WHAT TO TELL THE FOLKS AT FIDELITY/VANGUARD.

I gave up on mutual funds years ago when it was disclosed in a market down year the average fund investor has lost $4K for the year and the fund managers had made damn near half a million! Then the great Obama declared me to be a one per center and took away my GM bond and gave it away. Chrysler bond holders did no better. Every investor must realize your broker, money/fund manager they are living off your money! I have been mildly successful investing only in dividend paying stocks and staying with them for long periods. Rule—dividend must equal or exceed inflation rate plus banks CD rate before considering company profitability.

I think you are very wise. I am settling an estate for a gentleman who used a similar strategy, and was similarly scalped by the GM debacle. Trying to wrench the funds from the brokers' grip, minus the fees and commissions is quite an education. I'll take the safety of CD's any day of the week from here on out, period.

I think this is a bubble. Bubbles look great and everyone thinks they’ll go forever - then they suddenly burst. But, who knows when? The catalyst is often an unpredictable event, often called a “black swan”. Do you also remember the 2000 “tech wreck”. Three “once in a lifetime” bubbles during this 16 year old century. Thank the Fed and their easy money policies. Consider a financial advisor. I am wary of the big wall street firms, banks and insurance companies. Some of them are good, but some are more interested in pushing high commision/high fee products than your portfolio performance. The old Wall Street joke is “the firm made money and the broker made money. The client? Well, two out of three aint bad. Some things to look for: 1. Professional designation, like CFP (certified financial planner). But, make sure your CFP has a background in active portfolio management, as opposed to just passive “allocations” - because every investor looks like a genius in a bull market. It’s the ensuing bear market that separates the wheat from the chaff. And, there has always been an ensuing bear market.
2. Look for an advisor that charges a flat fee instead of commissions (ex. 1%/year).
3. Look for an independent who owes loyalty to you, not to a Wall Street mega bank.
4. Look for an advisor that knows the stock, bond markets and economics, and realizes that markets are cyclical - and straight up is only half of the cycle.
Many good advisors have grown weary of big Wall Street firms and have become independent. There are called RIAs (registered investment advisor) If you can find a market savvy RIA/CFP that charges fees instead of commissions, you might want to have a talk. Good luck.

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