skipro33
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I've been disappointed in my IRA performance over the past year, allowing Fidelity to manage my portfolio. Not including their fee of 1% of the fund's total value annually, I'm down -1.1% for the past year and down a whopping -3.3% YTD.
During the same time periods, a 60/40 blend of S&P 500 Index/ Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index has a value of +3.5% for the past year and +1% YTD. (near as I can estimate off my head)
To me, that is a pretty significant difference of 5.6% for the past year and 5.3% YTD.
Maybe I'm not giving them enough time to prove their worth, but the whole purpose of allowing them to manage my account was to alleviate my fear of making investment choices that yielded significantly less than the market without some sort of protections. I pretty much lost confidence that they are doing anything more than padding their own exclusive funds based on a some generic computer model selected because of how I answered a few questions they asked me.
So here's the thing; I do not need to touch my IRA until RMD time. I do fine on my pension and SS. I have about $30,000 in my checking account; an amount that has steadily grown to that amount since I retired 6 years ago and simply do not spend all I rake in each year.
I'd like to just roll my IRA to a 60/40 split of S&P 500 index and a bond fund. I can not find any Fidelity funds that can top the S&P index over any real length of time, so I figure why bother, just put it in the index fund for my equity allocation. I know nothing about bond funds though and simply chose the Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index for it's long term stability.
First; does it sound to you all that I am making a relatively intelligent decision to take the management of my IRA away from Fidelity and put it into the allocations and funds I mentioned?
Second; can anyone inform me of any better options for a 60/40 split for funds?
Third; should I be considering anything other than a 60/40 split?
When I start drawing RMD's, I'll probably start spending down this IRA, enjoying trips, helping grand kids with college, wedding gifts, donations to charities I am involved with, etc. I also plan on the bulk of this account to fund any long term health needs me or DW may need for the future. Right now, my father has Alzheimers and was bilked out of his life savings before my brother and I could step in and take over his finances and living arrangements. I do not want my kids to be burdened this way, financially.
I also have about $800,000 in my paid-off home equity. I figure that would be inheritance for my children, so growing the IRA for that is not necessary in my opinion. It's for my and DW's amusement and health care if needed.
During the same time periods, a 60/40 blend of S&P 500 Index/ Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index has a value of +3.5% for the past year and +1% YTD. (near as I can estimate off my head)
To me, that is a pretty significant difference of 5.6% for the past year and 5.3% YTD.
Maybe I'm not giving them enough time to prove their worth, but the whole purpose of allowing them to manage my account was to alleviate my fear of making investment choices that yielded significantly less than the market without some sort of protections. I pretty much lost confidence that they are doing anything more than padding their own exclusive funds based on a some generic computer model selected because of how I answered a few questions they asked me.
So here's the thing; I do not need to touch my IRA until RMD time. I do fine on my pension and SS. I have about $30,000 in my checking account; an amount that has steadily grown to that amount since I retired 6 years ago and simply do not spend all I rake in each year.
I'd like to just roll my IRA to a 60/40 split of S&P 500 index and a bond fund. I can not find any Fidelity funds that can top the S&P index over any real length of time, so I figure why bother, just put it in the index fund for my equity allocation. I know nothing about bond funds though and simply chose the Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index for it's long term stability.
First; does it sound to you all that I am making a relatively intelligent decision to take the management of my IRA away from Fidelity and put it into the allocations and funds I mentioned?
Second; can anyone inform me of any better options for a 60/40 split for funds?
Third; should I be considering anything other than a 60/40 split?
When I start drawing RMD's, I'll probably start spending down this IRA, enjoying trips, helping grand kids with college, wedding gifts, donations to charities I am involved with, etc. I also plan on the bulk of this account to fund any long term health needs me or DW may need for the future. Right now, my father has Alzheimers and was bilked out of his life savings before my brother and I could step in and take over his finances and living arrangements. I do not want my kids to be burdened this way, financially.
I also have about $800,000 in my paid-off home equity. I figure that would be inheritance for my children, so growing the IRA for that is not necessary in my opinion. It's for my and DW's amusement and health care if needed.
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