FYI: The latest research findings from TCRS' 2017 survey of American workers.
The Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey explores attitudes about retirement and retirement readiness among American workers. The latest findings are included in Wishful Thinking or Within Reach? Three Generations Prepare for “Retirement,” which highlights differences and similarities among Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials.
The study is one of the largest and longest-running of its kind, with more than 6,000 respondents in 2017. It was conducted by Harris Poll, an independent research company. The robust, nationally representative sample enables TCRS to explore many different demographic segments, and those results will follow in the coming months.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.transamericacenter.org/docs/default-source/retirement-survey-of-workers/tcrs2017_pr_three_generations_prepare_for_retirement.pdf

Thanks @Junkster . For whom it holds interest, here is the government's income and cost structure for medicare payments. And I agree. I would also like to see more posts and questions about money matters and issues during retirement.
https://www.medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs/part-b-costs/part-b-costs.html
@catch22, I have been of the same page as you. For withdrawals from tax-differed plans it is total return that matters. I see nothing to the contrary or anything about breaking down growth returns versus income through distribution when taking withdrawals from and IRA/401k in any of my searches.

Generally, my traditional ira account generates enough income (interest, dividends, capital gain distributions) to meet my annaul RMD.

@Old_Skeet I'm still missing your point why this matters for withdrawals in general. I see where it is comforting to you to know you are drawing from an income stream only and aren't drawing down principle, but in general, why would it matter where the RMD or any draw-down came from if all taxed the same? Actually, you aren't drawing from your income, you are drawing from your IRA as a whole.

This is why I wish this forum had more retirement discussions. Old_Skeet you are still a youngster and apparently haven’t been hit by RMDs yet. It’s under $85,000 and $170,000 for couples with the next bracket being 85,000 to 107,000 and 170,000 to 214,000 for couples. That lowest 85,000 and 170,000 bracket has been that way since at least 2007. Unfortunately beginning in 2018 the next and third bracket changes for the worst meaning it is lowered than from what it had been.
And more than likely most of your social security benefits will be includied when computing your (modified) adjusted gross income which your Medicare income brackets are based on. Going from the lowest bracket to the next will cost an additional $53.50 in Medicare Part B premiums of whatever you had been paying and an additional $133.90 if you slip into the third. There is also an increase of your Part D premiums when you go into a higher income bracket. Unfortunately nothing some of us can do and will have to pay more onerous Medicare premiums based on rising income due to RMDs. One of the few times it doesn’t pay to be single - at least for me.

You likely make a great point @Old_Skeet. But I am, at this point, ignorant around the importance of why income is any more important than total return in retirement. If I'm withdrawing money from an IRA, why do I care if KCMTX has a bigger distribution than PRWCX if their total return is the same? Is it just tax implications?

I’ve lightened up ever so slightly on IOFIX. Will sell more if it takes out recent lows and buy back if it takes out recent highs (adjusted for November dividend). The non agencies seem to have hit a wall here albeit IOFIX hasn’t really been affected. Had thought I would be in retirement mode in 2017 and be more diversified in bonds and happy with a 5% return but then along came IOFIX. I don’t see why the non agency story can’t continue in 2018 so anxious to see what January brings. But price is always the final arbiter, not what I think.

Hi Bee,
Thanks for reading my post and for the excellent, informative graph that you included in your reply.
I did read the article referenced, and I would say that the line you quoted is not unconditionally correct. It depends. It depends on the specific circumstances of the individual investor. If he is adding to his portfolio, market volatility is surely an "opportunity". But if the investor is in retirement and mostly using his portfolio as one source of income, volatility can be frightening.
The approximate equation that I quoted really does tell the story. Volatility does indeed operate to reduce net portfolio wealth over years below annual average return. The higher the volatility, the quicker and more forceful is that negative impact. And it's always negative.
Give it a test by running a few what-if possible cases. A couple of years of possible what-ifs will demonstrate the wisdom in that simple equation. Of course you will tire of this exercise after a few samples so the proof will be incomplete. However, I hope it will be sufficient to reinforce the validity of the questioned equation.
Thank you once again. Good luck good investing.

FYI: As technology takes over more of people’s daily lives, it’s also taking over ever-bigger chunks of their retirement accounts.
Surging prices for technology stocks around the world mean the industry is making up a larger proportion of global markets. In the United States, Apple, Google’s parent company and other tech companies account for nearly 24 percent of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. A decade ago, they made up less than 17 percent of S&P 500 index funds. The makeover is even more dramatic overseas, where ascendant companies like China’s Tencent and Alibaba have quickly stormed into the ranks of the world’s largest.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/12/09/technology-taking-more-from-retirement-accounts/

@hank; FWIIW, my only attempts to move some big chunks of my retirement money into cash in 2008 did not pay off. An advisor later pointed out how much of the recovery I had missed.

I believe the equity market can act as its own re-balancing mechanism. Market price conditions change "moment by moment". When you are in the accumulation stage of life you might dollar cost average (dca) into these price conditions and in a sense your "dca" helps you re-balance into the market's price. Dca into investments over a long time horizons (many overbought and oversold changes) usually provide a positive return on investment. This might be considered a component of a re-balancing growth strategy.
When you move from the Accumulation (growth) Stage to the Distribution Stage, re-balancing is often impacted by the spending ("distribution of cash") of your portfolio. Re-balancing as a result of spending comes in many forms - retirement income, RMDs, one time tuition payments, wedding costs, house buying, and divorce to name a few. Most of these involve raising cash from your invested investments.
Raising cash in a portfolio is somewhat a kin to running a farm. Equities are the cows, the hens, the crops. The bonds are the working capital needed to run the farm- the fertilizers, the machinery, the outbuilding, the land, the service costs, etc. Think of cash as the profits from the corn, the hay, the eggs the milk. When a cow needs to be milked...milk it. When the field needs to be hayed, "make hay when the sun shines". Harvesting is part of farm's life and I believe it should also be a dynamic part of a portfolio's inner workings with respect to the cash needs (financial goals) of the portfolio.
Another take on re-balancing:
Using @Catch22 portfolio (50% FCNTX and 50% PIMIX) this farm has hired hands (Danoff and Ivascyn) who help manage the production and the operation of the farm separately. You need to roll up your sleeves and coordinate how these two managers are "running" your farm and "re-balance" their efforts. If your are young and your goal is long term growth, buy more FCNTX, but remember that you may need more land, more equipment, more fertilizer...so also buy some PIMIX. In a growth portfolio (with no need for short term cash) I would own enough PIMIX to cover the downside risks (Maximum Draw Down or MAXDD) of FCNTX. So every dollar you spend for future growth of FCNTX, an additional amount (in MAXDD percent) should be directed at PIMIX to hedge FCNTX's MaxDD risk. This will allow you to not sell FCNTX at the wrong time (in case you did need cash), but might even provide an opportunity to buy more FCNTX during oversold times.
For me, I gauge "overbought and oversold" using my portfolios holdings. I use PIMIX as my "risk off" portfolio indicator comparing it to my "risk on" investments, in this case FCNTX. "Overbought and oversold" conditions of FCNTX are compared against the performance of PIMIX dynamically. . In other words I use PIMIX to tell me when FCNTX is over or under performing PIMIX. Also, using @Old_Skeet's upper bands as a re-balancing trigger (+20% gain on the upside for FCNTX compared to PIMIX) - sell FCNTX and move proceeds (re-balance back into) PIMIX. Conversely, a (-10 percent loss of FCNTX compared to PIMIX) - sell PIMIX and buy (re-balance) into FCNTX
We can hire a manager to do this for us with hybrid/allocation/glide path retirement funds or we can "farm" a portfolio ourselves with individual securities (stocks or bonds) or with additional hired hands (stock or bond mutual fund managers). Either way, we still need to identify a strategy to deal with the spending dynamic and determine how that spending impacts portfolio re-balancing as we move through the distribution stage of life.

>> As I've posted before, the fact that Fidelity does not currently have a cash offer on the table does not mean that it has not done so in the past or will not do so again in the future.
Cool. Not in the 45y I have been with them, I think, but I know you will find the truth.
>> I have had positions in TF funds at Fidelity that I opened at no cost at another brokerage. When I closed that other account, I moved all the positions in kind to Fidelity. In fact, I opened a half dozen funds for free specifically to create open positions at Fidelity should I later choose to invest more than a small amount in them.
This is cool to know. If you have by any chance jumped on the DSENX bandwagon (I think you would have indicated as much elsewhere), do request reclass if / when it's a lot.
>> It's not that I'm insensitive to cost.
I think all of us fans know that.
>> Certainly not $75 ... I won't pay $75 for convenience alone.
Well, we are in violent agreement, again. And you won't be owning or buying DODIX at Fido, unless you parachute it in, so far as I can tell.
>> Everyone has their own threshold. Yours sounds like $0.
Pretty much, rightly or wrongly
>> But just in case it's a little higher, you might want to check out your ML account's fee schedule for purchases and transfers.
We have been $0 at ML for anything and everything for a long time, what with BoA mortgages and helocs, and ML brokerage accounts, and now all retirement accounts but the one which remains at Fido. And now significant cash rewards for transferring in.
Zero commish makes it too tempting to trade etfs and buy spec / tip stocks, but the deeper into retirement I go the easier it is to constrain my loser (sometimes gain) impulses.

" - And yes, I have reported (my "technique") that one who purchases DoubleLine NTF / higher-ER class shares at Fido can get them reclassified for free at DoubleLine to the lower-ER class once above a certain $ amount.
- This last procedure has nothing to do with anything else."
You do sound emphatic that this has nothing to do with anything else, including BCOIX.
"And yes, I am saying that Fido says one cannot buy BCOIX for other than a $50 TF, and moreover with a 25k min except for self retirement accounts, where the min is $500. "
I'll admit that I haven't asked Fidelity about this Baird fund specifically, but I have verified in the past that they'll let you convert Baird funds with no TF.
"As for transferring TF fund shares from one brokerage to another, I don't know much about that, never having bought (rightly or wrongly) TF fund shares. I don't know anything about other ways to escape TFs. I think someone here posted that the receiving brokerage sometimes pays one's fees of that sort. Certainly some give plain bonuses for transferring, though not Fidelity except in the form of lower-commission or some free trades. ML otoh pays serious moneys for transferring, depending on amounts"
As I've posted before, the fact that Fidelity does not currently have a cash offer on the table does not mean that it has not done so in the past or will not do so again in the future.
I have had positions in TF funds at Fidelity that I opened at no cost at another brokerage. When I closed that other account, I moved all the positions in kind to Fidelity. In fact, I opened a half dozen funds for free specifically to create open positions at Fidelity should I later choose to invest more than a small amount in them. Of course they were carefully selected funds; I wasn't going to open up dozens of junk funds "just in case".
I've also opened funds directly with the distributor when they were closed at brokerages, for the sole purpose of transferring them to my brokerage account. That can often be an easier process than going through a brokerage.
It's not that I'm insensitive to cost. It's that I'm willing to put in little sweat equity to get something that's both cheap and ultimately convenient. I'm also willing to pay a few bucks for convenience, but not much. Certainly not $75 - I'll do that to get cheaper shares (institutional TF vs. 12b-1 NTF); I won't pay $75 for convenience alone.
Everyone has their own threshold. Yours sounds like $0. But just in case it's a little higher, you might want to check out your ML account's fee schedule for purchases and transfers. Just follow this link (you'll have to log in):
https://olui2.fs.ml.com/RelationshipPricing/CommissionsAndFees.aspx

Hi MikeM,
Have owned ICMBX. Did Eric run this....I forget. Also ownedGTLOX....a casualty of downsizing. Also have FMIJX.
These guys.....if they ever stop being bears, I will know we are in the heart of a recession or depression. Also own PONDX. Can somebody please explain to me what they do? It's the only fund I own that I don't understand.
SFGIX.....why don't I own this fund? I've asked myself this more than once. I, too, have cut back on bonds. We all know why. As far as retirement, MikeM, it's beautiful. Do it! No stress. No problems and ..... it's always 5:00 somewhere, Bro! LOL
God bless
the Pudd
p.s. BABA - good job!
Also what do you think of Matthews? I used to own 2 of their funds. Now, none. I now think of them as overpriced and under achieving. Just me saying.....
p.s.s.
You aren't responsible for American Airlines' problems, are you? With whoops.......see CNBC.com.

? Not quite following the misapprehension, but:
- Yes, I am saying that Fido says one cannot buy DODIX for other than a $75 TF.
- And yes, I am saying that Fido says one cannot buy BCOIX for other than a $50 TF, and moreover with a 25k min except for self retirement accounts, where the min is $500.
- No, I have had nothing other in mind all along.
- And yes, I have reported (my "technique") that one who purchases DoubleLine NTF / higher-ER class shares at Fido can get them reclassified for free at DoubleLine to the lower-ER class once above a certain $ amount.
- This last procedure has nothing to do with anything else.
As for transferring TF fund shares from one brokerage to another, I don't know much about that, never having bought (rightly or wrongly) TF fund shares. I don't know anything about other ways to escape TFs. I think someone here posted that the receiving brokerage sometimes pays one's fees of that sort. Certainly some give plain bonuses for transferring, though not Fidelity except in the form of lower-commission or some free trades. ML otoh pays serious moneys for transferring, depending on amounts.
HTH.

Are you saying that you have no way, outside of using an institution new to you such as Vanguard, to initiate a position in DODIX at Fidelity for less that $75?
I recognize that you already said that you wouldn't use Vanguard for this purpose, and strongly suggested that you wouldn't use any other new institution: "Have never used Vanguard, have been trying to simplify and reduce holdings and institutions"
What point were you trying to make about Baird Core Plus?
"BCOIX is $50 TF at Fido, but it says $25k min (self retirement accounts $500)"
That seemed to communicate that one couldn't get around the $50 fee. You probably had something else in mind, given that you now mentioned a technique that you've used (or plan to use) yourself at Fidelity for this purpose.

BCOIX is $50 TF at Fido, but it says $25k min (self retirement accounts $500). PONDX, arguably better than any of these, is free, or, as noted if you're sure you're going to hold for the long run, PIMIX.

>> It looks like you may be forgetting things. Here's your own post on how to circumvent that fee at Fidelity:
https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/77431/#Comment_77431
?? It is unlike you to misunderstand or misread something so. Unless of course I'm mistaken again. Changing class within Doubleline shows how to avoid or reduce TF on DODIX? Can you share the exact steps to achieve this wrt D&C? I am missing something. Unless conceivably you did.

What you missed is what you last posted - transaction fees on Baird Core Plus and PIMCO Income Funds' institutional class shares. This shows why I suggested that if you want to talk about other funds outside of DODIX, it would be a good idea to do that in a different thread. Everything gets mixed together and confused in this DODIX thread.

As for the heart of PONDX, check its top sectors at M*. (As of midyear.)

For the sake of argument, let's grant your implication (that I was mistaken about PONDX being built around MBS). That doesn't diminish the other concerns I raised regarding this fund.
When I see people ask whether they should invest in a multisector fund or a short term fund or a core fund, one of the first questions that comes to mind is "what are you looking for", since these serve different functions and behave differently. They are simply different animals.
If one's objective is to goose yield, one can buy a leveraged fund. Most of those are closed end funds, so that's a good starting place. People seem to be happy with the boost they get from the leverage until they get burned, if they get burned. ("Industry studies show that over a long period of time, the benefits of leverage outweigh the drawbacks.") One can also buy OEFs that use leverage, like PONDX.
That gets us to your snapshot in time glance at its portfolio. Comparing the March 2015 annual report data with the 2017 annual report (from the M* site), one sees a big shift that comes in two parts:
- borrowing heavily:
   $1.9B liabilities vs. $46B assets(2015) compared with $27B liabilities vs. $106B assets (2017),
- using that debt to buy government bonds ($0 Treasuries in 2015, 25.2% Treasuries in 2017).
That's almost a dollar for dollar pairing. Honestly, I'm surprised the numbers work out that way. Nothing in real life is supposed to be that neat. But it seems that that the fund is continuing to focus on securitized debt for its core investments. Leverage is being used on the side to boost returns.
You're comfortable with increased leverage in a rising interest rate environment. I'm not. Sometimes it can still work, depending on how the yield curve moves - how fast and how the slope/curvature changes. Sometimes you can get badly burned. Best of luck.

Thanks @Old_Skeet. Yes, my "whoops" was from hitting the "post comment" button well before my information was ready. I do have 2 retirement accounts, an IRA at Schwab and a 401K at TRP, and I was trying to combine both in the post, but I didn't have the percentages correct yet. So, I tried to quickly delete with the edit function.
In any case, I would like to start a thread, maybe early next year, on how other retiree's withdraw from their nest-eggs. Exactly the kind of info you offered above. I have done some research on my own so I have some ideas. I will likely meet with my Schwab adviser early next year to talk over options and hear what he has to say.
Thanks again skeeter!

Hi @MikeM,
Wishing you the very best in your coming retirement.
If my memory is correct from viewing the now removed whoops portfolio the yield was at about 1.56% per my Instant Xray analysis; and, it was geared towards growth over income. Since, I am in retirement myself the yield is a little low for me. I take no more distribution than 1/2 of what my five year average return has been. In this way, my portfolio grows over time. In addition, you can (I believe) get your broker to set your account to where you can take all mutual fund distributions (interest, dividends and capital gains) in cash. This should raise your portfolio's income stream and prevent you from having to, perhaps, sell securities (piecemeal) to raise cash. I have found Morningstar's portfolio manager a good way to track a consolidated portfolio of multiple accounts. And, I have found it to be most reliable in tracking long term investment performance. Sure, it may have some short term glitches but overall it has been a good investment management tool.
Again, wishing you the very best as you approach retirement.
Old_Skeet

?? $75.
BCOIX is $50 TF at Fido, but it says $25k min (self retirement accounts $500). PONDX, arguably better than any of these, is free, or, as noted if you're sure you're going to hold for the long run, PIMIX.

Ok. I'll post my self managed portfolio.
But FWIW, I have 1/2 my retirement savings in a Schwab robo-portfolio, which is about 62% equity, 28% bonds and 10% cash. As of 11/24, the robo has returned 13.3% YTD. The percentage is based on $ amounts from 1/1 to 11/24. Up to others to judge if that is good or bad, but I'm happy with the the robo so far. I tend to be too conservative some times and the robo helps not over-think everything.
The self managed portfolio is less aggressive. Most of it has been pretty steady, fund/percentage wise, but I like to play with stocks with a small part of the total and my stocks have changed over the year. I also have adjusted and re-adjusted the bond funds a couple of times. Not sure why I don't just put all the bond allocation in PONDX and be done with it. But what fun is that?
M* instant xray shows the self managed portfolio percentages to be:
CASH 17
U.S. STOCK 21
FOREIGN STOCK 22
BONDS 34
OTHER 7
The self managed, which has consistently been conservative at about 40-45% equity, has returned 12.1% YTD. I think that is pretty good. Again, that's based on real dollars, not M* calculated.
the self managed portfolio consists of:
EQUITY and BALANCED FUNDS:
PRWCX Allocation--50% to 70% Lcap
ICMBX Allocation--50% to 70% Scap
DSENX LV- unfavored S&P500 sectors
GTLOX Lcap Blend
GPGOX World Stock
SGENX World Allocation
FMIJX Foreign LC Blend
SFGIX Diversified Emerging Mkts
BOND FUNDS:
MAINX Asia Centrix Bond Fund
PGMSX TRP Global Multi-Sector
PFIDX Low Duration floating Income
PONDX Multisector Bond
Individual Stocks:
V Visa
VLO Valero Energy
BABA Alibaba
QCP Quality Care Properties
I do think I own to many bond funds. I'll likely cut back. I also plan to move some money from DSENX to DLEUX. I think Europe may have better value and that is what these 2 funds are all about.
For the record, I will be 64 in 2018 and plan to retire from full time work. I'll likely work part time because I get bored easy. I have been doing a lot of thinking, setting up spreadsheets and reading about setting myself up for withdrawals. Looking forward to more discussions on that theme.

DCA'ing into ARTFX and FRIFX in retirement accounts and MMHAX in my taxable account. Will continue into 2018.