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Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
  • Placing in this category for broad member view. SBA Covid relief loan fraud notification. UPDATE !!!
    Before doing anything, you might first consider checking your credit reports from all 3 agencies. (You could get those free here: https://www.annualcreditreport.com)
    Hopefully, you will not see anything alarming and the entire incident would turn out to be a nasty hoax.
    However,
    If there was indeed a personal loan taken out in your name, you would see the details on the report, and would have the relevant information to contact SBA; or
    If the loan was taken in your name on a business, you would at least see an SBA inquiry on the report, and again would have something concrete to contact SBA with.
    In either case, doing a credit freeze as Old_Joe suggested would seem like a good idea then, until you have a chance to sort things out with SBA.
    Finally, it would have been difficult for and, likely, not the goal of anyone to collateralize this loan - assuming it was actually made. If so, I believe the amount would be $14K personal / $25K business at the most, so it is unlikely to be a six or seven figure loan and should be relatively easier to clear up. (I could not find the SBA link for this, so here is one from the lending site.)
    Hope this helps.
  • "Our service is terrible but we'll charge you $100 to transfer your account."
    "Vanguard wants investors to pay more, and at the same time, they’re giving us less. Just as we were learning that fees were on the rise, Vanguard’s technology was frustrating shareholders yet again.
    On May 1 — the same day the new fee schedule was released — several IVA readers told me
    they could not access their holdings data at Vanguard. Oops!"

    Refer to the section titled "Please, Don't Call Us" for related info.
    https://www.independentvanguardadviser.com/digital-first-puts-seniors-second/?ref=the-independent-vanguard-adviser-newsletter
  • Dave Giroux TCAF ETF : Attracting assets?
    TCAF had net assets of $1.4b as of 05/07/2024 according to the TRP website.
    Also, Russel Kinnel¹ recently bought TCAF and VYM.
    These are the only two ETFs he owns.
    https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/2-great-large-cap-etfs
    ¹ Russel Kinnel is director of ratings, manager research, for Morningstar Research Services LLC.
    _He is also the editor of Morningstar FundInvestor.
  • Best Fund Managers?
    @FD1000...ya I see your point but you are leaving the risk equation out of the picture...the ole sequence of return risk.
    Most will crap their shorts when the market draws down 30 to 40%
    They'll never stay with and will bail out likely at the bottom
  • One Out of Every 24 NYC Residents is Now a Millionaire - Bloomberg
    @hank - "a $12.50 can of Bud" ??? !!!
    It was a 24-ounce can @Old_Joe. So … that would be like $6.25 a can for couple 12 ouncers. Prices in the area around the theater district are very high..
  • "Our service is terrible but we'll charge you $100 to transfer your account."
    Recently, AARP did a study of the largest fund families in 1989 and in March 2024.
    Vanguard was at #5 with less than $50B in assets in 1989 and now is #1 with $8T in assets (grew 160 times).
    Currently, in #2 position is ishares + BlackRock at $3T. BlackRock was also #2 in 1989 with $97B.
    Both Fidelity and BlackRock grew from $97B in 1989 to $3T in 2024.
    (Those with AARP membership probably can access that study if you are curious about it.)
    When the #1 firm is 2.6 times the size of the #2 firm and it reached those heights by grossly undercutting competition on price, there is bound to be collateral effects. So, now Vanguard is looking to shed all the smaller clients. I do not know what their end goal is but the transition is bound to be bumpy.
    As part of their transition, they are divesting their small business retirement accounts / plans.
    https://www.ascensus.com/about-us/press-room/news/ascensus-to-acquire-vanguard-individual-401-k-multi-sep-and-simple-ira-plans/
    So, that is a clue for those with small Vanguard fund investment, even if you have a large brokerage account with them. I have owned Vanguard ETFs outside Vanguard because of their service quality and a brokerage platform that is subpar. It will be interesting to see what the post-transition Vanguard will look like.
  • One Out of Every 24 NYC Residents is Now a Millionaire - Bloomberg
    How far does $1M go in to NYC (Manhattan)? Not very. A $50K salary elsewhere would need to be $150K in NYC. Use this Calculator (linked below) to compare costs to where you live now.
    cost-of-living/index
    Doesn't that figure really depend on where "elsewhere" is? Even Boise, Idaho would cost over 25% more than your base $50K, using the CNN calculator.
    And for that matter it also matters where "here" is - Manhattan's population is less than 20% of NYC's; Manhattan's land area is under 8% of NYC's.
    According to the same calculator, one would need "only" $87K to live in Queens (another part of NYC) - where 40% more people live than in Manhattan. While that's far from inexpensive, it helps to look at where "real" people live. Queens has the reputation of being NYC's bedroom borough.

    Also welcome to extremes..some have...many have not. 25% are millionaire and 20% are below the poverty line.
    ...
    cost-of-living-calculator/city-life/new-york-manhattan-ny
    This NerdWallet site is similarly confused about NYC. The URL and the drop down city selector say "Manhattan", and its top line figure, "median salary in New York (Manhattan), NY is:$51,270. Yet in the detail data, it gives the population as 8M (all of NYC) and the average salary per person as $31,417. Hard to tell what "average" means, though I'm guessing it is calculated across the whole city, not just the 1/5 of people living in Manhattan.
    Here are some "alternative facts". Directly from the US Census Bureau, the per capita income in NYC (8M people) is $48,066. Since not everyone works, that makes the mean (not median) salary higher than $48K. Another page (SmartAsset) claims that "According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the average individual income in New York City is $107,000."
    The level of poverty in NYC is not good, though it is lower than cities such as Detroit, Laredo, Cincinnati, Memphis, Baton Rouge (all above 25%), Richmond, Miami, Tuscon, Atlanta, Dallas, Columbus (all above 20%). The whole country needs to do better.
    100 largest US cities ranked by poverty level (sourced from US Census Bureau)
    US metro areas w/highest and lowest poverty rates - Madison Trust Co. analysis of Census Bureau data - percentage of households w/income under $35K (noting that HHS defines poverty line as $30K income).
    That last source gives Albany, GA as the 6th poorest metropolitan area. I mention this because that is the baseline area used by CNN/Money (see above) for how far $50K would go in other areas.
    Well, NY has about 4% millionaires, but it is still behind Tel Aviv which has about 10%.
    https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/economy/1663172527-israel-nearly-1-in-10-tel-aviv-residents-is-a-millionaire-study
    FD makes a different apples-to-oranges error. Consistent source (Henley and Partners) cited, but different years. The i24 News piece references the 2022 study which reported 42,400 millionaires in Tel Aviv (detailed data is in Middle East top 5), while the current study reports "only" 24,300. Over a 40% decline.
    https://www.henleyglobal.com/publications/wealthiest-cities-2024
  • One Out of Every 24 NYC Residents is Now a Millionaire - Bloomberg
    80K $12.50 beers could last a very long time.
    But seriously, my 1200 sq ft house in western Washington is zillowed at $650K. The house I grew up in the Mississippi Delta, a bit larger, of similar age and condition, is zillowed at $16K. Since I own my house outright, I could sell it and move "home" and be half-way to being a millionaire before you factor in my pensions, SS, and savings. Indeed, a moderately middle-class existence could, overnight, be converted to privileged just by a move to the land of my origins.
  • Best Fund Managers?
    The most important is the total performance and for many the risk-adjusted performance. I can generate an income very easily.
    Suppose you are at Fidelity and you have one million invested in FXAIX(SP500). You can set up in 2 minutes a monthly sell order, on a certain date, for $3K(or another amount) to go on for months-years until you stop it. You just created an income monthly stream.
    Basically, a fund that generates double the income of the SP500 but lags by 1% annually is still inferior. It is just a math exercise that the income crowd refuses to admit.
    Income VS TR(total return) is one of the oldest discussions that have led the income crowd to miss a lot of performance since 2010.
    I'm not against income, I'm against people who go blindly after income.
    ==========
    While a low expense ratio is desirable, there are plenty of exceptions.
    PRWCX in the last several decades.
    PIMIX from 2010 to 2018.
  • Rising Auto & Home Insurance Costs
    Thanks @catch22. - A nice hour + drive north when I worked in the Detroit metro area, Also known for a huge Christmas decoration store open 12-months. Remember a pleasant river cruise once on a stern-wheeler. Chicken dinners of course … Not far from the fertile Saginaw Valley agricultural area. So them chickens ought to be plenty fresh.
    Excerpt is from Franklin Insurance’s webpage. Do your own due diligence if considering:
    Headquartered in Frankenmuth, Michigan, and doing business in 15 states, Frankenmuth Insurance is financially sound, with $1.8 billion in assets. The company has an A.M. Best rating of “A” (Excellent).
  • Placing in this category for broad member view. SBA Covid relief loan fraud notification. UPDATE !!!
    --- What: The COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance programs provide funding to help small businesses recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    --- An official letter has been received stating that:
    Dear Sir or Madam, We are reaching out to you regarding a loan taken out in your identity with the U.S. Small Business Admin. (SBA). This letter is to inform you that we believe your identity may have been used, without your knowledge or permission, to obtain a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) for which you never received any of the loan proceeds. The SBA is committed to working with you to resolve this unfortunate situation.
    --- All of the phone numbers and contact information in the letter matches the SBA online site correctly. So, the letter itself is not fraudulent. ALSO included is the loan #.
    We already have 2 'free' credit watches from data breaches at a hospital and United Healthcare's 'Change Healthcare' data site that provides data for/from numerous hospitals and insurance companies. Geez !!!
    Question? Has anyone here had this 'experience' and readily resolved this issue?
    Thank you in advance,
    Catch
  • One Out of Every 24 NYC Residents is Now a Millionaire - Bloomberg
    @hank +1. No doubt. I must admit I hadn't thought of it that way.
  • One Out of Every 24 NYC Residents is Now a Millionaire - Bloomberg
    How far does $1M go in to NYC (Manhattan)? Not very. A $50K salary elsewhere would need to be $150K in NYC. Use this Calculator (linked below) to compare costs to where you live now.
    A$50K retirement income would need a $1.2M portfolio (at a 4% SWR). One would need a $3.6M portfolio to fund the $150K (a 4% SWR) retirement income to pay your bills in NYC.
    cost-of-living/index
    Housing is a biggy.
    Median 2-bedroom apartment rent = $5,743
    Median home price (3BR, 2BA) = $2,743,333
    Also welcome to extremes..some have...many have not. 25% are millionaire and 20% are below the poverty line.
    Average salary per person
    $31,417
    Unemployment rate
    9.00%
    Percent below poverty
    19.40%
    Public schools get low grade so if you are considering private schools:
    Estimated average private high school tuition
    $34,987 / year
    source:
    cost-of-living-calculator/city-life/new-york-manhattan-ny
    Green Acres is the place to be.
    Farm livin' is the life for me.
    Land spreadin' out so far and wide
    Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside.
    New York is where I'd rather stay.
    I get allergic smelling hay.
    I just adore a penthouse view.
    Dah-ling I love you but give me Park Avenue.
    ...The chores.
    ...The stores.
    ...Fresh air.
    ...Times Square
    You are my wife.
    Good bye, city life.
    Green Acres we are there.
    source: https://lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/greenacreslyrics.html
  • One Out of Every 24 NYC Residents is Now a Millionaire - Bloomberg
    While it was never even a fleeting consideration (I'm a wild outdoors guy) I can now confirm that I won't be moving there anytime soon. Couldn't come close to competing. I do enjoy visiting however.
    @Mark. I’m considering moving there so I may become a millionaire too. :) An armed guard unlocking the beer cooler and watching while I read the label off a $12.50 can of Bud was very motivational …
    Enjoy visiting too. The sensationalist media is doing its best to deter visitors. Tourism is down compared to pre-Covid. Afraid this will eventually impact the quality of live performances and other culturally rich assets the city is renowned for.
  • Rising Auto & Home Insurance Costs
    @larryB Yes, and so much more. The community is a tourist destination year around.
    Events of all flavors are in place, dependent upon the time of year. Including, Bonner's; reportedly the worlds largest Christmas themed store. I suspect 'hank' won't chastise me too much for stepping in with this info. And yes, the insurance company noted is from this community; and has been in business since 1868 (156 years).
    Frankenmuth
  • T+2 to T+1
    Either way you still need to buy/sell a MMF or other cashy fund @ Schwab to make the $$$ available to avoid a short-term margin loan. (T-1 helps, but still, that friction is annoying)
  • T+2 to T+1
    @MikeM, T+1 will reduce the payment time by 1 day at all brokers - whether m-mkt fund is core (Fido, Vanguard) or not (Schwab).
    So, on the 0-day (trade day), buy a stock/ETF/CEF anytime during the day. Also enter m-mkt order at Schwab to fund the purchase before the 4pm market close. One need to do this for mutual fund orders now. All will settle fine on T+1. But in cash or IRA a/c without cash available in core, the online buy may not be allowed (at Fido, Schwab, but OK at Vanguard) - however, no issues with margin a/c.
    Flip side is that on sale of stock/ETF/CEF on 0-day, one can also enter a buy order for m-mkt fund at Schwab by the 4pm market close. Right now, it's different for the sale of mutual fund vs stock/ETF/CEF.