only been negative one month. I shares were down 17bps in November 2016 while the benchmark was down 41bps. There have been 41 full calendar months of performance since inception (August 2016 through Dec 2019. The securitized debt in the fund is ABS 62%, all IG. The overall credit rating of the fund is 80% IG. Its duration is 1.43 years.

"Old_Skeet">@dtconroe,
I have enjoyed reading and following your thread on open end bond funds (oef).
One of the things that I picked up on in reading this thread is that you are a momentum type investor and move among one fund, or funds, to another from time to time. Would you please describe your process in doing this? What indicators you may use? What triggers movement? How do you track and etc?
I've been looking for a investing strategy that I might incorporate within my fixed income sleeve to keep it positioned within the faster currents. With this I've invested mostly in multi sector bond and income funds and let the fund manager find the better places to be invested. My fund's range of movenment between their 52 week low vs. 52 week high range from 2% on the low side to about a 6% range of movement on the high side. I've been thinking of a way to use this range of movement within my investment strategy. Any thoughts?"
Old_Skeet, I am on this forum, posting about OEF bond funds, because I am NOT a "momentum type investor", at least Not on a frequent short term trading basis. On M* there is some strong support for an investing approach, that uses momentum data based on 90 day moving averages, to invest in the "best" 4 or 5 funds. Based on the belief that 90 day moving averages signals the beginning or end of a performance pattern, investors will move between various bond oef categories, to select the "best" momentum based fund, with a strong emphasis on risk characteristics as well. I tried to use this approach for a few years, but I am not a good trader, am not very good at selling funds near their highs, and not very good at buying funds near their lows. There are some posters/investors who do this, and can do this much better than me. I am not criticizing them, but I need a different investing approach that fits my strengths, while acknowledging my shortcomings.
With that said, I am not a pure buy and hold investor, and I do keep up with total return performance data, and I will sell a fund during the calendar year when it is lagging severely, normally to reinvest those proceeds in other existing holdings that I am familiar with and approve of. I prefer bond oefs that will produce "at least" 4 to 5%, or more", annually, with low standard deviation, and relatively smooth upward total return performance, that have a history of holding up well in down markets. I will invest in 10 to 12 funds, with the intent of holding them for at least the calendar year, and at the end of the calendar year, I will rebalance my fund holdings, and may choose to replace some existing bond oefs, with similar but better performing funds. For example, I held BTMIX for the entire 2019 year, and I chose to replace it with another very conservative, but better performing Muni fund (AAHMX) for 2020. Another example is that I held PTIAX for almost all of 2019, but toward the end of the year, I chose to replace PTIAX with IISIX, because I believe IISIX will perform similarly in total returns to PTIAX over extended periods but with lower risk.
Some more frequent momentum based investors, will criticize me for not jumping on the performance bandwagon, because there is clearly a hot performing fund, they will hype continually, during very hot performing periods like 2019. I like smooth, above average performing funds, to hold for at least a year, and at the end of the year, my loyalty is then subject to intense re-evaluation for holding, selling, and possibly replacing them. I don't marry my investments, don't take a vow of holding them til death do us part, and do expect a level of total return performance (at least 4 to 5% TR) that is reviewed on an annual basis. In 2020, my 10 to 12 fund portfolio has almost all of the same funds I owned all of 2019, but I did replace a couple of those funds, I did increase the amount of my investment in several existing funds, and I did reduce the amount of my investment in a couple of my existing funds.

+1. :) Understood.