The notion that because you or I invest in a Blackrock ETF, we give our proxy to Larry Fink is absurd. And its anti-democratic.
The notion that because you or I invest in virtually any mutual fund, we give our proxy to ISS or Glass-Lewis is absurd. That's the elephant in the room, more so because this duopoly advises nearly all (90%) fund sponsors on how they should vote their proxies.
https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2023/01/30/the-controversy-over-proxy-voting-the-role-of-asset-managers-and-proxy-advisors/
Anti-democratic? The corporate world was never democratic. Dollars, not people (dēmos - "common people") hold the power. If you don't like the way Blackrock funds are being run, vote your fund's of directors out of office. See how much sway your paltry dollars have. Or mine.

ESG means different things to different people, in no small part due to the marketing efforts of financial management companies to muddy the waters. On one end of the spectrum is impact investing, where one invests in companies and technologies specifically to improve the state of the environment. On the other end of the spectrum is what Blackrock and others call ESG integration - considering risk factors like increased exposure to flooding due to a changing environment - among all the risk factors considered when deciding whether to invest in a company.
https://www.blackrock.com/lu/intermediaries/themes/sustainable-investing/esg-integration
That's just prudent investing. And good marketing - slapping a label like ESG (popular until recently) onto something that is standard operating procedure. Failure to consider all significant risk factors could be considered investment malpractice.
For example, last year Texas proposed SB 1446 that would have prohibited state pensions from investing with any management company that considered ESG factors.

Despite declaring that [Texas County & District Retirement System] TCDRS “has never had an ESG policy,” and does not intend to have one, [Executive Director] Bishop said that the bill “would keep us from partnering with some of the best investment managers in the world.” Bishop added:
“If we had to adjust our asset allocation, we estimated it could cost us over $6 billion over the next 10 years. And this would cause our employers cost to more than double.”

https://www.esgtoday.com/texas-anti-esg-investing-bill-faces-pushback-over-6-billion-cost-to-pensions/

@msf thank you the detailed feedback.
The situation is/was somewhat complicated so I thought to distill it a bit.
In summary: Person A had employer-sponsored retirement accounts with Person B as a beneficiary and me as a sole contingent beneficiary. After A died, B should have inherited the accounts as an individual beneficiary. But B died very shortly thereafter w/o the time for the inheritance process to even begin.
I was B's sole beneficiary and am the executor of the estate. It might have seemed reasonable for me to simply inherit A's accounts then, but Fido decided to pass them into B's estate since they were not formally in B's possession at the time of death (i.e., they deemed my beneficiary statuses with both A and B invalid wrt these accounts).
So, now I am trying to figure out how much time I have to distribute these funds from the estate to myself and getting different answers depending where I look / whom I ask.

Could you clarify the situation? It sounds like the defined contribution plans did not indicate a beneficiary, so by default the estate inherited the assets. Further it sounds like the assets are still in the DC plans, just owned by the estate of the deceased.
If that's what has happened, you seem to be asking how long does the estate have to move the assets out of the DC plans?
For a regular inherited retirement account the answer is pretty straightforward,
Perhaps. Worth looking at, for background. If an IRA owner dies with no beneficiary named, the IRA is retitled as an estate IRA. One has 5 years, not 10, to move the money out of the IRA assuming that death occurred before RMDs were required to begin.
Here's a page from Fidelity that illustrates the complexity even with IRAs:
https://www.fidelity.com/building-savings/learn-about-iras/inherited-ira-rmd
Sections of interest:

>Estate beneficiary: If the original depositor of an IRA names their estate as the beneficiary of their account, or did not leave beneficiaries on their IRA, the IRA funds may go to their estate.

-and-

Death on or after 1/1/20, [and asset recipient is an] estate entity, non-see-through trust beneficiary of the original depositor's IRA. [elsewhere this is called a nonperson beneficiary]:
[Death before RMDs begin] Move inherited assets into an inherited IRA in the name of the estate or non-see through trust and withdraw the balance by December 31st of the year containing the 5th anniversary of the original depositor's death
[Death after RMDs begin] Move inherited assets into an Inherited IRA in the name of the estate or non-see through trust and begin taking RMDs the year following the year of the original depositor death using their age in the year they passed away.

Tax treatment of estate-owned DC plans should be no different.
Inheriting a 403(b) Plan: What to Do & How It Works
https://www.missionsq.org/products-and-services/403(b)-defined-contribution-plans/403(b)-inheritance-beneficiary.html

A “nonperson beneficiary” is an estate, trust or charitable organization. This type of beneficiary has the following options:

• Account owner dies before the required beginning date.... In that case, the account must be depleted by December 31 of the year that includes the 5th anniversary of the account owner’s death.
  
• Account owner dies on or after required beginning date then the entity may use a life expectancy calculation based on the remaining life expectancy of the decedent.

Ascensus concurs:

The SECURE Act identifies three groups of beneficiaries: eligible designated beneficiaries, noneligible designated beneficiaries, and nonperson beneficiaries.
...
The third group of beneficiaries consists of nonperson beneficiaries (i.e., entities, such as trusts, estates, or charities). Nonperson beneficiaries of account owners who died before their required beginning date (RBD), which is the deadline to begin RMDs, remain subject to the 5-year rule and—with the exception of certain see-through trusts—must distribute the inherited assets within five years.

https://thelink.ascensus.com/articles/2024/2/14/understanding-the-10-year-rule
That's all from the tax perspective. From the estate administration perspective (state law), I'm not convinced that even in the "simple" case of an estate IRA one is allowed to delay five years. My understanding is that the executor (or administrator) is allowed however much time is necessary to distribute estate assets, but not more. For example:

N.J.S.A. 3B:10-23 holds that an executor “is under a duty to settle and distribute the estate of the decedent in accordance with the terms of [the will] and applicable law, and as expeditiously and efficiently as is consistent with the best interests of the estate.…”

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/executor-won-t-distribute-estate-what-can-i-do
Usual disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice. It is just general information that may not apply to your situation.

I've recently inherited some DC & 403(b) funds which - by the grace of Fido - ended up in an Estate account.
I've talked to several CPAs / CFFs and still could not get a clear picture re how many years I have to distribute the funds out of these accounts. For a regular inherited retirement account the answer is pretty straightforward, but for an estate IRS website alone seems to give no less than 3 different answers.
Does anyone here have a clue or a good reference?

According to their web page, a defined benefit plan may be one option to get in should your employer offer it.
https://www.virtus.com/products/kar-small-cap-core#shareclass.A/period.quarterly
Once you are able to purchase the fund in a defined benefit plan, you can probably send a copy of your defined benefit account statement exhibiting fund ownership to the transfer agent so can open an account with them, but you need to confirm this with the transfer agent first.
Excerpt:
Effective July 31, 2018, this Fund is closed to new investors, but remains open to Defined Contribution and Defined Benefit plans. Please see the prospectus for these and other exceptions.
From the January 29, 2024 prospectus:
https://www.virtus.com/products/documents/kar-small-cap-core#Statutory+Prospectus_431
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR INVESTORS
Virtus KAR Small-Cap Core Fund is no longer available for purchase by new investors (except as described below). The fund continues to be available for purchase by existing investors; however, the fund reserves the right to refuse any order that may disrupt the efficient management of the fund.As of the date of this prospectus, only the following investors may make purchases in the Virtus KAR Small-Cap Core Fund
:▪ Current shareholders of the fund, whether they hold their shares directly or through a financial intermediary, may continue to add to their accounts through the purchase of additional shares and through the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. Financial intermediaries may continue to purchase shares on behalf of existing shareholders only.
▪ Exchanges into the fund may only be made by shareholders with an existing account in the fund.
▪ An investor who has previously entered into a letter of intent with the Distributor prior to the closing date may fulfill the obligation.
▪ Trustees of the fund, trustees/directors of affiliated open- and closed-end funds, and directors, officers and employees of Virtus, its affiliates, and their family members, may continue to open new accounts.
▪ New and additional investments may be made through firm or home office discretionary platform models within mutual fund advisory (WRAP) programs and other fee-based programs established with the Distributor prior to July 31, 2018.
▪ The fund will also remain open to Defined Contribution and Defined Benefit retirement plans and will continue to accept payroll contributions and other types of purchase transactions from both existing and new participants in such plans.
Notwithstanding the above exceptions, the fund may discontinue new and subsequent sales through any financial intermediary at its discretion.The fund and the Distributor reserve the right to modify these exceptions at any time, including on a case-by-case basis

The hypocrisy of a state supposedly devoted to individual freedom and "small government" telling its citizens where they can and cannot put their money is too rich for words.
The lists do not make sense in the context of The Texas Permanent School fund which is an institutional investment fund supporting Texas schools, not a 401k or pension fund. While Blackrock managed some of their money they obviously did to use retail mutual funds to do so.
Blackrock has come under fire recently for abandoning it's "green" goals and not doing enough to stop funding oil companies etc, but Texas is obviously aiming at Larry Fink for having raised such concerns about Climate Change several years ago. His backing off isn't enough and now he is being picked out as a political target and to make headlines for Abbott and Paxton.
I doubt it is a coincidence that this comes just as Paxton's criminal trial for investment fraud is about to start.
Many other US firms, not on the list, have huge "ESG" commitments and funds, such as the seven Billion dollar Blackstone Green Private Credit Fund (the largest fund of it's type), and GMO Climate Change Fund, but they are not on the list.
I wonder if the mutual fund list is aimed at the The Texas teachers Retirement fund both a defined benefit plan and a 403b plan with mutual funds that people can choose.
The mutual fund list doesn't make sense either. It is only a fraction of "Climate Change Funds" available, and seems like it was selected by running a screen ( maybe at MFO?) for 0% energy investments, "ESG " in the name ( but there are dozens of funds not here) or based on M* Sustainability score or some such other marginal criteria.
As most fund companies have ESG funds, a complete list would eliminate almost all companies
Why didn't they prohibit investments in the entire families of those funds, like Vanguard and Fidelity, also? Maybe because they would be open to plan participants suits for not managing the retirement accounts in the most cost effective manner possible. Yale Hospital just had to cough up $1,000,000 in a class action suit for not negotiating downward a Fidelity fee.
The spreadsheet is very useful for screening for Climate Change funds. I own several.

From the Wall Street Journal's analysis of the economic assumptions released with the Biden budget:

Economic forecasts released Monday as part of the White House’s 2025 budget proposal assume that three-month Treasury bill rates will average 5.1% this year, the same as in 2023, before declining to 4% next year and 3.3% in 2026.
The White House sees the average 10-year Treasury note yield rising to 4.4% this year from 4.1% last year and then declining gradually to 3.7% by the end of this decade.

My recollection is that 5% is dead average for the 10 year note over the past century. Good news: I recall hearing it from Kai Ryssdal on a Marketplace podcast. Bad news: can't track it down.
Those sort of interest rates remind investors that there is an alternative to stocks, which might well occasion a shift from equities and at least the tiniest bit of discipline on the part of managers (fund and otherwise). Jon Sindreu at the Wall Street Journal published an interesting project that suggests that cash might handily beat stocks over the next 12 years and would be pretty competitive with them over the next couple years. His projection of asset class returns, based on "quarters similar to today," puts the two-year APR for stocks at 7.something percent, cash at about 7% and bonds at over 8%. The dominance of stocks would return unless you had a time horizon of five years or more ("How to Invest? More than ever, it depends on who you are?" Wall Street Journal, 3/15/2024)

I wish the White House (or anybody else) a lot of luck trying to predict where interest rates will be a year or two out.
I also recall hearing, years ago, that the long-term average for the 10 year Treasury being around 5%, but I know I didn't hear it from your source.
I have to laugh, or maybe yell, at young people today whining about 6-7% mortgage rates (which are also normalized, if memory serves). I bought my first house in 1975 and paid 8.5% which was the going rate. It went up into double-digits a few years later.
Maybe the era we're in with "high" (normalized) interest rates will encourage young people to not borrow so much, and instead try to live more within their means. I learned that valuable lesson from my father, who was a struggling young man when the Great Depression hit. Most people today cannot comprehend what those people went through.
As for cash being competitive with other asset classes, I have about 11% of my retirement portfolio in a 5.2% money market, which makes for a nice stable portion, yet still earning something -- unlike it would have a few years ago when "cash is trash."

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/225322/000119312524066591/d782193d497.htm
497 1 d782193d497.htm FIDELITY GLOBAL HIGH INCOME FUND
Supplement to the
Fidelity® Global High Income Fund
June 29, 2023
Prospectus
Reorganization. The Board of Trustees of Fidelity Summer Street Trust has unanimously approved an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization (“Agreement”) between Fidelity® Global High Income Fund and Fidelity® High Income Fund.
Each fund seeks a high level of current income. Growth of capital may also be considered.
As a result of the proposed Reorganization, shareholders of each class of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund would receive shares of the corresponding class of Fidelity® High Income Fund.
The Agreement provides for the transfer of all of the assets of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund in exchange for corresponding shares of Fidelity® High Income Fund equal in value to the net assets of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund and the assumption by Fidelity® High Income Fund of all of the liabilities of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund. After the exchange, Fidelity® Global High Income Fund will distribute the Fidelity® High Income Fund shares to its shareholders pro rata, in liquidation of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund. As a result, shareholders of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund will become shareholders of Fidelity® High Income Fund (these transactions are collectively referred to as the “Reorganization”).
Shareholders of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund will receive a combined information statement and prospectus containing more information with respect to the Reorganization, and a summary of the Board’s considerations in approving the Agreement.
The Reorganization, which does not require shareholder approval, is expected to take place on or about September 13, 2024. The Reorganization is expected to be a tax-free transaction. This means that neither Fidelity® Global High Income Fund nor its shareholders will recognize any gain or loss as a direct result of the Reorganization.
Effective the close of business on March 22, 2024, new positions in Fidelity® Global High Income Fund (the fund) may no longer be opened. Shareholders of the fund on that date may continue to add to their fund positions existing on that date. Investors who did not own shares of the fund on March 22, 2024, generally will not be allowed to buy shares of the fund except that new fund positions may be opened: 1) by participants in most group employer
retirement plans (and their successor plans) if a qualifying fund is already established as an investment option under the plans (or under another plan sponsored by the same employer), 2) by participants in a 401(a) plan covered by a master record keeping services agreement between Fidelity and a national federation of employers that included a qualifying fund as a core investment option, 3) for accounts managed on a discretionary basis by certain registered investment advisers that have discretionary assets of at least $500 million invested in mutual funds and already included the fund in their discretionary account program, 4) by a mutual fund or a qualified tuition program for which Fidelity serves as investment manager, 5) by a portfolio manager of the fund, 6) by a fee deferral plan offered to trustees of certain Fidelity® funds, if the fund is an investment option under the plan, and 7) by qualified intermediaries to facilitate in-kind redemption activity when deemed by the Adviser to be in the best interests of the fund, and 8) by certain asset pools associated with an organization that already offers a qualifying fund as an investment option in its retirement plan(s). These restrictions generally will apply to investments made directly with Fidelity and investments made through intermediaries. Investors may be required to demonstrate eligibility to buy shares of the fund before an investment is accepted.
Effective after the close of business on May 20, 2024, new positions in the fund may no longer be opened. Existing shareholders may continue to hold their shares and purchase additional shares through the reinvestment of dividend and capital gain distributions until the fund’s liquidation.
In connection with the Reorganization, an information statement/prospectus that will be included in a registration statement on Form N-14 will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. After the registration statement is filed with the SEC, it may be amended or withdrawn and the information statement/prospectus will not be distributed to shareholders of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund unless and until the registration statement becomes effective. Shareholders should read the information statement/prospectus, which contains important information about the Reorganization, when it becomes available. For a free copy of the information statement/prospectus, please contact Fidelity at 1-800-544-8544. The information statement/prospectus will also be available on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website (www.sec.gov).
For more detailed information, please contact Fidelity at 1-800-544-8544...

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/744822/000119312524066633/d797845d497.htm
497 1 d797845d497.htm FIDELITY INVESTMENT TRUST
Supplement to the
Fidelity’s Targeted International Equity Funds®
December 30, 2023
Prospectus
Proposed Reorganization. The Board of Trustees of Fidelity Investment Trust has unanimously approved an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization (“Agreement”) between Fidelity® Latin America Fund and Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund pursuant to which Fidelity® Latin America Fund would be reorganized on a tax-free basis with and into Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund.
As a result of the proposed Reorganization, shareholders of each class of Fidelity® Latin America Fund would receive shares of the corresponding class of Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund.
The Agreement provides for the transfer of all of the assets of Fidelity® Latin America Fund in exchange for corresponding shares of Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund equal in value to the net assets of Fidelity® Latin America Fund and the assumption by Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund of all of the liabilities of Fidelity® Latin America Fund. After the exchange, Fidelity® Latin America Fund will distribute the Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund shares to its shareholders pro rata, in liquidation of Fidelity® Latin America Fund. As a result, shareholders of Fidelity® Latin America Fund will become shareholders of Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund (these transactions are collectively referred to as the “Reorganization”).
A Special Meeting (the “Meeting”) of the Shareholders of Fidelity® Latin America Fund is expected to be held during the third quarter of 2024 and approval of the Agreement will be voted on at that time. A combined proxy statement and prospectus containing more information with respect to the Reorganization will be provided to shareholders of record of Fidelity® Latin America Fund in advance of the meeting.
If the Agreement is approved at the Meeting and certain conditions required by the Agreement are satisfied, the Reorganization is expected to take place on or about September 13, 2024. If shareholder approval of the Agreement is delayed due to failure to meet a quorum or otherwise (an “Adjournment”), the Reorganization will become effective, if approved, as soon as practicable thereafter.
In connection with seeking shareholder approval of the Agreement, effective the close of business on March 22, 2024, new positions in Fidelity® Latin America Fund (the fund) may no longer be opened. Shareholders of the fund on that date may continue to add to their fund positions existing on that date. Investors who did not own shares of the fund on March 22, 2024, generally will not be allowed to buy shares of the fund except that new fund positions may be opened: 1) by participants in most group employer retirement plans (and their successor plans) if a qualifying fund is already established as an investment option under the plans (or under another plan sponsored by the same employer), 2) by participants in a 401(a) plan covered by a master record keeping services agreement between Fidelity and a national federation of employers that included a qualifying fund as a core investment option, 3) for accounts managed on a discretionary basis by certain registered investment advisers that have discretionary assets of at least $500 million invested in mutual funds and already included the fund in their discretionary account program, 4) by a mutual fund or a qualified tuition program for which Fidelity serves as investment manager, 5) by a portfolio manager of the fund, 6) by a fee deferral plan offered to trustees of certain Fidelity® funds, if the fund is an investment option under the plan, and 7) by qualified intermediaries to facilitate in-kind redemption activity when deemed by the Adviser to be in the best interests of the fund, and 8) by certain asset pools associated with an organization that already offers a qualifying fund as an investment option in its retirement plan(s). These restrictions generally will apply to investments made directly with Fidelity and investments made through intermediaries. Investors may be required to demonstrate eligibility to buy shares of the fund before an investment is accepted.
If shareholder approval of the Agreement cannot be achieved, the Board of Trustees has approved a plan of liquidation for Fidelity® Latin America Fund. Prior to such liquidation the fund’s assets will be managed to provide for sufficient liquidity to meet redemptions prior to liquidation. In this event, effective after the close of business on
July 16, 2024 (or such later date as may be required in connection with an Adjournment), the fund will no longer permit new positions in the fund to be opened. Existing shareholders will be permitted to continue to hold their shares and purchase additional shares through the reinvestment of dividend and capital gain distributions until the fund’s liquidation on or about September 13, 2024 or as soon as practicable thereafter in the event of an Adjournment...

BTW, you can also create a ladder of US Treasuries extending out 10-20 years that now yields well over 4%. Treasuries are call-protected, and you can easily sell them if you need cash sooner than maturity dates. Treasury income is exempt from state and local taxes, further boosting yields if held in taxable accounts. They also are available as floating rate notes and TIPS.
None of the many bond funds (including intermediate and multisector) that I track have returns exceeding 4% over the past 5 and 10 years, and very few over 15 years.
Furthermore, 4% is often cited as a sustainable annual withdrawal rate for a retirement portfolio. So, you can now achieve that rate with Treasuries for at least the bond portion of a portfolio, presumably using stocks to account for inflation.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1103243/000141304224000172/castlefocussupp.htm
497 1 castlefocussupp.htm
Castle Focus Fund
A series of PFS Funds
Supplement dated March 11, 2024
to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information
each dated November 1, 2023
The Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of the PFS Funds (the “Trust”) has approved a Plan of Liquidation (the “Plan”) relating to the Castle Focus Fund (the “Fund”), effective March 7, 2024. Castle Investment Management, LLC, the Fund’s investment adviser (the “Adviser”), has recommended to the Board to approve the Plan based on its representations of its inability to market the Fund and the Adviser’s indication that it does not desire to continue to support the Fund. As a result, the Board has concluded that it is in the best interest of the shareholders to liquidate the Fund.
In connection with the proposed liquidation and dissolution of the Fund called for by the Plan, the Board has directed the Trust’s principal underwriter to cease offering shares of the Fund immediately as of the date of this Supplement. Shareholders may continue to reinvest dividends and distributions in the Fund or redeem their shares until the liquidation. While undergoing an orderly liquidation, the Fund will invest in cash equivalents and will not be pursuing its investment objective.
It is anticipated that the Fund will liquidate on or about March 22, 2024. Any remaining shareholders on the date of liquidation will receive a distribution of their remaining investment value in full liquidation of the Fund. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact your financial advisor directly or the Fund toll-free at 1-877-743-7820 or the Adviser at 703-260-1921.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR RETIREMENT PLAN INVESTORS
If you are a retirement plan investor, you should consult your tax advisor regarding the consequences of any redemption of Fund shares. If you receive a distribution from an Individual Retirement Account or a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA, you must roll the proceeds into another Individual Retirement Account within sixty (60) days of the date of the distribution in order to avoid having to include the distribution in your taxable income for the year. If you receive a distribution from a 403(b)(7) Custodian Account (Tax-Sheltered account) or a Keogh Account, you must roll the distribution into a similar type of retirement plan within sixty (60) days in order to avoid disqualification of your plan and the severe tax consequences that it can bring. If you are the trustee of a Qualified Retirement Plan, you may reinvest the money in any way permitted by the plan and trust agreement.
This Supplement, and the existing Prospectus dated November 1, 2023, provide relevant information for all shareholders and should be retained for future reference. Both the Prospectus and the Statement of Additional Information dated November 1, 2023 have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, are incorporated by reference, and can be obtained without charge by calling the Fund toll-free at 1-877-743-7820.

I like and own WBALX for the more conservative part of the portfolio. 50/50 and quite conservative. Small 230K AUM. When the s--t hits the fan this should lose less. In retirement I hold the mantra, "Do not lose it " in high esteem.

As a retired and conservative investor, I naturally agree with your mantra.
However, I use the following non-ETF funds with excellent risk/reward profiles and all with SD<10:
QDSNX, JHQAX, BLNDX, CBLDX and ICMUX.
The only ETF fund I use is TFLO.
By the way, JHQAX has an extremely low tax cost ratio of 0.23 according to M*.
So far, so good.
Fred

I like and own WBALX for the more conservative part of the portfolio. 50/50 and quite conservative. Small 230K AUM. When the s--t hits the fan this should lose less. In retirement I hold the mantra, "Do not lose it " in high esteem.

there was nothing pre-existing at fidelity. all family member accounts had been consolidated at vanguard, including retirement. some institutional class shares, and admiral shares, were involved.
even though there was more than sufficient liquidity to initiate (e.g., money market funds), there was no sequence in which all custody could be transferred intact (no fund changes, no tax impact) to fidelity.
after the vanguard consolidation effort, there was also no interest in splitting holdings. so nothing moved.

Once Huge companies sponsored those ETFs, the space was legitimized and Congress lost any power they may have had to control the monster. Previously, only the rich and cool kids dabbled in this space. Soon cryptocurrencies will permeate many retirement accounts of those that are not self managed plus 401(k) accounts.
UNH paying ransom of $250m in cryptocurrency to a hacking group hardly made news this week.
There is a reason why hedge funds and Aby Johnsons do not mix personal morality and investing.

@bee I have ceased to be impressed.
"A trustee-to-trustee transfer is a transfer of assets from one retirement plan or account to another, facilitated by the two financial institutions involved in the transfer. It is the simplest way to transfer an IRA from one institution to another and does not trigger taxes. The transfer can be initiated by opening an IRA account at the new institution and contacting the original and new IRA providers to initiate the transfer."
Is this not the very thing that CAN'T be done, because going to cash is necessary with the Bruce shares?

In all our accounts, ie retirement and non retirement about 31% stocks, mostly US
YTD up 1.5% with almost all gains of course in Large Caps. Rotation to my Energy, International etc has stalled out

Stable-Value (SV) Rates, 3/1/24
TIAA Traditional Annuity (Accumulation) Rates
Big drops! TIAA Declaration Year 3/1 - 2/28
Restricted RC 5.50%, RA 5.25%
Flexible RCP 4.75%, SRA 4.50%, Newer IRAs 4.75%
TSP G Fund hasn't updated yet (previous 4.125%).
Edit/Add. March rate is 4.375%
Options outside of workplace retirement plans include m-mkt funds, bank m-mkt accounts (FDIC insured), T-Bills, short-term brokered CDs.
#StableValue #401k #403b #TIAA #TSP
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/1372/thread

Hi guys!
Hope all is well with you and yours.
So, what a run since 23, no?
Finally, healthcare rises this year. Fido numbers say FSMEX 6.39%, FSPHX 5.49%. These funds I wanted to sell but they were so bad. So now they rise in a bad time....the election.....but this time, I hope it's different....lol. Bigger things to worry about.
All I hear about is AI. So tired of it, really. Have we nothing else but the 7? Really, I guess not since we're back to the 2020 election. Have we no one else??? Anyway, back to topic...have any of you kept your holdings in healthcare??? I know some sold. I understand that. I stand at 11% in the space, so I hope for a turn. It's something that I thought was core to hold to the end with the aging boomers and all. Saying that, does anyone know any retirement home REITs?
The Brown One on our walks is very pro health, saying, "You people will spend what it takes to stay alive." Yes, I said, it would stand to reason. No one wants someone to die. At that point, money is not important.
What the Dukester said next stunned me. "Would you spend money on me to save me to live longer, Pudd?" Being out in the cold and having 2 cups of coffee, I said, "Yes" right away. With a smile looking back at me, he said, "Now, tell me why healthcare is not core forever?"
I hate long cold walks in the morning with Brown. It tends to not end well. Drats! Drats! and double Drats!!!!
God bless
the Pudd

My overall is up around +2.3% YTD, slowly creeping up. Can't complain (but I will in the next paragraph :) ). Schwab says their 'moderately conservative' benchmark portfolio is up +1.3% YTD. Another bench mark I compare to is the TRP 45% equity retirement fund (TRRAX), up +1.9% YTD.
I'm going to give up totally on the Schwab Intelligent Portfolio, the robo. It has made 0% YTD after many years of lack luster return. At one time I split about 50:50 between the robo and self managed. I reduced the robo to ~15% by the end of 2023. It's high cash allowance, ~12%, makes fractions of a percent while the Schwab MM, which they don't use in the robo, has consistently made ~5%+ the past year. This cash allotment is an anchor. Also, it has consistently been heavy International and emerging markets which also hasn't worked out. I gave it time. I've had it for ~7 years and it hasn't performed any better than a target date fund. Worst in fact.