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Old 01-05-2014, 08:12 PM   #21
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Bond = 32.9%
cash = 25.89%

Bond:
Wellesly ......................... 6%
Star .............................. 2%
Fidelity MN Muni .............. 10
Fidelity Strategic Income ...12
Inflation-Protect Sec Adm...15
Short-term Treasury......... 35
Total Bond Market............ 20
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Old 01-05-2014, 08:31 PM   #22
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Mostly real estate.
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Old 01-05-2014, 08:35 PM   #23
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Stable value= 65% Pen Fed CD= 25% Total bnd= 10%
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Old 01-05-2014, 08:36 PM   #24
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Mine is as follows:
Stock: 47%
Lump Sum Pension: 26%
Cash: 18%
Bonds: 6%
Real estate: 4%
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Old 01-05-2014, 08:45 PM   #25
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Non-equity portion is approx. 45.6%, as follows:

6.0% Cash/Money Markets

2.0% I-bonds (currently yielding 1.18% annualized)

7.2% VG short term corporate bond ETF (SEC 30-day yield 1.42%)
2.3% VG limited term tax exempt fund (SEC 30-day yield 0.88%)
4.7% VG intermediate term tax exempt fund (SEC 30-day yield 2.48%)
6.5% individual muni bonds (weighted average yield 5.10%)
5.0% VG total bond fund (SEC 30-day yield 2.21%)
5.0% VG/PIMCO inflation-protected bond funds
4.7% VG high-yield corporate fund (SEC 30-day yield 4.45%)
1.1% Templeton global bond fund (SEC 30-day yield 1.96%)
1.1% individual preferred stocks (weighted average yield 7.66%)
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Old 01-05-2014, 11:50 PM   #26
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Thank you for this thread:

zero bonds
10% Vanguard Money Market
14% Check account

I have been waiting for the "right" house to buy for the last 6 months so $ are just sitting there. Hindsight is perfect - shoulda been in S&P500!

I fear I am going to do the same for the next six months :-(
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Old 01-06-2014, 04:41 AM   #27
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I was actually surprised by this chart, with regard to how much cash is currently in my equity mutual funds. I know some folks wouldn't consider that "non-equity" but in terms of risk and return it is.

Of course, if that ever gets reinvested, it changes the chart a bit.


And some folks don't like to consider their cash emergency fund as part of their portfolio, and that changes the graph again.

Attached Images
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Old 01-06-2014, 06:07 AM   #28
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Non-equity allocation = 38%

As a percentage of my total allocation that is made up of

cash = 3%
Stable value = 12%
TIAA-Traditional = 5%
VFIDX = 7%
Bonds in Wellesley (VWIAX) = 11%
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Old 01-06-2014, 06:52 AM   #29
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Bonds are about 34% of our portfolio. Approaching rebalancing time. Our bonds are in:
VG intermediate - 19%
VG Short Term - 5%
Pimco Total Return - 43%
TSP G Fnd - 34%

The Pimco is in DW's 401K. The rest are in VG IRA's and the Federal 401K like account.

These percentages don't include 8 months expenses sitting in a taxable MMF.
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Old 01-06-2014, 07:46 AM   #30
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Im thinking about some MLP's as an alternative to bonds.
Interesting that that many advisers are uncomfortable with them cause of tax complications. Complexity is not an issue for me if the return/rationale is there.
This might mean they are undervalued.
My father in law became rich on them over the past two decades.
Pipeline MLP's seem very low risk. ( regulation risk is perhaps the biggest concern).

Anyone into these? Do you consider them to be like bonds?

OTOH reading the WSJ article this weekend on bond investing as rates rise- Im not sure I'm smart enough to out-fox the vanilla 60/40 AA.

Currently my non equities are 13% cash and 32% the bonds in the vanguard AA managed fund.
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Old 01-06-2014, 08:00 AM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken11 View Post
Im thinking about some MLP's as an alternative to bonds.
Interesting that that many advisers are uncomfortable with them cause of tax complications. Complexity is not an issue for me if the return/rationale is there.
This might mean they are undervalued.
My father in law became rich on them over the past two decades.
Pipeline MLP's seem very low risk. ( regulation risk is perhaps the biggest concern).

Anyone into these? Do you consider them to be like bonds?

OTOH reading the WSJ article this weekend on bond investing as rates rise- Im not sure I'm smart enough to out-fox the vanilla 60/40 AA.

Currently my non equities are 13% cash and 32% the bonds in the vanguard AA managed fund.
Yes, I have had a large amount of Schwab IRA funds in EPD (bought low 30's) and MMP (bought low 40's). I also have positions in KMP and NSH in my taxable accounts.

Note: for all who comment on what a PIA it is to "do the tax reporting", Schwab does my tax forms and sends me the form to sign each year prior to 4/15.

Now, for all you who think it is a PIA to do the tax in the taxable, I just download the K1 from the MLP sites and upload it into Turbo Tax. I believe there are a few entries I have to make after that but it takes all of 5 minutes.

Pipeline MLPs are the safest and are not entirely subject to swings in energy prices. Be careful with MLPs that are tied to energy production as things can go south in a hurry.

I can't comment on whether they are currently undervalued as some have had nice runs in the last few years. Personally, I would look at companies that have pipeline operations in the Eagle Ford development in south Texas as the regulatory climate there is vary good.

I don't consider them to be like bonds.
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Old 01-06-2014, 08:02 AM   #32
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SV = 5.7%
Wellington/Wellesley = 6.7%
Short-Int term IG = 10.7%
Diversified = 4.7%
Foreign = 4.7%
Floating Rate = 2.3%
Strategic/HY= 1.9%
Multi-sector= 1.8%
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Old 01-06-2014, 09:59 AM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aja8888 View Post
Yes, I have had a large amount of Schwab IRA funds in EPD (bought low 30's) and MMP (bought low 40's). I also have positions in KMP and NSH in my taxable accounts.

Note: for all who comment on what a PIA it is to "do the tax reporting", Schwab does my tax forms and sends me the form to sign each year prior to 4/15.

Now, for all you who think it is a PIA to do the tax in the taxable, I just download the K1 from the MLP sites and upload it into Turbo Tax. I believe there are a few entries I have to make after that but it takes all of 5 minutes.

Pipeline MLPs are the safest and are not entirely subject to swings in energy prices. Be careful with MLPs that are tied to energy production as things can go south in a hurry.

I can't comment on whether they are currently undervalued as some have had nice runs in the last few years. Personally, I would look at companies that have pipeline operations in the Eagle Ford development in south Texas as the regulatory climate there is vary good.

I don't consider them to be like bonds.
Thanks for that info.
Here's what I'm thinking:
Yields are higher than most bonds
Pipeline MLP's are largely insulated from the economy in a number of ways- including long term contracts for service. So, their correlation to stocks thru a bus. cycle seems like it could be low.
If so, then it serves as bond in a portfolio sense.

Is this thinking is flawed in some way?
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Old 01-06-2014, 10:05 AM   #34
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Our fixed income choices:

Code:
20%  old high yield Ibonds
32%  Pimco Total Return ETF (BOND) - intermediate bonds with some foreign
37%  Dodge & Cox Income (DODIX) - intermediate bonds, corporate emphasis
8%   Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade
3%   cash  (1% of total portfolio)
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Old 01-06-2014, 12:33 PM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken11 View Post
Thanks for that info.
Here's what I'm thinking:
Yields are higher than most bonds
Pipeline MLP's are largely insulated from the economy in a number of ways- including long term contracts for service. So, their correlation to stocks thru a bus. cycle seems like it could be low.
If so, then it serves as bond in a portfolio sense.

Is this thinking is flawed in some way?
Well, a bond is an IOU with periodic interest payments and a maturity date. Bond NAV's can fluctuate with changes in interest rates, but you will get the face value upon maturity.

MLP's are shares of a General Partnership and have no underlying stated value. They pay distributions decided upon by the General Partner and also share costs and some income percentage of the operations they are representing. When you sell a MLP position, it has a new basis other than the original cost, thus it is taxed differently than bond interest. It's complicated.

You can buy an ETF that holds many MLPs. You can also buy certain General Partner shares (see KMI).

Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI): Another Compelling Reason To Buy And Hold Kinder Morgan For The Long Term - Seeking Alpha
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Old 01-06-2014, 12:35 PM   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken11 View Post
Im thinking about some MLP's as an alternative to bonds.
Interesting that that many advisers are uncomfortable with them cause of tax complications. Complexity is not an issue for me if the return/rationale is there.
...
Anyone into these? Do you consider them to be like bonds?
Because of my attempts to seek out diversification, I have a total of 21 MLP pipeline companies, along with a few non-pipeline MLPs (refiners, an oil producer, sand/soda ash/fertilizer producers). Not every single one is showing a profit, but overall, I'm happy with their distributions and performance over the 6-7 years I've owned most of them.

The tax forms can appear very intimidating at first...but I set up a spreadsheet, with a row for every K-1 field, for an easy summation of all of my K-1s, so I can quickly and easily fill out each relevant IRS form. The additional marginal time it takes you to track 1 more K-1 isn't that bad once you do one...then two...then three...


Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken11 View Post
Thanks for that info.
Here's what I'm thinking:
Yields are higher than most bonds
Pipeline MLP's are largely insulated from the economy in a number of ways- including long term contracts for service. So, their correlation to stocks thru a bus. cycle seems like it could be low.
If so, then it serves as bond in a portfolio sense.

Is this thinking is flawed in some way?
I view my "bond" category as something that's fairly predictable. While MLPs (especially pipelines) can have steady growth, like a utility, I view them more susceptible to the vagaries of not only the small, ever-present specter of possible tax law changes by Washington, but also somewhat susceptible to other risks (leaks in the pipeline from natural causes or vandalism/terrorism, favoritism to General Partners over Limited Partners, having to constantly grow the dividend over time to stay competitive with other MLPs or face a weak/declining stock price, etc.)...in addition to the ever-present interest rate risk of paying an adequate premium for all of the above factors over and above the current risk-free rate.

Because of that, I keep my 'bonds' separate from REITs and MLPs, and even my BDCs, even though many BDCs have fixed-rate investments/loans to many companies.
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Old 01-06-2014, 03:21 PM   #37
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Cash: 44%
Bond: 56%

Bonds:
26%: PenFed CD's (some consider these cash, but I consider them bond-like for my purposes)
27%: PIMCO Tot Return
13%: Individual Munis
15%: Bond portion of mutuals
9%: Whole life
6%: Individual corporates
4%: I-bonds
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Old 01-06-2014, 03:32 PM   #38
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I assume the various classes like Business Development Companies, Utilities, REITs, Pipeline MLPs and the like would be considered "equities" for the purposes of this exercise.
I would consider some of those alternative investments.
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Old 01-06-2014, 03:40 PM   #39
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I had to look this up as it is a variable that I do not normally compute. These data are from December 31, 2013.

Equities (including international) comprise 43.5% of my portfolio. Of the remainder, the distribution is as follows:

Cash and cash equivalents:10.21%
Bonds: 46.21%
Real estate (assets minus liabilities; excludes residence): 26.34%
Alternative investments: 13.92%
Precious metals: 3.21%

Total does not quite add up to 100% due to rounding.
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Old 01-06-2014, 05:56 PM   #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Willers View Post
Cash: 44%
Bond: 56%

Bonds:
26%: PenFed CD's (some consider these cash, but I consider them bond-like for my purposes)
27%: PIMCO Tot Return
13%: Individual Munis
15%: Bond portion of mutuals
9%: Whole life
6%: Individual corporates
4%: I-bonds
No Equity at all? CD is considered as fixed-income.
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