[snip]
Can't think of the last time I used my debit card to buy something in the past 30 years.
The consumer protections on them are significantly less than for credit cards....
and besides I prefer not to let retail companies have my checking account information.

I cycled through two or three high-yield checking accounts in the 2010s.
Executing 7-12 debit card transactions per month was a requirement.
As you mentioned, credit cards provide much stronger consumer protections.
Now I only use a single debit card to make infrequent ATM withdrawals from my credit union.

@hank

Fido has an issue where you get a pop-up when you sell a fund saying “If you think you may be entitled to a fee wavier

I don't consider this as 'bad; but that the company trying to be helpful, no?.

Umm. Yes. I guess. Their online trading platform directs you to call and confirm what you already know. Like I said, if selling from 1 or 2 funds I’ve learned to ignore it. You can easily pull up your history and see if you owe an early redemption fee. In this case, I pulled from 5 different funds and was reluctant not to follow the instructions. I didn’t feel when I called, however, that they really wanted me to call. I thought they seemed a bit irked that I called re such a mundane issue. But - I might be wrong on that.
Maybe when they get AI, their online system will know whether or not a sale will incur a fee and they won’t need to waste your time and theirs calling every time you sell a fund.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/720309/000119312524160798/d844723d497.htm
497 1 d844723d497.htm AMG FUNDS III
Filed pursuant to Rule 497(e)
File Nos. 002-84012 and 811-03752
AMG FUNDS III
AMG GW&K High Income Fund
Supplement dated June 13, 2024 to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information,
each dated May 1, 2024
The following information supplements and supersedes any information to the contrary relating to AMG GW&K High Income Fund (the “Fund”), a series of AMG Funds III (the “Trust”), contained in the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, dated as noted above.
The Board of Trustees of the Trust has approved a plan to liquidate and terminate the Fund (the “Liquidation”), which is expected to occur on or about September 11, 2024 (the “Liquidation Date”). Effective on or about June 14, 2024, it is expected that the Fund will begin selling its portfolio investments and will invest the proceeds in cash and cash equivalents, in anticipation of the Liquidation. Proceeds of the Liquidation are expected to be distributed to shareholders of the Fund promptly following the Liquidation Date in full redemption of each shareholder’s shares of the Fund.
Effective immediately following the close of business on June 13, 2024, the Fund will no longer accept investments, except for investments made through existing asset allocation programs investing in the Fund, and shares purchased pursuant to automatic investment programs, such as automatic investments through 401(k) plans and reinvestments of any dividends and distributions. Those shareholders investing in the Fund through one of the exceptions described above may continue to purchase shares of the Fund provided that such transactions settle prior to the Liquidation Date.
A letter will be sent to shareholders who hold shares directly with the Fund (“Direct Shareholders”) setting forth the various options and instructions with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of Direct Shareholders’ redemption proceeds. Any Direct Shareholder may elect to have redemption proceeds sent to them via check. Direct Shareholders may also elect to exchange their Fund shares into the same share class of any other fund in the AMG Funds family of funds that is open to new investors (subject to minimum initial investment requirements as described in such fund’s prospectus). Shareholders who hold their shares in the Fund through a financial intermediary should contact their financial representative to discuss their options with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of such shareholders’ redemption proceeds.
The Fund intends to distribute its accumulated net capital gains and net investment income, if any, to shareholders of record of the Fund as of the close of business on June 17, 2024; these distributions may be taxable to shareholders who do not hold their shares in a tax-advantaged account such as an IRA or 401(k).
PLEASE KEEP THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/879947/000119312524160793/d849966d497.htm
497 1 d849966d497.htm AMG FUNDS II
Filed pursuant to Rule 497(e)
File Nos. 033-43089 and 811-06431
AMG FUNDS II
AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond ESG Fund
Supplement dated June 13, 2024 to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information,
each dated May 1, 2024
The following information supplements and supersedes any information to the contrary relating to AMG GW&K Enhanced Core Bond ESG Fund (the “Fund”), a series of AMG Funds II (the “Trust”), contained in the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, dated as noted above.
The Board of Trustees of the Trust has approved a plan to liquidate and terminate the Fund (the “Liquidation”), which is expected to occur on or about September 11, 2024 (the “Liquidation Date”). Effective on or about June 14, 2024, it is expected that the Fund will begin selling its portfolio investments and will invest the proceeds in cash and cash equivalents, in anticipation of the Liquidation. Proceeds of the Liquidation are expected to be distributed to shareholders of the Fund promptly following the Liquidation Date in full redemption of each shareholder’s shares of the Fund.
Effective immediately following the close of business on June 13, 2024, the Fund will no longer accept investments, except for investments made through existing asset allocation programs investing in the Fund, and shares purchased pursuant to automatic investment programs, such as automatic investments through 401(k) plans and reinvestments of any dividends and distributions. Those shareholders investing in the Fund through one of the exceptions described above may continue to purchase shares of the Fund provided that such transactions settle prior to the Liquidation Date.
A letter will be sent to shareholders who hold shares directly with the Fund (“Direct Shareholders”) setting forth the various options and instructions with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of Direct Shareholders’ redemption proceeds. Any Direct Shareholder may elect to have redemption proceeds sent to them via check. Direct Shareholders may also elect to exchange their Fund shares into the same share class of any other fund in the AMG Funds family of funds that is open to new investors (subject to minimum initial investment requirements as described in such fund’s prospectus). Shareholders who hold their shares in the Fund through a financial intermediary should contact their financial representative to discuss their options with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of such shareholders’ redemption proceeds.
The Fund intends to distribute its accumulated net capital gains and net investment income, if any, to shareholders of record of the Fund as of the close of business on June 17, 2024; these distributions may be taxable to shareholders who do not hold their shares in a tax-advantaged account such as an IRA or 401(k).
PLEASE KEEP THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/912036/000119312524160800/d807981d497.htm
497 1 d807981d497.htm AMG FUNDS IV
Filed pursuant to Rule 497(e)
File Nos. 033-68666 and 811-08004
AMG FUNDS IV
AMG Beutel Goodman International Equity Fund
Supplement dated June 13, 2024 to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information,
each dated March 1, 2024
The following information supplements and supersedes any information to the contrary relating to AMG Beutel Goodman International Equity Fund (the “Fund”), a series of AMG Funds IV (the “Trust”), contained in the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, dated as noted above.
The Board of Trustees of the Trust has approved a plan to liquidate and terminate the Fund (the “Liquidation”), which is expected to occur on or about September 11, 2024 (the “Liquidation Date”). Effective on or about June 14, 2024, it is expected that the Fund will begin selling its portfolio investments and will invest the proceeds in cash and cash equivalents, in anticipation of the Liquidation. Proceeds of the Liquidation are expected to be distributed to shareholders of the Fund promptly following the Liquidation Date in full redemption of each shareholder’s shares of the Fund.
Effective immediately following the close of business on June 13, 2024, the Fund will no longer accept investments, except for investments made through existing asset allocation programs investing in the Fund, and shares purchased pursuant to automatic investment programs, such as automatic investments through 401(k) plans and reinvestments of any dividends and distributions. Those shareholders investing in the Fund through one of the exceptions described above may continue to purchase shares of the Fund provided that such transactions settle prior to the Liquidation Date.
A letter will be sent to shareholders who hold shares directly with the Fund (“Direct Shareholders”) setting forth the various options and instructions with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of Direct Shareholders’ redemption proceeds. Any Direct Shareholder may elect to have redemption proceeds sent to them via check. Direct Shareholders may also elect to exchange their Fund shares into the same share class of any other fund in the AMG Funds family of funds that is open to new investors (subject to minimum initial investment requirements as described in such fund’s prospectus). Shareholders who hold their shares in the Fund through a financial intermediary should contact their financial representative to discuss their options with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of such shareholders’ redemption proceeds.
The Fund intends to distribute its accumulated net capital gains and net investment income, if any, to shareholders of record of the Fund as of the close of business on June 17, 2024; these distributions may be taxable to shareholders who do not hold their shares in a tax-advantaged account such as an IRA or 401(k).
PLEASE KEEP THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

Rarely use chat. Too easy to bump the ipad’s screen and have everything disappear. Plus - typing fast I make a lot of embarrassing mistakes. True, you can take screen shots and have a record. Fido has an issue where you get a pop-up when you sell a fund saying “If you think you may be entitled to a fee wavier, cancel this transaction and call (this number).” I’ve pretty much learned to ignore it. But when selling from several different funds to raise cash recently the message kept coming up - 5 times as I recall. So I called. Longest hold ever at Fido. 10-15 minutes. Finally a guy picked up and said I was good to sell (without any fees) and that the message simply means “exercise due diligence.” Obviously, that’s not what it says.

We just got replacement cards for our last embossed credit card.
Decades ago the raised numerals were used to make imprints with carbon (later carbonless) paper charge slips.

Fault tolerant: no electricity, no Wi-Fi? No problem.
It used to be easier to hop on a plane than to get on a Greyhound bus. Just walk straight onto an Eastern shuttle, grab a seat, and wait for the flight attendant (dare I say stewardess?) come by rolling a cart with a credit card machine. Click clack.
Does anyone sign the back of credit cards these days?

On 6/13/24, market-cap ranks were AAPL, NVDA, MSFT. Would MSFT get the knife? One more day of this silly drama driven by weird XLK rebalancing rules.
6/14/24 close will determine the order, but rebalancing will happen a week later on 6/21/24.

Took a few times to look and re-look. "Who's gonna buy donuts for everyone?" Looks like I'm the guy. I could not figure out the discrepancy between Schwab and my own Morningstar list. Harumph. What's going on?
A-ha! WBALX pays in JUNE and December. Wife's Trad-IRA. Now she owns more shares. THAT'S the ticket. Ok, jelly? Chocolate? What's your pleasure? ($0.1515 div/share on 12 June, '24.)

UK. 0.36%
Dev. Europe 4.88%
Dev. Asia 0.3%
5.54% foreign. Not by choice. My fund managers put my money there. So, I'm very limited re foreign stuff. But 41% in bonds. YIELD on full portfolio is 4.05%. Liking that. Age 70 is coming in late July. Holding very small bites in Canada and Luxembourg, single stocks.

When I moved to Schwab from Fidelity, Schwab was matching "cash incentives" offers, from competing brokerages. They matched an E-trade offer for me.

Did they match the terms of the offer or just the amount? Merrill requires one to maintain the balance for 90 days; Schwab promotions typically require assets to remain for a year. Not surprisingly, it was the Fidelity rep who pointed out Schwab's one year holding requirement.

I had to "negotiate" the amount of the transfer, which for me was over $1mil combined, had to maintain that balance for 90 days before they deposited the money into my accounts, and I negotiated an additional component of the transfer, which was a transaction fee reduction, for institutional share class purchases.

Chat conversations are very much with a human and the service that I've gotten from them has been just fine, thank you. You talk about people as if they were your personal servants. I'd surely pity anyone unfortunate enough to have to work for someone like you.

I have spoken to many people on the phone including in my ex work thru complicated issues. I never got any complaints and I always got great reviews. Nobody, as well as I, were servants.
But, I expect someone to be a pro at handling customers and getting the right answers.
So let me repeat AGAIN, the best service is usually by talking to a human. That's my experience over many years working in IT in several businesses, including many years in financial institutions and as a customer. If it's important I demand it in writing. That saved me a lot of future problems and time of what was promised.
If you feel otherwise, you can do it your way, others can try both.
Just for the record, you made a harsh judgment of me without knowing anything about me while I never posted anything about you.

I've never used Schwab's chat, but I have had great luck with Verizon, SiriusXM, T-Mobile, Amex, and other chat-based customer representatives. The advantage is that you can keep the log if there are any disputes down the road. These chat lines are run by 'people' as well ... so if you're decent to them, they'll likely be decent/efficient to you. I don't care HOW I interact with them as long as my problem/concern is addressed promptly and in a professional manner.
ProTip: When using chat, if you think it's going to be an 'uncomfortable' conversation with likely attempts to upsell, (eg, cancelling cable TV) just type your problem (or a set of responses) out in NotePad or TextEdit first and then blow it into chat as needed based on the flow of the chat. Lots of folks don't know that browser-based chat reps often can see you typing / correcting / rephrasing things in the chat window and adjust their pitch to you on-the-fly based on if you seem undecided or waffling.
Edit: Schwab CSR got back to me on one of my enquiries, but I had to read it 3x to understand which issue they were responding to b/c the non-boilerplate part of the response read more like a technical trouble ticket, not a response to a brokerage account question.

AAII Sentiment Survey, 6/12/24
BULLISH remained the top sentiment (44.6%, above average) & bearish became the bottom sentiment (25.7%, below average); neutral became the middle sentiment (29.7%, below average); Bull-Bear Spread was +18.9% (above average). Investor concerns: Elections, budget, inflation, economy, the Fed, dollar, Russia-Ukraine (120+ weeks), Israel-Hamas (35+ weeks), geopolitical. For the Survey week (Th-Wed), stocks mixed (growth up, cyclicals down), bonds flat, oil up, gold down, dollar up. Fed funds remain at 5.25-5.50%; lack of confidence in improvement in inflation. #AAII #Sentiment #Markets
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/1513/thread

Low Tech, I think that the other members are saying that the interest rate that you are getting today on your MM funds might not (and probably won't if you look at the past) last forever. In that case, what would your alternative plans be?

I'm a buy-and-holder, but that doesn't mean the same thing forever. Here's the key: "Conditions change."
As things are now, you could put $1M in a money fund and get over $50k a year in interest with no price fluctuation. A few years ago that wouldn't work. A few years from now that may not work either, or it could go up even more, a lot more.

+1

Just posted all ratings to MFO Premium site through May, which includes month to date performance through Friday, 7 June.
Add annualized return to TipTool in Flow and Returns charts for periods greater than 12 months, plus several other enhancements to Flows and TNA charts, to make faster and more robust.

Low Tech, I think that the other members are saying that the interest rate that you are getting today on your MM funds might not (and probably won't if you look at the past) last forever. In that case, what would your alternative plans be?

I already answered that three posts above yours. Is everybody here illiterate? And several posts above that I said: "Conditions will surely change -- but we don't know when or in which direction -- adjust as necessary."
I'm a buy-and-holder, but that doesn't mean the same thing forever. Here's the key: "Conditions change."
As things are now, you could put $1M in a money fund and get over $50k a year in interest with no price fluctuation. A few years ago that wouldn't work. A few years from now that may not work either, or it could go up even more, a lot more.

With this AAPL rally, the market-cap ranks on 6/12/24 are: AAPL, MSFT, NVDA. If NVDA remains at 3rd place by Friday close, NOTHING unusual would happen on XLK rebalancing.

Often a brokerage will allow an investor to transfer in shares of a fund that cannot be opened at the brokerage. In the past I've transferred to Merrill Vanguard Admiral shares and institutional shares of a fund in another family. Neither of these could be opened at Merrill directly. Call Merrill and ask.
With respect to FSEAX, my Merrill account shows that it is available for subsequent purchases (only). So Merrill can hold these shares and once you transfer them in you would be able to add to your position. (But why, since you'd pay a transaction fee to do that?)
As far as cash transfers go, I assume you are thinking of short term bond ETFs (e.g. ICSH) as "cash equivalents". There are no MMF ETFs yet. See
https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/62359/money-market-etf
I suppose what you're suggesting would work. Though you risk market loss. You could eliminate that risk by picking up Treasuries on the secondary market that mature in a few days (or a couple of weeks to be safe with the transfer speed). If you have enough cash ($1M) to buy institutional shares of a Fidelity MMF, you might be able to transfer that in kind (just speculating here - check with Merrill).
FYI: it costs $29.95 at Merrill to buy Treasuries at auction.
You could also simply transfer the cash via EFT (takes about a day) or a wire (same day).
ACAT transfers from Fidelity to Merrill usually go extremely quickly. The one I initiated yesterday has already been processed by Fidelity. The actual security transfer should take a couple of days. However, the one I initiated Monday is in limbo. Merrill rep says that it is proceeding normally even though their website says that it has been cancelled.

Broadcom also announced a 10 for 1 stock split. It would be interesting to see how the stock price of the last 10 companies that have done stock splits has done over the next six months, 1 year, and two years - just to get a sense for how long the momentum carried in these situations.

Post-Conference Notes by YBB
Rates are maintained - fed funds 5.25-5.50%, bank reserves rate 5.4%, discount rate 5.5%. Inflation target remains +2% average. Base-effects have caused a slight bump in recent inflation data. Confidence in progress on inflation is low, so higher rates for longer can be expected. Neutral/equilibrium rates is a theoretical concept that is good only in hindsight. Ad-hoc evidence of price reductions is just that.
Treasury QT continues at the reduced level of -$25 billion/mo, but MBS QT remain at -$35 billion/mo.
Monetary policy is restrictive, although economic data remain flat now.
Labor market remains strong, but it isn't overheating.
Housing is weak. The OERs (owners' equivalent rent) remain elevated. There is an overall shortage of houses.
Consumer spending has been rising, so is the consumer debt. Household wealth is also rising. But many consumers are unhappy as lower inflation doesn't mean lower prices.
Banks are in good financial shape.
Dollar is strong, but that is Treasury's responsibility.
Internal review of the Fed will start later in the year.
New SEPs (Summary of Economic Projections) were released.
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/1512/thread