AA rebalanced for 2011

[easysurfer]

I already did my annual ritual of tallying up all my account totals and set up the transactions in Vanguard to rebalance my portfolio for 2011.

The transactions for reallocating are all within my traditional IRA (no taxable event to keep track of).

Also, at the start of each year, I reimburse myself through my HSA for qualifiying medical expenses the past year. So, I sent a note to my HSA administrator saying "Show me the money!" (I didn't really do that, just want to say "Show me the money!" ).

 

[Alan]

I'll be rolling my 401k to an IRA in VG when I get back from vacation and will do the rebalancing then (currently equites are at 37.5% - target is 35%).

 

[easysurfer]

Before rebalancing, I had 56% in equities, but a target percent of 51.

 

[Spanky]

Our target is 40/60 (equity/fixed income). We are thinking about changing it to 30/70.

 

[BigNick]

I ought to rebalance back out of some of the emerging market funds which I hold, but they still look pretty good and I really can't see US/European large caps turning in 10% growth...

 

[teejayevans]

I ought to rebalance back out of some of the emerging market funds which I hold, but they still look pretty good and I really can't see US/European large caps turning in 10% growth...

Thats the problem, a year ago the decision was easy, put all cash into equities. But now the picture is not so clear. All asset classes are up: small caps, mid caps, emerging market, reits, precious metals, etc. I can't see bonds being a good alternative either. So I'll do what I normally do, spread it around and hope for the best.
TJ

 

[audreyh1]

Our target is 40/60 (equity/fixed income). We are thinking about changing it to 30/70.

I've been at 55% equities 45% FI for most of the past decade. Now I'm 10 years older, and I've realized that it's time to start dropping my equity exposure because I probably don't want to be 60 years old and still have 55% equities.

So this year (2011) I'm starting a gradual shift in my AA - dropping 1% a year in equities as I age. That means I'll still have a 45% equity exposure at 60 years old - which still seems a bit high - but whatever.

Audrey

 

[freebird5825]

I just did some MF exchanges/sells out of some 0.6% expense ratio funds, leaving me with a 30/57/13 AA, as follows (per M* XRay tool):

US Stock 24%
Foreign Stock 6%
Bonds 57%
Cash 13%

I finally trimmed down my mutual fund roster to a reasonable number, all with much lower expense ratios. Project completed.

I'm going to sit tight on the 13% cash for a while, until I see what looks interesting.

 

[audreyh1]

I just did some MF exchanges out of some 0.6% expense ratio funds, leaving me with a 30/57/13 AA, as follows (per M* XRay tool):

US Stock 24%
Foreign Stock 6%
Bonds 57%
Cash 13%

I finally trimmed down my mutual fund roster to a reasonable number, all with much lower expense ratios. Project completed.

I'm going to sit tight on the 13% cash for a while, until I see what looks interesting.

Congrats! Cleaning up to fewer funds and to lower ER funds can be a lot of work.

Audrey