I came across your channel through this video-case studies are incredibly valuable, and I'm eager to see more in the future! Building wealth involves establishing routines, like consistently setting aside funds at regular intervals for smart investments.
Been retired for about 15 months. Have 3-4 years in cash then 3-4 years in Wellington then the rest in the Total market fund. Seems to be working. Wasn't excited about not getting SP500 returns but had to realize its about making it last and not accumulating anymore.
When I retire next year it will be either the Wellington fund or balance index fund, both are a 60/40 portfolio. These are two very good moderate conservative funds that average 8-8.75 rate of return with not too many big loss years which even if they did have a down turn for a few years , I have enough cash to hold over
I'm retiring next year as well. I think i will do 4 years in cash (MM and/or HYSA) and the rest in Wellington. Pull from Wellington in up years to replenish cash account and ride out in the down years in cash. Not sure how this will pan out. What do you think?
I understand the theory behind these "retirement" funds. When you retire, you need secure income without risk, so they buy high grade bonds and a few conservative stocks, more or less depending on your risk tolerance. But in periods of high inflation like today, fixed income is not so great. Your income won't grow with inflation, and the stock price will fall. If you have to liquidate in an emergency, you lose big. So don't get lulled into thinking these are always the way to go. They are great when inflation is low, or even just steady, but when inflation is rising, they lose real income and stock value. They are right for some people who just don't know anything or don't want to bother, but if you are a well educated investor with time to research investments, you can do better with high dividend stocks, albeit with more risk.
Rob, would you be able to do a video on how to manage a retirement portfolio and aim to "spend it all or as much as possible without leaving much" for singles? :) I know it's hard to gauge how long one lives, but all strategies such as 4% seem not to withdraw the main pot of portfolio. As a single without commitments, I think many of us are interested in other more suitable strategies - that will also withdraw part of the portfolio as we live and the goal is adjust and leave as little as possible for "others".., I often wonder about it. lol
Maybe what we need in retirement is a reverse target date fund. Where stocks increase in allocation over time from a low level to allow for sequence of return risk. The duration based on estimated lifespan.
I retired 4 years ago and never invested a cent until after I retired. I have a pension and social security as a lowly civil servant. My investments now are just to see how the market works and if I can prosper as I learn, so be it. I was thrilled to see info on how to invest as a retiree since everything else is aimed towards those who are preparing to retire. You had me until you said I'd have to give up control. Can't do that. At least if I lose, I can blame myself...don't want to lose and pay someone else to do it.
Don't blame you, especially when you don't even know the person or persons knowledge that is making the decisions. What if it's someone right out of college.
@@B126USMCRetirees who struggle to meet their basic needs are the ones who could not accumulate enough money during their active years to meet their needs. Retirement choices determines a lot of things. My wife and I both spent same number of years in the civil service, she invested through a wealth manager and myself through 401k. We both still earning after our retirement.
I was in a 'Retirement Year' fund for 10 wasted years in my 30s to 40s. It was far too conservative and delivering very little growth when I could take some risk, ask that age. I moved its all into higher performing funds and never looked back. I retired at 55, 9 years ago.
@TR4zest Thank you for writing this. I was wondering the same thing. And congratulations on retiring at 55; that is impressive and best wishes on your journey.
8:52 Note that it’s easy to mix these to hit a target allocation. Half in 60/40 and half in 80/20 will give you a 70/30 allocation. Anything between the 30/70 and 80/20 extremes requires only two investments.
Rob - how about a podcast on how retirees can invest in IRAs, etc. so that RMDs are covered by dividends and capital gains distributions to avoid having to sell shares in a down market.
Rob - As usual your input is informative and concise. I have been evaluating going tthis route in lieu of Vannguard Flagship I have been in (been retired 10 years). The allocation in the Wellington fund is consistent with my current holdings🎉. I have fouhd the Flagship Service of value making SS decisions and moving dollars into Roth account. Now that I am almost 72 that value has diminished.. Thanks Again!
If you are not investment savvy and want a reasonable way to invest, do in target funds and do not fret. You will be ahead of the crowd. No real need for an advisor. I invested regularly in a target fund, and invested smaller amounts in stocks, which helped me to gain a better knowledge of the overall market, etc.. Fidelity and Vanguard are both trustworthy. Do not invest in niche funds like ESG. Sounds good but really just a subjective, marketing gimmick, not necessarily a sound investment strategy.
Am 58 retiring next year but the thought of retirement gives me weakness. My apologies to everyone who have retired and filing social security during this time after putting in all those years of work just to lose everything to a problem you never imagined to happen. It’s so difficult for people who are retired and have no savings or loved ones to fall back on.
target date funds made me a multimillionaire but i also watched them drop 40% in a very short time and take a long time to recover. my best suggestion is that you seek the guidance of a fiduciary to avoid mistakes
Great! mind if I look up your advisor please? only invest in my 401k through my employer as of now, but enthused about investing for my eventual retirement.
I've shuffled through investment coaches and yes, they can be positively impactful to an individual's portfolio, but do your due diligence to find a coach with grit, one that withstood the 08' crash. For me, "Teresa L. Athas" turned out to be better and smarter than all the advisors I ever worked with till date, I’ve never met anyone with as much conviction.
Thank you for saving me hours of back and forth investigation into the markets. found her web instantly. After reviewing her credentials and conducting due diligence, i reached out to her.
Growth company funds or stocks....if you cannot handle the risk buy dividend paying stable companies like Verizon? MO? The stock prices do not move much but you can get yourself a 7 to 10 per cent dividend. Cheers!
Do bond funds work? It seems to me, at this time in history, you are just better off investing in 5-year Treasuries and know exactly what interest rate you will receive.
My thought exactly, I'd keep the stocks and bonds in different funds, that way I can draw on the one doing well and don't touch the one doing badly. But there are people who want simplicity and just do a total return kind of strategy, which is fine if you keep the withdrawals under Bill Bengen's limit.
Great topic Rob, much appreciated! Do you or others have any feedback regarding the inability to manually rebalance following a withdrawal if all your eggs are in one strategy retirement fund? I'm currently looking at consolidating and simplifying my portfolio and torn between investing in either one "60/40 Balanced Index Fund" such as VBIAX or two separate total market Stock & Bond funds and perform the rebalancing myself. The unknown for me is how a "Balanced Index" fund allocates withdrawal distributions, do they pull the funds proportionally 60/40 ?
Good video Rob! I plan on keeping my Vanguard TDF for life. I like its index based structure, diversification, low costs and the fact that it includes TIPS as the target date draws closer. That said, I found (as you pointed out) that it's stock allocation (50%) when the target date is reached was too conservative for my taste so I just chose a fund 5 years beyond my retirement date. So I'll be 60% equities when I retire, then it will go down to 50% 5 years later and, seven years after that, it will be 30% and that is something I can live with as I'll be a lot older by then.
@@joshuaryan8694I it’s in an IRA, but if you choose a TDF in a taxable brokerage account, they are still good as long as you choose a company that uses index funds ( like Vanguard) because index funds are, by design, very tax efficient. Target Date Index Funds are the only type I like.
You don't need to go searching funds and ETFs that match the asset allocation you want. Just buy a pure stock fund and a pure bond fund in the proportions you want to get to the AA you want.
Thank you, Rob, as the tutorial on Asset Allocation Funds was very helpful. I am educating myself in how to move my funds from the accumulation phase of my career into an IRA, upon retirement.
Yes, it does. But, as Rob pointed you loose some of the simplicity. You pick the asset allocation and you have to do the rebalancing. Not, that big of a deal. But, some people may not want to do the rebalancing. I would certainly pick your option.
I’m not a fan of the Vanguard life strategy funds because Vanguard for some reason uses the more expensive “investor” share class instead of admiral shares to make up the fund. It still is a generally fair price, but that choice makes me question the motives of those designing the funds.
Rob...WHY complicate it and pay higher fees. You can buy the components of these Lifestyle funds on your own and save 10 bps. Is it the convenience of having them do the rebalancing?
All good intimation Rob. I was wondering if you have already discussed TIPS and TIPS funds. like VIPSX vs just buying TIPS directly. I'm mostly in VTSAX and BND but I'm looking to add TIPS to the bond side of my 60/40 mix.
Rob talks about the Wellington fund admiral shares. But you need $50k minimum investment. That's ok for some people, but for me I need a place to invest some of my monthly pension money. The Wellington investor shares require $3k minimum. The difference: admiral shares expense ration is 0.18%. Investor shares is 0.26%. I'm going for the investor shares and putting in $500/month. But if you got the bucks, the admiral shares is the place to be.
Honestly, as you age you should ALSO be changing your asset allocation to be more conservative. So, maybe instead of targeting your retirement year .. you target your longevity year. For instance.. if you have a retirement plan to make your money last until you are 90 years old, and the year you turn 90 is 2060, then you could choose that year and the fund shifts for your longevity downcount.
Really liked all this info, personally though i would never recommend a REIT to my worst enemy. Try cashing out a REIT unlike a mutual fund, you have to ask to try to be first in line every quarter and they only let you take out so much. Inherited some REITs and its taking over a year to get them all cashed out.
Some REITs are listed on stock exchanges, so they're more liquid. These include Realty Income and Invitation Homes. Although, I still wouldn't recommend them. They're no safer than stocks and they underperform.
I like target retirement funds and life strategy funds but right now I love the combination of S&P 500 fund and CDs. You decide the risk ratio depending on your age, risk tolerance, and when you will need the money. Fidelity CDs are paying 5.3% while the S&P gained 20% this year. These are good times to be an investor. BTW, Fidelity's S&P expense ratio is .015%. That's almost free!
Rob, I was a 401K administrator for several companies over the years. I found the target date funds significantly underperformed the market for overall fund return. I know they have a mixture of stocks and bonds depending on the the retiremnet date. Ive listened to several of your videos and enjoy them immensly, how come you do not focus at all on total returns for the funds? You seem to focus on fees and asset allocation.
Rob believes in holding a mix of stocks and bonds and international diversification. If you watch his videos on his own personal portfolio, it’s very similar to a TDF. So the reason he pushes it so much is because he obviously prefers safety and diversity over “total returns”
I plan to retire in a few years time and have our money tied up in Vanguard index funds etc just in case im not missing anything would you sell stocks on a monthly basis or annually to live off?
The performance of this target date funds have been horribly for some years now. There are many articles indicating that in an environment where bonds and stocks underperformed at the same time, which has been the case for several years, this is not a good investment. Just think about selling them to comply with the RMD every year and you get the picture. Owning a small percentage will work as a diversification, but never a substantial amount of your portfolio
Our peak era is gone, with 401(k)s failing in the recession. My $750K retirement portfolio shrinks with inflation. I fear leaders repeat history's mistakes. If rising costs worry your retirement, I empathize. Foreign policies, regulations, and energy policies are chaotic.
Thank you Rob for your thoughtful choice of topics that are very helpful to retired DIY investors like me. Very helpful overview of good options for those who prefer KISS. I did not realize your last point regarding the old target date funds continuing to modify allocations after "expiration" date. Also appreciate the brevity in communicating the information. Buckeys #1? Ha, overrated. Go Blue! - Bill s.
thanks for the effort and sharing. i am an appreciative subscriber. my problems with these funds is on the bonds side. since i am now in the very beginning of my retirement, i prefer my bonds to truly act as a safety net to my equity holdings. i want my bonds to be short term/intermediate term treasury funds/etfs. i do not want long term bonds with their exposure to interest rates. i do not want corporate bonds with their exposure to credit risk. i do not want international bonds with their exposure to currency risk. that said, while i was in my accumulation phase, i invested in both Vanguard Target Date funds and Wellington Admiral. both had decent results and made investing more automatic and that was a good thing! thumbs up.
Long-term government bonds are only volatile if you plan on selling before maturity. If you wait until maturity, they're safer than short-term bonds because you're not exposed to any interest rate cuts. My recommendation would be, get Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities with a maturity date after you expect to die. That way, you will have predictable income which keeps up with inflation.
So what are the pros and cons of simply putting an IRA into only one asset allocation ETF (if it matches your desired portfolio balance) vs using the 3 Fund Portfolio method? Seems the asset allocation ETF's automatic rebalancing would make it even easier vs having to manually rebalance the 3 Fund Portfolio?
Rob, i just don't like these funds for retirement because they are so limited in what you can invest in. like 20% in stock& 80% in bonds, what if we could enter into a raising interest environment for the next 15- 20 years. Your bond fund becomes trash. And stocks might not do well during inflation or high-interest rates. Where do you really go? Most of these retirement funds are not really prepared for what is coming up ahead of us. They did well in the last 40 years as interest drops but the next 40 years might not be the same.
Hi Rob, thanks so much for your videos. I’ve been learning lots. I have a few questions that cover this and other topics. 1. Why would anyone own QQQ if they could own QQQM which is pretty much following the same nasdaq index, but is cheaper? 2. Why would anyone own VOO if they could own SPDR which is pretty much following the same S &P 500, but is cheaper? 3. Why would anyone own more than 1 Roth IRA if at the end of the day, you can only ever max on with contributing $7300, or whatever annual max contribution it is? Why would someone do the work to establish more than one Roth IRA if that’s the case? Am I missing something? CAN I contribute more than $7300 if I set up more than one Roth IRA? I just don’t understand what the advantage would be. Thank you soooooo much for your help with these questions. I’d like to make switches to the first two questions today (get out of VOO and trade for SPDR,…) but don’t want to do anything too hasty. Have a great day and thanks again, Rob! Regine 😊
All fine and good, but how does one know what asset allocation one wants? I haven't a clue. I retired in 2020 at age 71 (due to COVID) with a target retirement 2015 with Vanguard. I've let them choose at 30% stocks and 70% bonds.
This works well if you aren’t taking distributions. But, I’m taking distributions, so I want separate asset classes in my portfolio so I can take distributions from the winners, rather than the losers or the average of the portfolio.
Rob, my fellow buckeye. We are retired, new to investing, and just surviving. We’ve had our meager 401 leftovers with Edward Jones since we didn’t know any better. I think this would be a better option for us, but I wouldn’t know who to trust for going forward with it advice…….🤔. P.S. we live in Florida
Another well done video of yours. Thanks. Just watched your other video on the Bucket Strategy being flawed (in sum, rebalance your portfolio each year is better). Do these fixed allocation funds accomplish the same thing or would it be better to have say two types of funds; diversified fixed and diversified equity and rebalance the 2 every year?
I am retired with 2 pensions fortunately. I have 60% in cash mostly in a HYSA and 5% CDs. I have 2 ETFs in stocks and real estate which makes up the other 40%. I have no debt. Is that too aggressive? Thanks for the video
Too aggressive? No, I'd say way too conservative. We live off pensions and SS and don't need money from our IRAs. So we are invested like a long term investor, but keeping in mind RMDs. I'd say in the main IRA (rollover from husband's 401k), we have about 70% stock mutual funds, 20% in bonds within a balanced mutual fund, and about 10% in money market or CDs getting about 5%. Our Roths are all in stock funds. Just my opinion, of course.
Hey Rob great episode. I know it's not your Forte but would you consider doing an episode about Social Security and spousal benefits. There's a lot on the internet about this but I trust you the most
So in these funds of funds, aren’t you paying management fees on both the fund itself and also on the underlying funds? That’s a lot of management fees.
Right now in my IRA brokerage account, I’m laddering T-Bills and may eventually move into T Notes and Bonds when yield curves get above water. But, it seems the tax exempt advantage of the Treasuries will be lost - come the time I move money out of my IRA. So is this where TIPS may offer an advantage in a retirement account or does somehow the interest earned on T-Bills while in an IRA account maintain their tax exempt status when withdrawn into regular income?
I like Vanguard but like to be involved, I keep it simple with Large Cap funds, CD ladders, money market/auto default VMXFF, balance and move things around a bit
Thanks for a helpful discussion! I have heard that after retirement and outside of an IRA putting your assets in an asset allocation fund has negative tax consequences so it is not a good idea. Do you agree and please comment/ explain this?
If you have a pension to live off of then you should be in stocks until you die so your money keeps growing. If your investment account is all you've got then I can see wanting to not have huge swings when the market goes up and down.
Are the % management fees the only fees paid? Are there annual/entry/exit/etc fees or any other fees by any other name that should be considered? Thank you!!
It seems reasonable for these target date funds, but I'm still unsure. If the market is DOWN how do you draw out of bonds (not stocks) and when the market is UP, do the opposite? If we are forced to sell both stocks and bonds in these funds, it seems like it is not the best strategy. What am I missing?
Rob, yet another excellent video. Thanks! Simplicity aside, I presume, however, that you still personally prefer the 3 fund approach....with the possible one or two fund addition?
The problem with target funds is that they have too much in bond funds. Bonds are fine, but bond funds are a disater IMO. You have no control over the bonds in the fund, a good bond portfolio may return 2-3% on average but have the potential for 20% downside like in 2022.
Great video love the content. I’m currently 55 years old and probably will retire between 62 and 65. I am a Fidelity customer and I don’t know if I am needing stocks or ETF now that paid dividends or do I don’t worry about dividends now and just worry about the growth I’m stuck in confused on where to go..
Thank you for the advice. What is your opinion of the these two Vanguard accounts: GNMA Admiral CL and Cash Reserves Federal Money Market Admiral. I've been debating with a friend about closing them.
I have a ? I live and work in Puerto Rico if I open an Roth IRA with one of the mention funds and brokarage will I loose tax benefits like paying federal and state taxes? Thanks.
From what I see, VWENX returned only 3.72% over a 10 year span while SPY returned 160% over the same 10 years. VGYAX, since 2017, returned only 4.28%. Am I missing something? These Vanguard funds look terrible to me?
Help me understand. I want to move the money in my IRA because I’m not happy with the allocation. can I do this with no tax penalty if I put it in a life share fund? Could I accomplish asset reallocation by just changing it in my IRA?
Thank Rob. Do any Target Date Funds include automating actual RMDs? I think the Fidelity 2005 and 2010 are are step in the direction of a guide path for those 5 or 10 years into retirement. To really have one fund in retirement, an aging glide path is helpful. So too would be automating actual RMDs.
Individual funds won't handle your RMDs for you, but the broker you buy them through certainly can. For example, if you use Fidelity, you can invest whichever of their funds, or iShares funds, or others that you choose and independent of those investments, you can set up a schedule and automation for the withdrawing of RMDs with Fidelity. You tell Fidelity which of your IRAs to withdraw from (if you have more than one and assuming all your IRAs are managed by them), when during the year to make those withdrawals (once per year, or quarterly or ...), what date(s) to make the withdrawals, whether to have estimated taxes withheld or not, where the money should be deposited, the amounts of the withdrawals (just enough to cover the RMD or more?), which of your investment funds within your IRA should be sold to cover the withdrawals, etc. As you can see, there are a lot of different decisions for you to make when it comes to how RMDs should be handled, even if you end up having them automated. The fund company doesn't know (and you don't want them to know) all the personal information involved, but your broker does. Note that if you have multiple IRAs managed by different Brokers (i.e. one at Fidelity and another handled by Schwab), you need to coordinate with each broker individually, if you wish to have RMD money pulled from both IRAs. That's a good reason to consolidate them under one broker. Note you can have all the RMDs for a given year pulled from only one of your IRAs as long as the amount that is pulled is sufficient to cover the annual RMD required for the total value of all your IRAs combined.
I cannot imagine having less than 50% of my portfolio in equities in retirement. While I know it's possible, it seems like an insane decision. Despite that, most Target Date funds have a glide slope that end with just 30-40% bonds. Like I said...
For the FIRE people, or even people that want to retire slightly early, that kind of portfolio cannot sustain you. The only way that would work is if you had a steady stream of income like a pension or real estate income, but if you're just depending on investments, less than 50% will not sustain most people. But in the case of steady income such as a pension, that frees you up to go even more aggressive. I will never have anything less than 70% equities.
Stocks have had periods of time where returns went nowhere for decades…after tax interest income and qualified dividends are the name of the game for retirees with a portion of portfolio meant to hedge inflation
Unless 100% of your investable assets are in Qualified accounts like IRA,401k.. then this simple strategy will cost you in Tax efficiency. Having stocks in taxable accounts and Bonds in IRA type accounts results in less overall tax paid as the stocks will be capital gains rate. Sequence of Return Risk is a big threat to early retirees (ie reverse dollar cost averaging) , and one strategy might be to buy a 90% bond fund-or cash, just before retirement, then increase your stock allocation every couple or three yrs .. increasing your stocks as you get older..
Hello Rob from Canada. Canadas had similar funds (in etf form) for 3-4 years now from ishares and vanguard. The symbols are XEQT, XGRO, XBAL, XCONS. Switch the X's with V's for Vanguard's products. It's slightly more expensive than the ones you mentioned at MER of 0.2% but its very famous here!
Hi rob, I had an interesting question. I am currently 23 years old and have watched almost all your videos. Is it better to save as much as possible of my paycheck since I am young or should I save a smaller amount now and then increase as I get older? I currently save 16% of my income for retirement with the goal of getting to 25% of my income but I only make 31,500$ a year. Is it better to hold off on this until I get a better paying job in the future or just dump as much as humanly possible now?
You didn't ask me, but I would say that if you have a 401k at least get the match. If you don't, try to throw some money in an IRA. After that, have an emergency fund and save for a house(if that is a goal). After that, get as aggressive as you can afford to get. The longer you're in the market, the more your money will grow(historically).
The earlier you get that money in, the better off you will be. Since your income is so small, your taxes are minimal. I would strongly suggest you invest in a ROTH IRA so that all your withdrawals in retirement will be TAX FREE.
The real question is, if you aren't putting it into savings, are you spending it? It would seem to me that no one could have enough savings, especially at your age. Emergencies happen and life happens and it is also really helpful to have learned to live a smaller life. Save on !
I came across your channel through this video-case studies are incredibly valuable, and I'm eager to see more in the future! Building wealth involves establishing routines, like consistently setting aside funds at regular intervals for smart investments.
Hats off to Vanguard for TRYING to simplify investing during all our life stages...
They are making a lot of money on it. There is a fee for managed funds.
@@Trying858 Hats off to Vanguard for TRYING to simplify investing during all our life stages...
They are not on your side...... Lets not be naive
@@Trying858 Expense Ratio is only 0.14% for VASGX - seems like a pretty low cost fund
You may want to look at Vanguard and ESG. SCARY
Why invest in Vanguard Moderate Growth at a 0.13% expense ratio when you can just buy the 4 component funds with a net expense ratio of about 0.05%?
The fund auto rebalances, this may be of value if a spouse is not interested or able to manage the funds properly. It is a set and forget option.
Been retired for about 15 months. Have 3-4 years in cash then 3-4 years in Wellington then the rest in the Total market fund. Seems to be working. Wasn't excited about not getting SP500 returns but had to realize its about making it last and not accumulating anymore.
When I retire next year it will be either the Wellington fund or balance index fund, both are a 60/40 portfolio. These are two very good moderate conservative funds that average 8-8.75 rate of return with not too many big loss years which even if they did have a down turn for a few years , I have enough cash to hold over
I'm retiring next year as well. I think i will do 4 years in cash (MM and/or HYSA) and the rest in Wellington. Pull from Wellington in up years to replenish cash account and ride out in the down years in cash. Not sure how this will pan out. What do you think?
Wellesley has taken a beating this year. It’s done really well in years past.
Yes it has so great time to buy in.
G8r ideas but T-Bills are good enough for now. The yields are above 5%
I understand the theory behind these "retirement" funds. When you retire, you need secure income without risk, so they buy high grade bonds and a few conservative stocks, more or less depending on your risk tolerance. But in periods of high inflation like today, fixed income is not so great. Your income won't grow with inflation, and the stock price will fall. If you have to liquidate in an emergency, you lose big. So don't get lulled into thinking these are always the way to go. They are great when inflation is low, or even just steady, but when inflation is rising, they lose real income and stock value. They are right for some people who just don't know anything or don't want to bother, but if you are a well educated investor with time to research investments, you can do better with high dividend stocks, albeit with more risk.
I appreciate you and your channel. This was a very thought provoking video- I subscribed today.
Rob, would you be able to do a video on how to manage a retirement portfolio and aim to "spend it all or as much as possible without leaving much" for singles? :) I know it's hard to gauge how long one lives, but all strategies such as 4% seem not to withdraw the main pot of portfolio. As a single without commitments, I think many of us are interested in other more suitable strategies - that will also withdraw part of the portfolio as we live and the goal is adjust and leave as little as possible for "others".., I often wonder about it. lol
Go to “FI Calc” and use their retirement draw calculator. You can choose a withdrawal option that spends it all at the end of your investment period.
I decided years ago that 60/40 stock/bond is my comfort level. For better or worse, its vanguard balanced index fund for much of my portfolio.
Maybe what we need in retirement is a reverse target date fund. Where stocks increase in allocation over time from a low level to allow for sequence of return risk. The duration based on estimated lifespan.
I retired 4 years ago and never invested a cent until after I retired. I have a pension and social security as a lowly civil servant. My investments now are just to see how the market works and if I can prosper as I learn, so be it. I was thrilled to see info on how to invest as a retiree since everything else is aimed towards those who are preparing to retire. You had me until you said I'd have to give up control. Can't do that. At least if I lose, I can blame myself...don't want to lose and pay someone else to do it.
Don't blame you, especially when you don't even know the person or persons knowledge that is making the decisions. What if it's someone right out of college.
Not me, I have been investing since the 1980s and prefer mutual funds to individual stocks. Maybe I ain’t that smart, but just lucky.
@@joycef8443 Did you have capital gains annually from your mutual funds? How did you deal with the taxes?
@@joycef8443 I hear you...however, I only see...3 thumbs....up...4...ur....post....Not...very...convincing
@@B126USMCRetirees who struggle to meet their basic needs are the ones who could not accumulate enough money during their active years to meet their needs. Retirement choices determines a lot of things. My wife and I both spent same number of years in the civil service, she invested through a wealth manager and myself through 401k. We both still earning after our retirement.
I was in a 'Retirement Year' fund for 10 wasted years in my 30s to 40s. It was far too conservative and delivering very little growth when I could take some risk, ask that age. I moved its all into higher performing funds and never looked back. I retired at 55, 9 years ago.
@TR4zest Thank you for writing this. I was wondering the same thing. And congratulations on retiring at 55; that is impressive and best wishes on your journey.
8:52 Note that it’s easy to mix these to hit a target allocation. Half in 60/40 and half in 80/20 will give you a 70/30 allocation. Anything between the 30/70 and 80/20 extremes requires only two investments.
Rob - how about a podcast on how retirees can invest in IRAs, etc. so that RMDs are covered by dividends and capital gains distributions to avoid having to sell shares in a down market.
Seeking Alpha and lots of dividend portfolio advice on youtube. It's a different strategy than what is here.
Invest in these funds, but always watch them. I learned a long time ago that Nobody but Nobody Takes Care of You Like Yourself.....
Rob - As usual your input is informative and concise. I have been evaluating going tthis route in lieu of Vannguard Flagship I have been in (been retired 10 years). The allocation in the Wellington fund is consistent with my current holdings🎉. I have fouhd the Flagship Service of value making SS decisions and moving dollars into Roth account. Now that I am almost 72 that value has diminished.. Thanks Again!
If you are not investment savvy and want a reasonable way to invest, do in target funds and do not fret. You will be ahead of the crowd. No real need for an advisor. I invested regularly in a target fund, and invested smaller amounts in stocks, which helped me to gain a better knowledge of the overall market, etc.. Fidelity and Vanguard are both trustworthy. Do not invest in niche funds like ESG. Sounds good but really just a subjective, marketing gimmick, not necessarily a sound investment strategy.
Am 58 retiring next year but the thought of retirement gives me weakness. My apologies to everyone who have retired and filing social security during this time after putting in all those years of work just to lose everything to a problem you never imagined to happen. It’s so difficult for people who are retired and have no savings or loved ones to fall back on.
target date funds made me a multimillionaire but i also watched them drop 40% in a very short time and take a long time to recover. my best suggestion is that you seek the guidance of a fiduciary to avoid mistakes
Great! mind if I look up your advisor please? only invest in my 401k through my employer as of now, but enthused about investing for my eventual retirement.
I've shuffled through investment coaches and yes, they can be positively impactful to an individual's portfolio, but do your due diligence to find a coach with grit, one that withstood the 08' crash. For me, "Teresa L. Athas" turned out to be better and smarter than all the advisors I ever worked with till date, I’ve never met anyone with as much conviction.
Thank you for saving me hours of back and forth investigation into the markets. found her web instantly. After reviewing her credentials and conducting due diligence, i reached out to her.
Growth company funds or stocks....if you cannot handle the risk buy dividend paying stable companies like Verizon? MO? The stock prices do not move much but you can get yourself a 7 to 10 per cent dividend. Cheers!
Unless your pretty late in life the total market index fund beats all target date funds from 20 years old to 50's and 60's.
But you have to accept the drawdown, it's easy looking back, but when the sky is falling today it feels bad.
@@gg80108 yep, time in the market rewards, not timing the market.
Bonds are not always a conservative investment, it depends where they are in price and the rate environment.
Now is the best time in 15 yrs to invest in bonds.
True. Duration risk. Keep them short dated if you need to.
Do bond funds work? It seems to me, at this time in history, you are just better off investing in 5-year Treasuries and know exactly what interest rate you will receive.
Bond funds are good to buy if you expect interest rates to go lower, which is right now.
Interesting. These would presumably simplify the annual distribution issue but simply selling shares and not worrying about which funds to sell
exactly what i was thinking. seems there's should be a "catch" to it though, if it makes it simpler, beyond giving up some control, as Rob points out.
This is a terrible idea. You want to be able to draw from the assets that are doing well while not touching the ones that are doing poorly.
My thought exactly, I'd keep the stocks and bonds in different funds, that way I can draw on the one doing well and don't touch the one doing badly. But there are people who want simplicity and just do a total return kind of strategy, which is fine if you keep the withdrawals under Bill Bengen's limit.
Great presentation. For me these funds have to much international equity exposure. I think that is reflected in the average returns.
Great topic Rob, much appreciated! Do you or others have any feedback regarding the inability to manually rebalance following a withdrawal if all your eggs are in one strategy retirement fund? I'm currently looking at consolidating and simplifying my portfolio and torn between investing in either one "60/40 Balanced Index Fund" such as VBIAX or two separate total market Stock & Bond funds and perform the rebalancing myself. The unknown for me is how a "Balanced Index" fund allocates withdrawal distributions, do they pull the funds proportionally 60/40 ?
Good video Rob! I plan on keeping my Vanguard TDF for life. I like its index based structure, diversification, low costs and the fact that it includes TIPS as the target date draws closer. That said, I found (as you pointed out) that it's stock allocation (50%) when the target date is reached was too conservative for my taste so I just chose a fund 5 years beyond my retirement date. So I'll be 60% equities when I retire, then it will go down to 50% 5 years later and, seven years after that, it will be 30% and that is something I can live with as I'll be a lot older by then.
Is your target date fund in a taxable brokerage? People have told me not to use target date funds because of tax consequences.
@@joshuaryan8694I it’s in an IRA, but if you choose a TDF in a taxable brokerage account, they are still good as long as you choose a company that uses index funds ( like Vanguard) because index funds are, by design, very tax efficient. Target Date Index Funds are the only type I like.
You don't need to go searching funds and ETFs that match the asset allocation you want. Just buy a pure stock fund and a pure bond fund in the proportions you want to get to the AA you want.
Nice video. I tried to manage my own stocks, but ended up with homes“analysis paralysis” and haven’t done well this year.
Thank you, Rob, as the tutorial on Asset Allocation Funds was very helpful. I am educating myself in how to move my funds from the accumulation phase of my career into an IRA, upon retirement.
Doesn't Total Stock Market (VTSAX) with Total Bond Market (VBTLX) give us simplicity AND control?
Yes, it does. But, as Rob pointed you loose some of the simplicity. You pick the asset allocation and you have to do the rebalancing. Not, that big of a deal. But, some people may not want to do the rebalancing. I would certainly pick your option.
I agree. It’s a matter of preference.
As he said just options.
I am not sure, but it seems to me we have to pay 1% for buying Vanguard total bond mutual fund.
I’m not a fan of the Vanguard life strategy funds because Vanguard for some reason uses the more expensive “investor” share class instead of admiral shares to make up the fund. It still is a generally fair price, but that choice makes me question the motives of those designing the funds.
Rob...WHY complicate it and pay higher fees. You can buy the components of these Lifestyle funds on your own and save 10 bps. Is it the convenience of having them do the rebalancing?
All good intimation Rob. I was wondering if you have already discussed TIPS and TIPS funds. like VIPSX vs just buying TIPS directly. I'm mostly in VTSAX and BND but I'm looking to add TIPS to the bond side of my 60/40 mix.
Rob talks about the Wellington fund admiral shares. But you need $50k minimum investment. That's ok for some people, but for me I need a place to invest some of my monthly pension money. The Wellington investor shares require $3k minimum. The difference: admiral shares expense ration is 0.18%. Investor shares is 0.26%. I'm going for the investor shares and putting in $500/month. But if you got the bucks, the admiral shares is the place to be.
Honestly, as you age you should ALSO be changing your asset allocation to be more conservative. So, maybe instead of targeting your retirement year .. you target your longevity year. For instance.. if you have a retirement plan to make your money last until you are 90 years old, and the year you turn 90 is 2060, then you could choose that year and the fund shifts for your longevity downcount.
That is sound advice; thank you for writing this!
Really liked all this info, personally though i would never recommend a REIT to my worst enemy. Try cashing out a REIT unlike a mutual fund, you have to ask to try to be first in line every quarter and they only let you take out so much. Inherited some REITs and its taking over a year to get them all cashed out.
Some REITs are listed on stock exchanges, so they're more liquid. These include Realty Income and Invitation Homes.
Although, I still wouldn't recommend them. They're no safer than stocks and they underperform.
I like target retirement funds and life strategy funds but right now I love the combination of S&P 500 fund and CDs. You decide the risk ratio depending on your age, risk tolerance, and when you will need the money. Fidelity CDs are paying 5.3% while the S&P gained 20% this year. These are good times to be an investor. BTW, Fidelity's S&P expense ratio is .015%. That's almost free!
what is ratio of S&P 500 fund and CD
Which fund are you talking about with the 0.015% expense ratio?
i recently bought the moderate growth one. it looks promising. i like that it also has some international investments
Rob,
I was a 401K administrator for several companies over the years. I found the target date funds significantly underperformed the market for overall fund return. I know they have a mixture of stocks and bonds depending on the the retiremnet date. Ive listened to several of your videos and enjoy them immensly, how come you do not focus at all on total returns for the funds? You seem to focus on fees and asset allocation.
Rob believes in holding a mix of stocks and bonds and international diversification. If you watch his videos on his own personal portfolio, it’s very similar to a TDF. So the reason he pushes it so much is because he obviously prefers safety and diversity over “total returns”
I plan to retire in a few years time and have our money tied up in Vanguard index funds etc just in case im not missing anything would you sell stocks on a monthly basis or annually to live off?
My wife's 401k is in one of these type funds - set and forget. I prefer to be more hands-on.
The performance of this target date funds have been horribly for some years now. There are many articles indicating that in an environment where bonds and stocks underperformed at the same time, which has been the case for several years, this is not a good investment. Just think about selling them to comply with the RMD every year and you get the picture. Owning a small percentage will work as a diversification, but never a substantial amount of your portfolio
Yeah. In a market like 2022 where equities and bonds were both down changed the rules of the game.
I like the Wellington fund vwenx, since I’m close to retirement I’ve added it to my ira.
You mixed up Wellington and Windsor @ 6:14
Are these iShares Life Path ETFs a good choice for a taxable brokerage account?
Our peak era is gone, with 401(k)s failing in the recession. My $750K retirement portfolio shrinks with inflation. I fear leaders repeat history's mistakes. If rising costs worry your retirement, I empathize. Foreign policies, regulations, and energy policies are chaotic.
Thank you Rob for your thoughtful choice of topics that are very helpful to retired DIY investors like me. Very helpful overview of good options for those who prefer KISS. I did not realize your last point regarding the old target date funds continuing to modify allocations after "expiration" date. Also appreciate the brevity in communicating the information.
Buckeys #1? Ha, overrated. Go Blue! - Bill s.
thanks for the effort and sharing. i am an appreciative subscriber. my problems with these funds is on the bonds side. since i am now in the very beginning of my retirement, i prefer my bonds to truly act as a safety net to my equity holdings. i want my bonds to be short term/intermediate term treasury funds/etfs. i do not want long term bonds with their exposure to interest rates. i do not want corporate bonds with their exposure to credit risk. i do not want international bonds with their exposure to currency risk. that said, while i was in my accumulation phase, i invested in both Vanguard Target Date funds and Wellington Admiral. both had decent results and made investing more automatic and that was a good thing! thumbs up.
Long-term government bonds are only volatile if you plan on selling before maturity. If you wait until maturity, they're safer than short-term bonds because you're not exposed to any interest rate cuts.
My recommendation would be, get Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities with a maturity date after you expect to die. That way, you will have predictable income which keeps up with inflation.
If you invest in a total bond fund then by definition you are investing in an intermediate bond fund.
So what are the pros and cons of simply putting an IRA into only one asset allocation ETF (if it matches your desired portfolio balance) vs using the 3 Fund Portfolio method? Seems the asset allocation ETF's automatic rebalancing would make it even easier vs having to manually rebalance the 3 Fund Portfolio?
Rob, i just don't like these funds for retirement because they are so limited in what you can invest in. like 20% in stock& 80% in bonds, what if we could enter into a raising interest environment for the next 15- 20 years. Your bond fund becomes trash. And stocks might not do well during inflation or high-interest rates. Where do you really go? Most of these retirement funds are not really prepared for what is coming up ahead of us. They did well in the last 40 years as interest drops but the next 40 years might not be the same.
How do you consolidate your funds to get them all into a life strategy fund? Isn’t there a big tax bill coming from capital gains gains in a taxable?
Thank you for your straight forward excellent presentation. I'm thoroughly impressed.
Hi Rob, thanks so much for your videos. I’ve been learning lots. I have a few questions that cover this and other topics.
1. Why would anyone own QQQ if they could own QQQM which is pretty much following the same nasdaq index, but is cheaper?
2. Why would anyone own VOO if they could own SPDR which is pretty much following the same S &P 500, but is cheaper?
3. Why would anyone own more than 1 Roth IRA if at the end of the day, you can only ever max on with contributing $7300, or whatever annual max contribution it is? Why would someone do the work to establish more than one Roth IRA if that’s the case? Am I missing something? CAN I contribute more than $7300 if I set up more than one Roth IRA? I just don’t understand what the advantage would be.
Thank you soooooo much for your help with these questions. I’d like to make switches to the first two questions today (get out of VOO and trade for SPDR,…) but don’t want to do anything too hasty.
Have a great day and thanks again, Rob!
Regine 😊
All fine and good, but how does one know what asset allocation one wants? I haven't a clue. I retired in 2020 at age 71 (due to COVID) with a target retirement 2015 with Vanguard. I've let them choose at 30% stocks and 70% bonds.
This works well if you aren’t taking distributions. But, I’m taking distributions, so I want separate asset classes in my portfolio so I can take distributions from the winners, rather than the losers or the average of the portfolio.
Rob-- great video--- very helpful to me as i am retiring in 6 mos. Thank you!
Sorry, Rob, what are TIPS?
Rob, my fellow buckeye. We are retired, new to investing, and just surviving. We’ve had our meager 401 leftovers with Edward Jones since we didn’t know any better. I think this would be a better option for us, but I wouldn’t know who to trust for going forward with it advice…….🤔. P.S. we live in Florida
Another well done video of yours. Thanks. Just watched your other video on the Bucket Strategy being flawed (in sum, rebalance your portfolio each year is better). Do these fixed allocation funds accomplish the same thing or would it be better to have say two types of funds; diversified fixed and diversified equity and rebalance the 2 every year?
I am retired with 2 pensions fortunately. I have 60% in cash mostly in a HYSA and 5% CDs. I have 2 ETFs in stocks and real estate which makes up the other 40%. I have no debt. Is that too aggressive? Thanks for the video
Too aggressive? No, I'd say way too conservative. We live off pensions and SS and don't need money from our IRAs. So we are invested like a long term investor, but keeping in mind RMDs. I'd say in the main IRA (rollover from husband's 401k), we have about 70% stock mutual funds, 20% in bonds within a balanced mutual fund, and about 10% in money market or CDs getting about 5%. Our Roths are all in stock funds. Just my opinion, of course.
Hey Rob great episode. I know it's not your Forte but would you consider doing an episode about Social Security and spousal benefits. There's a lot on the internet about this but I trust you the most
So in these funds of funds, aren’t you paying management fees on both the fund itself and also on the underlying funds? That’s a lot of management fees.
Right now in my IRA brokerage account, I’m laddering T-Bills and may eventually move into T Notes and Bonds when yield curves get above water. But, it seems the tax exempt advantage of the Treasuries will be lost - come the time I move money out of my IRA. So is this where TIPS may offer an advantage in a retirement account or does somehow the interest earned on T-Bills while in an IRA account maintain their tax exempt status when withdrawn into regular income?
Wh6 not CDs. The tax advantage goes away in an IRA
Great info, loved this video!
what happens to the fund when the target year comes around? Does it liquidate? transfer to another fund???
they tend to become more static and become a balanced fund. I personally would avoid Target Date Funds for retirees.
Thanks Rob, this was another great one. -
Really goof video. Thank you I am now a follower.
I like Vanguard but like to be involved, I keep it simple with Large Cap funds, CD ladders, money market/auto default VMXFF, balance and move things around a bit
Thanks for a helpful discussion! I have heard that after retirement and outside of an IRA putting your assets in an asset allocation fund has negative tax consequences so it is not a good idea. Do you agree and please comment/ explain this?
If you have a pension to live off of then you should be in stocks until you die so your money keeps growing. If your investment account is all you've got then I can see wanting to not have huge swings when the market goes up and down.
Are the % management fees the only fees paid? Are there annual/entry/exit/etc fees or any other fees by any other name that should be considered? Thank you!!
It seems reasonable for these target date funds, but I'm still unsure. If the market is DOWN how do you draw out of bonds (not stocks) and when the market is UP, do the opposite? If we are forced to sell both stocks and bonds in these funds, it seems like it is not the best strategy. What am I missing?
Looking into this stuff to help my dad out. You gave me some good key terms to work off of and some great information. Cheers!
Rob, yet another excellent video. Thanks! Simplicity aside, I presume, however, that you still personally prefer the 3 fund approach....with the possible one or two fund addition?
I am surprised that some of these funds have a heavy weight in international equities and bonds.
The problem with target funds is that they have too much in bond funds. Bonds are fine, but bond funds are a disater IMO. You have no control over the bonds in the fund, a good bond portfolio may return 2-3% on average but have the potential for 20% downside like in 2022.
Great video love the content. I’m currently 55 years old and probably will retire between 62 and 65. I am a Fidelity customer and I don’t know if I am needing stocks or ETF now that paid dividends or do I don’t worry about dividends now and just worry about the growth I’m stuck in confused on where to go..
Thank you for the advice. What is your opinion of the these two Vanguard accounts: GNMA Admiral CL and Cash Reserves Federal Money Market Admiral. I've been debating with a friend about closing them.
I have a ? I live and work in Puerto Rico if I open an Roth IRA with one of the mention funds and brokarage will I loose tax benefits like paying federal and state taxes? Thanks.
What is your take on Schwab Intelligent Portfolio (SIP) product?
I have been researching that too as a way to get diversity with low fees.
If you are rolling over a 401K into an IRA after retirement, should you diversify into different funds or do these do this for you?
From what I see, VWENX returned only 3.72% over a 10 year span while SPY returned 160% over the same 10 years. VGYAX, since 2017, returned only 4.28%. Am I missing something? These Vanguard funds look terrible to me?
Rob mixed up Wellesley VWIAX with Global Wellesley VGYAX
Help me understand. I want to move the money in my IRA because I’m not happy with the allocation. can I do this with no tax penalty if I put it in a life share fund? Could I accomplish asset reallocation by just changing it in my IRA?
There is no tax penalty for buying / selling within IRA
@@alrockywould same go if I sold some bonds for cash?
@@TWILLIE639 As long as you don't withdraw the cash from the IRA there is no tax. Once you remove money from IRA you will be subject to tax.
Thank Rob.
Do any Target Date Funds include automating actual RMDs? I think the Fidelity 2005 and 2010 are are step in the direction of a guide path for those 5 or 10 years into retirement. To really have one fund in retirement, an aging glide path is helpful. So too would be automating actual RMDs.
Individual funds won't handle your RMDs for you, but the broker you buy them through certainly can. For example, if you use Fidelity, you can invest whichever of their funds, or iShares funds, or others that you choose and independent of those investments, you can set up a schedule and automation for the withdrawing of RMDs with Fidelity. You tell Fidelity which of your IRAs to withdraw from (if you have more than one and assuming all your IRAs are managed by them), when during the year to make those withdrawals (once per year, or quarterly or ...), what date(s) to make the withdrawals, whether to have estimated taxes withheld or not, where the money should be deposited, the amounts of the withdrawals (just enough to cover the RMD or more?), which of your investment funds within your IRA should be sold to cover the withdrawals, etc.
As you can see, there are a lot of different decisions for you to make when it comes to how RMDs should be handled, even if you end up having them automated. The fund company doesn't know (and you don't want them to know) all the personal information involved, but your broker does. Note that if you have multiple IRAs managed by different Brokers (i.e. one at Fidelity and another handled by Schwab), you need to coordinate with each broker individually, if you wish to have RMD money pulled from both IRAs. That's a good reason to consolidate them under one broker. Note you can have all the RMDs for a given year pulled from only one of your IRAs as long as the amount that is pulled is sufficient to cover the annual RMD required for the total value of all your IRAs combined.
would converting from target date to in retirement fund have tax consequences in a taxable account or would it be close enough to a wash sale?
Greetings from Malaysia. Thank you Rob for another great video and sharing! So helpful!
I don't see any links for things you mentioned for Fidelity 😞
Rob if I funded the VSCGX And the VSMGX equally would that yield a overall 50/50 stock bond allocation?
I'm not Rob but the answer is Yes.
VASGX return is 37% for the last 5 years. That seems low ?
I cannot imagine having less than 50% of my portfolio in equities in retirement. While I know it's possible, it seems like an insane decision. Despite that, most Target Date funds have a glide slope that end with just 30-40% bonds. Like I said...
For the FIRE people, or even people that want to retire slightly early, that kind of portfolio cannot sustain you. The only way that would work is if you had a steady stream of income like a pension or real estate income, but if you're just depending on investments, less than 50% will not sustain most people. But in the case of steady income such as a pension, that frees you up to go even more aggressive. I will never have anything less than 70% equities.
Stocks have had periods of time where returns went nowhere for decades…after tax interest income and qualified dividends are the name of the game for retirees with a portion of portfolio meant to hedge inflation
great video Rob! Thank you!
Unless 100% of your investable assets are in Qualified accounts like IRA,401k.. then this simple strategy will cost you in Tax efficiency. Having stocks in taxable accounts and Bonds in IRA type accounts results in less overall tax paid as the stocks will be capital gains rate.
Sequence of Return Risk is a big threat to early retirees (ie reverse dollar cost averaging) , and one strategy might be to buy a 90% bond fund-or cash, just before retirement, then increase your stock allocation every couple or three yrs .. increasing your stocks as you get older..
Would like to know if you have an opinion on Baird financial and how they invest
Hello Rob from Canada. Canadas had similar funds (in etf form) for 3-4 years now from ishares and vanguard. The symbols are XEQT, XGRO, XBAL, XCONS. Switch the X's with V's for Vanguard's products. It's slightly more expensive than the ones you mentioned at MER of 0.2% but its very famous here!
Looks like the life strategy funds are avail here too.
I mostly use XGRO and it couldn't be simpler!
Hi rob, I had an interesting question. I am currently 23 years old and have watched almost all your videos. Is it better to save as much as possible of my paycheck since I am young or should I save a smaller amount now and then increase as I get older? I currently save 16% of my income for retirement with the goal of getting to 25% of my income but I only make 31,500$ a year. Is it better to hold off on this until I get a better paying job in the future or just dump as much as humanly possible now?
You didn't ask me, but I would say that if you have a 401k at least get the match. If you don't, try to throw some money in an IRA. After that, have an emergency fund and save for a house(if that is a goal). After that, get as aggressive as you can afford to get. The longer you're in the market, the more your money will grow(historically).
The earlier you get that money in, the better off you will be. Since your income is so small, your taxes are minimal. I would strongly suggest you invest in a ROTH IRA so that all your withdrawals in retirement will be TAX FREE.
The real question is, if you aren't putting it into savings, are you spending it? It would seem to me that no one could have enough savings, especially at your age. Emergencies happen and life happens and it is also really helpful to have learned to live a smaller life. Save on !
Plenty of videos on RUclips or articles that show the power of starting in your 20s vs 40s. Start now.
I saved as much as could in my early 20's and continued to do so into my retirement years. It has paid dividends, allowing me to do whatever I want.
How do you handle with mult accts esp taxable?
Where should we people put our non Ira/ roth (cash) savings when we are 5-6 years from retirement? Love your videos.
All I want to know is what is the return on these funds. Could you please disclose this in your videos.