How do you manage your money/investments?

[instudiocity]

I use Vanguard for my investing. John Bogle is the founder. I have investment account, Rollover IRA from my company's 401(k), and a Roth IRA. I typically invest in Vanguard ETF's - that Exchange Traded Funds - these funds are similar to mutual funds but the share trade on the open market. Mutual Fund shares are valued at the close of business each day and that's the price you buy and sell for that day. So with a mutual fund, you never know what you are going to pay for the investment, only what you paid..

 

ETF's seem to have lower expense costs than most mutual funds. I looked at the 10 year history of my 401(k) and realized I was paying over $1,000 per year for the 401(k) managers, then the funds they offered had expenses in the .55% to 1.04% range. Well, it doesn't take a mad scientist to know that I'm enriching the 401(k) managers and the mutual funds first, then I get what's left. I discovered I could roll most of my 401(k) investment into a Vanguard Rollover IRA and manage it myself. I figure I'm at least 1% ahead of the 401(k) since the ETF's expenses are .07%.

 

I like the Vanguard website, I can put other investments into the Accounts & Balances screen and see what's happening universally with my investments and retirement accounts. It's easy to electronic transfer balances between my local credit union and the Vanguard account.

 

My investment strategy is still mostly growth stock funds even though I'm over 60. I just don't see starting to buy dividend paying stock funds to create cash flow especially after the 30% run up in the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the last 22 months.

[+ Keith30309]

Fidelity Customers:

 

Fidelity has implemented a new “Full View” tool and I’m interested in your experience.

 

(For non-Fidelity folks it’s a tool that aggregates data from a wide variety of sources (banks, other brokerages, 401k administrators, credit issuers, etc., with automatically updating hot links) and produced some really useful analysis of your portfolio and net worth including trending and recommendations - for example, congregation of assets within a given region and sector.) If you have accounts held different places this is really useful.)

 

The new version is a dog.

I’ve talked to their support group several times about various issues and I understand that this service used to be provided by a third party and Fidelity brought it in-house. All the external links were broken, all the history was lost and the functionality is, at best, rudimentary. The analysis is now worthless. Basically Full View is completely useless.

 

Is there anyone who has an aggregation tool (that has hot links to external accounts) that can do reporting and analysis?

[Guest europeanman]

My portfolio is mostly ETFs (iShares) and a smaller part is hedge funds. I started reducing equities and increasing bonds and cash.

[+ SundayZip]

Fidelity Customers:

 

Fidelity has implemented a new “Full View” tool and I’m interested in your experience.

 

(For non-Fidelity folks it’s a tool that aggregates data from a wide variety of sources (banks, other brokerages, 401k administrators, credit issuers, etc., with automatically updating hot links) and produced some really useful analysis of your portfolio and net worth including trending and recommendations - for example, congregation of assets within a given region and sector.) If you have accounts held different places this is really useful.)

 

The new version is a dog.

I’ve talked to their support group several times about various issues and I understand that this service used to be provided by a third party and Fidelity brought it in-house. All the external links were broken, all the history was lost and the functionality is, at best, rudimentary. The analysis is now worthless. Basically Full View is completely useless.

 

Is there anyone who has an aggregation tool (that has hot links to external accounts) that can do reporting and analysis?

 

Although I've taken a peek at Fidelity's "Full View" tool, I've never felt the need to use it. I used to use Quicken to track all my finances, including some aggregation from other sources. But then I discovered that Quicken had converted to a subscription model when I tried to upgrade... So I'm still running an older version that no longer supports aggregation from other sources. But the aggregation seemed to work well while I was using it. The problems that I ran into had more to do with the external source than with the Quicken software (eg, error message, "external source not available at this time").

[jawjateck]

Got rid of all financial advisors/brokers in 2001. Took charge of it myself, mostly stocks, real estate, and some fixed income. Beat the S&P 14 out of 16 years, and on track to do it again this year.

[+ Keith30309]

Although I've taken a peek at Fidelity's "Full View" tool, I've never felt the need to use it. I used to use Quicken to track all my finances, including some aggregation from other sources. But then I discovered that Quicken had converted to a subscription model when I tried to upgrade... So I'm still running an older version that no longer supports aggregation from other sources. But the aggregation seemed to work well while I was using it. The problems that I ran into had more to do with the external source than with the Quicken software (eg, error message, "external source not available at this time").

I use Quicken for banking info - tracking spending, generating tax reports, etc, but that’s it. I’ve had it for over 10 years and found it to be buggy and Intuit support terrible.

[+ SundayZip]

Got rid of all financial advisors/brokers in 2001. Took charge of it myself, mostly stocks, real estate, and some fixed income. Beat the S&P 14 out of 16 years, and on track to do it again this year.

 

You sir, are one of the gifted. Not many can beat the S&P over an extended period of time.

 

Fortune: Over a 15 year period, S&P indices outperformed actively managed funds 82% of the time.

CNBC: Only 5 percent of stock-picking fund managers beat the S&P 500 consistently

Investopedia: 90% of active stock managers failed to beat their index targets over the previous one-year, five-year and 10-year periods.

MarketWatch Article: Roughly 1 in 20 actively managed domestic funds beat index funds.

[jawjateck]

Long ago, I accepted that some aspects of the stock and options markets are rigged. I choose to use the knowledge rather than cry about it. Most funds have far too many stock investments. Just one bio-tech blow-up kills their performance. At any one time, I only own 7-10 stocks. Easier to watch their performance. And I always have plenty of cash to jump on an opportunity. I have been taking some profits over the past few weeks.

[Rudynate]

Got rid of all financial advisors/brokers in 2001. Took charge of it myself, mostly stocks, real estate, and some fixed income. Beat the S&P 14 out of 16 years, and on track to do it again this year.

 

 

I don't do badly on my own. I saw the crash coming in 2008 and went all to cash about two weeks before. Didn't lose anything,.

Edited September 8, 2018 by Rudynate

[RM]

Any useful advise I can give my brother? He's 68, still working, has trouble keeping his credit card account below the maximum. He seems to be a sucker for offers over the phone. Thank God he stopped giving money he didn't have to a "friend." He'll inherit about $170,000 this month and I sure hope he won't squander it away.

[+ E.T.Bass]

Any useful advise I can give my brother? He's 68, still working, has trouble keeping his credit card account below the maximum. He seems to be a sucker for offers over the phone. Thank God he stopped giving money he didn't have to a "friend." He'll inherit about $170,000 this month and I sure hope he won't squander it away.

 

Chances are there is no useful advice for him. Of course Suzie Orman would tell him to use that money to eliminate his credit card debt.

However, if he does not plan to live too many more years maybe she'd have some other ideas. The retirement books all say the same thing don't they? Your finances have a lot to do with how long you live, which can be difficult to predict.

 

Sometimes it's hard not to worry about friends and family money issues. You might be better off letting go of it.

But I hear you. I have coworkers in their 50s and 60s that have huge credit card debt and are not prepared for retirement. It baffles me. On the other hand I don't spend a second worrying about their choices.

[down_to_business]

By not spending $300+ an hour for escorts

[+ Charlie]

I have never understood the psychology of people who run up huge credit card debts. I have never used a credit card for anything that I can't fully cover with cash by the time the bill arrives. The only long term financing I have ever done is for a home or a big ticket item like a new car, and even with a car I only do it if I have access to enough cash to pay it off if I have to. Too many consumers don't understand the principle of living within their means, and most businesses know that and depend on it for their success. (I know, I'm an old grouch.)

[RM]

By not spending $300+ an hour for escorts

That's one thing he doesn't do.

[bnm73]

but some of us are not 300 let alone 250 dear, some of us escorts don't cause that much disruption in your pockets, but a disruption in your pants

 

That sounds like a challenge.....<insert evil villain laugh *here*>

[+ friendofsheila]

I read "Pound Foolish," the book about the retirement/investment industry. Wow, it taught me a lot about what to avoid!

 

Now I'm reading "Personal Finance for Dummies," which is not as silly as it sounds.

[+ WilliamM]

I have never understood the psychology of people who run up huge credit card debts. I have never used a credit card for anything that I can't fully cover with cash by the time the bill arrives. The only long term financing I have ever done is for a home or a big ticket item like a new car, and even with a car I only do it if I have access to enough cash to pay it off if I have to. Too many consumers don't understand the principle of living within their means, and most businesses know that and depend on it for their success. (I know, I'm an old grouch.)

 

For me, it depends on a. what the expense is for (b) excellent prospects for additional funds in the next year or so. I am quite aware of totally unexpected (and expected) funeral costs. Costs that leave folks unable to make mortgage payments and credit csrd payments.

[+ bashful]

I have never understood the psychology of people who run up huge credit card debts. I have never used a credit card for anything that I can't fully cover with cash by the time the bill arrives. The only long term financing I have ever done is for a home or a big ticket item like a new car, and even with a car I only do it if I have access to enough cash to pay it off if I have to. Too many consumers don't understand the principle of living within their means, and most businesses know that and depend on it for their success. (I know, I'm an old grouch.)

 

I agree. The condo was paid for since 2005. I recently bought a new car, and had a terrible time with the concept of taking out a loan after paying cash for the last 3 cars. However, loan interest was only 2.75%, and 401k has been doing better lately. Plus, my credit union is already paying over 2% on cds. Have a 5 year loan, and the payments are just deducted out of my savings account.

[+ FrankR]

I use Vanguard for my investing. John Bogle is the founder. I have investment account, Rollover IRA from my company's 401(k), and a Roth IRA. I typically invest in Vanguard ETF's - that Exchange Traded Funds - these funds are similar to mutual funds but the share trade on the open market. Mutual Fund shares are valued at the close of business each day and that's the price you buy and sell for that day. So with a mutual fund, you never know what you are going to pay for the investment, only what you paid..

 

ETF's seem to have lower expense costs than most mutual funds. I looked at the 10 year history of my 401(k) and realized I was paying over $1,000 per year for the 401(k) managers, then the funds they offered had expenses in the .55% to 1.04% range. Well, it doesn't take a mad scientist to know that I'm enriching the 401(k) managers and the mutual funds first, then I get what's left. I discovered I could roll most of my 401(k) investment into a Vanguard Rollover IRA and manage it myself. I figure I'm at least 1% ahead of the 401(k) since the ETF's expenses are .07%.

 

I like the Vanguard website, I can put other investments into the Accounts & Balances screen and see what's happening universally with my investments and retirement accounts. It's easy to electronic transfer balances between my local credit union and the Vanguard account.

 

My investment strategy is still mostly growth stock funds even though I'm over 60. I just don't see starting to buy dividend paying stock funds to create cash flow especially after the 30% run up in the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the last 22 months.

I was sad to hear that John Bogle passed away earlier this week. I learned a great deal from him.

[samhexum]