The results depend on several assumptions you can't accurately predict and why my wife and I will start taking our SS at age 65. Why 65?
1) It's between 62 and 70.
2) It's convenient for paying Medicare + taxes.
3) If you are retired and needs to take ACA, you can get free or close to it in premiums by delaying SS and use subsidies by controlling your income. That can save you $700-900 per month premiums + very low deductible instead of a very high one. It doesn't matter if your savings are in the millions. It's all legal.
BTW, see this site(link) to help you when to start taking SS for you and your spouse.

With comparable returns (both funds returned the identical 43.21% over the past year ending 5/21/21, and were within 1 basis point annualized over the past three and five years), I'd prefer the one that didn't impose a tax drag on my returns.
Sure Schwab's TTM yield is higher. The fund recognizes and distributes capital gains. This is a good thing?
SWPPX has been continually distributing capital gains, sometimes even short term gains, year after year after year. Though it did manage to break its streak last year.
2015: 32.45¢ LTG
2016: 18.05¢ LTG + 1.13¢ STG
2017: 1.66¢ STG
2018: 6.97¢ LTG + 0.87¢ STG
2019, 8.91¢ LTG
VFIAX hasn't had a cap gains distribution this century. Admittedly it has an advantage because the fund has an ETF share class that enables the fund to spin off cap gains. But isn't that the point, that it has an advantage?
As article after article has stated, there's more to "best" or even "cheapest" than stated ER.
In terms of raw performance, there's a MUTUAL FUND that SWPPX has been unable to beat in even a single calendar year over the past decade. Even though that fund has "a cost factor DOUBLE schwab 0.04%". It's VINIX. A Vanguard fund.
M* ratings are a measure of risk adjusted performance within a category of funds. SWPPX gets four stars. Rarely do index funds get five stars, so that rating isn't surprising. But it does make one wonder about whether it really is "the best". Especially since there are other index funds in its category that have five star ratings, like VFIAX and VINIX.
Schwab is a boutique fund house. It's got a slew of target date funds and index funds, but sizeable holes elsewhere. No government bond funds, no mortgage funds, no core plus, no taxable high yield. On the equity side, no growth funds, foreign or domestic, aside from a pair of domestic large cap growth funds. This is just the basic stuff, the minimum one would expect to find at a one-stop shop.
Schwab is a great brokerage. And I'll continue to laud it. But as a fund house, it's far from top tier. Some of us still remember its Yield Plus fund. Maybe that's why it no longer offers an ultrashort term bond fund.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lessons-from-schwabs-yieldplus-debacle/

schwab has the best MUTUAL FUND in america.
it is SWPPX ( S&P 500) and it has cost factor of 0.02%
vanguard, everyones favorite though not mine, offers Admiral shares VFIAX (S&P 500) at a cost factor DOUBLE schwab 0.04%. tell me now that schwab isn't better in brokerage or mutual funds.

SWPPX has a higher Tax Cost Ratio.

Wisdomtree has renamed the NTSX ETF, and also launched international and emerging market versions of the ETF.
The symbols for the new ETFs are NTSI and NTSE.

Upon launching the WisdomTree U.S. Efficient Core Fund (NTSX), previously referred to as the WisdomTree 90/60 U.S. Balanced Fund, we updated some of the seminal research from Cliff Asness on the diversification benefits that come from applying leverage to a traditional 60/40 portfolio approach.
Today, we are excited to launch international and emerging markets versions of these strategies with the WisdomTree International Efficient Core Fund (NTSI) and the WisdomTree Emerging Markets Efficient Core Fund (NTSE). While this piece focuses on U.S. markets, our research has shown similar results outside of the U.S.

https://www.wisdomtree.com/blog/2021-05-20/an-update-to-cliff-asness-s-study-on-the-benefits-of-a-levered-60-40

schwab has the best MUTUAL FUND in america.
it is SWPPX ( S&P 500) and it has cost factor of 0.02%
vanguard, everyones favorite though not mine, offers Admiral shares VFIAX (S&P 500) at a cost factor DOUBLE schwab 0.04%. tell me now that schwab isn't better in brokerage or mutual funds.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318342/000139834421011101/fp0065643_497.htm
497 1 fp0065643_497.htm
WCM International Small Cap Growth Fund
(Institutional Class Shares - Ticker Symbol: WCMSX)
A series of Investment Managers Series Trust
Supplement dated May 20, 2021 to the
Prospectus dated September 1, 2020,
Statement of Additional Information dated September 1, 2020,
as amended February 24, 2021, and Summary Prospectus,
dated September 1, 2020.
IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING PURCHASE OF FUND SHARES
Effective as of the close of business on June 18, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), the WCM International Small Cap Growth Fund (the “Fund”) will be publicly offered on a limited basis.
Effective as of the Closing Date, only certain investors will be eligible to purchase shares of the Fund, as described below (the “closure policy”). In addition, the Fund may from time to time, in its sole discretion based on the Fund’s net asset levels and other factors, limit the types of investors permitted to open new accounts, limit new purchases into the Fund or otherwise modify the closure policy on a case-by-case basis.
Effective as of the Closing Date, the following groups will be permitted to continue to purchase Fund shares:
1.Shareholders of record of the Fund as of the Closing Date may continue to purchase additional shares in their existing Fund accounts either directly from the Fund or through a financial intermediary, and they may continue to reinvest dividends or capital gains distributions from Fund shares.
2.Existing registered investment advisors, bank trust firms and broker dealers or other financial intermediaries that have an investment allocation to the Fund in a fee-based, wrap or advisory account may continue to add new clients and purchase shares.
3.New shareholders may open Fund accounts and purchase shares directly from the Fund (i.e., not through a financial intermediary).
4.Group employer benefit plans, including 401(k), 403(b), 457 plans, and health savings account programs (and their successor, related and affiliated plans) (collectively, “Employer Benefit Plans”), which made the Fund available to participants on or before the Closing Date, may continue to open accounts for new participants with the Fund and purchase additional shares in existing participant accounts. New Employer Benefit Plans may also establish new accounts with the Fund, provided the new Employer Benefit Plan approved and selected the Fund as an investment option by the Closing Date and the Employer Benefit Plan was accepted for investment by the Fund by the Closing Date.
5. Members of the Fund’s Board of Trustees, persons affiliated with WCM Investment Management, LLC, the Fund’s advisor, and their immediate families may continue to purchase shares of the Fund and establish new accounts.
In general, the Fund will rely on a financial intermediary to prevent a new account from being opened within an omnibus account established at that financial intermediary if the account would not otherwise satisfy the conditions outlined above. The Fund’s ability to monitor new accounts that are opened through omnibus accounts or other nominee accounts is limited, and the ability to limit a new account to those that meet the above criteria with respect to financial intermediaries may vary, depending upon the capabilities of those financial intermediaries. Investors may be asked to verify that they meet one of the exceptions above prior to opening a new account with the Fund. The Fund may permit you to open a new account if the Fund reasonably believes that you are eligible. The Fund also may decline to permit you to open a new account if the Fund believes that doing so would be in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders, even if you would be eligible to open a new account under these exceptions. If all shares of the Fund in an existing account are redeemed, the shareholder’s account will be closed. Such former shareholders will not be able to buy additional shares of the Fund or reopen their account.
Please file this Supplement with your records.

MikeM - Thanks for weighing in.
The “disconnect” is in my brain. My question assumed there were still plenty of conventional and competitive fund houses similar to Price from which to choose. From the discussion it seems the whole universe is moving to brokerages..
Why? I suspect it’s more cost effective for a firm like Fidelity to staff just one support team geared to the brokerage type customer rather than two distinct teams. Might even be a reason TRP’s once stellar mutual fund support team has been allowed to slide. They too offer a brokerage feature. I suspect they’d not be unhappy if their mutual fund customers shifted to their brokerage.
This has been an education. As I think @MikeM correctly guessed, I’m more comfortable with traditional fund / fund houses based on 50+ years of doing it that way.
BTW- Anybody remember a time they phoned Price’s mutual fund support team and weren’t greeted with the following message: “We are experiencing higher than normal call volume. Your wait time may be longer …” (followed by some crappy music)? Logically and mathematically, it would seem impossible for something to remain “higher than normal” indefinitely.

Check out this open source SS strategy calculator that take all these various permutations into account: https://opensocialsecurity.com/

I was thinking 65 or 66....
------------
The strategy that maximizes the total dollars you can be expected to receive over your lifetime is as follows:
You file for your retirement benefit to begin 1/2029, at age 69 and 3 months.

baron list is bogus! out of fifty top brokerage houses, no listing at all for the very best: charles schwab!
do you know how you become best doc in NJ. you buy the plaque each year. failure to purchase and you are delisted next year.
us news and world reports lists the best colleges in america. one of the top five is REED in portland oregon. they are listed as 60th. why? simple, no payola. baron's list should not be considered for guidance.

There’s some confusion here: this is a list of the fifty top Mutual Fund Families, not top brokerage houses.
Barron’s has a separate list of the Best Online Brokers: Schwab got a 4/5 score and placed fifth.

This makes more sense than bitcoin....

...the moves of multiple countries, most prominently China, in the central bank digital currency (CBDC) space has intensified talk about how aggressively the Fed should move. China’s progress has stirred worries that it could undermine the dollar’s position as the global reserve currency.
Powell referenced the growing popularity of digital currencies like bitcoin, though he said they remain inefficient payment mechanisms. Stablecoins, which are tied to specific currencies, offer other advantages.
“Technological advances also offer new possibilities to central banks — including the Fed,” Powell said. “While various structures and technologies might be used, a CBDC could be designed for use by the general public.”

CBDC

baron list is bogus! out of fifty top brokerage houses, no listing at all for the very best: charles schwab!
[...] baron's list should not be considered for guidance.

>> Barrons List of 50 Best Mutual Fund Families in 2020 (From February, 2021)
As a mutual fund family, Schwab is no better than mediocre, with exactly half of its 60 funds rated 3 star, It's got just one five star fund along with 15 four star funds; at least that's slightly better than its dozen 2 star funds. (In case you're counting, two of its funds are too new to have star ratings.)
Though if you really want to know why Schwab wasn't even in the running, it's because it offers no actively managed taxable bond funds. Which means that it doesn't offer a full suite of funds. For similar reasons (e.g. no muni bond fund), D&C isn't on the list either.

Thanks @dsuttr -
I won’t doubt your word. I only said that I investigated the 50 fund houses. If you or anyone else wants to provide a list of 50 more mutual fund houses you think worth investigating, I’d be glad to look at them too. Logging into 50 different fund houses and reading their prospectuses in one evening is a great way to test the longevity of the battery on my ipad. :)
Regards

I don’t know how to thank everybody for the great response. Am humbled by how little i knew about Fidelity, Schwab & brokerages in general. This thread will be saved and referenced repeatedly. For now, I’m staying put with Price. Hopefully, the technical related issues will be resolved. Suspect I (and some of you) understand how to navigate and utilize their website better than many of the current phone reps - for reasons unclear to me.
FWIW - Later in the evening Tuesday after reading all the responses, I researched practically every fund house on the attached list. Went right to their website. Late into the night. The changes in the mutual fund business since I joined TRP around 1995 are unbelievable. Only the strong survive. Many merged out of existence. With possibly a dozen exceptions (counting the big brokerages), all the houses on the Barron’s list appear to be front loaded, And few offer a diversified stable of funds for individuals. Several cater to institutions or very large investors. And none can compete with the 4 or 5 giants on fees. Their top rated house, Manning & Nappier is interesting. Not front loaded, but their 12B-1 fee is considered a “level load.” I actually like some of their allocation funds - but the added fee reduces attractiveness compared to TRP.
Looks like increasingly the fund universe is dominated by a few mammoth houses. The big get bigger - which explains Fidelity’s current push to bring the “teeny-boppers” under its umbrella. I’ll pursue @msf’s use / suggestion of online banks which would negate the already limited need for checkwriting at a fund house. If the local bank on the corner you’ve been with for 15 years is unable to provide a medallion signature guarantee when you walk in the front door without your having to jump through hoops, what value is there to staying with them?
Barrons List of 50 Best Mutual Fund Families in 2020 (From February, 2021)
Manning & Napier Advisors $5,755 72.54 26 3 6 4 2
2 54 Guggenheim Investments 40,034 70.56 20 16 15 1 11
3 10 Vanguard Group 1,836,704 66.07 8 19 26 5 9
4 9 Fidelity Management & Research 1,779,875 64.79 16 24 8 8 35
5 47 Morgan Stanley Investment Management 77,902 62.95 1 10 18 51 52
6 35 Transamerica Asset Management 48,738 62.46 10 8 9 48 23
7 14 Lord Abbett 175,300 61.26 9 31 3 46 30
8 51 Brinker Capital 14,011 60.52 2 9 7 53 48
9 28 American Century Investment Mgmt 154,321 60.50 18 13 19 27 6
10 4 Columbia Threadneedle Investments 179,658 59.90 13 32 14 15 42
11 2 Virtus Investment Partners 48,912 59.41 28 36 1 39 4
12 20 T. Rowe Price 761,480 59.38 32 17 4 24 33
13 25 Saratoga Capital Management 1,251 59.23 50 4 24 2 53
14 53 American Funds 2,290,068 58.93 43 12 35 3 18
15 23 John Hancock 188,266 58.74 27 22 13 17 40
16 27 First Trust Advisors 33,377 58.07 4 43 12 40 39
17 45 Thrivent Mutual Funds 30,089 57.97 6 46 22 19 24
18 13 BlackRock 340,679 57.69 24 15 21 18 47
19 6 Nuveen 233,819 57.19 14 7 16 47 32
20 52 AssetMark 3,952 56.21 3 52 31 13 36
21 21 PGIM Investments 163,978 55.94 7 1 52 42 27
22 8 Putnam Investment Management 82,302 55.78 11 26 20 41 26
23 46 SIT Investment Associates 1,826 55.22 21 6 2 52 49
24 18 J.P. Morgan Asset Management 454,621 55.16 12 18 29 34 29
25 42 UBS Asset Management 12,563 55.00 23 37 10 43 10
26 29 BNY Mellon Investment Management 63,649 54.41 5 34 38 32 25
27 26 Amundi Pioneer Asset Management 46,209 53.07 34 2 36 38 28
28 15 Wells Fargo Funds 88,736 52.93 19 28 44 9 44
29 38 Pimco 415,290 51.95 17 51 25 29 5
30 32 Ivy Investment Management 60,875 51.78 38 20 17 35 34
31 31 Delaware Management 64,045 51.53 41 14 51 6 1
32 30 Federated Investors 84,141 51.41 47 11 33 7 45
33 3 DWS Group 30,427 50.36 42 21 23 23 37
34 1 MFS Investment Management 370531 49.79 36 39 27 12 38
35 11 Natixis Investment Managers 151,678 49.49 45 5 34 31 51
36 49 Affiliated Managers Group 88,905 49.38 30 40 11 49 7
37 12 Hartford Funds 114,072 48.78 25 27 46 25 12
38 36 Neuberger Berman 38,096 48.40 35 48 32 10 43
39 34 Goldman Sachs Asset Management 120,060 48.01 37 38 39 14 22
40 7 State Street Bank & Trust 22,867 47.96 49 47 5 30 31
41 22 Invesco 324,250 47.28 39 25 45 20 20
42 5 Principal Global Investors 183,536 47.16 46 30 28 28 21
43 39 MainStay Funds 66,624 46.44 29 44 37 37 3
44 43 USAA Investments** 60,434 45.25 22 45 48 21 14
45 48 Franklin Templeton Investments 472,488 44.74 33 35 49 26 17
46 24 Northern Trust Investments 28,110 43.75 53 23 40 16 16
47 37 SEI Group 97,141 42.75 48 50 42 11 13
48 33 Eaton Vance 106,755 42.36 52 29 30 33 19
49 17 Victory Capital Management** 36,030 42.32 44 33 50 22 8
50 50 Russell Investments
Barron’s February 19, 2021

@hank - the only Fidelity funds I own I own through my brokerage accounts, FSMEX in a taxable account and FTEC in my Roth account.
As far as i know any fund that Fidelity carries can be transferred in kind to a similar brokerage account. If you own a TRP fund in a traditional IRA and Fidelity carries that fund then you can transfer in your shares to a traditional IRA brokerage account. I'm not positive but I don't believe that Fidelity has access to all of the TRP funds. For example, I believe that you are a good sized holder in PRWCX so it pays to check before transferring. I've owned 4-5 different TRP funds which I had no trouble transferring merely for bookkeeping ease. If you do the transfer in cash then of course you can buy whatever you want at Fidelity.

That’s some qualification… “ 1 Qualified Purchaser: Includes, among others, natural persons owning not less than $5 million in investments; family offices owning not less than $5 million in investments; trusts not formed to acquire securities offered and each trustee and settlor is a qualified purchaser; and other entities not formed to acquire securities offered that own not less than $25 million in investments.

I’m not disagreeing with Lewis. I have no idea and my exposure is very limited… but here’s David Rubenstein with a counter argument: https://mobile.twitter.com/SquawkCNBC/status/1395354887966412801
Then there’s Jack Dorsey with the “Bitcoin can make the world greener post”: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/2021/05/jack-dorsey-says-bitcoin-is-climate-friendly-is-he-right.html
A lot of smart people on both sides of this discussion.

Thanks for sharing.
I didn't realize that just 20 firms are responsible for 55% of the world's plastic waste.
Regarding ESG funds, there are different definitions of what constitutes ESG.
Some investment firms have implemented "greenwashing" in order to jump on the ESG bandwagon.
Caveat emptor!

Bitcoin bounces back after crash… https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-price-bounces-after-crypto-crash-shocks-market-11621508116
Use the volatility to your favor? Cathie Wood et al seem to think so… including forecasts of BTC at 100k and 500k in the future hmmm. There’s a lot of people vested in it- will they stand idly by and let it be regulated into nonexistence? Can it be?

Uh-oh. ... What could possibly go wrong, eh?
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-will-launch-a-broad-discussion-of-a-digital-dollar-this-summer-powell-says-11621534045?mod=home-page

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1494928/000139834421011115/fp0065693_497.htm
RiverPark Funds Trust
RiverPark Short Term High Yield Fund
Institutional Class (RPHIX)
Retail Class (RPHYX)
Supplement dated May 20, 2021 to the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) dated January 28, 2021.
This supplement provides new and additional information beyond that contained in the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI and should be read in conjunction with the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI.
IMPORTANT NOTICE ON PURCHASE OF FUND SHARES
Effective as of 4 p.m. on June 18, 2021 (the "Closing Date"), Retail and Institutional Class Shares of the RiverPark Short Term High Yield Fund (the "Fund") are closed to new investors.
After the Closing Date, existing shareholders of Retail and Institutional Class Shares of the Fund and certain eligible investors, as set forth below, may purchase additional Retail and Institutional Class Shares of the Fund through existing or new accounts and may reinvest dividends and capital gains distributions.
Existing shareholders include:
• Shareholders of record of the Fund as of the Closing Date (although if a shareholder closes all accounts in the Fund, additional investments into the Fund may not be accepted).
• Clients of a financial adviser or planner who had client assets invested in the Fund as of the Closing Date.
After the Closing Date, the following eligible investors may open new accounts:
• New shareholders may open Fund accounts and purchase shares directly from the Fund (i.e. not through a financial intermediary).
• Any trustee of RiverPark Funds Trust, or employee of RiverPark Advisors, LLC or Cohanzick Management, LLC, or an investor who is an immediate family member of any of these individuals.
The Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to determine the criteria for qualification as an eligible investor and to reject any purchase order. Sales of Retail Class Shares and Institutional Class Shares of the Fund may be further restricted or reopened in the future.
PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.