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.
"Carefree">My 401k provider offers PONAX -Pimco Income A- in the plan, but the expense is 1.45. Thoughts avoid because of the expense is so high or buy it? The only other bond fund is BHYAX BlackRock High Yield. I’m 55 years old and I apprecia…
So appreciate all the helpful comments being offered on this thread. Personal experiences and opinions, by a wide array of posters, can be so very valuable for those looking to satisfy their personal circumstances!
"fundly">@dtconroe.
I have thoroughly, again thoroughly, enjoyed your post and was able to evaluate some of your named funds to add to those I currently keep in my portfolio. Each post I believe has value to someone and some repetition is no pro…
@dtconroe, I've read your comments and all I can say to you is, this is not Morningstar.
How many additions can one thread topic have without repeating itself and the funds suggested? Please, if a post goes dormant it is not because it wasn't inte…
Some Munis can be a conservative way to increase yield, but you always have to balance yield, with total return, with tax implications. Many Munis are very risky from both an interest rate risk and credit risk, so as usual, it is somewhat difficult…
"Crash">I continue to read this thread with interest. My household situation is such that I can manage fine (along with wifey,) together here with extended family, though my portfolio is surely much smaller than many or most who participate here.…
Baseball_Fan: "Following closely the Bond OEF Investing for more Conservative Investors...does anyone on that thread really trust/know what their funds are invested in? Even conservative funds with asset backed holdings rated highly by the rating ag…
My exposure to bond investing, as well as other asset categories of investing, was through employment retirement programs. Financial Advisors would meet with our employees, and recommend a series of fund options, based on a variety of factors assoc…
"Derf">@dtconroe: After viewing this site for a long time I have a suggestion for you. Bookmark your last comment. When you feel like adding to link, bring the bookmark back & add to it. Hopefully I explained this okay. I've seen months go by…
"Gary1952">What is too conservative? I have a basic AA of 50/50. But the 50% bond OEFs have 50% (25% overall) in low duration/lower yielding "safer" type funds. The other 50% (25% overall) is in higher yielding multi/non-traditional funds. I own …
Gary, I guess I could operationalize the definition of conservative, but I am fine with each poster/investor determining what is conservative to them, on this thread. I am probably one of the most risk averse bond oef investor, but I am always re-e…
Crash, I appreciate your willingness to make active posts. If you have thoughts about types of posts, that might inspire lurkers/readers, to engage with comments, thoughts, questions, I would be very open to working in partnership with others to tr…
As primarily a bond oef investor, 2019 was a great year to invest in bond oefs, with many bond oefs producing double digit total return. Short term momentum investors, will cite the hottest bond oefs, as the funds to invest in for 2020. My experie…
I started this thread about a month ago in December 2019, to see if this would be viable option for investors to discuss bond oefs. What I have learned is that there are a large number of individuals who "view" the thread (3.5K), but very few who c…
There seems to be a few threads and increased interest in Munis recently. I have always found this category more impacted by seasonal trends than most bond oefs. Here is an article that highlights that seasonality:
The Four Seasons of Muni Bond I…
I have completed making portfolio adjustments in my retirement portfolio for end of 2019 and beginning of 2020. I attempt to look at funds I am most likely to be able to hold for all of 2020--I don't like to buy and sell frequently, am not good at …
There have been extensive discussions on the M* discussion boards talking about the unique risk of this fund. Here is one excerpt that summarizes the risk: "* IOFIX = almost entirely pre-crisis legacy subprime non-agencies, a chunk of it in small, …
"Gary1952">dtconroe, I did purchase NVHAX with proceeds from an equity fund that had doubled. This is in my taxable account so I wanted to get some muni exposure and protect my profit. I was considering BTMIX but decided to go a little more aggr…
I have been making a few end of year/beginning of new year portfolio adjustments in my taxable account. I did sell BTMIX--a very good short term, investment grade, municipal bond oef, and I have added AAHMX, a very low risk HY short duration Muni B…
I went back and double checked, and I did discover TRBUX is NTF and is also on Schwab's list of "Select Funds"--it is an ultrashort term bond fund, so it is one of the lower risk but lower TR funds on the list. DODIX is the most risky of the funds…
carew388: "GSY are etf alternatives for MINT . Additional open-ended funds include TRBUX and BBBMX . FPNIX and DODIX are candidates if you can buy them ntf !"
I will comment on the bond oefs, which are the focus of this thread. BBBMX is available …
Bobpa: "Any opinion on LALDX or HOBEX? Thank you for all your input." .
Bobpa, I owned LALDX for years through an employment retirement menu--I considered it a good, relatively low risk, fund, with a large AUM (likely due to its being marketed thr…
For those who are interested in investing in a Traditional IRA, that is where the majority of my investment assets are located. I try to use a bit more risky, and higher TR options than in my taxable account. However, I am very conservative, focus…
davidrmoran: "What are good competitors to MINT? I could stand more volatility for better return ..."
David, MINT is an ETF, and it gets very positive reviews by M* as a cash alternative. I am not an ETF investor, so I will not be able to compare…
Just my opinion based on what is available at Schwab brokerage--not sure about other brokerages, but here are some of the lower volatility, low risk bond oefs you might consider for your taxable account:
Short Term Investment Grade bond oefs--DBLSX…
I am making some year end changes in my taxable portfolio, positioning for 2020. At the end of a calendar year, and the beginning of the next calendar year, I determine which funds I want to continue holding, in what amounts, and choose replacement…
MikeW: " Have you evaluated DHEIX as an option? It has an average annual return of about 4% and a MAXDD of only 0.2%. Looks like a very interesting fund. SD is only 0.7."
Hi Mike--In my taxable account, I own DHEAX, a different share class of DHEIX…
I am taking a close look at increasing my SEMMX position in my taxable account. I only have a small foothold position of SEMMX in my taxable account, primarily because it is not a tax efficient bond oef. I have held a relatively large position of …
carew388: "ZEOIX has a transaction fee at Fidelity, E-Trade and Vanguard also. Not sure how long Firstrade will continue to sell all OEM's with no transaction fee"
carew388, I am not aware of any brokerage without a TF for ZEOIX. The other issue w…
FD: "Why would any reasonable retiree go for a long term of 3% performance for their whole taxable account?"
FD, my statement above was: "I have generally wanted funds in my taxable account, with an average total return history of over 3%." Some f…
Gary: "...you may not need to start RMDs for your wife next year. Depends on when the SECURE Act kicks in."
Hey Gary, thanks for the information. We will be having some conversations with our Schwab brokerage reps, before we address my wife's RMD.…
Hi catch22, thanks for posting. Yes, we are aware of the various options for how you take the RMD. I have been taking RMDs for several years, and have done it a couple of different ways. When we transfer the RMD money to our taxable account, we h…
I have already stated the "reason" why we are looking at very conservative bond oef funds for my wife's IRA. We are not interested in Muni funds for her Tax Exempt IRA, and she is very very conservative, and so we will only focus on very low risk b…
I have watched FPFIX since inception. It is available through Schwab for $100k in taxable accounts, but you can get it for $5000 in IRAs. It is a nontraditional bond oef, and is from a company that has a heavy emphasis on "absolute" return objecti…
Back to some investing topics! My wife has a traditional IRA, and in 2020 she is required to begin her RMD process. Our approach to RMDs, is to take the total RMD amount at the beginning of the calendar year, transfer it to our taxable account, an…
I missed much of this conversation--had a family Christmas gathering tonight. I just started posting on this forum, after years of posting on M*. This thread is very much in line with two recent threads I started at M*, in which I used the same po…
syzygy--I agree. A couple of years ago I owned VMPAX and ORSTX--very similar funds that served me well at that time. If you are looking for lower risk Muni funds, these are funds I continue to maintain on a watchlist of funds.
