Vanguard Diehards

Time for active investors to rethink

tar42 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:34:06 GMT

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pimcos-gross-others-say-to-go-more-defensive-2009-11-19

Retirement Income

philo1a — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:06:06 GMT

What is Vanguards best (risk vs reward) single product for a monthly income stream?

Thanks

tips

bennett94301 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:20:00 GMT

I don't follow the tips market closely. Is this as reasonable a time as any to add to my tip holdings?

Thanks

alan

Vanguard Short Term Inv. Gr

kayemsd — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:24:39 GMT

I have a large part of my Variable Annuity invested in this fund for past 4 months. Wondering if I should consider moving it when the interest rates start up? I am conservative.

Always appreciate your thoughts! Kaye

Portfolio Mgt.

deerslayer — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:15:44 GMT

Hi. I am new at this. However, I appreciate any helpful advise. Circumstances; Retired/Disabled @ 59yrs. old. Currently have 6- Vanguard Funds divided up into 8 Funds for a reason. My 6- figure Portfolio w/the following weightings: 1).VFSVX @ 1.45% 2).VTSMX @ 29.08% 3).VGTSX @ 5.69% 4).VBMFX @ 7.09% 5).VBMFX @ 7.58% 6).VBTLX @ 44.30% 7).VFIIX @ 3.03% 8).VPMM/Cash @1.78%. Redeem appr. $2K/Mo. Thinking about adding a foreign fund (Matthews Asian@$3K & T-Bond from TCW or Metro-West @ $3K). Prefer VBS for these w/NTF. I want to keep costs down and I am not at ease going thru another brokerage. However, VBS limits me to Funds w/NTF. REBALANCE? Preserve, Stimulate & More Growth? How can I do a better job w/o much help from Vanguard's initial Portfolio Set-Up?

Is Portfolio Design Right?

deerslayer — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:50:22 GMT

Hi. I am new at this. Here are my circumstances;

1).Retired/Disabled @ 59yrs. old. w/a $2,100/Mo/Redemption from my Porfolio as income.

2).Portfolio is 6- figure dollar amount comprised of Vanguard Funds into 8-funds for specific reasons.

3). A. VFSVX @ 1.44% B.VTSMX @ 29.13% C. VGTSX @ 5.65% (D. VBMFX @ 7.11%-IRA) E. VBMFX @ 7.61% F. VBTLX @ 44.47 G. VFIIX @ 3.04% H. VPMM @ 1.55%.

4). Thinking of a Foreign(Matthews Asia) & (T-Bond from TCW or Metro-West) @ $3K each. Prefer VBS w/NTF. However, this does limit my fund choices w/o sustaining another cost for a broker. I want to keep costs down!

5). Should I Rebalance with the caveat of Preserving & at the same time try to increase the Equity % in my Portfolio to boost returns. Can both issues be accomplished at the same time? I would appreciate any Help/Recommendations from more experienced investors. Thank You!

Is Portfolio Design Right?

deerslayer — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:50:45 GMT

Hi. I am new at this. Here are my circumstances;

1).Retired/Disabled @ 59yrs. old. w/a $2,100/Mo/Redemption from my Porfolio as income.

2).Portfolio is 6- figure dollar amount comprised of Vanguard Funds into 8-funds for specific reasons.

3). A. VFSVX @ 1.44% B.VTSMX @ 29.13% C. VGTSX @ 5.65% (D. VBMFX @ 7.11%-IRA) E. VBMFX @ 7.61% F. VBTLX @ 44.47 G. VFIIX @ 3.04% H. VPMM @ 1.55%.

Is Portfolio Design Right?

deerslayer — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:49:44 GMT

Hi. I am new at this. Here are my circumstances;

1).Retired/Disabled @ 59yrs. old. w/a $2,100/Mo/Redemption from my Porfolio as income.

2).Portfolio is 6- figure dollar amount comprised of Vanguard Funds into 8-funds for specific reasons.

3). A. VFSVX @ 1.44% B.VTSMX @ 29.13% C. VGTSX @ 5.65% (D. VBMFX @ 7.11%-IRA) E. VBMFX @ 7.61% F. VBTLX @ 44.47 G. VFIIX @ 3.04% H. VPMM @ 1.55%.

Is Portfolio Design Right?

deerslayer — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:49:30 GMT

Hi. I am new at this. Here are my circumstances;

1).Retired/Disabled @ 59yrs. old. w/a $2,100/Mo/Redemption from my Porfolio as income.

2).Portfolio is 6- figure dollar amount comprised of Vanguard Funds into 8-funds for specific reasons.

3). A. VFSVX @ 1.44% B.VTSMX @ 29.13% C. VGTSX @ 5.65% (D. VBMFX @ 7.11%-IRA) E. VBMFX @ 7.61% F. VBTLX @ 44.47 G. VFIIX @ 3.04% H. VPMM @ 1.55%.

Is Portfolio Design Right?

deerslayer — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:49:30 GMT

Hi. I am new at this. Here are my circumstances;

1).Retired/Disabled @ 59yrs. old. w/a $2,100/Mo/Redemption from my Porfolio as income.

2).Portfolio is 6- figure dollar amount comprised of Vanguard Funds into 8-funds for specific reasons.

3). A. VFSVX @ 1.44% B.VTSMX @ 29.13% C. VGTSX @ 5.65% (D. VBMFX @ 7.11%-IRA) E. VBMFX @ 7.61% F. VBTLX @ 44.47 G. VFIIX @ 3.04% H. VPMM @ 1.55%.

Long term vs. short term bond funds

dan.schwie — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:43:43 GMT

Looking for some advice on how to think about bond investing in the current economic climate. I understand that long term bonds are more sensitive to interest rate hikes than short term bonds.

Does this imply that now is a bad time to invest new money in a long term bond fund since interest rates have nowhere to go but up? Would a short term fund be a better option at this point in time?

Does it even matter if I am investing for the long term? I am a buy and hold investor who DCAs twice a month. My investment horizon is 20 - 25 years. Any advice is appreciated.

Does this adequately express risk?

lucky7 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:41:16 GMT

A Bear Market can strike at any time and when it does equity values can drop up to 75% with no guarantee of recovery in any practical time period.

This came about when trying to explain my thoughts to my young adult kids, and a friend. In part I think this contradicts the premise of safety over time for equities, for in absolute terms the losses can be so much more severe over the long term when lightening may strike. Moreover, just saying increase bond percentages to match age also not for me as clear a reflection of equity monies at risk. Standard deviation to reflect risk just plain wrong. Maybe it is just to hammer into my own dense head, but have come to like this notion. Of course no guarantee at 75% but seems reasonable. Anyhow, any opinions.

Bob

Domestic vs. International allocation

onepocket — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:43:30 GMT

I have been thinking for some time about my portfolio's international exposure. It is of some concern to me that most of my assets are domestic. This includes income as well. I wonder what are reasonable limits to maximize benefit and minimize risk. To start the dialogue, here is a snipit from Vanguard's portfolio analysis portion of their website (for account holders):

Your domestic versus international analysis deals with how the stock portion of your portfolio is invested in U.S. and foreign markets. We believe that international stocks are a valuable diversification tool. A stock portfolio can gain important diversification by investing up to 20% in international stocks. Moving beyond 20% improves a portfolio's diversification but at a significantly lower rate. Because of the risks inherent in international investing, an upper limit of 40% is prudent.

So, is 20 to 40% a reasonable range? If so, what are arguments for 20 and 40 respectively? Also, note that the comment above only pertains to the equity portion of a portfolio. Any thoughts about international bond exposure?

General Mutual Fund Recommendations Needed

comptontim — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:04:45 GMT

Can someone point me to a post that gives a list of mutual funds and % in each for a balanced portfolio?

Background: I know what allocation I want for stocks, bonds, domestic and international. I am sold on mostly index investing & could use a list of good mutual funds:

domestic stock mutual funds & % in each

international & % in each

bond funds & % in each
other like real estate or ?
Ideally showing funds good in tax defered or taxable accounts.
Minimums are not an issue

The Investor's Manifesto by William Bernstein - new thread

seh1981 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:24:00 GMT

I was reading through the quotes supplied by Taylor in the other Investor's Manifesto thread and one struck me kind of funny...

"The 44/56 US/Foreign split (Vanguard World Index) is too foreign-heavy for my tastes."

Let me preface my comments by saying that I am not familiar with Mr. Bernstein and what his beliefs are. From reading the quotes, though, I get the impression that he does believe in indexing rather than active management.

So here are my thoughts/questions...isnt the basic idea of indexing that you let the index take you wherever it goes and you dont question it? Of course, you could question the premise of the index but lets talk about that. Isnt the basic idea of the World Index the same as the S&P 500 index? Markets are efficient, if this is the value given to the company by investors, it must be correct. If US companies are more valuable than foreign companies, investors will put more $ into the US companies and the split between US/Foreign will reflect that belief? Are his views consistent?

Don't make a mistake with Vanguard!!

billjam — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:13:53 GMT

I went a little brain dead Saturday when entering an exchange from one fund to another. Entered 850 shares instead of 350 shares. Being a Fidelity customer as well as Vanguard I wasn't too concerned even after I found there was no way to edit or cancel the order online. Surely they can handle this over the phone, I thought. After all the transaction doesn't execute until the close of business on Monday. WRONG!!! Called Voyager service this morning. No, we can't edit a pending transacton entered online. No, we can't cancel a pending transaction entered online. Their only suggestion is to let the transaction complete tonight and then submit a written request to reverse 500 shares.

Once again I find myself wondering if this company really operates in the 21st century. How can they be so far behind the rest of the industry technologically?

Rate D.Wiener's Newsletter

Limoman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:21:04 GMT

Objective: To add to the Collection of recommendations to Index and using Vangaurd

Your Opinion on using this Newsletter?

For both the Novice and Experience VG Investor.

VanGuard Adviser Newsletter by D. Weiner-$99YR

Sign up risk-free and see Dan Wiener's 94% Advantage for yourself!

Other Links /suggestions on my ck list sheet are :

Vanguard - Vanguard Mutual Funds

Vanguard Diehards Discussion Board

Bogleheads Investing Advice and Info

Bogleheads - Help with Personal Investments

Vanguard - How to create your investment plan

Vanguard Target Retirement Funds - Bogleheads

Vanguard Annuities

J. ZWEIG The Inellegent Investor Letter site

FundAdvice.com - Suggested Portfolios

FundAdvice.com - The perfect portfolio

and anyothers you wish to suggest to add..

Thank you

Dennis

Vanguard "Rock" in portfolio

NEWTEACHER — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:00:17 GMT

Hey all,

I have recentley become upset with my advisor who refuses to return my calls or answer my questions. Therefore I am going to pull my $15,000 from my Fidelity 403B and transfer it into a Vanguard account. My questions are as follows:

1. This $15,000 is the majority of my retirement savings and I want to know what is the best Vanguard fund that I could put this money into. I am 29 years old and plan to retire when I am 52.

2. Are VWELX and VWINX to conservative of a fund for someone who is 29 and is a risktaker?

I currently have Roth with $5,000 in OAKBX and $5,000 in FAIRX.

What Vanguard fund should I be looking at? This fund will get around $2600 a year until I retire and am curious what suggestions you would have.

getting past that premium page to get to your portfolio

normsie — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:02:09 GMT

i would be grateful if someone could advise me on how to get past that premium page to get to my portfolio.i have tried and tried but to no avail.

thank you,

Target Date Funds

ljthiemann — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:16:30 GMT

What dose the target date indicate? I'm 70 yrs old and considering a target date fund. What would be recommended.

The Investor's Manifesto by Wm Bernstein

Alohapat — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:42:28 GMT

Just got thru reading this book(16.47 at Amazon). It is the best investment book I have ever read. His Intelligent Asset Allocator and Four Pillars of Investing were excellent but hard for me to follow. This book is much easier to understand and covers every aspect of investing especially the bear we went thru and how the mind reacts. He discusses OEFs and ETFs and how you should think of your broker and financial advisors as hardened criminals. IMO a must read. Pat

gold value Vs equity value?

Tim1234 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:12:50 GMT

hello,

I was interested if someone could explain to me how equities and gold are on the the same run-up over the past few months.

It is my understanding that gold rises in economic uncertainty and (generally) equities decrease in economic uncertainty.

Is it inevitable that either equities or gold are going to take a dive?

Either way I am sure my assumptions are wrong in some fashion but i was looking for a little insight into this.

Thanks,

Tim

concerned about bond duration

aszumowski — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:02:17 GMT

I like vanguard,s welligton,wellesly and star but am concerned about the long bond durations with potential interest rate increases. should I be worried about this and should I make switches to funds with shorter durations? which? I prefer vanguard but would consider looking elsewhere. Thanks.

Allocation Survey

BCC1234 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:48:37 GMT

Curious on where people stand on their current Equity/Bond/Cash allocations. After big runups, I ALWAYS start questioning myself.

Age Stocks Bonds Cash

47 74% 16% 10%

In another 5 years, or so, I'll start pairing down the equity portion. At 52...65%; at 57......60%; at 62 and beyond......55%.

Question About Vanguard Bond Funds

Riprock — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:50:55 GMT

Hi,

I have three V-G Bond Funds; V-G Hi-Yield--VWEHX,

V-G Inflation Protected Securities--VIPSX, and

V-G Short Term Investment Grade--VFSTX......

How come on 1-2 days a week there is no change in my totals? It happens too often to just be coincidence. Don't these funds trade 5 days a week? Just wondering if anybody knows why this is so?

Thanks

Riprock