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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.
  • 72T Uniform Withdrawals
    I believe there are other IRA penalty free withdrawal provisions worth considering before considering a 72T withdrawal.
    You can withdraw funds from your 457(b) plan penalty-free at any age once you leave your employer or retire. You won't owe an early withdrawal penalty even if you are not yet 59 ½, but you will pay federal and state income taxes on the withdrawal.
    what-are-the-rules-for-withdrawing-from-a-457b
    also,
    What Is the Rule of 55?
    Under the terms of this rule, you can withdraw funds from your current job’s 401(k) or 403(b) plan with no 10% tax penalty if you leave that job in or after the year you turn 55. (Qualified public safety workers can start even earlier, at 50.) It doesn’t matter whether you were laid off, fired, or just quit.
    This rule applies to current – not former – 401(k) or 403(b) plans. The government does not permit penalty-free withdrawals before 59.5 from plans you had with a previous employer. If you want access to that money under the rule of 55, you would have to transfer those funds into your current 401(k) or 403(b) plan.
    You won’t have to pay the penalty if you take distributions from a 401(k) early for these reasons:
    - You become totally and permanently disabled.
    -You pass away and your beneficiary or estate is withdrawing money from the plan.
    -You’re taking distributions to pay deductible medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.
    -Distributions are the result of an IRS levy.
    -You’re receiving qualified reservist distributions.
    401k-403b-55-rule
  • 72T Uniform Withdrawals
    72T uniform withdrawals allow PENALTY-FREE (but TAXABLE) withdrawals from retirement accounts (IRA, 401k, 403b) before the age of 59.5. However, the rules are COMPLEX to prevent excessive withdrawals & are very RIGID – once started, there couldn’t be any changes & the program must continue for 5 years or to age 59.5, whichever the later (even if there is risk of running out of money, triggering premature termination penalties). A less noted provision of the new SECURE 2.0 allows some flexibility for 72T in making partial transfers and rollovers after 12/31/23.
    https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/thread/249/uniform-withdrawals-retirement-accounts-72t?page=1&scrollTo=964
  • Calamos Global Sustainable Equities Fund to liquidate
    update:
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/826732/000110465923027416/tm238039d1_497.htm
    1 tm238039d1_497.htm 497
    CALAMOS® FAMILY OF FUNDS
    CALAMOS INVESTMENT TRUST
    Calamos Global Sustainable Equities Fund (the “Fund”)
    Supplement dated March 1, 2023 to the Fund’s
    Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, each dated March 1, 2023, as supplemented
    As previously disclosed in the prospectus supplements dated November 2, 2022 and February 17, 2023, the Fund’s Board of Trustees approved a proposal to liquidate the Fund at a meeting held on October 31, 2022.
    It is expected that the Fund will liquidate on or about March 27, 2023 (the “Liquidation Date”). All dates noted in this announcement are effective as of the close of business on the respective date.
    Effective February 21, 2023, the Fund stopped accepting purchases from new investors and existing shareholders, except that existing investors that hold Fund shares through defined contribution retirement plans as of February 17, 2023, may continue to purchase Fund shares through March 20, 2023. At this time, no final distribution is anticipated. If a final distribution is subsequently required, it will be paid no later than Wednesday, March 22, 2023. The Fund reserves the right to modify the extent to which sales of shares are limited prior to the Fund’s liquidation.
    Any contingent deferred sales charge that would be applicable on a redemption of the Fund’s shares shall be waived from February 21, 2023 to the Liquidation Date.
    Calamos expects to begin to reduce the remaining assets of the Fund to distributable form in cash on or around March 20, 2023, to facilitate the Fund’s liquidation. Beginning on that date, the Fund may no longer be invested in accordance with its principal investment strategies. The last date to place redemptions via the NSCC is Friday, March 24, 2023. After the close of business on the Liquidation Date, the Fund will liquidate any remaining shareholder accounts and will send shareholders the proceeds of the liquidation.
    PLEASE RETAIN SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE
  • Low-Road Capitalism 3: How Environmentally Conscious Investing Became a Target of Conservatives
    Cutting a low-cost provider like BlackRock out of the bidding to run state retirement plans makes no sense financially, and it's easy to see how costs for plan participants would tick higher as a result.
  • Franklin K2 Long Short Credit Fund to liquidate
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1535538/000174177323000598/c497.htm
    497 1 c497.htm
    948 P1 03/23
    SUPPLEMENT DATED MARCH 1, 2023
    TO THE PROSPECTUS DATED OCTOBER 1, 2022
    OF
    K2 LONG SHORT CREDIT FUND
    (a series of Franklin Alternative Strategies Funds)
    The prospectus is amended as follows:
    The following paragraphs are added to the beginning of the “Fund Summary” and “Fund Details” sections of the prospectus:
    On February 28, 2023, the Board of Trustees of Franklin Alternative Strategies Funds, on behalf of K2 Long Short Credit Fund (the “Fund”), approved a proposal to liquidate and dissolve the Fund. The liquidation is anticipated to occur on or about May 12, 2023 (Liquidation Date); however, the liquidation may occur sooner if at any time before the Liquidation Date there are no shares outstanding in the Fund. The liquidation may also be delayed if unforeseen circumstances arise. The Fund may deviate from its investment objective and investment strategies at any time prior to the Liquidation Date.
    At the close of market on April 3, 2023, the Fund will be closed to new investors, except as noted below. Existing investors who had an open and funded account on April 3, 2023, can continue to invest in the Fund through exchanges and additional purchases after such date. The following categories of investors may continue to open new accounts in the Fund after the close of market on April 3, 2023: (1) clients of discretionary investment allocation programs where such programs had investments in the Fund prior to the close of market on April 3, 2023, and (2) Employer Sponsored Retirement Plans or benefit plans and their participants where the Fund was available to participants prior to the close of market on April 3, 2023. The Fund will not accept any additional purchases after the close of market on or about May 9, 2023. The Fund reserves the right to change this policy at any time.
    Shareholders of the Fund on the Liquidation Date will have their accounts liquidated and the proceeds will be delivered to them. For those shareholders with taxable accounts and for Federal, state and local income tax purposes: (a) any liquidation proceeds paid to such shareholder should generally be treated as received by such shareholder in exchange for the shareholder’s shares and the shareholder will therefore generally recognize a taxable gain or loss; (b) in connection with the liquidation, the Fund may declare taxable distributions of its income and/or capital gain; and (c) an exchange out of the Fund prior to the Liquidation Date may be considered a taxable transaction and such shareholders may recognize a gain or loss. Shareholders should consult their tax advisers regarding the effect of the Fund’s liquidation in light of their individual circumstances. Participants in an Employer Sponsored Retirement Plan that is a Fund shareholder should consult with their plan sponsor for further information regarding the impact of the liquidation. In considering new purchases or exchanges, shareholders may want to consult with their financial advisors to consider their investment options.
    Please keep this supplement with your prospectus for future reference.
  • Low-Road Capitalism 3: How Environmentally Conscious Investing Became a Target of Conservatives
    @msf The problem is images have their own reality in 2023. Fake news can lead to real election results, so ESG becomes a prop in the culture wars. And those results matter a great deal to the oil lobby.
    There is also long-term climate risk assessment done by those relativist ESG funds that still hold XOM and those assessments make the fossil fuel industry nervous. They do not want there to be any acknowledgment that climate change is a material financial risk to their businesses which requires either divestment or changes to their business policies such as leaving certain assets in the ground.
    In the short term there is much greenwashing and saber rattling. In the long term these matters are of grave importance, and retirement plans must think both short and long term about risk. For the sixty year old employee there is perhaps little financial risk in holding fossil fuel companies and perhaps rewards, but for the thirty year old employee in a retirement plan the risks are substantial.
    What the DOL rule is about on a more granular level is allowing plan sponsors to consider climate risk as a material financial risk in their selection of funds and those funds investment strategies. That makes the fossil fuel industry uncomfortable.
  • Low-Road Capitalism 3: How Environmentally Conscious Investing Became a Target of Conservatives
    There's a lot more evidence that active management doesn't help returns in aggregate, but you see plenty of high cost active funds in retirement plans, and no lobbyist funded political campaign to block them. This campaign to block ESG funds from retirement plans ironically is limiting the free market in funds. It's saying if you work for the Texas government and have a retirement plan where you want to invest in equity funds for your future, you have to buy fossil fuel and other questionable stocks from an ESG perspective via those funds whether you want to or not. Investors should be allowed to make those decisions for themselves, but again, ironically, big conservative supposedly free-market supporting government wants to prevent investors from having the choice to consume whatever they want.
    Yessir. I lived for a while in a little town in B.C. with a smelter. It's gone, now. The air always smelled awful, evil. When I said something about the air, protests erupted in my face. "You're talking about our JOBS!" Well excuse me. I thought there might be a way to have good clean air AND jobs. Duh.
  • Low-Road Capitalism 3: How Environmentally Conscious Investing Became a Target of Conservatives
    There's a lot more evidence that active management doesn't help returns in aggregate, but you see plenty of high cost active funds in retirement plans, and no lobbyist funded political campaign to block them. This campaign to block ESG funds from retirement plans ironically is limiting the free market in funds. It's saying if you work for the Texas government and have a retirement plan where you want to invest in equity funds for your future, you have to buy fossil fuel and other questionable stocks from an ESG perspective via those funds whether you want to or not. Investors should be allowed to make those decisions for themselves, but again, ironically, big conservative supposedly free-market supporting government wants to prevent investors from having the choice to consume whatever they want.
  • Low-Road Capitalism 3: How Environmentally Conscious Investing Became a Target of Conservatives
    The fossil fuel lobbyist limiting consumer choice edition:
    https://nytimes.com/2023/02/28/climate/esg-climate-backlash.html
    It’s been a widely accepted trend in financial circles for nearly two decades. But suddenly, Republicans have launched an assault on a philosophy that says that companies should be concerned with not just profits but also how their businesses affect the environment and society.
    More than $18 trillion is held in investment funds that follow the investing principle known as E.S.G. — shorthand for prioritizing environmental, social and governance factors — a strategy that has been adopted by major corporations around the globe.
    Now, Republicans around the country say Wall Street has taken a sharp left turn, attacking what they term “woke capitalism” and dragging businesses, their onetime allies, into the culture wars.
    The rancor escalated on Tuesday as Republicans in Congress used their new majority in the House to vote by a margin of 216 to 204 to repeal a Department of Labor rule that allows retirement funds to consider climate change and other factors when choosing companies in which to invest. In the Senate, Republicans are lining up behind a similar effort that has been joined by Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia.
    ….It is unclear whether applying environmental and social principles to investing is actually good for business. Some studies have shown that companies that embrace environmental and social goals outperform their peers in the long run. But other studies show the opposite. And as the stock market slumped last year, oil and gas stock prices rose sharply.

    Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, said he believed the Republican position on E.S.G. was more about ginning up outrage than about just how much of a financial risk climate change posed to long term investments.
    “They invent culture-war provocations that drive clicks, and woke capitalism is part of that,” he said.
    Mr. Whitehouse added that he believed the fossil fuel industry was responsible for funding much of the pushback. Groups like the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which has been opposing climate action around the country, are supported by oil and gas companies. And the oil and gas industry continues to donate to Republicans at a far greater rate than it does to Democrats, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets.
    Of course, having a rule that merely allows retirement plan investors the choice of buying an ESG fund is a terrible threat that will destroy America in the lobbyists view. There is no definitive evidence that ESG criteria or funds either outperform or underperform in the aggregate. There are strong ESG fund performers, too, as well as low cost ones. So, why not let investors decide for themselves by giving them the option to buy one? Somehow this is allowed in the rest of the world and a hell mouth hasn’t opened.
  • Stable-Value (SV) Rates, 3/1/23
    A format change from a continuous-running thread to new monthly posts.
    TIAA Traditional (Accumulation) Rates
    Restricted RC 6.25%, RA 6.00%
    Flexible RCP 5.50%, SRA 5.25%, Newer IRAs 3.45%
    TSP G Fund hasn't updated yet (previous monthly rate was 3.625%).
    Options outside of workplace retirement plans include m-mkt funds, bank m-mkt accounts (FDIC insured), T-Bills, short-term brokered CDs.
    #401k #403b #StableValue #TIAA #TSP
    https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/956
  • AVGE for what interest it may hold for others
    Thanks @Mark. I recently made a switch from AKREX to this ETF. Certainly not an apples to apples category switch, but I like the components and process of AVGE. If I remember correctly, when the Aker fund started out, in it's hay day, it was also multi-cap. I think after years of success it got to big to be that and settled in as a large cap. Possibly the retirement of Chuck Aker also has something to do with 3 years of under performance. But in any case, I made the switch to AVGE.
  • Did Cambiar Aggressive Value CAMAX turn into the ETF CAMX?
    For those without a Bloomberg subscription, the piece is syndicated and can be read here;
    https://www.fa-mag.com/news/wall-street-s-mutual-fund-to-etf-magic-trick-is-failing-to-wow-71984.html
    By converting an existing fund, issuers hope to bring an established track record and assets to the ETF market, giving each strategy a head start
    This is also one of the rationales that Vanguard gives for its ETF share class of OEFs. Not so much for the track record as for not needing to accumulate assets from scratch.
    Yet, there remain headwinds for many fund issuers exploring a conversion. One is the entrenched position of mutual funds in the American retirement system, where their stability and fractional share trading are more valuable than their ETF counterparts.
    This is beginning to change, with firms like Fidelity and Schwb offering fractional trading of ETFs.
    https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/trading-investing/fractional-shares
    https://www.schwabmoneywise.com/essentials/fractional-shares
    OTOH, some firms, like Merrill still don't seem fully comfortable with fractional OEF shares, let alone fractional ETF shares. For example, see this partial transfer form for Merrill, requiring one to specify full shares.
    https://olui2.fs.ml.com/publish/content/application/pdf/GWMOL/Partial_Asset_Transfer_Authorization_Letter.pdf
  • Lazard Emerging Market Debt Portfolio to be liquidated
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/874964/000093041323000476/c105767_497.htm
    497 1 c105767_497.htm
    THE LAZARD FUNDS, INC.
    Lazard Emerging Market Debt Portfolio
    Supplement to Current Summary Prospectus and Prospectus
    The Board of Directors of The Lazard Funds, Inc. (the “Fund”) has approved the liquidation of Lazard Emerging Market Debt Portfolio (the “Portfolio”).
    No further investments are being accepted into the Portfolio, except for investments by certain brokers or other financial intermediaries or employee benefit or retirement plans (acting on behalf of their clients or participants) with pre-existing investments in the Portfolio pursuant to an agreement or other arrangement with the Fund, the Distributor or another agent of the Fund regarding Portfolio investments. Promptly upon completion of liquidation of the Portfolio’s investments, the Portfolio will redeem all its outstanding shares by distribution of its assets to shareholders in amounts equal to the net asset value of each shareholder’s Portfolio investment. It is anticipated that the Portfolio’s assets will be distributed to shareholders on or about April 25, 2023.
    Prior to the liquidation of the Portfolio, depending on the arrangements of any broker or other financial intermediary associated with your account through which Portfolio shares are held, the Fund’s exchange privilege may allow you to exchange shares of the Portfolio for shares of the same Class of another series of the Fund in an identically registered account. Please see the section of the Prospectus entitled “Shareholder Information—Investor Services—Exchange Privilege” for more information.
    Dated: February 24, 2023
  • Buy Sell Why: ad infinitum.
    Preparing to make our monthly contribution to David Giroux"s retirement fund, I mean TRAIX. ;)
    I've been in it since Nov. 2013. Through thick and thicker, it's served me well. Lately, when it's had a couple of very good days, I grabbed some small chunks and reassigned them into junk bond fund PRCPX. I'm growing that one. Letting TUHYX just ride. In hard dollars, I figure I've devoted enough to TUHYX already.
  • Buy Sell Why: ad infinitum.
    Preparing to make our monthly contribution to David Giroux"s retirement fund, I mean TRAIX. ;)
  • Short Term High Yield vs. CDs vs. Treasuries vs. I-Bonds
    To @msf's good list, I may add that within retirement accounts (401k, 403b, TSP, etc), Stable-Value (SV) Funds.
    There are also Money Market ACCOUNTS by banks that are FDIC insured.
  • Ray Dalio on "Money"
    More interest read on Ray Dalio:
    Billionaire Ray Dalio, founder of the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, will receive billions of dollars in exchange for his retirement from the firm after “more than six months of frantic behind-the-scenes wrangling,” according to the New York Times, and after controversial comments about China raised eyebrows.
    https://forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/02/20/ray-dalio-worth-19-billion-will-get-billions-more-after-frantic-exit-negotiations-report-says/?sh=49fd6cba4a01
  • the unknown v good solution of LTC + annuity
    No access to NYT
    (The link is to a subscriber-only newsletter.)
    Courtesy of Google:
    Cached copy
    If that link doesn't work, try doing a Google search on:
    warshawsky TIAA annuity
    Mark Warshawsky worked for TIAA and wrote a paper about this 20 years ago. His idea is the subject of this NYTimes OpEd.