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.
Does size matter? In theory a smaller fund can be more nimble and obviously doesn’t suffer from the dreaded asset bloat. OTOH,,, too little assets can’t support a savvy group of analysts and could be forced into unplanned redemptions in a sell off.…
Hey Old Joe,,, I get that for sure. I just have concluded that having my banking and all the rest tied to a single website is too much simplification and not enough diversification.
If you doing your banking at Schwab bank you lose access to doing any online business with Schwab.com or app is down. It’s happened twice recently. We will be transitioning to a brick and mortar for this and other problems with the no longer reliab…
@Hank. You nailed it…great post. Defensive driving and excellent safety tech can only do so much in today’s road conditions. We often drive from Sacramento to the Bay Area and never see anyone getting a ticket. We see lots of less than legal driv…
I am curious how one fits a go anywhere fund into a well designed portfolio? A big commitment to a go anywhere fund makes even planning for a target asset allocation problematic. Is the attraction collecting star managers and the fund of the momen…
@BaluBalu. If you are referring to restoring my relationship with Schwab the fruit basket did no such thing. My one brokerage/banking simplification plan is being revisited. Some ok pears didn’t change a thing.
Yeah. Apparently gift baskets from Harry and David are well known. I had no idea. They say their pears are famous but I say they were nothing special. The apples were outstanding.
To be fair I have been with Schwab for many decades. I ALWAYS have quick access to engaged and professional reps. Until this experience I have never been unable to get a clear answer and resolution to whatever was concerning me. In this instance I…
@FD. Thanks for your input. I went thru multiple escalations originally thru private client. Got no where. My local assigned rep called me. He,,, like all the others were sympathetic and amazed by my issue. But nothing else …. So I tried chat jus…
The chat rep was gone for five minutes while she was looking for the answer. That made me think she was inexperienced and had to ask a supervisor how to answer my request. I did get an unexpected and unsolicited call from the FC I am assigned to. …
The usual Schwab in that I have had great access to nice folks who agreed with my frustration but no fix. So I tried to reach the so called “client advocacy team “ which I found out was impossible. I wonder if such a team really exists. No one kn…
Rick Ferri says four funds,,, Bogleheads say three. As the dude would say” it’s just like your opinion man. “. And opinions are like something else that everyone has.
“To each his own, it’s all unknown.” Bob Dylan. 1970. Hank. You are an experienced investor and your allocation is what’s right for you at this stage of your life. I advise my affluent youngest daughter with her allocation and I always have to r…
@ Graust. Your remarks about the current invest scene are cogent and worth reading. With all due respect have you not noticed that the political party you proclaim your allegiance to no longer exists?
@sfnative. Thanks for starting this thoughtful discussion. The silver medal is worthy of our attention and for me the biggest take away is to be reminded that the rock star managers fade away. I am an old guy and started investing in funds in the e…
And to tie it together can we speculate how the fairness and transparency of a rules based market system would end if the FED, the SEC and Justice Department were all run by maga stooges? The end of the rule of law would end investing as we know it…
I appreciate that the owner and moderators of this board have not stopped this discussion. Thank you. And I appreciate that for the most part the participants have been respectful and not resorted to childish name calling.
Once upon a time,,, the party that supported capitalism and democracy had a left and right wing. They were called the Democrats and the Republicans. The members of both parties were mostly politicians, not statesmen but they took care of the count…
@sma3….. generally agree with your comments but have to ask if you trust the government or big energy to deal with climate change and pollution? We can debate what the appropriate goal of government should be but the goal of corporations is to make …
To those who would rather not discuss politics in this forum I understand. The discussion can and will likely mirror our national discourse or lack there of. And while politics might not impact our collective portfolios in the next quarter,,,, the …
It seems as though PYLD has a broad enough mandate to range wide and far,,,, up and down the credit quality ladder. And we won’t know what they are doing till after the fact. I too would prefer an ETF but I made a promise to myself to avoid levera…
I guess it boils down to a simple question: should one invest in something they don’t understand,,,, never knowing what’s in the black box? Or should past performance and the reputation of the manager be enough reason to invest?
Retired guy here. I understand the real and emotional need to try to generate income. But at the end of the day the first rule is do not lose money. Check out the TOTAL RETURN numbers and decide if these three are the best way to go. It also ma…
Does this new policy apply to clients enrolled in a 401k at work? My daughter has a Vanguard retirement plan from her employer and she is being kicked out of Wellington and being automatically migrated to a JP Morgan age appropriate TDF unless she …
Thanks to all for sharing…… I am particularly interested in conflicting desires in portfolio design. Optimization vs simplification. Like many things in life one can make such changes too soon or too late. Hard to get the timing just right.
@stillers. Perhaps another universe is oddly phrased, but my financial life would be entirely different if I had a pension check roll in every month. Many decisions would be looked at differently.
Thanks for posting. I have always thought that retired folks with pensions lived in another universe compared to the rest of us. I wonder if most pension recipients pay much attention to what is going on behind the scenes at their fund?
Another current situation my agent told me about. I asked her to write a homeowner policy for my daughter who had a policy with a company leaving California. She was able to wire it with a top company but was only able to write one new business pol…
Former insurance agency owner here. Limited churn works both ways. We worked really hard at retention and caught business that left agents who didn’t take care of their clients. The independent agent who handles our insurance is not thrilled with …
