Agreed. I dumped Fidelity for Schwab for a similar reason; they sold me an annunity. Is is not a bad one, but just the same...
Thanks for posting.
Stock advice
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Thanks for posting.
Schwab, Vanguard, and T. Rowe Price have done very well for me. All offer great products and services. I’d recommend any of them in a heartbeat.
I‘m comparing some of what I’ll call “status” benefits across the three companies. Basically, above XXX asset level, they bundle in lower fees and more free services. I’ve been reticent to consolidate, because I own a couple of funds that have closed to new investors, like the New Horizons fund at Price, and those funds have continued to do well for me.
For ease of book-keeping/administration, I’d like to neck down to one provider, but they’ve all three been great, and that makes it tough to down-select.
A good example of why blanket recommendations on investing may not work for everyone.
PRNHX has been a great fund to hold over the long haul and it should continue that way. Congrats for picking a vision forward investment.
Thanks. I believe I started investing in that one in 1995. A whopping $166/month, split between it and another (PRASX) to hit my IRA max of $2,000 annually... as things were written back then...to look at the balance now is to realize two things:
1. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. I had no idea if this high risk fund was going do well in the long run. There were some very volatile years for the NASDAQ and those funds. They were only components in an overall portfolio allocation of assets. I didn’t risk it all on one thing. Ever.
2. It takes a long time to grow assets. It’s gratifying to see what $166/month looks like 25 years later.
Cheers,
Astro
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Jeff,
I agree and happy I‘m up 67% YTD as of today’s close which was a substantial gain in 4 months.
I’m also not greedy thinking this run up will never end. I still believe the housing crash will end this current market cycle.
doitmyself,
Sounds like you are at the end of your working career and need to start sheltering some of that money. Luckily you were very smart and contributed for 40 years. Congrats on making wise decisions and not blowing that money on crap.
I'm not sure how the housing crash is supposed to happen. Mortgage rates are really low and the demand for the suburbs are up there. Some moving companies around here are booked up for the next month. Condos are slower in the city though. Most of the job losses have been at the lower end of retail. Those typically aren't home buyers, it's 65% of households that own homes. Unemployment is currently at 10.2% for July.
To a large extent, house payments were propped up by the $600 per week Federal aid, which is over. What will happen next? Who knows. Hang onto your hat.
Believe it or not, SF Bay Area home prices have continued to rise. I just don't get it.
Oh, I have wasted a bit of money over the years. Married and 3 kids is expensive.
I have to apologize - my comment about pulling all my $$ out and stuffing it in my mattress was tongue-in-cheek. My 403b is with TIAA. I meet twice annually with an advisor to manage a very diversified portfolio. I've been moving my allocation to safer TIAA guaranteed assets (safer = less growth). I also started a Roth about a dozen years ago. I could retire now but choose to continue working due to it's immense enjoyment.
I followed basic cook book methods talked about by everyone here:
- In my 20's my allocation was heavier into the "riskier" equities and as I got older I adjusted it towards the safer TIAA guaranteed funds. Riskier
relative to my conservative nature - about a 7.5 out of 10 (riskiest).
- During the numerous downturns, I stayed put. In simple terms, I was told that during the lows, you are buying more stocks at lower prices.
I've taken numerous beatings over the decades, but never as destructful as some of my friends seemed to experience. I attribute that to being diversified and not going super risky. Risk vs. safety is a balancing act. Amazing how everything bounces back and then grows, grows, grows. I wonder if the future will be different vs. the roller coaster post great depression era?
My employer kicks in 2x my 403b contribution. Stunning!
Typically when you buy a house, you're supposed to have 3-6 months worth of reserves and most people have more than that. And if you're forced to sell, home prices in the suburbs are up so that's only a small percentage of the market.
There's also still the debate of what to do, I think the difference is a trillion dollars. Boy I guess that's inflation, a trillion here a trillion there, soon you're talking real money.
The bubble will burst. The only variable is when.
If they are honest that's expected because of their overhead. If they are dishonest they would hold all sorts of products that are risky and high yield (a way for other investors / counter parties) to take a position, and it will end up with problems down the road. I never trust managed products and that's why people should do unmanaged fund with low fees.
Last night I have been looking at some opening as my wife wants to see if it is a good idea to buy a bigger house now that we paid off all debt / mortgage and our house is getting crowded. I realized some listing have reduced asking for a bit (i.e. from 2.5M to 2.45 to 2.4) in the last 6 months. Not a crash, but not rising. I think people have been thinking about cashing out their housing here since the SALT tax change took effect, you can no longer write off those hefty mortgage and property taxes against the FAANG income, so why not cash out if you are near retirement, and why buy if you can never deduct them?
The usual answer, it's cheaper to buy than rent. Plus with those big houses you can do whatever you want if you own it rather than rent.
The SALT tax change will likely be reversed, depending on the election results. Yes, it hurt millions of Silicon Valley mortgage holders. And had to hurt the prices, or at least slowed the rise. Los Gatos has held strong (I live in the poor part).
The expensive houses are hurt more than the entry level properties, simply because of less people qualified to buy.
Just think; 20% down on $2M is $400K. $6,500 payments. $25K or more property taxes.
But you are right; I have never seen so many homes for sale in my area.
I told wifey I lost a bundle today...
She said, "What do you care? You can't drive stock."
Ha! I love this girl!
She said, "What do you care? You can't drive stock."
Ha! I love this girl!
What a rough day in the markets... boy am I glad I'm only in for a couple hundred just to learn. DAL: down 2.06%. PLUG: down 12.33%. TMUS: down 3.25%. Luckily for me, I'm still up 22% over the past 90 days and 81% over the last 6 months. Buying Sprint cheap and Delta cheap helped, Plug Share was a shot in the dark that I happened to get a hit on. Still, I think the roller coaster has reached close to it's peak and we're overdue for a market correction. The next 6-8 weeks will be very telling.
Profit takers. It is a natural part of the game. For the newbies, get used to it.
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