Moving all money .......
 

EDIT:I WOULD ONLY LEAVE IT IN THE MM FOR 6 MONTHS THEN BACK TO VTTVX

Should i move all funds to Vanguard Federal MM? I have it currently in VTSAX and VTTVX. I'm not the best at reading my returns but neither have paid a dividend or a very small one this year. Its an IRA. Ive been to a financial advisor but these interest rates have gone up in the last few months so i question whether i should do their recommendations at this time.

It sounds like you want to move out of stocks and into a 100 percent bond portfolio. If so, I would suggest that you spread the money into several Vanguard funds, such as:

Federal Money Market fund (30 percent)
Short Term Bond Index fund (30 percent)
Total Bond Market Index fund (25 percent)
High Yield Corporate Bond fund (15 percent)

Stay away from any long term bond funds, where the average bond duration is more than about 8 years. Just a suggestion.

Is your advisor suggesting that you should be 100% in fixed income?

Sounds like a very very bad move. I think you should talk to several advisors and find one to manage your money and help you project your need for funds from the million. My assumption is you do not have investment skills and you need help since you are thinking of moving all your money to cash.

Gigi3000,

If I may, I am jumping the track a little here to offer a suggestion.......

I must give some unsolicited of advice, woman to woman. I assume you are a woman named Gigi. (I am a woman named Boomer.)

When I saw what you wrote in your post, I just have to say that if I were you, I would never mention my own numbers when talking about investments. I think it's fine to discuss investments, taxes, etc., in general, but I always keep specific numbers to myself -- definitely in real life, and on TOTV, too, even though it might feel anonymous here.

(This is not intended to be a criticism or to try to embarrass. It is just a little reminder that it is best to keep your own numbers to yourself when talking about money matters.)

Re. moving money, I think you can speak with someone at Vanguard on the phone to ask questions -- not sure about that though, but someone here will know.

If you prefer a bricks and mortar meeting, Fidelity has offices in various locations where you can line up an in-person meeting. There is an office in TV. You can also arrange for a phone call with a Fidelity advisor -- I think. I would avoid advisors in banks. But that's just my personal aversion to bank advisors showing.

Also, be careful of those guys who always want to buy you dinner first.

Boomer

PS: Don't expect tax advice from financial advisors because they are usually not tax accountants.

OP, note that my post was based on the premise that you have already decided to move your stocks and balanced target fund into a 100 percent fixed income IRA. If that is the case, then I think my suggestions are appropriate. However, there is no way that anyone can advise you on how to structure the overall diversity of your investments without considering your total financial and life situation, including your age, income, and other assets. I am not a proponent of financial advisors, but you may need to consult with a fee only planner, who is a fiduciary and who will not try to sell you commission based products. I believe that any investor can use Vanguard products to design a retirement portfolio. You can probably get some good advice from a Certified Financial Planner who works for Vanguard. There may be a small fee. Good luck.

No. The IRA was suppose to be all moved VTTVX

Oh of course. I appreciate your input. You're always very helpful. A fee only advisor is who I had consulted.

I have a fee only advisor who I consulted 6 months ago. It's just so easy to see my dividend on the MM fund and not as easy to see what the returns are on Target 2025 fund. Thx tho

Without knowing your total financial picture nobody can make any specific suggestions. Depending on your age you might need to have your funds last for 30 or more years.

Suggest a fee only financial advisor but talk to a couple and decide whom you would be comfortable with.

Not sure I would be putting all this on a social media site.

I agree and I would recommend talking to a fee only financial advisor rather than an investment broker who would love to get your million into something that will pay them a good commission

I would recommend NOT moving all the funds, you should move a PORTION of the funds to a bond fund. To feel more comfortable you can move 50% of the funds to the MM fund for the current moment.

You may have a tax bill when you perform the transaction, depending upon the account type.

As a corporate finance professional, I would concur with others to find a fee only CFP and have a review with him/her to better allocate your money.

Retiredguy has a good recommendation for the PORTION you transfer to fixed income. The outlook for gains for this decade of equity returns are not a rosy as the prior decade. and the current outlook is not rosy either. However, not rosy just means smaller price increases / returns and should not be taken as meaning a crash. . as many histrionic black and white types might interpret. . .

if worried, transfer 1/2 to MM and RUN to see a fee only CFP, and do not look at the choice as all or nothing.

Without knowing your age, or other details, it's hard to give good advice. Someone suggested a financial planner (good idea). Depending on your age, income and other factors, maybe you should think about moving some of that money to a ROTH. I've been moving the IRA to a ROTH over the past few years and will finish up, about the time the tax rates go back up.

With that amount just put in an interest only account, plus your pension, you are not going to starve.

go see an CFP

Converting to a Roth can be good for some people, but it is important to do the math for your situation. Here is a simple example.

Suppose your tax rate is 30 percent and your investment return is 10 percent. Today, you convert $100 to a Roth, which leaves you with $70 invested. A year later, you have $77 in spendable cash (70 x 1.1). Now suppose, instead on converting, you keep the $100 in the traditional IRA. A year later, you have $110 (100 x 1.1). At that time, you withdraw the $110, pay the tax, and you still have $77 in spendable cash (110 x .7). So, in both cases, the result is the same. But, the result will change depending on your tax rate and investment return.

Another thing you need to calculate is the affect IRMAA can have on your Medicare premium. Too much income can increase the premium.

Since you're hooked up with Vanguard anyway, I'd have them do it

Personal Advisor | Vanguard

Full disclosure, I've been with their personal advisor services since 2016. My only wish is that I would have started with them earlier.

Joe

I would look into putting a portion into a few quality annuities. Have a chat with Parady Investments…. No pressure just advise and suggestions. We have been very pleased with them.

I don't like annuities at all. But transferring assets from an IRA into an annuity is almost never a good idea. The IRA is tax deferred by definition. With an annuity, one of the main selling points is that you are getting a tax deferral by buying the annuity and paying higher fees and reducing liquidity.

Gigi:

First, I strongly suggest that you edit your original message in this thread and delete the numbers referring to your assets. These TOTV messages are public and even show up in Google searches. You can click the edit button in your first post of this thread and then edit what your wrote. If you make that change to your message, hopefully other people in the thread who quoted your original message with your numbers will do the same.

Second, since you have been to a fee-based financial planner before, talking again to them with your question is likely a very good idea since they already have some idea of your circumstances. Many personal factors ought to go into the kind of investment decision you want to make. Alternatively, Boomer’s suggestion about talking with a planner in Fidelity’s Lake Sumter Landing office might work for you. (Also, I believe that you can transfer your Vanguard funds to Fidelity without be required to move them into Fidelity funds. Fidelity can hold a person’s Vanguard funds.)

Lastly, if your original question is motivated by wanting to lower your risk to volatile stocks, be aware you may be taking on new risks by switching (e.g., inflation risk, longevity risk). A competent financial planner can help you learn and balance the risks.

Rule of thumb: Never take advice from someone who makes large commissions by selling annuities. Never.

All true, I am keeping at the 22% rate, in 2026 the 22% rate goes up to (I think) 24% (or something like that). So, unless you think tax rates will stay the same or go down, I'd rather be in a ROTH.

IMO, don’t have a lot of your money just sitting around as cash because the banks are having major issues and money just sitting around above $250k ($500k if joint) because fdic only covers $250k or $500k. I moved most of our money to 1 money market paying 4.85% a month ago

Hmmmm. . .:eek:

Boomer

One other consideration is that people who may need to move into assistant living or a nursing home can greatly benefit by paying their bills with traditional IRA assets because of the huge medical tax deductions they will get.

Yeah I'm in Vanguard MM

Check out these two websites. Fee-only, certified financial planners.
1. Garrettplanningnetwork.com
2. Napfa.org (National Association of Personal Financial Advisors
Fee-only is NOT the same as fee-based!
I would strongly recommend, as others suggest, to avoid Parady and any other “annuity” companies. You will VERY likely be sold an annuity. They are commission driven and not fee-only.
Also, I cannot say enough positive things about Vanguard.

IMO, you are much better off with some monthly dividend paying securities. I get 9 dividend checks every month, direct deposited. There are quite a few really good monthly yields available. There are also quite a few very good quarterly yields available.

That’s been true for the last 10 years but if the economy is going to tank like 2097/2008, you will see companies stop paying dividends. Most dividends are in the 2-3.5% bracket, so with the risk of stocks/funds going way down later this year, MM funds that pay 4-5% with no risk is a no-brainer

Attempting to time the market is usually not a good idea. Full time professionals with extensive education who are paid to do that often fail. Best to choose a strategy based on your tolerance for risk and stick with it. If you want guidance, hire a Vanguard advisor. They are much lower cost than most advisors.

I moved from the Vanguard total stock fund to Vanguard to MM funds about 3 months ago. I have experienced, what I consider, good returns over the past 10+ years in the total stock fund. I made the move because MM interest rates have been moving up, I no longer want to worry about volatility, my age, and I'm not as concerned about maximizing my returns. The Vanguard MM funds I use are currently earning 4.7+ %. I am expecting another bump up with the expected Feds increase today. I will reconsider the MM when rates start to significantly dip.

I believe VTTVX is a target date fund (stocks and bonds). That fund seems to have moderate risk. That fund may work for you.

I think it is good idea to solicit the opinions of others but base your decision on the advise of an investment advisor who probably knows more.

Good luck!

Gigi:
If you are motivated to switch into cash for six months and then back into stock exposure, as you say, to time the market, studies indeed show that market timing is an ineffective investing strategy over the long run. In this case, you are implicitly forecasting that stock prices will fall during the next six months and then rise as you say that you would be moving back into stocks. No one knows. Ask 10 people about stock prices over the next six months and you will get 10 different answers (11 on TOTV).

If, however, you are very worried about the outlook and can’t sleep at night because of hearing lots of bad news, then this is good reason to talk with a competent and unbiased financial advisor soon. Such discussion will probably calm you in this case.

Remember, the “cost” of moving your investments to cash is the rate of inflation. You may protect your investment from declining with the stock or bond markets, but the purchasing power of your cash will have been eaten away by inflation.

Talk to a Vanguard rep. I am sure they will suggest that you take/keep a diversified balanced approach unless you have a compelling cash need. They will also be able to take into account factors you have not mentioned, such as your age, investment horizon, risk comfort level, cash needs (for RMD or other), etc. Timing the market is a fool’s game (my opinion). However you are likely to see a number of different views here - read them all with a grain of salt.

We now live in unsettling times. Everyone's situation is different. No one size fits all. For what it's worth (if anything) at age 81 I am keeping 30% of my securities portfolio in cash and cash equivalents, 6 month T-bills, Vanguard and Schwab MM and short term bond funds. 20% remains in BRK/B which I have held almost 40 years. The 50% remainder is mostly in dividend paying large and mid cap stocks and ETFs comprising them.

Yeah, I'm keep an eye on that. I bought some CDs through Vanguard that, even tho FDIC insured, are currently making me nervous. Having more than 500,000 in Vanguard MM would make me nervous too.

Yes. I had to fight the annunity sales people off when I inherited retirement funds.

No buy would only be for 6 months then ill move it back again....?

Yep. One day I was having lunch with Mr. Boomer in my favorite back home restaurant. (Trio — for those of us from my hometown. :) )

Anyway, in the booth across from us was an older woman who was being double-teamed — not just one, but two annuity salesmen.

This was several years ago and I did not yet have silver hair, but she did. I could hear enough of the conversation to figure out she had been widowed and probably had been left in good financial shape but did not know what to do with what she had.

Mr. Boomer saw me tuning into that conversation. (Yes. I was eavesdropping but I could not help it. I accept it as my curse/gift to be able to filter conversations while still carrying on a conversation of my own.)

It was all I could do to restrain myself from moving over to sit next to her, across from those 2 “charmers” sitting opposite her in that booth and laying it on thick — with words like “guaranteed” and phrases like “no more worries.”

My skin was crawling and being who I am, it was really hard to keep myself from intervening.

(In my hometown, there are a lot of people who have worked for and have long held stock in a local behemoth that has been belching out dividends for over 100 years and has increased that dividend annually, consecutively, for almost as many years as I have been alive. Annuity salesmen just love to get their hands on those shares and they often do.)

For years, every time I have heard a woman say, “Oh I don’t know anything about all that stuff. HE takes care of it for us,” I want to scream…….

Boomer