ER Eddie
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
- Messages
- 1,788
Eddie,
I just noticed your new avatar. It sort of give me the creeps.
He's looking with disapproval at your post.
Eddie,
I just noticed your new avatar. It sort of give me the creeps.
I thought he was checking to see if his rug was still in place...He's looking with disapproval at your post.
I thought he was checking to see if his rug was still in place...
I thought he was checking to see if his rug was still in place...
While I am not a Trump honk, he definitely doesn't we're a rug. When he was toying with running for president he let a lady reporter in an interview pull on it to prove it was his hair. She agreed it was real.
Yeah, he let Larry King pull on it, too.
....
Then he needs to fire his hair stylist. Atrocious.
Then he needs to fire his hair stylist. Atrocious.
Since you're new to the exciting world of short term fluctuations, it's easy to understand your consternation. But these are meant to be long term investments, so you should be looking at long term results, not just a few months.
how have your other investments done over the same period?
obgyn, I assume these results are with dividends reinvested?
I am not an expert, but what does your Investment Policy Statement say to do? Investment Policy Statement - Bogleheads
Mine is simple. Maintain about a 50-50 balance of equities and fixed-income investments. If they're out of balance by more than 5%, rebalance. Ignore short term variation, since I don't have the time or knowledge to make sense of it.
Most of the problem is that bonds did poorly. Had you invested in Wellington instead of Wellesley (larger % allocation to stocks), you'd have done better. In other words, you were too conservative. But I'm not advising you what to do.
You have mentioned that you use an Edward Jones FA to help you choose CDs. Maybe when you have time you could discuss an asset allocation with her and get her impressions of your choices (did you use EJ for your Wellesley and bond fund purchases?)
I'm laughing because the aforementioned newsletter is [Mod Edit for clarification] a thread originated by forum member LOL! [/mod edit] ON THIS WEBSITE, so since you are posting and reading on this website, it would take only another 10 seconds to read it.
I'm confused by the value of $10,000. Does this mean you purchased $10,000 of each VBIMX and VWIAX? If not, what does it mean?
Also, did you include dividends in these amounts? If so, were they reinvested?
I hope you take this post in the constructive spirit in which it is offered. That said, did you invest in order to fund your retirement like the rest of us? I hope so.
If you look within yourself, hopefully you will find the additional self-discipline that we all must find in order to begin think like a long term investor. Ten years ago today VWINX was $20.03; five years ago it was $20.50; one year ago today, it was $24.33 and yesterday it was $24.97 despite all the dividends that many of us use for living expenses. BTW dividends are due in about six weeks.
If I was investing only for income, I would not be keen on bond funds right now due to the interest rate risk, but I would favor individual bonds or target date bond funds. Over the past 6 months, I have moved a significant part of my bond portfolio to target date bond funds that mature in 2019 and 2020 as a substitute for CDs.
However if this is money that you can leave in those investments to grow for multiple years, then just sit tight and expect long term positive growth above what cash will give you.
Check back with us in 5 to 10 years and tell us if they did better than CD and money market funds.
I'm also curious about your asset mix. Why did you choose the bond fund?
I would buy more, especially of the bond fund. At the very least, the couple of hundred dollars needed to get it back up to $10,000.
I'm not meaning anything derogatory, my Sister and BIL have the same risk tolerance that you appear to. We are all unique!
MRG
But keeping money in very low yield investments simply won't keep up with inflation and is a losing proposition. You're about the same age as me, which means you have many years to go. Don't worry about five months of returns. It's a very small blip of time relative to the rest of your life. You will be fine. Just hang in there and maintain whatever asset allocation you feel comfortable with, and ignore the daily gyrations.