isrosenberg

Comments:

• I believe that it has been mentioned before on HD that Vanguard allows a tax free conversion from their mutual fund shares to an equivalent value of ETF shares. This will avoid all capital gains distribution related income taxes. (There are still dividend distributions.) In Vanguard's case the MF & ETF shares are different share classes of the same investment. I don't know whether this option may apply to other investment firms.

  Post: A Taxing Situation

  Link to comment from December 9, 2022

• No, the assets can be transferred in kind.

  Post: Never Simple

  Link to comment from November 27, 2022

• Short term Treasury Bills are a great alternative right now and can be purchased at no cost in most brokerage accounts. 4 week bills are paying about 3.6% and 17 week about 4.4% annualized. Following is a primer - https://youtu.be/jIBn3VFkDw8

  Post: Heightened Interest

  Link to comment from November 14, 2022

• Wow! There sure are a lot of layers there. Your story reminds me somewhat of my relationship with my father. I tried, and thankfully succeeded, to intentionally build a different relationship with my sons. Life can be difficult and confusing. I can identify with your experience in learning to ride a bicycle - there wasn't a lot of patience. Remember the Johnny Cash song "A boy named sue"?

  Post: Letter to My Dad

  Link to comment from November 4, 2022

• Not sure who coined the phrase (Ronald Reagan?) but it seems to apply - "Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours". Being retired helps to remove some of the drama.

  Post: Four Signs of Slowing

  Link to comment from October 25, 2022

• It is my understanding that the approximate expected share price change in % for a bond fund is the product of duration in years times the change in yield in %. For this reason I keep the assets I expect to spend down over the next couple of years in cash equivalent and Ultra-Short-Term investment grade bond funds.

  Post: Money When Needed

  Link to comment from September 21, 2022

• That is so sad that the grandchildren didn't at least maintain the account. Unfortunately, it's a risk where grandparents and parents have very limited control. It makes me curious as to whether the behavior impacted any estate planning decisions.

  Post: Earning a Roth

  Link to comment from August 7, 2022

• Thanks for sharing your story. Your money relationships have a lot in common with my own so I can closely relate. As an aside, my first non-bank investment was also in the Kemper money market fund sometime in the mid to later 1970's and I eventually migrated to Vanguard based on the popularity and publicity surrounding the Windsor fund. Eventually, that investment, in my case, was exchanged into Vanguard's Value Index Fund and subsequently into the ETF share class. No mutual fund manager is forever.

  Post: Money Vigilant

  Link to comment from May 28, 2022

• John - thanks for the excellent write-up on bonds and the inherent capital risk in a rising rate environment. The question I have, for which I can't seem to reach a conclusion is whether, going forward, if interest rates continue to climb will bond fund prices continue to decline or are anticipated/expected rate increases already reflected in the current prices? The reason I ask is that for short term assets held in short and ultra short term investment grade bond funds, for which the YTD total return has been -4.2% and -1.1% respectively, I can accept the -1% total return but not -4% total return for these assets and prefer to limit interest rate risk going forward. With a duration of 2.75 years and 0.98 years, respectively, what is the expected timeframe, if any, for these funds to "break-even". The consensus from my research suggests that high-yield savings accounts, Series I Savings bonds and TIP bond funds may be more suitable for short-term use assets (1-2 years). Your perspective is appreciated.

  Post: Ditching Bonds

  Link to comment from April 8, 2022

• I really like John's proposal but like many others have commented, very few people in our society are likely to recognize or take advantage of the opportunity. People that have real interest in personal finance information like Humbledollar.com are in the vast minority. Another way to achieve a similar objective for those having the interest and resources to do so is detailed in the following article from Paul Merriman: https://paulmerriman.com/turn-3000-into-50-million/

  Post: Save for Tomorrow

  Link to comment from November 9, 2021