Posted on 04/19/2015 7:39:38 AM PDT by expat_panama
Where I am now is pondering whether I want to put my energy into working w/ specific etf's (like VHT) or stay with individual stocks.
For the most part we’ve adopted the Boglehead way of investing - sticking to low cost broad market index funds. (Well, we’re working our way there - we still own too much stock in his employer and my former employer.)
But we’ve also said that we’ll always invest 5% in stuff we find interesting. Up until now, that’s meant individual stocks in mostly local companies (3M, Target, etc.) in our IRAs. The healthcare ETF goes into that 5% bucket.
I have no idea what my husband wants to do with the TDAmeritrade account, whether it will be a sector investment or a broad market one. He’s going to retire in a year and part of this experiment is to see who he feel most comfortable with when it comes time to roll over his 401(k) - TDAmeritrade, Scottrade, or Vanguard. My rollover is at Fidelity.
I got into etfs when my former employer offered them as an option to mutual funds in our Fido 401K. These were the basic etfs that mimicked the S&P/Dow and later Nasdaq, etc.
The mutual funds in the Fidelity 401k, we could invest in at that time, were basically third rate funds managed by Fido invested in what. Their semi brand name losers often invested in left wing companies like the NY Slimes.
Fortunately, there was a great income/stock mutual fund managed by FPA and their current good guys, that fund has evolved into what is known as the FPA Crescent Fund, FPACX. That is one of 4 mutual funds we are invested in.
After I retired, I rolled my Fido 401k into my self managed IRA. I then got out of every mutual fund and got totally in various IRAs and added to and deleted them as new ones came out and the good CDs that we used to get from Fido. I rolled over the $ amount of the one good mutual fund into its kissing cousin, FPACX.
I could put a loss sell order in my ERAs versus trying to sell mutual funds after the closing bell rang. That saved our butts when the dot.com bust hit and the last melt down.
About ten years ago, thanks to FR, I looked at past mutual funds and ones I considered, and found that many of them invested in left wing losers like the NYSlimes. Often their investments in left wing controlled companies were in the highest % of dollars per company. We felt at that time, most mutual funds were not really good for us or the bastardized ones offered were not like the real name brand funds available to big investors.
My wife and I are both in our 70’s and need a modest monthly/yealy income flow from our CDs and ETFs. We don’t invest in an ETF that doesn’t pay more than a CD and still has the potential of having moderate to good gains in market value.
We invest in 8-12 ETFs at a time. Our ownership changes, with legitimate warnings from non gold/silver pimps, changes in management or investment goals. When Pimco fired its head of BOND, we got out.
I recalculate my stop loss orders on our ETFs every quarter or quicker if the ETF has a great run.
We own 3 other mutual funds besides FPACX, mentioned earlier. At our age, we have to shed/sell/cash a certain % of our holdings each month. Fido without any fan fare or publicity that we know of, started simple no cost system of selling a few shares of each mutual fund owned each month to help meet a % our minimum monthly withdrawals. Two funds still have modest increase over the last two years as well as dividends paid and the monthly selling of a few shares. One fund, PVSAX has a great $/% increase in a few years.
Yahoo has an excellent investment site/link. I have our current etfs and 4 mutual funds listed and tracked daily re ups/downs and news.
On that Yahoo site, I have a list of past ETFs and a current list of a few possible new ETFs. Most fail to meet or exceed what we are getting from our current ETFs.
One idea is to keep both accts, the advantage being that you’re carrying your life savings in more than one basket. Scottrade & TDAmer. are both great tho, they offer lots of choices, their fees are low, plenty of online info services, and it’s easy to move $ in and out for free.
My husband will roll the 401(k) to one firm, then may move some of the money to another firm depending on how he wants to invest it. He isn’t concerned about having it all at one location. Heck, I’m the accountant. I’m the one who will have to keep track of where the money is and figure out which accounts to draw RMDs from.
We’re especially concerned about having a clean, accurate rollover because his account is good-sized and includes original 401(k) contributions, after-tax contributions, and Roth 401(k) contributions. He works for a large corporation, so they should have their act together. Hopefully TDAmeritrade, Scottrade, and Vanguard would all handle the rollover equally well. But only one of those firms will be involved in that initial rollover.
You mentioned TD Ameritrade and I wanted your opinion if you can give it.
Some people say to shun the major banks for local banks or credit unions. Following that line of thinking, would it then make sense to move their brokerage account to one that is not affiliated with a major bank?
I’m not saying that YOU are saying major banks pose unique risks such as bail-ins (for example), just would it be inconsistent to only bank local on principle, but keep the major bank’s brokerage/trading arm?
Good morning again! Yesterday's percent± gains with stock indexes have turned out to be in lite trade --meaning don't expect it to last. Then again, todays index futures are still upbeat (+0.35%) as are those for metals (+0.36%) after yesterdays touch of profit taking for PM's. No econ reports today but lotsa news:
The worry story of the week.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3281258/posts
Not sure there is one of those any more. In today's electronic info age virtually all brokerages link up w/ a bank to move $ in and out. Personally like it, in fact the first thing I did when I opened a TradeKing acct. was to xfer in $20 and promply xfer out $10. Only after I'd checked that out was I willing to move in more.
Those that understand EFTs also understand that for every market EFT there is an Inverse or market drop profit generation EFT - a good example is QQQ and QID. One up or one down the exact amount daily. This is another way to trade futures as well.
Yeah, the last line of the table is incorrect. ETFs, CEFs, and open-ended mutual funds can all be actively managed or be programmed to robotically emulate an index. ETFs, however, can do either more efficiently and conveniently.
These days, I own a mix of individual stocks and ETFs. No CEFs. No traditional mutual funds (except for a money market fund or two).
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Markets | Yesterday | Today's Futures | ||
stocks | Higher volume mixed: S&P -0.1% NASDAQ +0.4%; tech stocks strong | now at -0.32% was lower earlier | |||
metals | back up: gold > $1.2K & silver > $16 | down to -0.61% |
Later on this AM watch out for the FHFA home price index and Existing home sales. Weird news day today:
UK speed trader arrested over role in 2010 US 'flash crash' gulfnews.com - 10 minutes ago Washington: A high-frequency trader was arrested in London over his alleged role in the May 2010 flash crash that briefly wiped out nearly $1 trillion (Dh3.67 trillion) in market value, the first time authorities have blamed manipulation for theJapan's Nikkei rises above 20000 level, Europe stocks down Washington Post - 9 hours ago TOKYO - Japan's stock benchmark closed above the 20,000-level for the first time in 15 years Wednesday, encouraged by the country's first monthly trade surplus since 2012.
Oil prices drop as Middle East tension eases
How Robots Can Offer Good Mkt. Advice
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Markets | Yesterday | Today's Futures | ||
stocks | Mixed volume mixed: S&P +0.5% NASDAQ +0.4%; small caps lag | off a bit %, just like before yesterday's gains | |||
metals | back down: gold < $1.2K & silver < $16 | expecting rebound: +0.29% |
This prolonged sideways market's putting everyone to sleep. Not to worry, someone will ping us all here if something big happens --afterward...
Ok. Now what. Up, down, up, down. This is a fine mess we’ve gotten ourselves into, Ollie!!!
With a gret big ole TOLDJASO to boot.
So now Mrs. abb has dragged me off to Redneck Riviera for a few days, spending some of what has taken years to accumulate.
Now please excuse me while I go out on the balcony and watch the sunrise over Destin Harbor.
Phone me if there’s something I need to know.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Redneck%20Riviera
Exactly. Flag & Pennant, and then we'll see. Proactive action required: ask the guy next to you "now what?".
Hey, pundits get paid big bucks to say that after every big move, which is probably why we hear it so much on these threads. .
Have a good one! Mrs. Expat & I like visiting Panama City too, only the one further south tho.
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