Brokerage mergers in my experience are always a PITA. Once the Schwab aquisition of TD was announced in 2020, I transferred my account over immediately to avoid being caught up in the (likely) chaos and disruption -- full margin, options, futures authorizations. But I've kept $1000 at TD to keep the account active and keep access to ThinkDesktop, which I really like (I despise StreetSmart). And apart from a few growing pains and grudgingly accepting their insane cash-management practices, I've been fairly pleased with Schwab.
Anyway, Schwab rolled out ThinkDesktop last month for its customers ... heck, they're even advertising it during football games. But can I use the platform as a Schwab customer? Nope -- because my Schwab account has futures trading enabled on it.
They said they could remove futures trading on my Schwab account and I'd have access to ThinkDesktop ... BUT I was warned that there was a good chance I'd have data errors with how the system calculates my buying power, and the rep rightly noted that could interfere with making trades. HUH? This seems like Merger 101-type of stuff that should've been figured out long ago.
My alternative? If I want to get on ThinkDesktop sooner than 'sometime' in Spring '24, I would need to create a brand new Schwab account, transfer everything over to it, and then I'd have access to ThinkDesktop -- which apparently is running on a different network (presumably legacy TD/ThinkorSwim). And then futures access whenever they spin up futures trading on it.
What an unbelievable runaround for a situation that never should've been allowed to happen!

PEOPX / DSPIX (ER 50/21 bps) CG distribution looks strange.
Its high outflows were in 2022. 2023 to 9/30/23 looks OK asset-wise. So, there must be huge turnover or churn to cause that high CG distribution in 2023 (or, is that data from last year?). Fido data on combined AUM:
2021 $5.76 billion
2022 $3.91 billion
2023 $3.89 billion
BoNY/Mellon has a storied history as among the 1st bank in the US (and Alexander Hamilton was among its founders). But who pays ER of 50/21 bps for SP500 index?

New I-Bond Rate, 11/1/23
Annual base/fixed rate (b) 1.30%.
Semiannual inflation rate (f) 1.9723%
Composite rate = b + 2f + bf.
So, the I-Bond rate from 11/1/23 is 5.27%.
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/savings-bonds/i-bonds/i-bonds-interest-rates/

BNY Mellon Institutional S&P 500 Stock Index Fund is paying a total distribution of 19.7%.

31 October, 2023: at last, I received a prompt and coherent response via email. What she provided was a direct link, in order to file for a repayment of the over-withholding that the lovely and fabulous Norwegian government no doubt required Norsk Hydro to keep from me. (They withheld 25%, but the tax treaty with the USA mandates only 15% withholding. I only just now found that out, after clicking on the link provided.)
That same link advises that in order to apply for the refund on overpaid taxes, I must create a user name and set up a bloody account with the Norway tax authority, and jump through way more hoops than any of this is worth. So, I just won't be adding to my NHYDY position. When the share price rises sufficiently out of the red ink, and perhaps after NEXT year's dividend arrives, I'll exit NHYDY.
...Now, let's see what happens with Tenaris: HQ in Luxembourg....... (TS.)

Your comments regarding bond funds in 2022 and 2023 are spot-on.
You have a knack for reporting past performance.
I'm much more interested in future bond fund performance.
Can you tell me which bond funds or bond categories will outperform over the next 5 Yr/10 Yr?
Thanks in advance!

"Nice" comment. I'm a bond trader, not a holder, and I never predict or invest based on that. I do base my investment on what is doing well currently using my own proprietary system that is easy to execute and takes just minutes per week.
I used to open threads annually and keep posting what and how I do it.
The trolls kept interrupting and why I don't do it anymore.
Sometimes, I post what I do and how. BTW, in 2022-3 I posted several hints when I was out, in, and what I traded.
I have talked about bank loans for years for rising rates.
Also posted many times why I have preferred RCTIX over PIMIX for years.
...you just didn't pay attention.
I have been holding 2 bond OEFs for several months and they are nicely up while most others lost money. This can continue 1-4-8-more weeks or ends tomorrow.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1612930/000089418923007911/0000894189-23-007911-index.htm
Angel Oak High Yield Opportunities ETF
Angel Oak Mortgage-Backed Securities ETF

Fund Allocations (Cumulative), 9/30/23
There were noticeable shifts out from stocks into bond & m-mkt funds. The changes for OEFs + ETFs were based on a total AUM of about $31.91 trillion in the previous month, so +/- 1% change was about +/- $319.1 billion. Also note that these changes were from both fund inflows/outflows & price changes. #Funds #OEFs #ETFs #ICI
OEFs & ETFs: Stocks 57.72%, Hybrids 4.83%, Bonds 19.08%, M-Mkt 18.37%
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/1231/thread

@yogibearbull
Are you increasing duration ?
Anybody thinking about a bond ladder? what rungs are you using?
Ishares has ETFs that mature at the end of every year A ten year ladder yields 4.91%

@JD_co, many investors are extending their bond maturities as the FED is near the terminal rate hike. There may be one more hike in Nov/Dec rate hike. The rate is likely stay there for awhile unless the economy tanks and slides into recession. The 5% yield money market May not be there several years from now. Money flow into intermediate term bonds has started and likely to increase into next year that fits the Q1 comment above.

Certainly she can ask HR what she can do, recognizing that HR likely had nothing to do with her initial enrollment. I have my doubts about prospects for success, but there's no harm in asking.
CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) is the Medicare regulatory agency (authority) within HHS much as the IRS is the taxation regulatory agency within the Treasury Dept. And much as the IRS puts out Pubs which can have errors (they are not the regulations themselves), CMS puts out material for public consumption that can have errors. In both instances, errors are not common but they're certainly possible.
So when CMS says that disenrolling from non-premium Part A Medicare is against the law, it's possible that this agency is misstating its own regs. Not likely, but possible.
Here's CMS form 1763 for terminating Medicare coverage.
https://www.cms.gov/medicare/cms-forms/cms-forms/downloads/cms1763.pdf
It is titled: REQUEST FOR TERMINATION OF PREMIUM PART A, PART B, OR
PART B IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE DRUG COVERAGE
It begins:

WHO CAN USE THIS FORM?
People with Medicare premium Part A or B who would like
to terminate their hospital or medical insurance coverage.

Is it possible that there's a different form for non-premium Part A beneficiaries to terminate coverage? Sure, but not likely since this form covers all other situations.
We can go back to the Wellesley College page with info from HSA Resources to observe some oddities.
First, this is an old page (not disqualifying, but curious). The pdf creation date is  11/22/2016. That's consistent with the fact that HSA Resources was acquired by Select Account in Dec 2016.
(FWIW, SelectAccount was renamed Further and acquired by HealthEquity in 2021.)
More important is how it suggests that disenrollment is dated differently depending on whether one is receiving SS checks. If you are receiving checks, it says that you are supposed to pay back any Medicare money spent on claims. Effectively, this is undoing the Medicare enrollment entirely. OTOH, it doesn't say that you have to refund Medicare benefits received if you're not receiving SS checks. It seems you are allowed to keep Medicare benefits received up to the time of disenrollment request.
What this page is doing is misquoting the rules for undoing registration for Social Security (not Medicare) benefits:

The request to withdraw a [Social Security retirement] application must be made in writing. Anyone who receives benefits based on the client's application must consent in writing to the withdrawal. Additionally, all benefits previously received must be repaid. This includes:

• Benefits received by family members;
  
• Money withheld for Medicare premiums;
  
• Money withheld for voluntary tax withholding; and
  
• Money withheld for garnishments.

https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2023/mar/how-to-reverse-course-collecting-social-security.html
You have to repay the Medicare premiums not the Medicare benefits, from start until termination. That is, you have Medicare throughout, but the premium payments come from you and not your Social Security check if you undo those checks. And it terminates SS benefits, not Medicare enrollment.
The one item I have found that supports the idea that any Medicare Part A can be voluntarily terminated is in the Medicare statute itself (42 U.S. Code § 1395q(b)(1)):

An individual’s coverage period shall continue until his enrollment has been terminated—
(1) by the filing of notice that the individual no longer wishes to participate in the insurance program established by this part,

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1395q
That says only that such a filing will terminate coverage. It doesn't specify the conditions under which such filing is permitted. Such as being charged a Part A premium. Those conditions may be in the regs, which gets us right back to CMS.

I noticed that VWEAX had double the MD of OSTIX in both 2020 and the GFC era. However, CAGR over 15 years is OSTIX 5.23% VWEAX 5.38% relatively close.

Wow!
DWS Equity 500 Index Fund I-class BTIIX AUM history from Fido,
https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/mutual-funds/view-all/25159R106
2021 $317.87 million
2022 $217.82 million
2023 $101.87 million
M* is showing 2023 AUM in ALL classes as $338.6 million,
https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/btiix/quote
BTIIX ER is 20 bps net, 30 bps gross - too high when one can buy cheap ETFs IVV, VOO, SPLG, SPY.
So, with severe outflows, index funds can have huge CG distributions.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1981627/000139834423015328/fp0084874-1_n1a.htm

Anyone has a back channel to GMO to check an ETA on this ETF?
David_Snowball?

The Week in Charts (10/22/23)
The most important charts and themes in markets, including...
00:00 Intro
00:15 The Year's Biggest Correction (Equities)
06:09 Earnings Comeback (Big Tech, S&P 500)
10:03 Buying vs. Renting (Housing Market)
17:20 US Consumer Boosting Growth (GDP)
22:54 A Depreciating Asset Once More (Tesla)
28:18 UAW to Ford: "Pony Up" (Tentative Agreement)
31:49 Unwinding the Fed's Excesses (Fed, Money Supply)
36:19 Falling Core Inflation (PCE, FOMC Meeting)
Video
Blog

GIM had a sizable allocation to emerging market bonds.
M* categorized GIM as an EM bond fund from at least 2013 until 2018.
From 2019 through 2021 M* placed the fund in the nontraditional bond category.
Since 2022 GIM has been categorized as a global bond fund.
Hasenstab's management style was contrarian.
During the eurozone crisis in 2011, he swooped in and purchased
dollar-denominated Ukranian bonds, Irish bonds and Hungarian debt.
Hasenstab also made currency bets - I recall short yen/euro positions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/09/business/bond-market-economy-investing.html
mmm...this is what Stanek said on Dec. 9, 2022...."we think bonds are back.” and similar to what she said days ago. What would happen if rates continue to rise? (hint=bank loans)
And what BCOIX,BAGIX managed by Stanek made since the above date? it lost (-3%) and (-3.8%). See the chart(https://schrts.co/egyeRkSt)

There's no requirement that HSA contributions be made into the employer's HSA. She can open an outside HSA (say, at Fidelity) for the year. The benefits of contributing to an employer's HSA via payroll deduction are:
1. Possible employer contribution
2. Reduction in payroll income subject to FICA
     a) Social Security (6.2% employee-side) - someone in the 32% tax bracket would likely max out even if W2 income is reduced by HSA contribution amount
     b) Medicare (1.45% employee-side) - this is the only obvious benefit of contributing to the employer's chosen HSA.
---
Color me skeptical about being able to disenroll from Part A. The referenced page is not authoritative and was shown to be imprecise (re: Part C premiums). To offer another non-authoritative page, here's an AARP page. It says that one cannot generally drop part A if one is not paying a premium, even if one has an employer plan providing primary coverage.
The hedging there is in the word "generally". AARP is just repeating what Medicare.gov says: "Generally, you can only drop Part A (Hospital Insurance) if you have to pay a premium for it."
However, CMS is unambiguous: "Individuals entitled to premium-free Part A cannot voluntarily terminate their Part A coverage. This is not permitted by law. "
https://www.cms.gov/medicare/enrollment-renewal/health-plans/original-part-a-b
(last modified 9/6/2023)
For a longer narrative saying the same thing, see this Forbes piece, Can You Drop Part A?, 6/9/2023.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dianeomdahl/2023/06/09/can-you-drop-medicare-part-a/

@Crash. It appears to be aired recently.

WEALTHTRACK Episode #2018 broadcast on October 27, 2023

27 oct, '23.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2023-10-28/wall-street-week-10-27-2023