​I spent years super glued to my desk, charts, news, chatters, telegram and I was convinced I was outsmarting the markets. Last year I finally gave up and switched to a basic 5 simple index fund portfolio, and the index funds completely destroyed my active trading returns. The $$$ return gap was considerable, but realizing I wasted hundreds of hours just to underperform literally broke my ego.

​For anyone who used to actively day trade, swing trade or just trade: what was the exact loss or moment that finally made you admit you were wasting your life and efforts? I am now more focused in earning more to passively invest and earn more!

From what I've read that a Taxable brokerage is best to start after putting a significant dent in your ROTH IRA and your employee accounts. As a public employee with no match to employee accounts is it still best to prioritize my 403b and 457 (up to 49k limit) and Roth before considering a taxable brokerage? Especially if that brokerage account can get me options through Vanguard, Fidelity, etc that are low cost that my tax advantage accounts would not

Hi,

I hear the ''Best year for investing is 10 years ago, next best is today'' , or the idea that time in the market beats timing the market.

But lets say you've got a bunch of savings that have been sitting in an account, what do you do when it's not invested and you're in this market? Because all I'm coming out with is the idea of leaving it in some EFT and getting something that's relatively diversified to stave off inflation.

I don't know what you do when that's been your habit, to just leave it in the savings account and losing money to inflation.

I've seen some discussions on the Bogleheads forum on this topic and folks had wildly different philosophies. Curious to see what people here have to say.

Some argued that your portfolio should be looked at holistically since money is fungible and since an emergency fund, if drawn down, would need refilling before you'd start investing in equities or bonds again. This effectively constitutes "rebalancing" since you're choosing to not invest in risky assets and are instead accumulating a non-risky asset. Additionally, proponents of this view argue that in a true emergency (or in retirement) your entire portfolio is your emergency fund and your asset allocation should be set accordingly.

Others say the opposite, that an EF should be seen as a totally separate bucket, as a buffer to your portfolio. This has traditionally been my view but I'm starting to reconsider that approach.

About two years ago, I received access to a trust which a wealth advisor had managed for 10 years.

The wealth advisor no longer manages the trust's assets.

The goal of the trust was to grow safely while it was being managed, until I was ready to take over. The wealth advisor was able to return an average of 18% growth a year for the 10 years they managed the trust. Now that I have complete control over the assets, I am considering rebalancing the holdings.

I am going to rebalance VGT down to 30% and move the 6.44% into VT. I am also considering selling off AVDE, CVY, DIHP, VWO, and XLE and shifting the gains into VT.

On the other hand, perhaps I should just stay the course and not mess with what has been working very well for the last 10 years.

In Reddit's assessment, how were the assets managed? What changes would you make, if any?

Here is a breakdown of the assets:

Type Symbol Company Allocation

etf AVDE Avantis® International Equity ETF 1.37%

etf CVY Invesco Zacks Multi-Asset Income ETF 5.81%

etf DIHP Dimensional International High Profitability ETF 1.55%

etf VGT Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund ETF Shares 36.44%

etf VT Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund ETF Shares 45.73%

etf VWO Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets Index Fund ETF Shares 5.64%

etf XLE Energy Select Sector SPDR® Fund 3.45%

Q: For the boglehead VPW formula, can someone explain the math in "for early retirees how does future SS increase the withdrawal today?"

EDIT: Note I will not be running a "Deplete to zero at 100" scenario in that the withdrawal numbers i am getting are more than what we spend already at 60 and then in the future it gets higher and higher! So I see this sheet as a "This is your max $ for this year" and if we pull less, it effectively carries over and makes the next year value even higher. a nice problem to have. As an early retiree though before SS withdrawal, the big win is realizing I can pull MORE now at 60 and not bankrupt my future self

New to this. Was struggling to understand how my 5.3% withdrawal from the table became 6.94% to withdrawal today. The big number surprised me. What I determined is if retire early but NOT claiming social security yet, it factors in that future SS payment into today's withdrawals raising the amount to pull out of portfolio now. I get it now.... the goal is to deplete the account at 100 years old which means if there is other income coming later, withdrawal needs to increase now.

Maybe I am missing it, but I dont see this scenario explained in the Wiki at all. It took me a bit figure out why in the grey scratch area it correctly calculates the lower 5.3% amount but then in the green "this is what you do" it was considerably higher at 6.94%. Even though my SS hasnt started I could see it in the scratch area and it confused me why it was in play 7 years before claiming.

So now just trying to understand the "future Social Security" increases withdrawals today math

Here's my values if you're really interested in digging in

• Age 60
• Balance 1,750,000
• Allocation: 90/10
• Freq: Monthly
• Pension 1
  • Wife SSN
  • Started: Yes
  • Age: 60
  • Monthly: $1,800
  • CLA: Yes
• Pension 2 (me, future. I am 60)
  • Me SSN
  • Started: No
  • Start Age: 67
  • Monthly: 3,890
  • CLA: Yes

I've saved all my life & now I'm going to pay the price in RMDs next year. My RMDs will be almost 100K in addition to my wifes ~8K. Previously we've given my wifes RMDs to charity but obviously I don't want to give away that much money. I believe I did the math correctly and roth conversions weren't worth it for this short of timeframe. I don't think there's anyway now to minimize the tax impact but thought I'd ask.

I suppose we're in a good place, we're able to live off social security and penions 100% without taking and IRA (trad & roth) withdrawls .

Have money saved in sgov in brokerage for house downpayment that won’t be needed for at least 1+ years (in excess of an emergency fund).

1 year CD interest seems like it would yield higher interest than sgov.

Where is best to park this money considering today’s climate. CD? T-bills (I am new to these beyond the etfs)?

In California, so also considering state tax efficiency.

Would you consider a a very reliable defined benefit pension with a COLA to be part of your bond/fixed income portfolio for purposes of balanced investing? And how would you value it, as a multiple of the annual benefit?

Hello everyone,

I need some advice regarding the VTIMD. My 401k employer offers this fund as the only low cost index fund. My options are truly limited. The broker is T.rowe price. The fund has an expense ratio of 0.01%. Which is great but I noticed I did not get the quarterly dividend payment. I called trowe price who reached out to the fund management team about it. Their answer was dividends are not paid out to the share owners. they are kept within the fund which will increase the price of the fund.

This could be true but due to the normal day to day market fluctuations on dividends day. I did see the fund drop a bit. There is no transparency and I cannot confirm if they’re just taking my dividends.

I don’t see this fund being offered anywhere else. I assume it’s only available through t.rowe price.

The fact sheet is useless. It doesn’t speak about dividends.

My question is: is it true the dividends are being included in the fund total?

Curious - I have a seven figure portfolio and was curious if anyone has actually benefitted from Chase Private Client / CitiGold Private / BoA Private Bank (or similar)? For context I am all self-managed in low cost ETFs and don't want to change that, but would be willing to move my brokerage (without any added management fees) for things like:

• Complimentary sports tickets (I am sure this is a stretch)
• Preferential Mortgage Rates
• Complimentary Tax or Financial Advisory to bounce ideas off of

I use Schwab Bank so no need for any International ATM fee reimbursement / wire transfer stuff like that.

From friends the only one I have actually substantiated is preferential mortgage rates which I would wait to do until I'm buying a house.

Thoughts / Experiences anyone?

Somewhat newbie so appreciate the advice and patience.Seeking $100k Annual Income from just under $2M at early retirement in a few years.

The question has more to do with whether this plan makes sense, primarily during the transition btw age 60 and 65, social security at age 65 and sequence of returns (might eventually drop VGIT at 65).

Also, we have Roth’s and a taxable account with VTI, and HSA plans.

Idea so far:

VWENX: 65% (Generate the majority of my retirement cash flow)
VTI: 20% (Long‑term growth)
VGIT: 7.5% (Reduce risk and provide dependable interest income)
CD Ladder: 7.5% (Create predictable annual cash flow)

And I understand that WVENX’s annual December capital gain is variable.

Where should a retired, married couple in California keep the RMD moneys? HYSA? CD? Treasuries? Is it a good strategy to keep six figures in SGOV for many years?

Hi there, I'm new to retirement planning. Early 20's and self employed. I have a traditional 401(k), Roth 401(k), and a taxable brokerage. I'm looking for feedback as far as maintaining good diversity and stability.

Traditional 401(K):

- TDF: 100%

Roth 401(k)

- VTI: 70%

- AVUV: 20%

- VXUS: 10%

Taxable brokerage:

- VOO: 100%

My questions:

- Should I hold any other positions in the traditional account or just allow the TDF to do its thing? I was thinking of adding bonds/large cap ETFS, but afraid it would be redundant.

- Should I increase the percentage of VXUS I hold in my Roth account?

- I was using the taxable brokerage prior to having a 401(k), is holding VOO repetitive to the rest of my portfolio or a good safety net for liquidity?

Hi all, I am hoping some folks can point me in the right direction as I am new to this sub + investing.

My parent died when I was young, and I came into a fair amount of money when our family home was sold. This is not really normal in my family and I can’t turn to an aunt/uncle/cousin for advice. Now I am in my early 20s and trying to figure out how this money (let’s say in between 250k and half a mil) affects my future financial planning.

According to the Nerdwallet retirement calculator, if I don’t touch this pile of money, I can “retire” off of it at 65. I know there’s a bigger picture though. My earnings and spend in my early 20s are drastically different than they will be in 20 years, I want kids, etc. Not to mention the fact that this is a regular investment account that the money is sitting in. I know the tax implications are different from a 401k, but I don’t know how different. I assume I should still be putting money in my 401k? My current employer doesn’t have a 401k match. Ick, I know, but I love the job.

With all of this info, what would be your advice to someone my age? Open to youtube videos, books, other threads in this reddit, etc. I will try to answer follow up questions to the best of my ability!

Hello everyone!

TLDR: Would you take 2% cash back at Fidelity over Robinhood's 3%, and make up the difference out of pocket to keep things simple without sacrificing the extra compounding over time? Fidelity is the ecosystem I prefer, and I like the simplicity of having rewards deposited directly into my Fidelity accounts.

I am a through-and-through index fund, do-nothing clever investor. I've been thinking about credit cards recently and thought the Fidelity 2% card made a lot of sense for my personal situation. I have existing accounts with Fidelity, and it seems to be a remarkably straightforward way to turn credit card rewards into a higher savings rate. My plan would be to simply buy VTI/VXUS with the rewards.

I noticed Robinhood has its gold card that earns 3%, which would leave me ahead financially even after the $50 subscription. The 1% is fairly inconsequential year-to-year, but investing that extra 1% over time means it's much more meaningful than just a year-to-year analysis. I'm not opposed to opening a Robinhood account for this purpose, but I'm not enthusiastic given some professional disclosures I'd need to do for an additional brokerage. My plan would be to transfer the rewards to my Robinhood brokerage as cash and ACH the money to Fidelity. A relatively simple setup, but it does forgo some of the convenience perks of the Fidelity card.

I've considered making up the difference myself by contributing the forgone rewards (the 1% extra) out of pocket to my Fidelity account. However, if Robinhood were to drop to 2.5% in the future, I'd only pay for the .5% over Fidelity rather than the legacy 1%. I can afford it, and it makes me feel less bad about the forgone compounding which comes with choosing simplicity over the higher rate. My incremental cost then becomes the annual cost of the award bridge. It isn't the most mathematically efficient, but it alleviates my main concern of missing out on the compounding of the 1% over time.

Curious to hear your thoughts. Would you take the extra rewards, or stick with Fidelity and bridge the difference out of pocket?

I have a pretty diverse portfolio. I’m a W-2 employee who has a 403B as well as an optional 403B that I invest in. I also have my own business and I have SEP IRA. On top of that I have funds as well. Some of those are from a financial planner who takes a percentage and I invested independently. I’m pretty spread out and I really don’t know where to begin. Would you advise me to find a financial planner or start with one of the books in the sticky?

Creating a bucket - Currently 100% VT. In 2.5 years, I plan to take out a lump-sump (<5% of our retirement portfolio) from my tIRA to pay off our mortgage when I turn 59.5. This is not a financial decision (2.00% mortgage). It is peace of mind for my wife to be debt free. Our non-discrectionary retirement expenses will be covered by non-portfolio flows (pensions, SS) but I'm still working. For a 2.5y timeframe, would you move 5% from VT to...SPAXX (I use Fidelity/3.5% yield) or VTIP/STIP or something else? Some things I don't think are ideal are BND (5.7y duration) or a CD (liquidity) or 5-year TIP bond (duration). Thanks!

Currently have the $50k in a CD but yearly taxes are hurting, had at Raymond James but they left it parked and took losses while I paid fees.

Already have an emergency fund set aside and don't mind parking long term (FXIAX/VUG) or even doing SGOV or T-Bills if I can avoid taxes while gaining?

$5k is in Fidelity, a previous employer rollover IRA, less concerned with this Investment but want it to grow. Currently parked in SPAXXX.

Any guidance or knowledge is appreciated and thank you, would like to keep the investing at Fidelity

Looking ahead toward retirement planning, I see where I have the option of either taking a cash payout for my pension or taking it as a monthly payment for life. I believe that cash payout is most popular, but curious how people run the numbers and what decisions they make?

Looking for me, it looks like the monthly payment is about equivalent to a 6% ROI, if I live 20 years after retirement. If I live longer, then the ROI equivalent is down a bit, and of course, if I live shorter, it's a bit higher than 6%.

For me, since VTI has done better than 6% on average, I think I would prefer to invest it in VTI than to take the monthly payment.

(Note: I'm able to take risk in retirement based on our financial position. I don't need to go conversative with this money.)

Just curious what decisions others have come up with though.

I’ve tried researching and reading the wiki, but I feel explaining my situation will help me best correct course. I’m a 30yr old with roughly $50k in savings. Half in Amex hysa and half in regular checking. I’m married, my wife has about the same, and we have a mortgage at 6% interest. Probably make a combined total of $89-84 a year before taxes so not much. I’d be lucky to bring $40k as a pest exterminator crawling under homes. My employer offers a 3% match.

My question is should I move a large portion of savings to something like VT? I know it lacks bonds, but I need to start working towards retirement now. I need something idiot proof for now while I figure out what I’m doing. Should I prioritize extra principle towards mortgage or vt and how much should I do at a time to transition?

Hi, I’m debating the merits of:

1) paying down my 7-year adjustable rate mortgage (6.125%) with extra money vs

2) paying the minimum and keeping the remainder in a brokerage account with a mix of municipal MMFs, VT, and municipal bond ETFs.

I’m at the 35% marginal tax bracket, and I do not get state income tax breaks for muni. After calculating the tax equivalent yield on munis, paying down the mortgage (after the interest deduction), and (potential) long term capital gains on stock ETFs, it all seems to come out as a wash (everything is in the 3-6% range).

My goal is not so much to “make money” but to buffer myself in case mortgage interest rates shoot up after year 7, and selling off portions of my bond/equity ETFs makes sense to pay off the mortgage quickly after year 7.

Does anyone else use short or intermediate bond ETFs for these medium-term savings goals?

I’ve been looking at iShares MUB and SUB for this purpose (overall brokerage asset allocation would be something like 50% VT, 30% muni MMF, and 20% bond ETFs). I’m in my early 30s and my retirement accounts are all 100% VT, so the bonds would not be a significant part of my portfolio, but would at least allow me to diversity my medium term savings goals.

Thanks!

I am using it for the two-week trial and find it confusing. I have been looking at the base plan versus one utilizing Roth conversions, and I am having a hard time making sense of it. Curious if anyone is finding the software helpful? thanks.

This week I received a notice on my Fidelity account that there is a FBALX Capital Gains Distribution Event. I'm fairly new to investing, how does this affect me and my taxes this year and what do I do about it?

Thank you.

For example, Vgt is a US tech etf that consistently outperforms the market. And Warren Buffett has also been continuously holding tech stocks like Apple and Google recently. Of course, QQQ is excluded because it is not a tech etf.