View Full Version : Wow, the Dow
Kind of an update to IL's Boy, that Dow thread, I guess.
Up 816 this morning, no doubt due to Fed announcing it's buying corporate bonds?
How long will this disconnect go on?
What do you predict for the rest of this year?
iris lilies
6-16-20, 9:41am
I hate this volatility.
I was successful at plugging my ears and singing lalalala from mid March until just last week about the Dow number. Finally, a few days ago when I heard it was soaring up, I asked DH was the number was and — egad!
iNsanity.
i want out.
Remember that lady who had the article about I'm getting out of the market, and then she did, and I posted about the article, and she came on and talked about it? I wonder what she is doing now.
And yeah, SUCH volatility, head spinning.
And now, an hour and half later, it's only up 269.
Wow.
ApatheticNoMore
6-16-20, 12:54pm
It has Nothing to do with the real economy at this point, it's all about how much money the government will hand out to Wall Street.
Of course if the government is handing out money via the stock market, it strikes me as an argument to not sell all your stocks.
May as well get what money there is to get, as ridiculous as this policy is. It's always struck me as an argument for stocks - that the government seems to be backstopping them. I'm quite aware the government does not care about any small investors, but when in Rome ...
Wow again. Doesn’t make much sense, don’t people watch CNN and realize the world is coming to a end. I am thinking of reducing my stock allocation soon. I’m now up a little for the year and I don’t see how it can go on much longer. Many businesses will be going bankrupt and unemployment is high.
And I’m not sure how the upcoming election is going to effect things. Not sure where to invest, maybe guns, ammo, and gold. May as well stuff cash under the mattress for what you can get in interest.
oh well, I’m getting older, turned 63 recently. I’ve been retired now for 13 years and I’m worth more now than ever . We have been on a bit of a spending frenzy, wife has spent quite a bit on the new house, and I’ve bought a nice boat, but even those are assets.
Wow again. Doesn’t make much sense, don’t people watch CNN and realize the world is coming to a end. I am thinking of reducing my stock allocation soon. I’m now up a little for the year and I don’t see how it can go on much longer. Many businesses will be going bankrupt and unemployment is high.
And I’m not sure how the upcoming election is going to effect things. Not sure where to invest, maybe guns, ammo, and gold. May as well stuff cash under the mattress for what you can get in interest.
oh well, I’m getting older, turned 63 recently. I’ve been retired now for 13 years and I’m worth more now than ever . We have been on a bit of a spending frenzy, wife has spent quite a bit on the new house, and I’ve bought a nice boat, but even those are assets.
Are you planning on changing your asset allocation due to what the market is doing or because you are now 63? At 64, I am reevaluating my asset allocation as well.
I had my semi-annual portfolio review with Fidelity. I pretty much plan on staying the course, but am considering making a small adjustment into their Contrafund, which is supposed to be a little more defensive than my index funds. It is the largest actively managed mutual fund in the world. My advisor said there have been sector funds in tech that have had a pretty good year. I've not looked into it as my conservative nature is against the lack of diversity and getting tied up too much in fees for managed funds. I usually rebalance near the end of the year and am undecided about rebalancing into more equities when the time comes.
I have ongoing default concerns about a smaller amount in high yield (as in junk) bond fund and also a quality municipal bond fund. I tend to think the feds would not allow defaults on municipal bonds, but could be mistaken on that
Are you planning on changing your asset allocation due to what the market is doing or because you are now 63? At 64, I am reevaluating my asset allocation as well.
a little of both.
sweetana3
7-15-20, 11:46am
Due to our age, we are going to reallocate some of the stock to cash equivalents. We are just becoming more pessimistic. We are also accelerating some charitable donations (in stock) to this month rather than the end of the year.
I do not see how things are positive for the big part of the economy.
I keep thinking this disconnect will reconnect, you know? And that would mean another big drop in market. I have definitely gone with a few years of cash in the allocation, like you, Sweetana.
I can't afford to be out of equities, though, in the long run; do not have enough to do what that lady did in her article, and longevity seems to run in my family, something I've learned in my genealogical research, on both sides. It's kind of daunting.
iris lilies
7-15-20, 1:08pm
Due to our age, we are going to reallocate some of the stock to cash equivalents. We are just becoming more pessimistic. We are also accelerating some charitable donations (in stock) to this month rather than the end of the year.
I do not see how things are positive for the big part of the economy.
I just read this to DH.
I am sick and tired of having this fight with him. I want to cash out of the investment game.I may be making headway.
I can't afford to be out of equities, though, in the long run; do not have enough to do what that lady did in her article, and longevity seems to run in my family, something I've learned in my genealogical research, on both sides. It's kind of daunting.
Thing is, at 60-something, many of us should plan for at least a decade and a half or a couple of decades more to live. Cashing out and putting our money under a mattress is a bold move. I look at my mom and DW's mom, both in their mid-to-late 80s now. Their parents did not live anywhere near that long. But that's ordinary longevity these days. Kind of have to plan for it. And equities probably are the best of an interesting lot of choices.
We've annuitized our core expenses. But that still leaves an amount in equities we need to tend. Right now we're probably more in cash, GICs, and money markets than many right now. We could be more aggressive but right now that does not suit our investment temperament. I was pretty confident the market would rebound, but I didn't think that recovery would stick for years. We'll see what happens when the Coyote (Wall St.) looks down and finds there's nothing underneath him any more.
.3334
I don't think it'll be pretty but getting off the road entirely to avoid it whenever it happens is not a good option.
I am sick and tired of having this fight with him. I want to cash out of the investment game.I may be making headway
Is there any way you could split the pot so you can invest the way you want and he can invest the way he wants?
iris lilies
7-15-20, 2:54pm
Thing is, at 60-something, many of us should plan for at least a decade and a half or a couple of decades more to live. Cashing out and putting our money under a mattress is a bold move. I look at my mom and DW's mom, both in their mid-to-late 80s now. Their parents did not live anywhere near that long. But that's ordinary longevity these days. Kind of have to plan for it. And equities probably are the best of an interesting lot of choices.
We've annuitized our core expenses. But that still leaves an amount in equities we need to tend. Right now we're probably more in cash, GICs, and money markets than many right now. We could be more aggressive but right now that does not suit our investment temperament. I was pretty confident the market would rebound, but I didn't think that recovery would stick for years. We'll see what happens when the Coyote (Wall St.) looks down and finds there's nothing underneath him any more.
.3334
I don't think it'll be pretty but getting off the road entirely to avoid it whenever it happens is not a good option.
Is there any way you could split the pot so you can invest the way you want and he can invest the way he wants?
yeah, My plan is to start off with the step of finding out exactly how much is subject to market volatility. I don’t know the answer to that.I mean, some of the brokerage accounts are a real mix of bond, stock funds and other stuff.
It might be that by the time I total it all up, the percentage of market volatility investments is not all that high. I am willing to keep some of it in index funds. For instance, the retirement account I control, my own account, has 18% in risk. I am ok with that.
I sold around 7% today. I may do a little more next week. I’ll always have equities, just reducing my exposure some.
ive thought about looking at rental property, but landlords don’t seem to have the rights that many tenants have. If you can’t evict them for not paying, what leverage do you have? I may still look into the short term rentals like VRBO. At least you can still kick them out I believe. But real estate prices around here are still pretty high. I thought all those snowbirds would be selling.
If I lived where you lived and wanted to invest in real estate, I'd buy some nice cheap single family homes around bases and rent them out to military families. And get a property manager.
I may still look into the short term rentals like VRBO. At least you can still kick them out I believe.
You can. Most of the ones I've been at lately (well, pre-pandemic lately) have either one of those electronic door locks or a keysafe; simple matter to change the combo between renters. VRBO/AirBnB/etc., however, depend heavily on ratings, like Uber/Lyft, and one ridiculous renter, if kicked out, can cause a bright, if short-lived, fire on your rental page.
rent them out to military families. And get a property manager.
Property managers for the win.
I will never regret taking the opportunity to buy the place my mom and brother live in; in many respects, it's made their lives much easier. But I don't ever need to be an active landlord again. It probably would be different with renters who were not relatives. But I'm not sure I need to find out.
frugal-one
7-15-20, 5:09pm
yeah, My plan is to start off with the step of finding out exactly how much is subject to market volatility. I don’t know the answer to that.I mean, some of the brokerage accounts are a real mix of bond, stock funds and other stuff.
It might be that by the time I total it all up, the percentage of market volatility investments is not all that high. I am willing to keep some of it in index funds. For instance, the retirement account I control, my own account, has 18% in risk. I am ok with that.
I don't know about now, but a while ago a person could put all their funds, stocks, etc in Morningstar and do an evaluation of where everything is (asset allocation). I did that when we met with a fee based financial planner to show where everything was. It was not saved there just used to print out. At that time, did not even have to have an account. That was a few years ago and have now consolidated accounts so no longer have to figure this out. It may be beneficial to check out????
iris lilies
7-15-20, 7:57pm
I don't know about now, but a while ago a person could put all their funds, stocks, etc in Morningstar and do an evaluation of where everything is (asset allocation). I did that when we met with a fee based financial planner to show where everything was. It was not saved there just used to print out. At that time, did not even have to have an account. That was a few years ago and have now consolidated accounts so no longer have to figure this out. It may be beneficial to check out????
yes, thanks!
Iris Lilies, we are still 60% equities as we are only moving 10% into cash. We still have a large portfolio mostly index funds and such now. It is all a gamble. Whether or not Trump is President, the economics are going to be difficult.
iris lilies
7-16-20, 7:53am
Iris Lilies, we are still 60% equities as we are only moving 10% into cash. We still have a large portfolio mostly index funds and such now. It is all a gamble. Whether or not Trump is President, the economics are going to be difficult.
Ah, very helpful.
That is too high for me, but I really appreciate knowing your percentage.
Ah, very helpful.
That is too high for me, but I really appreciate knowing your percentage.
I generally am at a very conservative 30% equities, 70% fixed and cash, but at times I have been at a 50/50 allocation, IL.
I really liked Wes Moss's book and his philosophy, which is to be more of an income investor. He says by your 60's, all of your stocks should be paying a dividend. You might really enjoy his book:
https://www.amazon.com/You-Retire-Sooner-Than-Think/dp/007183902X
It's all about what the happiest retirees have in common, and how to structure a happy retirement. He has his own thinking about retirement allocation, but I found the holistic approach to retirement to be really useful.
As of the beginning of this month, we were at 66% stocks, 33% money market/cash, 1% bonds. Again, however, that's money we can be aggressive in investing. If that were our entire nest egg, the allocation would be more conservative. I'll decide by the end of the month if I want to move more into cash.
I look the test on Vanguard and it suggested the 30/70 allocation as being what I was suited for, very conservative. You can find test here, for anyone who is interested:
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/FundsInvQuestionnaire
iris lilies
7-16-20, 9:47am
I appreciate these recent posts and will be spending more time with these concepts.
I didnt want to take my questions to the MMM kids because I would have to endure lectures about “Why do you have so much in brokerage accounts you are paying someone to manage” when this is not under my exclusive control. DH is all about thr brokers, sigh.
The Bogelheads site is too advanced for me.
Here is another book I would recommend for you--it's kind of off the beaten track but he is an interesting writer and thinker, and I like how he lays out some of the perils of investment and how you need to find the right investments for you:
https://www.amazon.com/Comfort-Zone-Investing-Portfolio-Returns/dp/1564145913
iris lilies
7-17-20, 8:54pm
Here is another book I would recommend for you--it's kind of off the beaten track but he is an interesting writer and thinker, and I like how he lays out some of the perils of investment and how you need to find the right investments for you:
https://www.amazon.com/Comfort-Zone-Investing-Portfolio-Returns/dp/1564145913
My library doesn’t have that book and it’s not widely distributed. There’s only one review on Amazon Ha interesting. Anyway maybe I’ll track that down someday but I don’t want a physical copy at $30.
My library doesn’t have that book and it’s not widely distributed. There’s only one review on Amazon Ha interesting. Anyway maybe I’ll track that down someday but I don’t want a physical copy at $30.
Amazon has several used copies for $4.79.
iris lilies
7-17-20, 9:06pm
OK. As a result of this discussion, I made the important first step toward charting all of our assets in asset classes.
I decided the broker who has the most of our money can run that report for me. He likes doing this kind of thing and he did a quick and dirty one for us a couple years ago with only estimates and limited knowledge of all accounts. This time I’m giving him all the numbers and names of actual holdings so he can plug them into sectors.
iris lilies
7-17-20, 9:08pm
Amazon has several used copies for $4.79.
. I may consider that then after I’ve done this analysis.
iris lilies
7-18-20, 9:15am
Here is another book I would recommend for you--it's kind of off the beaten track but he is an interesting writer and thinker, and I like how he lays out some of the perils of investment and how you need to find the right investments for you:
https://www.amazon.com/Comfort-Zone-Investing-Portfolio-Returns/dp/1564145913
This tool asks, as the last question, what percentage Of my investments are in stocks, bonds, and other. That’s what I don’t know! I don’t know because we have a ridiculous number of investment vehivkes. It all need to be consolidated. I Own library bonds for instance, public library bonds for libraries in this region including the one I worked for. Most people don’t own those outright. But they were a good deal until one of them required me to cash out.
This tool asks, as the last question, what percentage Of my investments are in stocks, bonds, and other. That’s what I don’t know! I don’t know because we have a ridiculous number of investment vehivkes. It all need to be consolidated. I Own library bonds for instance, public library bonds for libraries in this region including the one I worked for. Most people don’t own those outright. But they were a good deal until one of them required me to cash out.
I think you are really wise to look at this big picture and see exactly what you do own now. Do you have some investments with a brokerage and they invested for you, and other investments that you selected? Do you and your husband have separate accounts and separate investments? (That is what we do, so it's definitely his investments/my investments, with no investments in common except the real estate we live in.) I know what he has and what it's in because he asks me for my advice, but I am always trying to get him to look at my asset allocation and he glazes over.
frugal-one
7-18-20, 10:43am
OK. As a result of this discussion, I made the important first step toward charting all of our assets in asset classes.
I decided the broker who has the most of our money can run that report for me. He likes doing this kind of thing and he did a quick and dirty one for us a couple years ago with only estimates and limited knowledge of all accounts. This time I’m giving him all the numbers and names of actual holdings so he can plug them into sectors.
Here is another option.
https://www.morningstar.com/instant-x-ray
Thanks for that link, Frugal-one. Maybe she is ready for that, but I think it might be helpful to first try to figure out what these different holdings are, as the breakdown in Morningstar gets very specific about things like region and industry, etc., and that might be too much information at the start? I thought she was trying to sort out what major asset classes they were in, for starters.
iris lilies
7-18-20, 11:48am
I think you are really wise to look at this big picture and see exactly what you do own now. Do you have some investments with a brokerage and they invested for you, and other investments that you selected? Do you and your husband have separate accounts and separate investments? (That is what we do, so it's definitely his investments/my investments, with no investments in common except the real estate we live in.) I know what he has and what it's in because he asks me for my advice, but I am always trying to get him to look at my asset allocation and he glazes over.
Oooooo yes, we have his, hers, and ours investments. Of course I have legal interest in “ his” assets and vice verse.
SteveinMN
7-18-20, 11:51am
This tool asks, as the last question, what percentage Of my investments are in stocks, bonds, and other. That’s what I don’t know!
I think the first part of the mission is to at least name all of the investments: City of Hoozits Library Bonds, Vanguard Total Bond Index, 200 shares of Boeing, whatever. Once you have that information (along with the amounts invested), you can search the Web for that specific name and find what these instruments invest in. Look for the terms Morningstar uses -- stocks, government securities, whatever; you'll find them.
For example, one of our current investments is Invesco Short-Term Invest Trust - Treasury, which invests primarily in Treasury bonds. Right now they're about 70% cash, so I would categorize 70% of our $70K investment (49K) as cash and the remainder (21K) as Treasury bonds. Don't get too hung up on exact dollar amounts. But add it all up and you'll be able to figure out what you've got and what categories they fall in. Then you can decide what you ought to have.
ETA 6000th post! Now I know what I do in my free time... :~)
iris lilies
7-18-20, 1:12pm
Dudes! I love you all, but I am not doing this.I will likely never want to examine sectors and regions, ack! The closest I will get would be bonds international, bonds domestic, equities international, equities domestic. Bam, done! Right now, I’m not even wanting to get that specific.
If my financial advisor gives me a document that is too finely categorized I am going to fire him. He needs to be able to talk to me at top level executive summary stuff.
Please understand that in my household we have two styles of financial approach: me, who wants only executive summary, and DH who likes detailed stuff but cannot seem to be able to talk to me about big picture. DH truly cannot summarize data and that carries through too other aspects of life.
like for instance, here’s the top level financial information I wanted a little before we retired and DH could not provide most of it even tho he obsesses with our financial stuff.
One. How much do we have? And DH answers that every year by producing a snapshot of our assets where everything is listed. I requested this list decades ago.
Two. How much do we make? That’s where DH starts to get into the weeds in being unable to answer the question. He always said something this “depends on what you count, it depends on what you’re looking at, what is the context of your question, blah blah blah.” Finally I just said give me our tax return so I can make copies of the relevant pages so the next time I have a question I can consult what we tell the IRS we make.
Three. How much do we spend? He was unable to provide this. So I sat down for the first two years of retirement and added up everything that came out of our checkbook because at all flows from there. Easy to do and took less than half an hour each month. I don’t do it now because I have an idea of how much we spend and that’s all I wanted, summary level data.
DH is unable to talk about our endgame for finances. His only response for getting money out of risk situation is “will take it when we need it.
No, I want to “take it when I want it “now. I’ve been saving it for decades.
He can’t define an end game. I’ve already outlined what we are thinking for nursing home care because he was completely unable to talk about that, or conceptualize it, or think about it, or – I don’t know? But I was never able to converse about it, I think it’s because it didn’t involve tons of detail that he could pour over and learn.
We get, and I’m not exaggerating this, 3+inches of documents quarterly if not monthly from brokers, all print outs that we don’t need. I don’t know what he does wIth it.and when I started talking to him a couple of years ago about categorizing our assets into categories he immediately started pushing back by getting very very detailed and saying well this index fund is invested in a multitude of sectors and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah it’s impossible blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah…
So you can see why I’m frustrated and I’m done with his style.
Reasons I’m done is that I do have time to tackle this, since were sitting around in Covid time.
But also, DH is being sort of Casual, and potentially wasteful with his family farm asset that’s coming to him. I don’t think he’s making a smart decision and that causes me to question his management of our shared assets. He has been a fine and diligent custodian of our financial life up to now, but he doesn’t have managerial overview.
iris lilies
7-18-20, 1:51pm
I think the first part of the mission is to at least name all of the investments: City of Hoozits Library Bonds, Vanguard Total Bond Index, 200 shares of Boeing, whatever....
oh for sure we already have that detailed list so that part is done.
...For example, one of our current investments is Invesco Short-Term Invest Trust - Treasury, which invests primarily in Treasury bonds. Right now they're about 70% cash, so I would categorize 70% of our $70K investment (49K) as cash and the remainder (21K) as Treasury bonds. Don't get too hung up on exact dollar amounts.
I think this right here bolded is what DH always was blathering on about, how you can’t take some of these funds and break them out into clean sectors. Because they are mixed. And blah blah blah Is that what I was asking for was ridiculously complicated and well, ridiculous.In the past I would just sigh , give up on the conversation, and walk off.
But this time I’m going to stick with it and get an asset allocation summary.
By the way, until recently I had an Invesco fund, too from 35+ years ago. It was a small amount that made me crazy. I wanted to cash it out and consolidate that cash into an existing bigger financial instrument, but it was in my maiden name and all the hoops I had to jump through to resolve that was just so damn annoying. I wasn’t able to chip away at stuff like this until I retired because I simply was not going to give over my free time to this.
I think this right here bolded is what DH always was blathering on about, how you can’t take some of these funds and break them out into clean sectors. Because they are mixed. And blah blah blah Is that what I was asking for was ridiculously complicated and well, ridiculous.In the past I would just sigh , give up on the conversation, and walk off.
Well, he's not wrong. :) And the answer that would be accurate today might not (likely wouldn't) be accurate in two months or twelve as the funds buy and sell. However, every fund has basic stated rules on how much it can or will dump into which hoppers and that could be your basic guide. If you've got so much in so many instruments, being off by some minor percentage doesn't really affect the "executive summary" you're looking for.
Except for the fact that DH seems to enjoy "puttering" among all these funds and equities, you'd be an ideal candidate for the Boglehead "three fund portfolio". Alas.
Now that DW has left work we're going to consolidate the stuff we have that's all over, if for no other reason than to make the bookkeeping simpler for us. We're all electronic on it and I still get too many messages from them all.
frugal-one
7-18-20, 3:07pm
If you have the list of investments you could easily put in Morningstar by symbol. They break it all down and tell you the asset allocation. You don’t need region or asset class ... don’t know even how any person WOULD know that? Input your info and it is all broken down. Definitely not rocket science... you already have the list of investments. That is all you need to proceed. You are making this more complicated than it need be. Go in and start. You will see.
After all this is done, it will make sense to consolidate and have funds in one or two places. I was in your situation and it is easier to simplify...... which is what I think you are trying to do?
iris lilies
7-18-20, 3:13pm
If you have the list of investments you could easily put in Morningstar by symbol. They break it all down and tell you the asset class. You don’t need region or asset class ... don’t know even how any person WOULD know that? Input your info and it is all broken down. Definitely not rocket science... you already have the list of investments. That is all you need to proceed. You are making this more complicated than it need be. Go in and start. You will see.
After all this is done, it will make sense to consolidate and have funds in one or two places. Been where you are.
“...by symbol”
I dont have the symbols.
Since I’m already paying a broker, he can do this work for me. It’s not like he’s charging me a fee for it.If he needs to call broker B, and I Need to give him more specific information from Broker C, account then he will let me know.
But I can certainly see that eventually I could take this over and do it myself. Right now I need handholding and baby steps.
If you have the list of investments you could easily put in Morningstar by symbol. They break it all down and tell you the asset allocation. You don’t need region or asset class ... don’t know even how any person WOULD know that? Input your info and it is all broken down. Definitely not rocket science... you already have the list of investments. That is all you need to proceed. You are making this more complicated than it need be. Go in and start. You will see.
After all this is done, it will make sense to consolidate and have funds in one or two places. I was in your situation and it is easier to simplify...... which is what I think you are trying to do?
Yes, if you put in the symbol, Morningstar or Fidelity or Schwab or Vanguard or Edward Jones can tell you what it is. The reason I mentioned the complexity of the Morningstar report was that I went to the link you gave and downloaded the sample Xray and looked at it, and it went into more detail than I thought she would have been happy with, as it analyzed stocks for sectors and regions, etc.
I tried to attach the pdf but it was 7 pages long and wouldn't attach. Here's a link to it:
https://www.morningstar.com/content/dam/marketing/shared/pdfs/individual-investor/InstantXRay_Sample.pdf
The very first box at the top seems to give the breakdown she is looking for, though, with percent of account in various asset categories.
iris lilies
7-18-20, 7:12pm
Tybee yes, that first box, as simple as it is, That’s what I’m shooting for. I would break down the “cash” in 2 categories, readily accessible versus tied up in a CD cash, But otherwise it is fine.
iris lilies
7-18-20, 7:44pm
I will also say, in DH’s defense, that he’s told me about our brokers running these kinds of report but that Didn’t make me happy because it wasn’t the entire picture of all of our assets.
And yes, in response to above, there are resources that we chose and own our self (stock in his former employer’s company) and multiple bank accounts. When we made a trust a few years ago that caused us to close a couple of the bank accounts. But then I opened a bank account in Hermann because we will be moving there, I want to give Hermann the business, and besides we’re going to be writing a lot of checks out of that account to Hermann contractors anyway. So we’re back to having too many bank accounts, but when we moved to Hermann I will close the St. Louis bank account.
I want to squeeze down categories and simplify in the next five years because I don’t want this to be complicated in my old age if I have to manage this stuff.
DH‘s family farm will make up 10% of our assets. That is an asset class we certainly do not have now. I’m not sure I like that asset class, But I want to see how it fits with everything else.
DH‘s family farm will make up 10% of our assets. That is an asset class we certainly do not have now. I’m not sure I like that asset class, But I want to see how it fits with everything else.
At 10% of your assets, as long as you keep an eye on the tax implications of having it, it's of little consequence to you. You probably could even ignore it for your own purposes and let DH "play" with it. It might actually give him something to tinker with instead of your other assets.
I went back and looked at the link frugal-one sent and you have to sign up for an account, but it is free.
Once you sign up for the free Morningstar account, you can just put your symbols into the form they provide, the dollar value, and the dollar value of the whole portfolio and they do the rest. It really does look easy and I think I will try it (do I really want to know???)
If you did that with all the stuff that has ticker symbols, you could then access the little box at the left.
But I know you have your broker doing all of that for you, so you may not want to bother.
But it is a very cool tool. Thank you frugal-one!
iris lilies
7-19-20, 10:40am
At 10% of your assets, as long as you keep an eye on the tax implications of having it, it's of little consequence to you. You probably could even ignore it for your own purposes and let DH "play" with it. It might actually give him something to tinker with instead of your other assets.
This is DH’s asset and I honor that ownership so I will accept having no decision making power over it. Although if he dies, it’s mine of course. Its just that the whole business of owning it is completely illogical, it’s all about emotion. So he no longer gets to yell at me about emotional purchases! That’s the price he is paying for that restriction and it’s a hefty price, ha ha Ha!
About tax consequences of anything: I’m pretty close to turning off that area of consideration in my life. We have lived the past four years since retirement talking about taxes and every step along the way how it affects taxes, and it’s all complex with us not seeing all pieces necessarily. Last year we ended up paying quite a lot for the ACA policy we had because of DH’s inheritance that threw our income over the cliff. The year before we paid zero. And of course there’s the regular non-ACA considerations of taxes. So I do not think I’m gonna worry about taxes anymore, and if I want to pull money out of the IRA, then I’ll do that and take the tax hit, paying it like a good doobie citizen.
DH plays with stocks in his investment group. I think of that as his little men’s club although there are women in it.He has $5,000 or $6000 invested there and it’s play money for him to play stock picking games with his friends.
Now that said — I was complaining about brokers, brokerage fees, etc and he showed me a comparison of his Wells Fargo managed IRA to my own self directed IRA in March 2020 amid
covid pandemonium. I don’t know what his Wells Fargo managed IRA is in, but he and the broker confer about that, And it was doing fine. Over a five-year period his IRA has grown significantly With big ups and downs having nothing to do with Covid.
It cool my jets somewhat on managed accounts versus self-directed because DH’s account has ended up being quite a bit higher than mine despite fluctuations. And that’s OK with me, I like mine slow steady minimal fluctuations, and flat is OK with me.
frugal-one
7-19-20, 11:47am
I went back and looked at the link frugal-one sent and you have to sign up for an account, but it is free.
Once you sign up for the free Morningstar account, you can just put your symbols into the form they provide, the dollar value, and the dollar value of the whole portfolio and they do the rest. It really does look easy and I think I will try it (do I really want to know???)
If you did that with all the stuff that has ticker symbols, you could then access the little box at the left.
But I know you have your broker doing all of that for you, so you may not want to bother.
But it is a very cool tool. Thank you frugal-one!
Tybee... Glad you found the site user-friendly as well. It is easy to look up ticker symbols too. Just google .... It is not complicated.
iris lilies
7-20-20, 7:51pm
I got the first draft of the report from our Wells Fargo broker. Now I remember seeing this thing before. It is a beast.
78 pages.
78 m$#&+ F3$&#** pages.
78.
It is canned, of course.
so I immediately felt like crying, but I calmed down because I know that the guts of the report need to come first. He needs to have every investment vehicle we have accurately described and we’re not there yet.
So I’m going to be calm, and continue to work on that basic data collection while ignoring everything else.
Once we have correct data then we can do some analysis. The analysis I want is very very simple. I want three pages. If he can’t produce that I’m taking my business elsewhere.
I used to have a bunch of investment accounts too and finally consolidated everything into Vanguard since that's where my employer account was. Dh has his at Fidelity for same reason. Easy to view performance, asset class, etc... And Vanguard lets you add outside investments for tracking purposes so you can see everything at a glance. Super easy now, but I do remember what a hassle it was to streamline everything.
Now I just have 2 index funds: VTSAX which is what the bogleheads say to buy, and VBILX to weather the covid storm. Slow and steady on both funds.
79.5%
Stocks
15.4%
Bonds
5.1%
Short-term reserves
You can do this IL! :+1: Start with the easiest thing first.
iris lilies
7-20-20, 9:57pm
God I will need a cheering squad to get through this! So thank you.
IL, at work I have a 401k that is all invested in the Fidelity target retirement fund 2020. So the idea is it's for people who are retiring this year, so about age 66. Here is the breakdown in that fund:
our Asset Allocation†
The current asset allocation of your selected accounts most closely resembles Balanced.
SHORTLONG
Domestic Stock23%
Foreign Stock26%
Bonds36%
Short-Term14%
Unknown0%
Other0%
iris lilies
7-21-20, 9:16am
I’m pouring through this report last night it appears we have 40% invested in equities. At least, I think that’s the number. Because you know 78 pages.
Also what is short long because my 78 pages uses that term but I don’t know what that means. I probably will regret asking because I don’t really care but I will ask.
SteveinMN
7-21-20, 12:01pm
Also what is short long
Context? As one term or both words in different sentences?
If you're looking for a somewhat comprehensive but "normal language" explanation of what it means to short a stock, this page (https://www.thestreet.com/investing/shorting-a-stock-14688016) is good. "Long" tends to carry a more understandable meaning of holding an equity for some length of time in anticipation of it making money. "Long" is a little different from "buy and hold", which implies a much longer duration of ownership of the equity than "long" does ("long" can be a matter of a week or two, not years).
I think the shortlong is only on there because the graphic disappeared when I copied it. It's not relevant at all for what they are showing you here, that little snapshot of percentages.
I do not know why it would be in your report, either. I would think you would just own shares of a mutual fund or an etf or an individual stock. Why would you have a short position in anything? I'm confused by that.
I sell covered calls on stocks I own. IN that situation, I am long the number of shares I have--so for example, I have 750 shares of T right now. I have calls out on 300 shares. So I am long 750, but short 300 as of this point in time. If the calls expire unassigned, I'll be long 750 and short 0. If the calls are assigned and the stock sells, I'll be long 450 and short 0. But for now, I am long 750 and short 300, at this moment.
If you sell puts, for example, you can be short more than you are long. You cannot do that in an IRA. I can't imagine anyone is buying or selling options in your account.
So there's probably an answer for you but I don't have it for your situation. It probably makes sense in the context of the 78 page report, but without it, I can't even begin to guess.
iris lilies
7-21-20, 12:19pm
The term “short long “on my 78 page behemoth of a report might just be a standard column header in their canned report that is making me increasingly anxious when I think about it Because it is stupidly complex for my purposes.
I only mentioned it because it showed up on Tybee’s post but I understand it should not have.
IL, here is a good explanation of short-long:
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100314/whats-difference-between-long-and-short-position-market.asp
Definitely worth reading because I'm curious why you would have any short positions?
The term “short long “on my 78 page behemoth of a report might just be a standard column header in their canned report that is making me increasingly anxious when I think about it Because it is stupidly complex for my purposes.
I only mentioned it because it showed up on Tybee’s post but I understand it should not have.
I'm thinking you are probably right--if you read the investopedia you will see what I am saying; you should just have positions in things. I bet its a standard header on their report, to cover all kinds of investment accounts and activities.
Wow, Tybee. You are a very sophisticated investor!
No, I just do my thing in my own stubborn way. Sophisticated investors buy index funds and read the Bogleheads forum.
frugal-one
7-21-20, 1:41pm
I prefer to include some balanced funds from Vanguard in my portfolio .... Wellesley and Wellington are 2. One is 60-40 and the other 40-60 asset allocation. Talk about easy! There is also a place at Vanguard where you can input other funds etc... to get your overall asset allocation. This makes it easier to have investing on auto pilot. As Tybee suggested there are also target date funds. I have never used them but can see where it may be advantageous.
If you have the choice, I would do as frugal-one says and go with the Vanguard funds--you can even buy both and achieve a 50-50 split, extremely easy. In my 401k, I can't buy these, so I went with a target fund there. But yes, setting up a brokerage account at Vanguard would be a great place to start. You can buy most Vanguard funds in your Wells Fargo brokerage, but not the Wellesley as it is closed to new investors. Why not just get it all at Vanguard and cut down on your fees.
I really wonder what fees you guys are paying wherever you are. . . another thing to check into.
iris lilies
7-21-20, 2:43pm
Our fee is 1%. Then, for all I know, there are a ton of charges for trading. I don’t know that.
I think that fee is pretty standard for our amount of assets that we have with Wells Fargo. Our friends who have a similar amount of money also pay 1%.
My rich friends pay less,,.....error! I’m terrible with decimals.
edited to correct
my rich friends pay .50%, one half of one percent. Today I saw this verified with general discussions in the financial community, that assets of 10 million and above will get you a reduced management rate of half a percent.
iris lilies
7-21-20, 9:25pm
I Just. Want. To. rant.
I spent 2+ hours with my 78 page report from my Wells Fargo broker. We still have work to do to get each investment vehicle and the correct amount in it described, but it’s pretty accurate at this point all things considered.
So in my two hours of looking for the simple data I want, searching, searching, I found a pie chart that has current allocation of our investable assets in 3 areas: fixed income which are bonds, Equities, and cash alternatives. Only do you think that Pie chart tells me what I want to know? Of course it doesn’t! What it does do in its incredibly anal specific way Is to show me 34 categories of these 3 types. It breaks down types of equities, types of bonds into categories such as large cap, mid cap, etc etc.
I don’t care! I just do not give one flying fk about these categories!!!
WHY doesn’t this incredibly sophisticated 78 page behemoth of data simply sum up each the amount of equities and bonds and cash? It did not, so I had to get out my calculator and add up myself the 34 lines, summed at 3 places.
Here is the data I have wanted for years now. Our investment assets break down as:
47.13% equities
33.6% fixed income/bonds
18.29% cash equivalent
This is way too much in equities for me to sleep, that’s going to change.
I suspect I will pull a significant amount of my account from this broker for being unable to provide this three-way pie chart. That seems to me like Investment Report 101.
Unless I have Missed something major in this report, he has failed me. I shouldn’t have to use a goddamn calculator to add up this basic stuff.
End of rant. Thank you for listening. Lots of swearing here.
IL - your investing frustration is a nice distraction for me. I have other stuff processing on the brain, so this is a chew toy to distract from my uncomfortable feelings. I suspect the 78 page report is meant to show you how much work you're getting for your 1%. I think you'll like the following types of investing.
This is Life Strategy approach based on risk tolerance, which sounds to me like what you want:
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/lifestrategy/#/
This is the Target Retirement approach:
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/VTXVX
IL - your investing frustration is a nice distraction for me. I have other stuff processing on the brain, so this is a chew toy to distract from my uncomfortable feelings. I suspect the 78 page report is meant to show you how much work you're getting for your 1%. I think you'll like the following types of investing.
This is Life Strategy approach based on risk tolerance, which sounds to me like what you want:
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/lifestrategy/#/
This is the Target Retirement approach:
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/VTXVX
Geila, the Vanguard Life Strategy funds are a brilliant solution! So if she wanted 20% stocks only, she could buy VASIX. If she wanted 40% stocks only, she could buy VSCGX. If she wanted to be at 30%, split the money between the two. And the fees and expenses look to be about .13% for each fund.
What a cool idea.
Geila, the Vanguard Life Strategy funds are a brilliant solution! So if she wanted 20% stocks only, she could buy VASIX. If she wanted 40% stocks only, she could buy VSCGX. If she wanted to be at 30%, split the money between the two. And the fees and expenses look to be about .13% for each fund.
What a cool idea.
Hi Tybee - yes, they are both good options. This is what we'll probably use when dh retires. Right now he has limited options in his 401k so he does the balancing for us. He carries the international stuff on his account too. But it's still all index. I often get an urge to buy individual stocks, but in doing the math I see that I've only come out ahead 1 out of 4 times. I have good instincts on the stocks but not on when to buy and sell.
iris lilies
7-24-20, 10:46am
To report, I am chugging along in opening the Vangard account and rolling over two retirement accounts into it.I will use this thread to keep me accountable in moving forward.
My Wells Fargo guy emailed back. The summary I wanted was, in fact, in the 78 psge report, I just couldn't find it. 40% in equities, too high for me. It isnt accurate tho because it doesnt capture all of the other outside accounts accurately, just approximations.
Go, Iris! :treadmill: Go, Iris! :treadmill:
Yes, you can! :+1:
IL - are you looking at VASIX? It looks like a good fund. https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/portfolio/vasix
IL - are you looking at VASIX? It looks like a good fund. https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/portfolio/vasix
Love the avatar pic, Geila!
I’m selling more today, I’ll be down to 40% stocks, the lowest I’ve ever been. And later in the year I’ll look at moving some from my ira to taxable.
I’m selling more today, I’ll be down to 40% stocks, the lowest I’ve ever been. And later in the year I’ll look at moving some from my ira to taxable.
What is your thinking on being at 40%? Are you trying to lock in gains? Take money off table due to concerns about market?
What is your thinking on being at 40%? Are you trying to lock in gains? Take money off table due to concerns about market?
just reduce my exposure, while still being invested. I am concerned about the market, I’m surprised it’s doing as well as it is. Not sure where the best place to invest. No way I’m buying bonds, interest rates are next to nothing, and real estate doesn’t look good right now either. So I’ll just take a little off the table and sit it out for a while.
if the market goes up, I’ll still participate, if it goes down, I won’t lose as much. I still have other assets, this is just my liquid account, it doesn’t include annuity’s, real estate, gold, and various other investments.
iris lilies
7-28-20, 11:40am
Update: still plugging along here.
I will pay attention to these Vanguard fund recommendations when I acrually get my
vanguard account funded. I have a large amount of money in my employer’s retirement company that at first said they hang onto it for 30 days. Then she read the rules to see oh no it’s normal business day 7 to 10 days transaction. They send me a check. Then I have to mail it to Vanguard. That’s a lot of time.
I’m wrestling with the second company that has funds I will roll over. Yesterday I called twice and their computers were down both times. They couldn’t do anything for me! OK whatever. Start again today with them.
I can tell you, I don’t wanna deal with this stuff at this level when I am older. To that end I’m sure my Wells Fargo broker will say Iris baby just give me all your money and I will manage it for you.
Update: still plugging along here.
I will pay attention to these Vanguard fund recommendations when I acrually get my
vanguard account funded. I have a large amount of money in my employer’s retirement company that at first said they hang onto it for 30 days. Then she read the rules to see oh no it’s normal business day 7 to 10 days transaction. They send me a check. Then I have to mail it to Vanguard. That’s a lot of time.
I’m wrestling with the second company that has funds I will roll over. Yesterday I called twice and their computers were down both times. They couldn’t do anything for me! OK whatever. Start again today with them.
I can tell you, I don’t wanna deal with this stuff at this level when I am older. To that end I’m sure my Wells Fargo broker will say Iris baby just give me all your money and I will manage it for you.
Call Vanguard and have them do the rollover. It should not be in the form of a check that comes to you; it should be transferred from them to Vanguard and you never see a check. This is important, so call Vanguard.
Get Vanguard on getting the other company to roll over the funds to them, Vanguard. You want a trustee to trustee transfer, no checks made out to Iris.
Sorry, edited to add link:
https://investor.vanguard.com/account-transfer/transfer-ira
just reduce my exposure, while still being invested. I am concerned about the market, I’m surprised it’s doing as well as it is. Not sure where the best place to invest. No way I’m buying bonds, interest rates are next to nothing, and real estate doesn’t look good right now either. So I’ll just take a little off the table and sit it out for a while.
if the market goes up, I’ll still participate, if it goes down, I won’t lose as much. I still have other assets, this is just my liquid account, it doesn’t include annuity’s, real estate, gold, and various other investments.
Okay, wanted to check; that is my thinking as well, and I know you're good with money so wanted to get your take on it. Thanks!!
iris lilies
7-28-20, 12:45pm
Vanguard cannot make Empower (Employer company) do anything. Empower said they cannot do any electronic transfer, “maybe someday we will have this capability.” This is the same company that does not recognize me as retired even though I have been gone 5 years and their on-the-ground representative came to my office upon my retirement to help me through a complex little, piece of business in dumping End-salary amounts into this account.
It is really the actions of the personal representative in the city that keeps me from being mad at them because she helped me a lot, of,course she was getting money into her control so it benefitted her as well.
The check is made out to Vanguard, fbo Iris lily and my account number.
Fbo is “For benefit of”
iris lilies
7-28-20, 1:03pm
P.s. Tybee, believe me, i am nervous about this much $ coming by check and am paying $25 to have it tracked by Fed Ex.
P.s. Tybee, believe me, i am nervous about this much $ coming by check and am paying $25 to have it tracked by Fed Ex.
Oh, I am so sorry you have to go through that. One time I moved from one brokerage to another, and they took 7 weeks! I was going crazy. It was all the money I had in the world, and I was so scared it was "lost in space."
Sounds like you are doing all the right things.
iris lilies
7-28-20, 1:54pm
Oh, I am so sorry you have to go through that. One time I moved from one brokerage to another, and they took 7 weeks! I was going crazy. It was all the money I had in the world, and I was so scared it was "lost in space."
Sounds like you are doing all the right things.
More hoops from the financial world: Transamerica also “no longer Does wire transfer” so They will be sending me a check in the mail as well once I complete and return theIr forms. It’s not a big amount of money as the first check though.
More hoops from the financial world: Transamerica also “no longer Does wire transfer” so They will be sending me a check in the mail as well once I complete and return theIr forms. It’s not a big amount of money as the first check though.
when I finally decided to convert my 401k over to my own IRA I was sent a check from the 401k. After a few weeks I started to wonder where the check was and they said it had been sent. I found it under a flowerpot by my garage floor. This was for mid six figures.
when I finally decided to convert my 401k over to my own IRA I was sent a check from the 401k. After a few weeks I started to wonder where the check was and they said it had been sent. I found it under a flowerpot by my garage floor. This was for mid six figures.
Aaaaaah!!!!!!!
iris lilies
7-28-20, 3:33pm
Oh this is getting better and better...
Now that I have the Transamerica rollover forms in front of me, they are asking for a letter from Vanguard, an “acceptance” letter.
Let’s just add another two weeks to this process.
edited for another update, this one for the afternoon: the “transfer team” at Vanguard is too backed up to help me today.I can call tomorrow morning and get better results, says the investment guru.
iris lilies
8-8-20, 9:33pm
I am another step forward in my Vanguard account. 85% of the money has been deposited in Vanguard. I’m still working with Transamerica to get the other batch of money from them to deposit in Vanguard. 100% of this Vanguard money is going to go into cash or CD.
edited to make sense
I am another step forward in my Vanguard account. 85% of the money has been deposited in Vanguard. I’m still working with Transamerica to get the other batch of money from them to deposit in Vanguard. 100% of his Vanguard money is going to go into cash or CD.
Great progress. Do you mean of "this" Vanguard money, not his?
Why are you going 100% cash at Vanguard? I am confused now.
iris lilies
8-9-20, 9:43am
Great progress. Do you mean of "this" Vanguard money, not his?
Why are you going 100% cash at Vanguard? I am confused now.
yes! So sorry,
i meant “ this.”
The Vanguard account is “my” money only. I need to have it 100% in cash equivilent so it balances out the rest of our assets, keeping them out of risk investments.
Oh. Is this a short term plan or a long term plan? Just trying to understand.
iris lilies
8-10-20, 10:49am
Oh. Is this a short term plan or a long term plan? Just trying to understand.
My Vanguard account is in cash equivalent for short term until I see what is on the other side of Coronovirus. This account is roughly 20% of our joint investible assets.
My Vanguard account is in cash equivalent for short term until I see what is on the other side of Coronovirus. This account is roughly 20% of our joint investible assets.
Ah, I see. Many folks going to cash until end of year, from what I have seen and heard. I thought you meant you were going to permanently be in cash in Vanguard to balance out what dh is doing in rest of assets. This seemed to shortchange what Vanguard could do for you.
iris lilies
8-10-20, 12:52pm
Ah, I see. Many folks going to cash until end of year, from what I have seen and heard. I thought you meant you were going to permanently be in cash in Vanguard to balance out what dh is doing in rest of assets. This seemed to shortchange what Vanguard could do for you.
I still needed a place to consolidate two IRA accounts. I suppose I could’ve smushed it all together in one or the other, but I don’t like Transamerica, they annoy me. My employer account was OK but it doesn’t have the wide recognition of Vanguard.
If this is in cash equivalents forever, at least I have eliminated one account from our list of too many accounts. There’s a point where I am old where I will want many fewer accounts to manage.
We eliminated two Bank accounts some years ago when we put together our will and trust. But then I got a wild hair to open up a bank account in Hermann, which I still think was a good idea, it’s just that there we are yet another account. We will eventually close the St. Louis bank account when we move to Hermann.
Vanguard is also useful for DH, perhaps. He has an IRA in a bank in Iowa and it would be nice to close that account and consolidate it into one of our existing brokerage accounts.
As an aside and as part of a discussion about “too many damn accounts “ it turns out we will have interest in yet another Edward Jones account in Iowa, all due to father in laws’s death. So, currently we have about $40,000 coming to us that is held in one Edward Jones account in a small town in Iowa. Meanwhile, across the street in that small town in Iowa is another Edward Jones account where the family business will operate from.Then we have our local Edward Jones account.
This is not how I want to be on my financial life long-term.
I still needed a place to consolidate two IRA accounts. I suppose I could’ve smushed it all together in one or the other, but I don’t like Transamerica, they annoy me. My employer account was OK but it doesn’t have the wide recognition of Vanguard.
If this is in cash equivalents forever, at least I have eliminated one account from our list of too many accounts. There’s a point where I am old where I will want many fewer accounts to manage.
We eliminated two Bank accounts some years ago when we put together our will and trust. But then I got a wild hair to open up a bank account in Hermann, which I still think was a good idea, it’s just that there we are yet another account. We will eventually close the St. Louis bank account when we move to Hermann.
Vanguard is also useful for DH, perhaps. He has an IRA in a bank in Iowa and it would be nice to close that account and consolidate it into one of our existing brokerage accounts.
As an aside and as part of a discussion about “too many damn accounts “ it turns out we will have interest in yet another Edward Jones account in Iowa, all due to father in laws’s death. So, currently we have about $40,000 coming to us that is held in one Edward Jones account in a small town in Iowa. Meanwhile, across the street in that small town in Iowa is another Edward Jones account where the family business will operate from.Then we have our local Edward Jones account.
This is not how I want to be on my financial life long-term.
While I knew a very nice guy who went to work at Edward Jones, it would not be where I would want my money to be. YMMV.
So glad you have a Vanguard account now, way to go!
iris lilies
8-10-20, 1:43pm
Save me research.
what is vanguard’s fee for a 457 account?
Save me research.
what is vanguard’s fee for a 457 account?
A 457 is an employer account. Didn't you roll your account into an IRA?
iris lilies
8-10-20, 3:45pm
A 457 is an employer account. Didn't you roll your account into an IRA?yes, to an IRA. So, same thing with
vanguard, right?
frugal-one
8-10-20, 3:48pm
While I knew a very nice guy who went to work at Edward Jones, it would not be where I would want my money to be. YMMV.
So glad you have a Vanguard account now, way to go!
ditto
I guess I don't understand the question about fees. Do you mean yearly fees for a custodial IRA?
I pay zero at Schwab.
iris lilies
8-18-20, 2:50pm
Still trying to get a “letter of acceptance” out of Vanguard, so that I can mail it to Transamerica, so that Transamerica can Mail me a check that I can mail back to vanguard.
This is all so stupid. I absolutely cannot do this in 10 years. I cannot fuss around with these accounts like this.
Still trying to get a “letter of acceptance” out of Vanguard, so that I can mail it to Transamerica, so that Transamerica can Mail me a check that I can mail back to vanguard.
This is all so stupid. I absolutely cannot do this in 10 years. I cannot fuss around with these accounts like this.
That is so weird to me. I changed my IRA four different times, and each time the new receiving institution did all the paperwork, and I never saw any checks.
Well I sold some stocks and the market is still rising. I’m still not quite down to the 40/60 allocation I am shooting for, need to sell another 5% or so. Then the market can really take off.
with all the doom and gloom on tv I don’t understand why the market hasn’t crashed yet.
iris lilies
8-18-20, 6:39pm
That is so weird to me. I changed my IRA four different times, and each time the new receiving institution did all the paperwork, and I never saw any checks.
Maybe you are right on this because as I read Vanguard letter which they had put in my email box only had entirely different date than what I was looking for, they instruct Transamerica to mail Vanguard the money.
One of the little phone helpers said it’s easier to get money out of your employer account then it is out of other accounts, generally speaking.
I’m irritated but not worried about this check because it’s much smaller than the big check. The big check is safely deposited in Vanguard.But I still have an additional test tomorrow – I have to go to our Edward Jones office a block away and have their notary notarize this form that goes to Transamerica.
What this is all about is Transamerica making it hard to take money out. That’s really the purpose of it all. I would not have fussed around with this if I was still working.
IrisLilies I hate this bureaucracy as much as you do. It just makes me angry that there’s so many hurdles and each account is different in its requirements.
Well I sold some stocks and the market is still rising. I’m still not quite down to the 40/60 allocation I am shooting for, need to sell another 5% or so. Then the market can really take off.
with all the doom and gloom on tv I don’t understand why the market hasn’t crashed yet.
This is what my Fidelity advisor said, although the stock market boom still is a mystery to me. He gave three reasons. Investors are anticipating a recovery which may be a V-shaped recovery or a U-shaped, but will still recover. Interest rates are so low that investors don't have many investment choices. And, some sectors are doing quite well, like tech, online businesses, and health care. He also put in a plug for precious metals. I'm pretty much staying the course, but that is just one opinion. He said the official long term outlook from Fidelity is bearish.
As for the discussion about IRA transfers, I had an inherited IRA that had some transfer complications although it was somewhat straight forward. I wanted to transfer from the original holder in a bank account to either Fidelity or Vanguard. I may have talked to Vanguard about this, but can't recall for sure. The bank claimed to have lost the transfer documents more than once and were slow in any response. Fidelity assigned some sort of specialist to the case who assured me he would take care of things and not to worry. Eventually it worked out and the Fidelity response and help was reassuring. I actually wrote to his supervisor to compliment and thank. I've since closed my Vanguard account and have generally had excellent customer service from Fidelity.
iris lilies
8-19-20, 10:49am
Re: inherited transfers.
I have told our Ed Jones guy up the street that it’s a really good marketing tool to have Ed Jones offices all over neighborhoodS because my parent’s generation used brokers, so when my mother died with her Ed Jones account it was easy to transfer to an Ed Jones account in my neighborhood. Same for DH’s dad’s investments.
I do like the idea of Mom and Pop investment shops set up in obvious places in downtown Smallville. And the main reason we use him after the initial generational transfer is because he does serve our neighborhood, he’s a neighborhood institution. In my current methodology of closing and consolidating investment accounts I would not have an Ed Jones account if he wasn’t sitting on my main street.
When we move to Hermann I will probably close that one, giving that money to either Vanguard or to our Wells Fargo account. Our Wells Fargo guy is the most aggressive in getting our business and that’s kind of why we went to him – because he went after us. We are silly sheep in the investment game.
If I could snap my fingers and sell my house for what Redfin says it's worth, I'd be in the same quandary. It makes me all warm and tingly to contemplate, but that's about it.
iris lilies
9-1-20, 4:26pm
Today’s update on my Vanguard account:I’m still trying to roll over money from Transamerica to Vanguard. Today I called Transamerica on a status report and they told me that my requests forms are awaiting their approval. Alrighty then.I’ve been working on this particular transaction for a month.
Repeat: when I am old I don’t want to fuss with all of these accounts and having to do this will be beyond my patience and likely beyond my ability.
When you're old split it between Vanguard Wellesley and Vanguard Wellington and call it a day.
Still amazed at this market. I still need to sell around 5% or so to get to my target. If more people watched CNN they would know the world is coming to a end.
housing prices here are rising, boats are selling fast and high, airplane prices are up. You can’t even find a gun or ammo to buy, but that may not be due to the economy. Everyone i know who owns a business is having a good year. And forget about hiring anyone to work on your house unless you can wait a few months.
Im still waiting to see how things pan out after the election. I don’t need to add wealth at this stage, I just want to preserve it.
iris lilies
9-9-20, 1:32pm
Mission accomplished. FINALLY I have all of the money intendEd to be in the Vanguard account. This multi-week process eliminated 1 account out of our many accounts. In Vanguard it sits in some sort of money market cash-equivilent u til we get on the other side of Covid, but I suspect it will stay there forever.
Now I will stop using this thread as my personal diary of accountability on this transaction. I’m sure I will have other questions about Vanguard, but I’ll start a separate thread for them.
Mission accomplished. FINALLY I have all of the money intendEd to be in the Vanguard account. This multi-week process eliminated 1 account out of our many accounts. In Vanguard it sits in some sort of money market cash-equivilent u til we get on the other side of Covid, but I suspect it will stay there forever.
Now I will stop using this thread as my personal diary of accountability on this transaction. I’m sure I will have other questions about Vanguard, but I’ll start a separate thread for them.
I want to congratulate you on a monumental undertaking and great follow through. Who knew they would make it so hard??
You did a great thing here and will be very happy with it being accomplished.
Yay, you!
Still amazed at this market. I still need to sell around 5% or so to get to my target. If more people watched CNN they would know the world is coming to a end.
housing prices here are rising, boats are selling fast and high, airplane prices are up. You can’t even find a gun or ammo to buy, but that may not be due to the economy. Everyone i know who owns a business is having a good year. And forget about hiring anyone to work on your house unless you can wait a few months.
Im still waiting to see how things pan out after the election. I don’t need to add wealth at this stage, I just want to preserve it.
We can only hope trump's is.
We can only hope trump's is.What do you think your life will be like if he's not?
Mission accomplished. FINALLY I have all of the money intendEd to be in the Vanguard account. This multi-week process eliminated 1 account out of our many accounts. In Vanguard it sits in some sort of money market cash-equivilent u til we get on the other side of Covid, but I suspect it will stay there forever.
Now I will stop using this thread as my personal diary of accountability on this transaction. I’m sure I will have other questions about Vanguard, but I’ll start a separate thread for them.
At this rate you should have all your money duly sorted by about the time you die... :~)
frugal-one
9-10-20, 11:45am
What do you think your life will be like if he's not?
More of the same damn drama, lies, crookedness and laws eliminated to protect the environment and workers rights. Nothing good.
Today's news shows what a liar he is. I honestly don't see how anyone can vote for him.
Today's news shows what a liar he is.
That would be lier.
frugal-one
9-11-20, 4:10pm
That would be lier.
tomato... tomatttooo
It will take years to repair the damage he's done in four years to the environment, government bureaus like the FBI, CDC, and USPS, international trust and respect, worker's rights and social justice, voter's rights, the judiciary, etc. He's a scourge, but I suppose if you're a corporate grifter or a billionaire, he's your scourge and you're OK with it.
frugal-one
9-11-20, 5:50pm
Received an email today from a guy I know in Germany. His remark is that Europeans fear trump more than the coronavirus.
The coronavirus is much more manageable than a sociopath. Except in a country run by a sociopath, apparently.
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