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.
Those who travel a lot may appreciate the value of a stablecoin account that can be accessed anytime (24/7) from anywhere in the world, rather than carrying around cash $s or global ATM cards (Schwab or Fido - no ATM fees).
Note the 24/7 aspect - b…
For a firm that prides itself on penny-pinching and low-cost indexing, Vanguard’s leaders sure seem to be stuffing their bank accounts with a lot more than pennies."
Vanguard employees, including its CEO, are just that - employees. If you believe …
As described in M*'s summary of CGIC, "Most of the firm’s ETFs are carved from a legacy vehicle, which its portfolio strategy-management group uses as a base to parse into a more compact portfolio based on liquidity factors while ensuring the stylis…
You might check out TRIGX. A long history to study.
Like many int'l funds, it is light in EM and heavy in Europe. If that's what you're looking for, it is definitely worth checking out.
CGIC is also Eurocentric, but has healthy exposure (1/8) in …
VUSXX currently has a 7 day SEC yield of 4.18% (4.27% APY). It should be mostly state tax exempt and if you don't like dealing with Vanguard is available through E*Trade.
FSIXX currently has a 7 day SEC yield of 4.16% (APY 4.25%). You can get …
Also be careful with taxation of SS income. The percentage of SS that's taxable can go as high as 85% depending on "combined income", a form of MAGI.
Then there's the IRMAA surcharge. Another MAGI effect in addition to phaseouts.
Next, there ar…
According to the quote in the OP: "Now, Vanguard isn’t eliminating SpecID—but they are making it harder to use by removing it as a default option for your accounts."
This change does indeed better align Vanguard with industry standards. I wrote i…
Vegomatic, do you have some link?
Most of Vanguard's equity ETFs have been passive and those do require daily disclosures.
I believe you mean "do not". Regardless of the indexed fund "exception" for daily disclosure of holdings, generally ETFs f…
Why is SpecID still available for market orders?
Market orders are executed immediately at the current market price, making it easier to match the specified shares with the sale. This immediacy aligns well with the SpecID method, ensuring that the c…
While PCFs are usually very close to actual portfolios, they are not necessarily identical to a fund's portfolio.
Each trading day, ETF issuers must disseminate a portfolio composition file (PCF) which describes the makeup of the creation and red…
ISTM there may be less to this than meets the eye.
When selling shares, there are two questions:
1) What did each share cost, and
2) Which shares were sold
If you are using average cost (called average basis by the IRS), all shares have the same …
We still use checks because we don't want any outside agency to have digital access to our bank or financial accounts,
Bill payment systems make electronic payments, or if that is not possible (e.g. to your landlord) they send paper checks. It i…
I dropped the double cash card years ago but use the Citibank Custom Cash card. Like Yogi, I've had no problems making payments using Bill Pay. And I too have not provided a postal address.
If Citi is really not accepting electronic payments (doe…
Can one get different checks for different accounts?
The brokerage account number is embedded in the checking "account" number as the last nine digits, with X=5, Y=6, and Z=7.. So each brokerage account gets its own checkbook.
I have a Schwab che…
This is one reason why I do not like linked CMA accounts, and especially do not like debit cards linked to a brokerage account. ...
Fidelity allows you to "freeze" your brokerage accounts to stop all transfers. It is easily reversible
Can you "f…
Typically OEFs keep a small amount of cash around to deal with potential redemptions. This creates the cash drag you're referring to. But ETFs trade on the secondary market and are not redeemed directly with the fund. So they may not have this …
Will it outperform VWEAX?
The funds have similar principal investment strategies.
ETF: The Fund invests primarily in a diversified group of high-yielding, higher-risk corporate bonds—commonly known as “junk bonds”—with medium- and lower- range cre…
I haven't taken a close (or to be honest more than a cursory) look at the Medicaid cuts. But from an investment perspective, one should probably look at the for-profit hospital systems as well as insurance companies (i.e. the companies I recognized…
micro-deposits have always been used to validate linked accounts
As I posted elsewhere, it seems that these micro-deposit accounts can appear "spontaneously" years after the link is established. (Automated systems revalidating the link.)
Until recently TIAA and CREF portfolios were only through work or to relatives.
https://www.tiaa.org/public/pdf/e/eligibility_flyer_external.pdf (See green box)
In March, TIAA opened up these investments to everyone via IRAs.
https://www.tiaa.org/…
At first blush it looks like it's better not to contribute to a deductible IRA, but rather to keep retirement savings in a taxable account. It seems better to pay the lower cap gains tax on the taxable account than the higher ordinary income tax on…
The cost to fix damaged cars has increased by 28% since 2021.
Seemingly minor damage to vehicles
Tell me about it. I recently was in a fender bender (my fault, first time in over two decades and I wasn't at fault for that earlier one). 2MPH. Fro…
Even in this day and age, I'd like to think that James R. Schlesinger was right when he paraphrased Bernard Baruch as: “Everybody is entitled to his own views. Everybody is not entitled to his own facts.”
And that's my opinion :-)
How does the I…
There's the way people (and websites) informally classify investment companies and then there's the formal taxonomy.
From the SEC (Investor.gov):
What are closed-end funds?
A closed-end fund is one of three main types of investment companies that …
BXSL is, or operates as, a Business Development Company (BDC). It isn't a CEF.
You say tomato, I say tomahto.
BDCs are domestic, closed-end investment companies¹ that are operated for the purpose of making investments in small and developing busin…
I could be wrong, but it seems to me that FD1000 said at one time he had a (fee) pass at Schwab. That's off the top of by head, so.......
Or you could be spot on ...
For me.
... 4. Here come the biggest advantage for Schwab. I trade only mutual fun…
The conversions and/or QCD's do not count towards the total RMD amount
Fidelity: "QCDs can be counted toward satisfying your required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year, as long as certain rules are met."
https://www.fidelity.com/retirement…
Top Executives
Name Title Since Until
David R. Giroux Vice President 2006 Now
Jeffrey W. Arricale Deputy Director 2006 2007
Stephen W. Boesel Managing Director and portfolio manager 2001 2006
Richard P. Howard Senior Vice President 19…
There is a downside in making QCDs by writing your own checks from your IRA. (That's what you can no longer do at Vanguard as of Sept.)
Roth conversions can only be done after you meet your annual RMD requirement (if any). When Vanguard, or Fid…
The verbiage clearly changed, otherwise the poster on the other forum would not have stated (somewhat erroneously) that some funds "now have Transaction Fees of $74.95, up from $49.95". You did correct that by saying that Schwab may charge fees up …
I didn't find any recent Schwab announcements regarding TF increases
Nov 1, 2021:
The cost of buying any no-load fund that’s not on Schwab’s NTF list is $49.95.
At least that was the case until today. The $49.95 purchase-only transaction fee remai…
In the prospectus, pull up the 5/20/25 Supplement (from dropdown in upper right)
https://prospectus-express.broadridge.com/summary.asp?doctype=pros&clientid=trowepll&fundid=77954M105
In the Summary Prospectus and Section 1 of the Prospectus…
Boeing makes the MOP. They appear to specialize in things that fall from the sky and result in destruction.
:-)
If one is looking for investment opportunity here, perhaps Northrup Grumman (B-2 manufacturer) is the better long term investment.The A…
I'm looking at CDs available at Schwab (login required)
https://client.schwab.com/Areas/Trade/FixedIncomeSearch/FISearch.aspx/CDs
I set no restrictions on the search (i.e. secondary market included), except for "best offer only" and maturities from…
Are you using MFO premium to screen for the =< 20% for the Mag 7?
Just brute force, I'm afraid. Sorted funds by 3 year returns and looked at their portfolios. Time consuming, but it had the benefit of getting me to glance at many funds I'd n…
If you include short term (1 year or less) zero coupon CDs, I used these when CD rates were better than T-bills (after tax).
Assuming that you hold the CD to maturity, conceptually a zero coupon CD is no different from a CD that accrues interest bu…
I've been looking through LC Bl funds that have done well over the past three years without having gorged on the Mag 7, while also having turned in good performances YTD. Ideally I'd also like them to have more than a smattering of foreign stocks (…
If I remember correctly the joke on the internet was he was leaving his estate to his cat
That's interesting if true. While states generally don't allow assets to be bequeathed to pets, there is a whole body of law, varying state by state, that en…
