Just bought $50,000 worth of Wellesley

[LitGal]

Wellington/Wellesley Income

For a beginner like me, Dan Wiener's "Independent Adviser" newletters have been a great education. A "take away" from one of his articles last summer was that, in essence, putting 50% in Wellington and the other 50% in Wellesley Income can create a nicely balanced portfolio for neophytes.

So I started with 15% of each (in my rollover IRA) last Sept. and, given the market since then, have been delighted. Like to see the market gains and the quarterly dividends. So far Wiener seems right (but don't quote me, of course....am learning more details as I go).

Over the past month, have locked in the gains from years in STAR Cons. and Mod. Growth by selling them high. Hope to use the cash to buy more Well. and Well. if/when the prices drop a bit. (Price last Sept. was much more appealing.)

Yeah, I know this might look like market timing efforts, but my husband and I have "bought and held" over 20 years. Because he is now disabled (and lacks the energy for this), I'm trying to keep us in some healthy AA despite our now reduced tolerance for risk.

So, OBGyn, I hope your new investing adventure goes well. Yes, staying the course during any downturns does indeed pay off later.

 

[frank]

does wellesley have a set monthly dividend it pays? don't know about funds, so just asking. I am one of those contemplating wellesley and still in cd and cash.

 

[LitGal]

Hi, Frank. Both of the "Wells." pay quarterly. For more info.--great web research--you might find the Vanguard site useful: www.vanguard.com. When you go into it, you can type in any of their funds. They then pull up for you far more info. than I have used yet. But they also give you all the basics: share price, history, when it pays, etc. I have found the site more helpful than potential FA's we were thinking about hiring. Plus, it educates me, so I feel like I have more control over our money's fate.

I hope this helps. Good Luck!

 

[pb4uski]

I wonder how Oby feels after seeing his $50,000 Wellesley investment decline by more than $100 since he bought?

$100 is pocket change to obgyn65.

 

[REWahoo]

$100 is pocket change to obgyn65.

True, but to someone in their 40's who has never seen even a one cent decline in any of their investments, it could be a very big deal. And at some point the loss will almost certainly get much worse...

 

[Midpack]

I am not even thinking about checking.

Good. You shouldn't be 'checking' often anyway, you'll just drive yourself crazy --- happy on up days, anxious on down days - all for naught in the long term. Can't speak for others, but I review my holdings quarterly for the most part, that's often enough. DW never looks...

 

[ERD50]

True, but to someone in their 40's who has never seen even a one cent decline in any of their investments, ...

I think it was Sherlock Holmes who said, he sees it, but does not observe it.

Those investments are declining in buying power if they are not out-pacing inflation. That is a decline, and certainly more than a cent if it is happening. And it is real, hence the term 'real returns'.

-ERD50

 

[Stanley]

Good. You shouldn't be 'checking' often anyway, you'll just drive yourself crazy --- happy on up days, anxious on down days - all for naught in the long term.

+1

If it was practical to check daily on the value of your home, you would never sleep on night.

 

[LakeTravis]

Down AGAIN today and every day since he bought in. I'm going to keep buying more until OBGYN signals that he's selling!

 

[target2019]

Trend is up.

Some days up, some days down...

 

[obgyn65]

I just checked. It did go down by a couple of hundred dollars.

Getting the bill ready for Midpack and ERD50

 

[pb4uski]

I just checked. It did go down by a couple of hundred dollars.

Getting the bill ready for Midpack and ERD50

Are they sharing in future profits too?

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Ohhh, man. Ahem "Bus driver, I think I'm the only one left on the fixed income only bus"

Could you take me somewhere they have higher interest rates ?!

haha

Relax. He just put his toe in the water.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Congrats, obgyn! I am certain you will not be unhappy with this choice down the road.

Now DON'T LOOK AT IT again for 10 years. It will go up and it will go down. Don't panic and sell like I did with my first mutual fund.

I couldn't think of anything original I could say here that would be supportive, but you may want to peek at my new post here: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/vwinx-and-real-life-retiree-investment-returns-65539.html
I did this work with you in mind. Notice how robust VWINX is. (Also notice the fixed income portfolio. It is the graph at the very bottom.)

You may want to look at some of the documents on the John Greaney website (in the link in the above post). Some are long in the tooth but all are very instructive.

 

[Dreamer]

I just checked. It did go down by a couple of hundred dollars.

Getting the bill ready for Midpack and ERD50

 

[Midpack]

I just checked. It did go down by a couple of hundred dollars.

Getting the bill ready for Midpack and ERD50

You shouldn't be 'checking' often anyway, you'll just drive yourself crazy --- happy on up days, anxious on down days - all for naught in the long term. Can't speak for others, but I review my holdings quarterly for the most part, that's often enough. DW never looks...

 

[target2019]

I just checked. It did go down by a couple of hundred dollars.

Getting the bill ready for Midpack and ERD50

That dip is the equivalent of penguin diving a hundred feet and then swimming upward at greater speed in order to leave the water at great speed and land on an ice flow. This allows the penguin/investor to elude the leopard seal recession.

 

[ERD50]

I just checked. It did go down by a couple of hundred dollars.

Getting the bill ready for Midpack and ERD50

No problem! Seriously, no smiley face here!

But to be fair, let's go back a few years when we were first trying to educate you about the risks of an all fixed income AA. Had you spent ten minutes to analyze that, and made the decision (it was your decision to make) to go to a more typical 50%-75% EQ AA at that time, you could have gone 100% Wellesley (~ 38% EQ). Wellesley is up about 1.36X in the past three years.

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundId=0527&FundIntExt=INT#tab=1


So calculate your opportunity cost, and I'll gladly accept that 'bill', which probably amounts to a negative of several hundred thousand dollars! I'll PM you with an address for you to send the check. Let me know if PayPal would be more convenient.

You're welcome ( )

-ERD50

 

[veremchuka]

Just checked you have until April 15 for your 2012 return.

T-bird

You are correct. I was so sure of this that I checked now and sure enough you can contribute up to 4/15/2013 for 2012 and 4/15/2014 for 2013. I am really surprised because I was certain I heard that the deadline was year end.

 

[obgyn65]

I just went back to check. The first time i am checking since last time I posted. So far, $ +0.17. Not sure if I should be happy or not.

Getting the bills ready for you-know-who, just in case

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Wow, that is iron discipline! Good job for a stock newbie!