My phone followup with Vanguard FP

[Poundkey]

First.....I was impressed with this fellow.......friendly, polite, and very patient. We talked for over an hour. I asked A LOT of questions not only about my portfolio, but about the markets environment in general......U.S. global, bonds, etc. Very interesting visit.
Now.....if the folks here could help with some of his suggestions I would really appreciate it.
The first thing I am agonizing over is to combine my GNMA fund (14.7% of my portfolio)  and TIPS fund (4.2%) into Total Bond Market Index. This would put me into Admiral shares. Total Bond has about 35% GNMA, but no TIPS. I love my GNMA fund btw.....
Next.....bring my stock fund holdings from the current 40% to at least 50%......slowly over a period of time. They (as expected) would suggest consolidating my managed funds all into Total Stock market Index.
They would also like to see my International Growth fund moved to Total International Index and increased from the current 3% to 12%......again, slowly over time.
This is all in non IRA accounts.

Surprisingly, he was OK with my IRA funds. Primecap, WindsorII, and Explorer, although would prefer to see more small caps....currently only about 5%. 

I have no adviser, accountant, or anyone else to hash financial matters over with. Everything I've done so far has been by reading and learning as much as I can. It would be great to hear some opinions from the folks here.
Thanks very much for your time.

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[Chris24]

Sounds like yuou are commited to Vanguard. For the most part so am I. There is a good web site called Vanguard Diehards, http://socialize.morningstar.com/NewSocialize/Asp/AllConv.asp?forumId=F100000015
That can give you some ideas, but are mostly Index driven. Also Dan Wiener http://www.adviseronline.com/ who gives good advise on Vanguard funds, but unlike the Diehards prefers active managed VG funds. Both are worth a drive around the block.

 

[Poundkey]

Thanks Chris, I visit the Diehard site frequently although I'm not a registered member at morningstar. Adviseronline is one I haven't seen and will definitely start checking that out.

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[d]

the Vanguard recommendations seem reasonable to me, but I would caution that before making any changes you check-out the tax implications.

 

[smooch]

Did you get the Vanguard FP just by calling or was one recommended to you? We are in Voyager Services. I called to speak to someone, but he was not very helpful. I'm going to call again, but would like to get an experienced and knowledgeable person.

 

[Poundkey]

Smooch, we are voyager clients also, and received a letter offering a complimentary session with their FP. After accepting the offer they have you fill out an online questionaire. Several days later they will send an E-mail saying your plan is available by logging onto their site. You then set up your phone appointment date and time.
During the phone session there was no pressure to have me change anything. My experience was that he spent some time getting to know me as an investor then offered some helpful hints on how to tweak my portfolio to better suit my needs.
The guy I talked to (JeffreyDenison) seemed to be pretty sharp, and like I said above, we had quite a long talk about a variety of subjects. I found it to be a very enjoyable and helpful.

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[smooch]

Thanks for your response. My experience was different, but I am going to try again. At least now I know what I should be getting!

 

[rs0460a]

Related article on service:

http://tinyurl.com/pqzop


EDIT: Shortened URL