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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.
  • UMB HSA Saver Account
    Can't offer any solutions to your present HSA provider issues, but Fidelity offers an HSA that might be a consideration to transfer to.
  • UMB HSA Saver Account
    Confirmation statements for my UMB HSA Saver account have been unavailable for mutual fund purchases
    made since 04/22. I first contacted UMB regarding this issue on 05/10.
    I've sent or received six emails/phone calls related to this matter.
    The Customer Care Manager was unable to provide an estimated resolution date when we last spoke on 06/05.
    I've finally decided to send an email to the Chairman/CEO of UMB Financial Corporation
    and to the President of UMB Financial Corporation.
    I'm not familiar with UMB's internal applications/systems but it shouldn't take over a month to resolve this issue.
    Edit/Add: The email to the Chairman/CEO and President was composed and scheduled to be sent on 06/18.
    I cancelled sending this email and submitted a BBB complaint instead.
    If the issue is not resolved within a reasonable time, I'll then send an email to the Chairman/CEO and President.
  • Curious how your holdings break down into type? Stocks / CEFs / ETFs / Mutual funds, CDs, etc
    I simplified this year, sold the last of multiple holdings in April.
    Across 6 accounts: (2 Roth, 1 IRA, 1 IIRA, 1 HSA, Taxable)
    2 ETFS, 1 Mutual fund, 8 T-bills
    Cash - 11% T-bills, 3% cash
    Bonds - 37% PIMIX
    Stocks - 33% VOO, 16% VONG
  • Current CDs are Compelling
    The nature of free/competitive market is that NOTHING stays at top forever. Well, maybe, Fido HSA that has ranked #1 in over a half-dozen years that I have been watching.
    Brokerages have their pros and cons. I can say this because I have accounts at 3 brokerages - Schwab, Fido, and (involuntarily) Vanguard.
    Absolutely. The focus of this thread was on "Compelling CDs", but it morphed into a discussion about Money Market funds, as a support component associated with CDs, and now it has morphed into an overall discussion about brokerages. If "fees" are a major reason to choose one brokerage over another, then you have to look at all kinds of fees, most notably transaction fees and early redemption fees. Then you can dig into the fees that specific investments charge, in deciding which and what kind of investment, you want to use.
    Regarding "Compelling CD" investments, I don't find fees as a "compelling reason" to choose one brokerage versus another. Regarding Money Market investing, as a supporting component to CD investing, I also don't find fees as a "compelling reason" to select one brokerage versus another. However, if you are going to talk about mutual funds and other investing options, then fees start looking a little more important to me, but that is just one of many factors associated with why you select that brokerage.
  • Current CDs are Compelling
    The nature of free/competitive market is that NOTHING stays at top forever. Well, maybe, Fido HSA that has ranked #1 in over a half-dozen years that I have been watching.
    Brokerages have their pros and cons. I can say this because I have accounts at 3 brokerages - Schwab, Fido, and (involuntarily) Vanguard.
  • Todays’s a good reason why it’s dangerous to short markets …
    And the answer is , ""He who tooteth not his own horn, the same shall not be tooted." Fancy talk, sure, but he's trying to tell us that, if we don't acknowledge our own accomplishments, then no one else will, either."
    Forsooth, I vouchsafe thou hast verily discerned my meaning.
    Although, I don't think toot is much fancier than, say, beep.
    WABAC's guides to old English

    and

    You'll be speaking it as welleth as I do in no time at all.
  • Does Fidelity provide free M* Premium Access?
    I have not done anything 'Morningstar' in many years. Guess what, I found other ways to get what I wanted. I don't miss it in the least. Most of my research and inquires are through Schwab, though I must say their portfolio info is lacking. I moved my HSA to Fidelity a year ago, so I have access to that, but I haven't used it much.
  • Buy Sell Why: ad infinitum.
    Sold all VWENX shares in my HSA and placed order to buy RLBGX with the proceeds.
    Risk/reward data for RLBGX is somewhat better.
    Portfolio Visualizer
  • vanguard brokerage equity lending program
    HSA accounts must not be eligible….I have two Brokeragelink accounts attached to my workplace 40x, and an HSA. My Roth (and my parents’ IRAs) is at TDA (for 30 more days). It said I am ineligible (this is all at Fidelity).
    Does anyone know the link for Schwab’s lending program for future reference? Thanks. I can’t do much on Schwab yet (though I did create an account ID there ahead of the transfer).
  • Schwab move...Let's retire this thread. Lots of interactions. Food for thought. THNX.
    @linter, fwiw, I have money in 3 brokerages, a traditional IRA and Roth IRA with Schwab, an HSA with Fidelty and a 401k with Merrill Lynch. I would dump Merrill if I could, but that is where I hold PRWCX and I don't want to lose it. TRP was the long-time holder of the 401k, but it moved to Merrill last year. Don't really know why.
  • Moving out of BRUFX
    As I recall, my Fidelity trustee to trustee transfer from Bruce HSA to Fidelity HSA involved Bruce first converting BRUFX to cash and then completing the trustee to trustee transfer to Fidelity.
  • Moving out of BRUFX
    @Crash,
    I moved 75% of my BRUFX holdings (Bruce converted shares to cash) then Fidelity executed a “trustee to trustee transfer” to Fidelity back in 2021.
    This was a HSA account at Bruce and I decided to move the majority of my HSA to Fidelity’s new HSA platform.
    I would explore a “Trustee to Trustee transfer” with both Bruce and the investment firm you are transferring to.
    Going to cash first at Bruce Fund is just a how transfers are done at Bruce since they are not listed on other platforms.
    I left a 25% allocation at Bruce knowing full well that if I moved 100% of my position the fund would have quadrupled the day after I transferred all shares.
    This fund’s long term results are stellar, but the short term - mid term performance test your patience.
    I support Bruce Fund’s spirited independence from the big boys, but I see the value Fidelity’s platform.
  • Bolin's Investment Picks For Retirees In 2024
    Very nice piece. One might add HSAs to the mix. They're sort of like Roths, in that growth is tax-free so long as you have accumulated medical expenses over the years (since the HSA was started) that exceed the amount withdrawn from the HSA.
    Because of this qualification, they also resemble traditional IRAs. You don't want a T-IRA to grow too large because then RMDs can kick you into a higher bracket. You don't want HSAs to grow too fast, because if they outrun your medical expenses, some of the money you take out becomes taxable. For this reason, I allocate slower growing assets (e.g. bonds) to my HSA.
    Regarding IRMAA, I don't see where the $5832 at $194,001 income level (joint) comes from in Table #2. A petty issue is that $194K is the 2023 threshold; for 2024 the threshold is $206K.
    This minor point aside (and using 2023 figures for consistency), the monthly Part B IRMAA per person started at $65.90. That's $790.80/person per year. Throw in the starting level Part D IRMAA of $12.20/mo, and that brings the total annual IRMAA per person up to $943.20. Assuming both spouses are participating in Medicare, double the amount to $1886.40.
    Cap gains - in 2016, cap gains didn't kick in until one hit the 25% tax bracket. The 2017 TCJA decoupled cap gains brackets from ordinary income tax brackets. Sunsetting reverses this - the 15% cap gains bracket will once again start at the 25% ordinary income tax bracket. Sunset minus cap gains should always be positive.
    All of the numeric adjustments are noise. They don't change the points made. It's a formidable task to compress so many moving parts and levers into something clear and digestible. Bravo!
    I haven't taken a close look at the funds yet, though I did notice a dearth of Fidelity MM to short term funds (bucket #1). It's hard to beat Vanguard on MMFs, but you might consider FCNVX as a peer to VUSFX.
  • Falling knife, are you willing to get cut !
    "Further, someone with 3 different accounts (taxable, Roth, Traditional IRA) might find reasons to hold more funds than someone with just one type of account."

    Exactly!
    It may be difficult or potentially counter-productive for investors with multiple account types
    (e.g., 401K, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, taxable, HSA, 529) to hold the "right number" of funds
    regardless of what some self-proclaimed experts state. Having too many funds can be detrimental
    (e.g., diworsification, increased portfolio maintenance), but there isn't an arbitrary number of funds
    which is optimal for every investor's unique situation.
  • M* On Allocation/Balanced Funds
    Covered are the US (up to 10% foreign), diversified (11-39% foreign), and global ( >= 40% foreign) moderate/global allocation/balanced funds. Excluded are Multi-Asset funds (M* calls them "supporting"; it's not a M* Category yet) and the TDFs (with glide-path allocations).
    https://www.morningstar.com/funds/best-balanced-funds
    "After suffering one of their worst downfalls on record in 2022, balanced funds bounced back in 2023. The Morningstar US Moderate Target Allocation Index, which resembles a typical diversified balanced fund, gained more than 15% for the year to date through mid-December, and despite continued pessimism from some market observers, the outlook isn’t as grim as some soothsayers say....."
  • HSAs
    IOW, a plan with a $300 deductible is not a high deductible plan.
    By design, high deductible, HSA-eligible health plans discourage use. Aside from free (no deductible) preventive care, they may cost so much to use that they are effectively just catastrophic insurance.
    They work for people in excellent health or those who expect to require major care (premiums + out of pocket cap can be smaller on these plans). They typically don't work as well for those approaching Medicare age, or more generally for people who use some but not a lot of health care goods and services.
    These two plans are very good, and the HDHP plan may be (slightly) better in most cases.
    Illustrating, where low use means just premiums and free annual preventive care and high use means premiums plus out of pocket cap. For medium care I add deductible and a few routine visits including specialists (say 6 specialist visits CPT 99213, quarterly PCP). For the regular plan, the copays come to 6 x $50 + 4 x $30.
    Regular plan: Low use $2400, medium use $3100 (approx), high use $5400
    HDHP plan: Low use $1200, medium use in the middle, high use $4200
    With the HDHP it's easy to hit the $4200 ($100/mo + $3000 cap) max, especially with Upper East Side doctors, even in network. So say in the medium case (just office visits, minor testing, nothing special) you're comparing $4200 to $3100. That's a difference of $1100. The tax savings (32% bracket) with an HSA is around 32% of $4K or around $1300.
    The HDHP may be close to a wash in the middle use range and better on both ends. That's not typical (usually the regular plan works out better in the middle).
    Regardless, it may not be a big enough difference one way or the other to be worth pursuing. Your friend might check with a Social Security office to see if Medicare disenrollment is possible. Out of curiosity if nothing else :-).
  • HSAs
    I've been procrastinating forever moving my HSA from a low interest savings account to a Fidelity account to invest long term. This thread was the motivation I needed to make the move, thanks to @bee and others.
    My HSA amount isn't great and with being on Medicare the past 5 years I haven't been able to contribute. Bummer. I wish the gov. would change that rule and allow contributions for seniors! I mean, my Medicare advantage plan is no different than the required plans younger folks have.
    There has been some talk in DC about changes to HSA and its relationship to Medicare. But it may be more of give & take - get somethings, but give up some other things.
    https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/592/thread
  • HSAs
    I've been procrastinating forever moving my HSA from a low interest savings account to a Fidelity account to invest long term. This thread was the motivation I needed to make the move, thanks to @bee and others.
    My HSA amount isn't great and with being on Medicare the past 5 years I haven't been able to contribute. Bummer. I wish the gov. would change that rule and allow contributions for seniors! I mean, my Medicare advantage plan is no different than the required plans younger folks have.
  • Let's Breathe…
    @Crash, yes, DCA down each month into BRUFX. A few years ago I migrated some of my HSA to Fidelity from Bruce Fund. About 25% of my HSA is with Bruce.
  • HSAs
    My friend sat down with HR yesterday and they had no experience with an employee unenrolling from Part A.
    However, they told her that if she is interested in an HSA that she would need to change healthcare plans. With her current plan, approximately $200 is taken out of her paycheck monthly. $300 yearly in-network deductible, $3,000 maximum out-of pocket limit, and mostly copays. $30/visit for her primary, $50/visit for a specialist, $30/visit for x-rays, and $10 copay / $25 copay for generic drugs. With the HSA eligible plan, it would cost her approximately $100 per month. $1,500 yearly in-network deductible, $3,000 maximum out-of pocket limit, and the coverages change from smallish copays to 20% coinsurance pretty much across the board.
    The combination of uncertainty regarding unenrolling and reenrolling with Medicare Part A and the inferior healthcare coverage, she decided pass on an HSA. Thanks all for your input!