My Money Blog Portfolio Income Update – February 2021

Posted on February 10, 2021 // 6 Comments

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While my February 2021 portfolio is designed for total return, I also track the income produced. Stock dividends are the portion of profits that businesses have decided they don’t need to reinvest into their business. The dividends may suffer some short-term drops, but over the long run they have grown faster than inflation. Interest from bonds and bank deposits are steadier, but these days it actually lags inflation a bit.

I track the “TTM” or “12-Month Yield” from Morningstar, which is the sum of the trailing 12 months of interest and dividend payments divided by the last month’s ending share price (NAV) plus any capital gains distributed over the same period. I prefer this measure because it is based on historical distributions and not a forecast. Below is a close approximation of my portfolio (2/3rd stocks and 1/3rd bonds).

Asset Class / Fund % of Portfolio Trailing 12-Month Yield (Taken 2/10/21) Yield Contribution
US Total Stock
Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund (VTI, VTSAX)		 25% 1.43% 0.36%
US Small Value
Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF (VBR) 		5% 1.65% 0.08%
International Total Stock
Vanguard Total International Stock Market Fund (VXUS, VTIAX) 		25% 2.13% 0.53%
Emerging Markets
Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) 		5% 1.85% 0.09%
US Real Estate
Vanguard REIT Index Fund (VNQ, VGSLX) 		6% 3.92% 0.24%
Intermediate-Term High Quality Bonds
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF (VGIT) 		17% 1.53% 0.26%
Inflation-Linked Treasury Bonds
Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF (VTIP) 		17% 1.19% 0.20%
Totals 100% 1.76%

 

Trailing 12-month yield history. Here is a chart showing how this 12-month trailing income rate has varied since I started tracking it in 2014.

Portfolio value reality check. One of the things I like about using this number is that when stock prices drop, this percentage metric usually goes up – which makes me feel better in a bear market. When stock prices go up, this percentage metric usually goes down, which keeps me from getting too euphoric during a bull market.

This quarter’s trailing income yield of 1.74% is the lowest ever since 2014. At the same time, my portfolio value is also bigger than ever. This just confirms that much of the recent US stock market price rise has been due to P/E ratio expansion, as opposed to higher earnings and profits. Either prices will drop quickly and then the future will look brighter, or prices won’t drop and the future will simply hold lower returns.

I choose to treat this income as a “no-stress, perpetual withdrawal rate”. There are countless articles debating this topic, but I support a 3% withdrawal rate as a reasonable target for planning purposes if you want to retire young (before age 50) and a 4% withdrawal rate as a reasonable target if retiring at a more traditional age (closer to 65). If you are not close to retirement, your time is better spent focusing on earning potential via better career moves, investing in your skillset, and/or looking for entrepreneurial opportunities where you own equity in a business asset.)

How we handle this income. Our dividends and interest income are not automatically reinvested. I treat this money as part of our “paycheck”. Then, as with a real paycheck, we can choose to either spend it or reinvest in more stocks and bonds.

Although we are not retired, this portfolio income does enable us to have more flexible working hours as parents of three young kids. If we’re being honest, I don’t think either of us truly wants to be a full-time stay-at-home parent while the other works for money full-time. Nor do we want to be the sole full-time worker while the other stays at home. This works best for us.

We are very thankful for this financial flexibility (always, but especially during this pandemic), which has been both a result of conscious preparation over 15+ years and good fortune. Others may use their portfolio income to pursue new interests, start a new business, sit on a beach, do charity or volunteer work, and so on.

Filed Under: Family, Goals, Investing, Retirement //

MMB Portfolio Asset Allocation Update, February 2021

Posted on February 9, 2021 // 5 Comments

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A central idea here is skin in the game, showing what someone really does with their own money. Too often, what the “experts” tell you to do is quite different than what they own themselves. Here’s my current portfolio as of February 2021, including our 401k/403b/IRAs, taxable brokerage accounts, and savings bonds but excluding our house, cash reserves, and a few side investments. I use these updates to help determine where to invest new cash to rebalance back towards our target asset allocation.

Actual Asset Allocation and Holdings

I use both Personal Capital and a custom Google Spreadsheet to track my investment holdings. The Personal Capital financial tracking app (free, my review) automatically logs into my different accounts, adds up my various balances, tracks my performance, and calculates my overall asset allocation. Once a quarter, I also update my manual Google Spreadsheet (free, instructions) because it helps me calculate how much I need in each asset class to rebalance back towards my target asset allocation.

Here are some performance and asset allocation charts, per the “Allocation” and “Holdings” tabs of my Personal Capital account, respectively:

Stock Holdings
Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI, VTSAX)
Vanguard Total International Stock Market (VXUS, VTIAX)
Vanguard Small Value (VBR)
Vanguard Emerging Markets (VWO)
Vanguard REIT Index (VNQ, VGSLX)

Bond Holdings
Vanguard Limited-Term Tax-Exempt (VMLTX, VMLUX)
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt (VWITX, VWIUX)
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury (VFITX, VFIUX)
Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities (VIPSX, VAIPX)
Fidelity Inflation-Protected Bond Index (FIPDX)
iShares Barclays TIPS Bond (TIP)
Individual TIPS securities
U.S. Savings Bonds (Series I)

Target Asset Allocation. I do not spend a lot of time backtesting various model portfolios, as I don’t think picking through the details of the recent past will necessarily create superior future returns. I mainly make sure that I own asset classes that will provide long-term returns above inflation, distribute income via dividends and interest, and finally offer some historical tendencies to balance each other out. I make a small bet that US Small Value and Emerging Markets will have higher future long-term returns (along with some higher volatility) than the more large and broad indexes, although I could be wrong.

While you could argue for various other asset classes, I believe that it is important to imagine an asset class doing poorly for a long time, with bad news constantly surrounding it, and only hold the ones where you still think you can maintain faith through those fearful times. I simply don’t have strong faith in the long-term results of commodities, gold, or bitcoin. (In the interest of full disclosure, I do own tiny bits of gold and BTC, but at less than 1% of net worth.)

My US/international ratio floats with the total world market cap breakdown, currently at ~57% US and 43% ex-US. I think it’s okay to have a slight home bias (owning more US stocks than the overall world market cap), but I want to avoid having an international bias.

Stocks Breakdown

  • 43% US Total Market
  • 7% US Small-Cap Value
  • 33% International Total Market
  • 7% Emerging Markets
  • 10% US Real Estate (REIT)

Bonds Breakdown

  • 33% US Treasury Bonds, intermediate (or FDIC-insured)
  • 33% High-Quality Municipal Bonds (taxable)
  • 33% US Treasury Inflation-Protected Bonds (tax-deferred)

I have settled into a long-term target ratio of 67% stocks and 33% bonds (2:1 ratio) within our investment strategy of buy, hold, and occasionally rebalance. I will use the dividends and interest to rebalance whenever possible in order to avoid taxable gains. I plan to only manually rebalance past that if the stock/bond ratio is still off by more than 5% (i.e. less than 62% stocks, greater than 72% stocks). With a self-managed, simple portfolio of low-cost funds, we minimize management fees, commissions, and taxes.

Holdings commentary. I should be happy that my portfolio numbers seem to keep going up and up after the March 2020 scare, but instead I am mentally preparing myself for some low future returns over the next decade or so. I’m not making any big moves, but in keeping with my investment plan, I will be selling some US stocks this month as part of normal rebalancing. I remain optimistic that capitalism, human ingenuity, human resilience, and our system of laws will continue to improve things over time.

I’ve been seeing various articles about how to adjust your investing after the Gamestop short squeeze. Given that my holding strategy doesn’t require me to follow any market news at all, I don’t need to do any adjusting! 🙂

Performance numbers. According to Personal Capital, my portfolio ended up about 14% over all of 2020. An alternative benchmark for my portfolio is 50% Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund and 50% Vanguard LifeStrategy Moderate Growth Fund – one is 60/40 and the other is 80/20 so it also works out to 70% stocks and 30% bonds. That benchmark would have a total return of +14.5% for 2020 YTD as of 11/3/2020.

The goal of this portfolio is to create sustainable income that keeps up with inflation to cover our household expenses. I’ll share about more about the income aspect in a separate post.

Filed Under: Goals, Investing, Retirement //

Gamestop Takeaway: Taking Risks Can Pay Off, But Find Smarter Risks

Posted on February 7, 2021 // 3 Comments

I’ve mostly ignored the Gamestop noise as I didn’t see any actionable takeaways, but then I saw this Reddit post conflating gambling winnings with paying off student loan debt.

This is the same as saying that you bet $10,000 on the Super Bowl, and then used the proceeds to pay off your student loans. The decision didn’t involve much skill, and you got lucky. You get credit for taking the risk, but is that really a newsworthy event?

Consider that if you bet $10,000 on red at a roulette table twice in a row and won both times, you could also turn $10,000 into $40,000. Simple! Every single person reading this has roughly a 1 in 4 chance (22.5%) of achieving the exact same feat (American roulette odds). You just have accept the 3 in 4 chance (77.5%) that you will lose your entire $10,000 and walk away with nothing.

For the most part, these were zero-effort, zero-sum bets. A few clicks, and there is a winner and loser. Last week was not about class warfare, it was just different traders betting against each other. Some average folks won big, others lost big. Some hedge funds lost big, but other hedge funds won big. Nobody “stuck it” to Wall Street! For every Robinhood screenshot that looks like this:

…there is a Robinhood screenshot that looks like this:

My concern is we will continue to see people make easy money (whether in Gamestop or another trade), and others will get sucked into this casino. Like a hot craps table, you want to join in the fun as well. When the market goes up, everyone looks like a skilled trader.

Risk-taking can pay off, but I prefer to search for smarter bets where the upside is huge, but the downside is small. Ones that involve investing a decent amount of time but only a little money. Ones where your personal qualities tilt the odds more in your favor. This is still a risk because you might start a business and fail. You might interview for a promotion and get passed over this time. You might try be a landlord and get a really difficult tenant. You might pursue a specific degree and realize it’s not a good fit. You might ask someone out on a date and get rejected.

In the worst case, you gain valuable experience for later, dust yourself off, and try again. In the best case, you can gain a meaningful life and career (which then leads to financial freedom with a bit of planning). I try to remember that every day we “spend” our time somehow, and it’s a risk because we never get it back. Opening yourself up to the truly big wins is so much better than spending it on gambling (see above), video games, or dead-end jobs. Tell yourself to take good risks.

Here are two WSJ articles about people taking action despite the risks: In the Covid Economy, Laid-Off Employees Become New Entrepreneurs and Is It Insane to Start a Business During Coronavirus? Millions of Americans Don’t Think So. These types of articles are so much more interesting to me than anything about Gamestop.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurial, Investing //

Best Interest Rates on Cash – February 2021

Posted on February 3, 2021 // 2 Comments

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of February 2021, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. I track these rates because I keep 12 months of expenses as a cash cushion and there are many lesser-known opportunities to improve your yield while still being FDIC-insured or equivalent. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you’d earn by moving money between accounts. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 2/3/2021.

Fintech accounts
Available only to individual investors, fintech accounts oftentimes pay higher-than-market rates in order to achieve high short-term growth. I will define “fintech” as an app software layer on top of a different bank’s FDIC insurance backbone. You should read about the story of the Beam app for potential pitfalls and best practices. Below are some current options with decent balance limits:

  • 3% APY on up to $100,000. I am happy to see the top rate staying at 3% APY for January through March 2021. HM Bradley requires a recurring direct deposit every month and a savings rate of at least 20%. See my HM Bradley review.
  • 3% APY on 10% of direct deposits. One Finance lets you earn 3% APY on “auto-save” deposits (up to 10% of your direct deposit, up to $1,000 per month). Separately, they also pay 1% APY on up to another $25,000 with direct deposit. New $50 bonus via referral. See my One Finance review.
  • 3% APY on up to $15,000. Porte requires a one-time direct deposit of $1,000+ to open a savings account. $50 bonus via referral. See my Porte review.
  • 2.15% APY on up to $5k/$30k. Limited-time offer of free membership to their higher balance tier for 6 months with direct deposit. See my OnJuno review.

High-yield savings accounts
While the huge megabanks pay essentially no interest, it’s easy to open a new “piggy-back” savings account and simply move some funds over from your existing checking account. The interest rates on savings accounts can drop at any time, so I list the top rates as well as competitive rates from banks with a history of competitive rates. Some banks will bait you with a temporary top rate and then lower the rates in the hopes that you are too lazy to leave.

  • T-Mobile Money has the top rate at the moment at 1.00% APY with no minimum balance requirements. The main focus is on the 4% APY on your first $3,000 of balances as a qualifying T-mobile customer plus other hoops, but the lesser-known perk is the 1% APY for everyone. Thanks to the readers who helped me understand this. There are several other established high-yield savings accounts at closer to 0.50% APY for now.

Short-term guaranteed rates (1 year and under)
A common question is what to do with a big pile of cash that you’re waiting to deploy shortly (just sold your house, just sold your business, legal settlement, inheritance). My usual advice is to keep things simple and take your time. If not a savings account, then put it in a flexible short-term CD under the FDIC limits until you have a plan.

  • No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. Marcus has a 7-month No Penalty CD at 0.45% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. AARP members can get an 8-month CD at 0.55% APY. Ally Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.50% APY for all balance tiers. CIT Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.30% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit. You may wish to open multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
  • Lafayette Federal Credit Union has a 12-month CD at 0.80% APY ($500 min). Early withdrawal penalty is 6 months of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).

Money market mutual funds + Ultra-short bond ETFs
Normally, I would say to watch out for brokerage firms that pay out very little interest on their default cash sweep funds (and keep the difference for themselves). However, money market fund rates are very low across the board right now. The following ultra-short bond funds are a possible alternative, but they are NOT FDIC-insured and will also fluctuate in price somewhat:

  • The default sweep option is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund which has an SEC yield of 0.01%. Vanguard Cash Reserves Federal Money Market Fund (formerly Prime Money Market) currently pays 0.01% SEC yield.
  • Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund currently pays 0.44% SEC yield ($3,000 min) and 0.54% SEC Yield ($50,000 min). The average duration is ~1 year, so there is more interest rate risk.
  • The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 0.23% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 0.43% SEC yield while holding a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months.

Treasury Bills and Ultra-short Treasury ETFs
Another option is to buy individual Treasury bills which come in a variety of maturities from 4-weeks to 52-weeks. You can also invest in ETFs that hold a rotating basket of short-term Treasury Bills for you, while charging a small management fee for doing so. T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income taxes. Right now, this section isn’t very interesting as T-Bills are yielding close to zero!

  • You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 2/3/2020, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.04% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.08% annualized interest.
  • The Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF (GBIL) has a -0.01% SEC yield and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a -0.06% (!) SEC yield. GBIL appears to have a slightly longer average maturity than BIL.

US Savings Bonds
Series I Savings Bonds offer rates that are linked to inflation and backed by the US government. You must hold them for at least a year. If you redeem them within 5 years there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest. The annual purchase limit is $10,000 per Social Security Number, available online at TreasuryDirect.gov. You can also buy an additional $5,000 in paper I bonds using your tax refund with IRS Form 8888.

  • “I Bonds” bought between November 2020 and April 2021 will earn a 1.68% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More info here.
  • In mid-April 2021, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.
  • See below about EE Bonds as a potential long-term bond alternative.

Prepaid Cards with Attached Savings Accounts
A small subset of prepaid debit cards have an “attached” FDIC-insured savings account with exceptionally high interest rates. The negatives are that balances are severely capped, and there are many fees that you must be careful to avoid (lest they eat up your interest). Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others do. There is a long list of previous offers that have already disappeared with little notice. I don’t personally recommend nor use any of these anymore.

  • One of the few notable cards left in this category is Mango Money at 6% APY on up to $2,500, along with several hoops to jump through. Requirements include $1,500+ in “signature” purchases and a minimum balance of $25.00 at the end of the month.

Rewards checking accounts
These unique checking accounts pay above-average interest rates, but with unique risks. You have to jump through certain hoops which usually involve 10+ debit card purchases each cycle, a certain number of ACH/direct deposits, and a certain number of logins per month. If you make a mistake (or they judge that you did) you risk earning zero interest for that month. Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others would rather not bother. Rates can also drop suddenly, leaving a “bait-and-switch” feeling.

  • The Bank of Denver pays 2.50% APY (dropping to 2.00% APY on 2/18/21) on up to $25,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases of $5+ each and at least 1 ACH credit or debit transaction per statement cycle. If you meet those qualifications, you can also link a Kasasa savings account that pays 1.50% APY (but dropping to 1.00% APY on 2/18/21) on up to $50k. Thanks to reader Bill for the updated info.
  • Devon Bank has a Kasasa Checking paying 3.50% APY on up to $10,000, plus a Kasasa savings account paying 3.50% APY on up to $10,000 (and 1.25% APY on up to $50,000). You’ll need at least 12 debit transactions of $3+ and other requirements every month.
  • Presidential Bank pays 2.25% APY on balances up to $25,000, with fewer hoops than some others.
  • Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union pays 3.30% APY on up to $20,000. You’ll need at least 15 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
  • Lake Michigan Credit Union pays 3.00% APY on up to $15,000. You’ll need at least 10 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
  • Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

Certificates of deposit (greater than 1 year)
CDs offer higher rates, but come with an early withdrawal penalty. By finding a bank CD with a reasonable early withdrawal penalty, you can enjoy higher rates but maintain access in a true emergency. Alternatively, consider building a CD ladder of different maturity lengths (ex. 1/2/3/4/5-years) such that you have access to part of the ladder each year, but your blended interest rate is higher than a savings account. When one CD matures, use that money to buy another 5-year CD to keep the ladder going. Some CDs also offer “add-ons” where you can deposit more funds if rates drop.

  • Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union has a 5-year certificate at 1.50% APY ($500 minimum). Early withdrawal penalty is 1 year of interest. 4-year at 1.20% APY, and 3-year at 0.95% APY ($500 minimum). Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($25 one-time fee).
  • Hiway Federal Credit Union has a 5-year certificate at 1.34% APY ($25k minimum) and 1.24% APY with a $10,000 minimum. Early withdrawal penalty is 1 year of interest. 4-year at 1.19% APY, and 3-year at 1.10% APY ($25k minimum). Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).
  • You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. I see nothing special right now, but it might still pay more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Be wary of higher rates from callable CDs listed by Fidelity.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk, but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

  • Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Right now, I see a 10-year at Vanguard for 1.35% APY. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs from Fidelity.
  • How about two decades? Series EE Savings Bonds are not indexed to inflation, but they have a unique guarantee that the value will double in value in 20 years, which equals a guaranteed return of 3.5% a year. However, if you don’t hold for that long, you’ll be stuck with the normal rate which is quite low (currently 0.10%). I view this as a huge early withdrawal penalty. But if holding for 20 years isn’t an issue, it can also serve as a hedge against prolonged deflation during that time. Purchase limit is $10,000 each calendar year for each Social Security Number. As of 2/3/2021, the 20-year Treasury Bond rate was 1.69%.

All rates were checked as of 2/3/2021.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing //

Time Capsule: The Startup Unicorns of 2015

Posted on February 1, 2021 // 2 Comments

While we wait to see how Gamestop and silver prices can be manipulated either by the big money of a few hedge funds or the combined big money of millions of individuals, here is an interesting chart of “unicorns” from 2015 (startups with a valuation of at least a billion dollars). Taken from an old Fortune article, MG Siegler observes that just 6 years later, many are already much larger while other have disappeared. (Click to enlarge.)

This infographic can serve as a time capsule, and it will be interesting to see how things change in another 5 or 10 years. I support the ability to take big risks and seek to disrupt, but that also includes the acceptance of big failures. As long as they are publicly traded, I’ll be satisfied to own a part of the winners in my total market index funds.

Filed Under: Investing //

Best ETFs For Each Asset Class – DFA Alternatives for Small, Value, International, Emerging Markets

Posted on January 27, 2021 // 5 Comments

Some investors like to break down their investments into several different asset and sub-asset classes. For example, here is a pie chart showing the Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Portfolio recommended by Paul Merriman. You don’t need to hold every one of these asset classes, this is just an example with a lot of “slices”.

What is the best ETF to buy for each asset class? These days, there are multiple ETFs for nearly every sub-asset class or factor. The best ETF can depend on multiple factors, for example whether you buy it in a tax-deferred or taxable account. Established providers include Vanguard, iShares, Schwab, SPDR, and Invesco. (If you are planning to juggle this many ETFs, consider the automatic rebalancing “pie” feature of the brokerage firm M1 Finance.)

In the past, I have referred to this ETF list at Altruist Financial Advisors. As advisors affiliated with Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA), they are able to use DFA mutual funds to build portfolios for their clients. Unfortunately, DFA mutual funds are not available to the public, and so we have to look for the best alternatives. The page is updated every so often.

Recently, I have found this ETF list at PaulMerriman.com. In 2021, Merriman started recommending a new provider of ETFs called Avantis, which was born when several DFA employees split off and formed their own company. Here is part of his rationale:

What’s changed is the inclusion of the five Avantis funds (AVUS, AVUV, AVDE, AVDV and AVEM). Avantis is relatively new to the ETF space, having been introduced a little over a year ago. The company was founded by former DFA employees and follows a philosophy very consistent with the design of Paul’s portfolios. Over the course of the past year, their funds have matured to where we decided it was time to include them in our evaluation.

Here are the recommended Avantis ETFs:

  • Avantis US Equity ETF (AVUS)
  • Avantis US Small Cap Value ETF (AVUV)
  • Avantis International Equity ETF (AVDE)
  • Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF (AVDV)
  • Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF (AVEM)

DFA recently announced that they are also expanding into ETFs, which can be bought and sold by the general public in any brokerage account. These ETFs just started trading in late 2020:

  • Dimensional US Core Equity Market ETF (DFAU)
  • Dimensional International Core Equity Market ETF (DFAI)
  • Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Market ETF (DFAE)

My own portfolio has only a little bit of this added complexity, with a goal of adding some extra exposure to asset classes with a relatively long history of high risk-adjusted returns. These are interesting developments if you also invest in this way, but I don’t necessarily recommend you do so, as I also agree with Merriman in this regard:

In the end, it’s probably more important that you have an investment strategy you believe in and can stick with than that you have exactly the right funds for that strategy.

Do your research, and find an investment strategy that fits with your psychological temperament and investment beliefs. Being able to “keep the faith” and stick with your strategy through the inevitable ups and downs is the most important thing. For example, even if dividend income investing isn’t academic-theory-optimal, it may be psychologically-optimal for many people and has successfully funded many comfortable retirements. For many other people, the best option is something that they can set-and-forget. Accordingly, many people can create a comfortable retirement with a simple-yet-powerful Vanguard Target Date Retirement fund.

Filed Under: Investing //

How Robinhood Really Makes Money, and Why It No Longer Matters

Posted on January 26, 2021 // 11 Comments

While it seems that Robinhood and Gamestop are officially the new gambling version of a multiplayer online video game (CNBC, BI, Bloomberg), this story reminded me of this past Matt Levine article which is my favorite detailed-yet-understandable explanation of how Robinhood makes money. There have been many similar attempts to explain their business model, but this felt the most balanced. Even the footnotes are educational.

For example, he explains how the biggest brokers like TD Ameritrade used to handle payment for order flow, which you could equate to a discount on the stock price (“price improvement”):

“We’ll buy stock for you, you’ll pay us $5 to do it, we’ll get a discount on the stock and we’ll pass on 80% of the discount to you.”

Compare this with how Robinhood chose to do handle payment for order flow:

“We’ll buy stock for you, you won’t pay us to do it, we’ll get a discount on the stock and we’ll pass on 20% of the discount to you.”

Robinhood also happens to get paid more for their order flow than other brokerage firms. I’ve also explored this question back in 2018: Does Robinhood Brokerage Make Money in Shady or Questionable Ways? My basic conclusions were that:

  • Robinhood would be breaking the law if they broke the SEC rule of National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO) that requires brokers provide the best available bid and ask prices when buying and selling securities for customers. They wouldn’t do that, would they?
  • The order flow from Robinhood is probably more valuable because it is from small, retail investors (“dumb money”).

Well, it turns out that:

If you don’t read Matt Levine’s entire explanation, here is the bottom line: Robinhood customers were essentially being charged an extra roughly 3 to 5 cents a share through poorer execution prices. If you only traded a few shares, then you still basically paid nothing. If you traded 100 shares, that might add up to $3 to $5 total. Roughly breakeven. If you traded 1,000 shares, that might add up to $30 to $50 total. For some people, Robinhood’s “free trades” were a better deal. For others, Robinhood’s “free trades” were a much worse deal.

Supposedly, Robinhood doesn’t do this anymore and satisfies NBBO again. But it still shows the general way in which Robinhood makes money today. High-frequency trading firms pay somewhat higher prices for the trading flows from Robinhood users, and Robinhood keeps as much of that money as possible while still barely satisfying NBBO. Perhaps a smaller number on the order of a half-penny a share. Other firms like Fidelity proudly boast of how they do better than NBBO (“price improvement” again), which is also a quiet dig at Robinhood.

[Fidelity’s] price improvement can save investors $18.53 on average for a 1,000-share equity order, compared to the industry average of $4.25.

All this no longer matters because Robinhood is no longer the sweet spot for newbie traders. People like to make fun of the Robinhood name because in a way they secretly stole from the “poor” average traders and sold their orders to the “rich”. However, they also forced everyone from Fidelity to Schwab to all offer commission-free trades. Robinhood did deliver something to us common folk!

The important difference is that firms like Fidelity and Schwab still have wealthy clients that demand phone numbers with helpful humans that answer after only a few rings. Meanwhile, Robinhood only provides an overwhelmed e-mail address than can take days or weeks to finally address your problems.

When Robinhood first came on the scene, they were the new sweet spot for cheap trades for small balances. However, now that free trades are everywhere, the sweet spot in my opinion has now shifted to something like a Fidelity or Schwab account. You get total commission costs either equal to or lower than Robinhood, plus better customer service from more knowledgable reps. If you still prefer a trendy new app over a stuffy old broker, check out my Big List of Free Stocks For New Commission-Free Brokerage Apps. Most of them have a phone number, and they’ll be less busy. (WeBull, M1 Finance, and Firstrade for sure have phone numbers.)

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Investing //

Best Interest Rates on Cash – January 2021

Posted on January 6, 2021 // 2 Comments

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash for January 2021, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. I track these rates because I keep 12 months of expenses as a cash cushion and there are many lesser-known opportunities to improve your yield while still being FDIC-insured or equivalent. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you’d earn by moving money between accounts. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 1/6/2021.

Fintech accounts
Available only to individual investors, fintech accounts oftentimes pay higher-than-market rates in order to achieve high short-term growth. I will define “fintech” as an app software layer on top of a different bank’s FDIC insurance backbone. You should read about the story of the Beam app for potential pitfalls and best practices. Below are some current options with decent balance limits:

  • 3% APY on up to $100,000. New customers should be happy to see the top rate staying at 3% APY for January through March 2021. HM Bradley requires a recurring direct deposit every month and a saving rate of at least 20%. See my HM Bradley review.
  • 3% APY on 10% of direct deposits. One Finance lets you earn 3% APY on auto-save deposits (up to 10% of your direct deposit, up to $1,000 per month). See my One Finance review.
  • 3% APY on up to $15,000. Porte requires a one-time direct deposit of $1,000+ to open a savings account. See my Porte review.
  • 2.15% APY on up to $5k/$30k. Limited-time offer of free membership to their higher balance tier for 6 months with direct deposit. See my OnJuno review.

High-yield savings accounts
While the huge megabanks pay essentially no interest, it’s easy to open a new “piggy-back” savings account and simply move some funds over from your existing checking account. The interest rates on savings accounts can drop at any time, so I list the top rates as well as competitive rates from banks with a history of competitive rates. Some banks will bait you with a temporary top rate and then lower the rates in the hopes that you are too lazy to leave.

  • T-Mobile Money has the top rate at the moment at 1.00% APY with no minimum balance requirements. The main focus is on the 4% APY on your first $3,000 of balances as a qualifying T-mobile customer plus other hoops, but the lesser-known perk is the 1% APY for everyone. Thanks to the readers who helped me understand this. There are several other established high-yield savings accounts at closer to 0.50% APY for now.

Short-term guaranteed rates (1 year and under)
A common question is what to do with a big pile of cash that you’re waiting to deploy shortly (just sold your house, just sold your business, legal settlement, inheritance). My usual advice is to keep things simple and take your time. If not a savings account, then put it in a flexible short-term CD under the FDIC limits until you have a plan.

  • No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. Marcus has a 7-month No Penalty CD at 0.45% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. AARP members can get an 8-month CD at 0.55% APY. Ally Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.50% APY for all balance tiers. CIT Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.30% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit. You may wish to open multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
  • CommunityWide Federal Credit Union has a 12-month CD at 0.80% APY ($1,000 min). Early withdrawal penalty depends on how early you withdraw. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($5 one-time fee).

Money market mutual funds + Ultra-short bond ETFs
If you like to keep cash in a brokerage account, beware that many brokers pay out very little interest on their default cash sweep funds (and keep the difference for themselves). The following money market and ultra-short bond funds are NOT FDIC-insured and thus come with a possibility of principal loss, but may be a good option if you have idle cash and cheap/free commissions.

  • The default sweep option is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund which has an SEC yield of 0.02%. Vanguard Cash Reserves Federal Money Market Fund (formerly Prime Money Market) currently pays 0.02% SEC yield.
  • Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund currently pays 0.49% SEC yield ($3,000 min) and 0.59% SEC Yield ($50,000 min). The average duration is ~1 year, so there is more interest rate risk.
  • The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 0.28% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 0.50% SEC yield while holding a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months. Note that there was a sudden, temporary drop in net asset value during the March 2020 market stress.

Treasury Bills and Ultra-short Treasury ETFs
Another option is to buy individual Treasury bills which come in a variety of maturities from 4-weeks to 52-weeks. You can also invest in ETFs that hold a rotating basket of short-term Treasury Bills for you, while charging a small management fee for doing so. T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income taxes. Right now, this section isn’t very interesting as T-Bills are yielding close to zero!

  • You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 1/6/2020, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.09% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.11% annualized interest.
  • The Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF (GBIL) has a -0.01% SEC yield and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a -0.06% (!) SEC yield. GBIL appears to have a slightly longer average maturity than BIL.

US Savings Bonds
Series I Savings Bonds offer rates that are linked to inflation and backed by the US government. You must hold them for at least a year. If you redeem them within 5 years there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest. The annual purchase limit is $10,000 per Social Security Number, available online at TreasuryDirect.gov. You can also buy an additional $5,000 in paper I bonds using your tax refund with IRS Form 8888.

  • “I Bonds” bought between November 2020 and April 2021 will earn a 1.68% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More info here.
  • In mid-April 2021, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.
  • See below about EE Bonds as a potential long-term bond alternative.

Prepaid Cards with Attached Savings Accounts
A small subset of prepaid debit cards have an “attached” FDIC-insured savings account with exceptionally high interest rates. The negatives are that balances are severely capped, and there are many fees that you must be careful to avoid (lest they eat up your interest). Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others do. There is a long list of previous offers that have already disappeared with little notice. I don’t personally recommend nor use any of these anymore.

  • One of the few notable cards left in this category is Mango Money at 6% APY on up to $2,500, along with several hoops to jump through. Requirements include $1,500+ in “signature” purchases and a minimum balance of $25.00 at the end of the month.

Rewards checking accounts
These unique checking accounts pay above-average interest rates, but with unique risks. You have to jump through certain hoops which usually involve 10+ debit card purchases each cycle, and if you make a mistake you won’t earn any interest for that month. Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others would rather not bother. Rates can also drop suddenly, leaving a “bait-and-switch” feeling.

  • Consumers Credit Union Free Rewards Checking (my review) still offers up to 4.09% APY on balances up to $10,000 if you make $500+ in ACH deposits, 12 debit card “signature” purchases, and spend $1,000 on their credit card each month. The Bank of Denver has a Free Kasasa Cash Checking offering 2.50% APY on balances up to $25,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases and at least 1 ACH credit or debit transaction per statement cycle. (BoD now says debit transactions must be $5 minimum each and must reflect “normal, day-to-day spending behavior”.) If you meet those qualifications, you can also link a savings account that pays 1.50% APY on up to $50k. Thanks to reader Bill for the updated info. Presidential Bank has another competitive offering. Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

Certificates of deposit (greater than 1 year)
CDs offer higher rates, but come with an early withdrawal penalty. By finding a bank CD with a reasonable early withdrawal penalty, you can enjoy higher rates but maintain access in a true emergency. Alternatively, consider building a CD ladder of different maturity lengths (ex. 1/2/3/4/5-years) such that you have access to part of the ladder each year, but your blended interest rate is higher than a savings account. When one CD matures, use that money to buy another 5-year CD to keep the ladder going. Some CDs also offer “add-ons” where you can deposit more funds if rates drop.

  • Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union has a 5-year certificate at 1.50% APY ($500 minimum). Early withdrawal penalty is 1 year of interest. 4-year at 1.20% APY, and 3-year at 0.95% APY ($500 minimum). Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($25 one-time fee).
  • Hiway Federal Credit Union has a 5-year certificate at 1.35% APY ($25k minimum) and 1.25% APY with a $10,000 minimum. Early withdrawal penalty is 1 year of interest. 4-year at 1.20% APY, and 3-year at 1.10% APY ($25k minimum). Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).
  • You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. I see nothing special right now, but it might still pay more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Be wary of higher rates from callable CDs listed by Fidelity.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk, but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

  • Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs from Fidelity.
  • How about two decades? Series EE Savings Bonds are not indexed to inflation, but they have a unique guarantee that the value will double in value in 20 years, which equals a guaranteed return of 3.5% a year. However, if you don’t hold for that long, you’ll be stuck with the normal rate which is quite low (currently 0.10%). I view this as a huge early withdrawal penalty. But if holding for 20 years isn’t an issue, it can also serve as a hedge against prolonged deflation during that time. Purchase limit is $10,000 each calendar year for each Social Security Number. As of 1/6/2021, the 20-year Treasury Bond rate was 1.60%.

All rates were checked as of 1/6/2021.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing //

What If You Invested $10,000 Every Year For the Last 10 Years? 2021 Edition

Posted on January 5, 2021 // 10 Comments

Instead of focusing only on what happened in 2020, how about stepping back and taking the longer view? How would a slow-and-steady investor have done over the last decade? Most successful savers invest money each year over a long period of time, these days often into a target-date fund (TDF). You may not find yourself buying Bugattis with Bitcoin, but we should not take for granted the ability for everyday folks to own a basket of successful businesses for tiny fees. Don’t pass up the opportunity right in front of you.

Target date funds. The Vanguard Target Retirement 2045 Fund is an all-in-one fund that is low-cost, highly diversified, and available both inside many employer retirement plans and to anyone that funds an IRA. During the early accumulation phase, this fund holds 90% stocks (both US and international) and 10% bonds (investment-grade domestic and international). It is a solid default choice in a world of mediocre, overpriced options. These “simple” funds have made substantial wealth for millions of investors.

The power of consistent, tax-advantaged investing. For the last decade, the maximum allowable annual contribution to a Traditional or Roth IRA has been roughly $5,000 per person. The maximum allowable annual contribution for a 401k, 403b, or TSP plan has been over $10,000 per person. If you have a household income of $67,000, then $10,000 is right at the 15% savings rate mark. Therefore, I’m going to use $10,000 as a benchmark amount. This round number also makes it easy to multiply the results as needed to match your own situation. Save $5,000 a year? Halve the result. Save $20,000 a year? Double the numbers, and so on.

The real-world payoff from a decade of saving $833 a month. What would have happened if you put $10,000 a year into the Vanguard Target Retirement 2045 Fund, every year, for the past 10 years? You’d have put in $100,000 over time, but in more manageable increments. With the interactive tools at Morningstar and a Google spreadsheet, we get this:

Investing $10,000 every year for the last decade would have resulted in a total balance of $184,000. That breaks down to $100k in contributions + $84k investment growth.

Extended edition: 15 years of real-world savings. What would have happened if you put $10,000 a year into the Vanguard Target Retirement 2045 Fund, every year, for the past 15 years instead? (Now $150,000 total.) Here are the extended return numbers:

Investing $10,000 every year for the last decade and a half would have resulted in a total balance of $324,000. That breaks down to $150k in contributions + $175k investment growth. Your gains are now officially more than what you initially invested.

Real-world path to becoming a 401(k) millionaire. Not theoretical numbers from a calculator! Are you a dual-income household that can put away more? If you were a couple that both maxed out their 401k and IRAs at roughly $20k each or $40k total per year for 10 years, you would have a total balance of over $735,000. You would be 3/4 of the way to millionaire status after a decade. That breaks down to $400k in contributions + $335k investment growth.

If you did this for the last 15 years, you would be a 401(k) millionaire household. If you started when you were 30 years old, your account statement would show a balance just shy of $1,300,000 by the age of 45. (This doesn’t include the 401k company match, which is how many people reach millionaire status even faster.)

Timing still matters, but not as much as you might think due to the dollar-cost averaging and longer time horizon. Yes, the last decade has been a great run for US stock markets. But Vanguard Target funds also own a lot of international stocks, which haven’t been nearly as hot and have maintained lower valuations. More importantly, you can’t control that part. You have much more control over how much you save. Here are my previous “saving for a decade” posts:

Work on improving your career skills (or start your own business), save a big chunk of your income, and then invest it in productive assets. Keep calm and repeat. The only “secret” here is consistency. We have maxed out both IRA and the 401k salary deferral limits nearly every year since 2004. No inheritances, no special access to a hedge fund, no stock-picking skill. You can build serious wealth with something as accessible and boring as the Vanguard Target Retirement fund.

Filed Under: Inspirational, Investing, Retirement //

Major Asset Class Returns, 2020 Year-End Review

Posted on January 3, 2021 // 3 Comments

yearendreview

In terms of your retirement accounts, 2020 was definitely a year where it helped to simply ignore the constant market news and hold onto the assets that you believe have long-term promise. It was also a good year to own the entire haystack. Here are the annual returns for select asset classes as benchmarked by ETFs per Morningstar after market close 12/31/20.

Commentary. This NYT article explains Why Markets Boomed in a Year of Human Misery. A big part of that is the huge amount of money the US government and Federal Reserve will be spending around a trillion dollars on unemployment insurance benefits, stimulus checks, and forgivable PPP loans. The Federal Reserve also kept it easy for corporations to borrow money with liquidity and near-zero interest rates, but whether this keeps working for every future crisis is a big question.

The second major lesson is that we are bad at forecasting, so why listen to forecasts again at the beginning of 2020? Returns for 2021 could very well be much worse than 2020, even as we are soon able to see our family and friends in person again. I plan to focus on preparation instead of forecasting in all part of my life. In terms of investing, how can I make my portfolio and future income more resilient?

Investing at all-time highs might seem like a bad idea, but it actually hasn’t been historically. All asset classes were up at the end of 2019 as well. What I wrote last year applies again this year:

I won’t lie – I am pleasantly surprised at my brokerage statement this year, but I’m also wary about future returns. What keeps me owning a big chunk of stocks is that I am confident that the hundreds of business that I own through these ETFs and mutual funds will collectively make a profit, reinvest some of it to keep growing, and distribute some of it to me in the form of cash dividends. I am also confident that my US government bonds, municipal bonds, and FDIC/NCUA-insured bank certificates will keep the panic if a market drop does come.

The Vanguard Target Retirement 2045 fund (roughly 90% diversified stocks and 10% bonds) was up 16.3% in 2020. The benchmark for our personal portfolio, a more conservative mix of 70% stocks/30% bonds as we are closer to retirement, was up 11.5% in 2020.

Bitcoin. I didn’t list BTC because I don’t see it as a major asset class. The total value of all BTC in the world is now $600 billion (even at the current price of $32,000). The total market cap of gold is about $10 trillion. I have no well-researched predictions of about the long-term prospects of BTC. I’d only go as far as saying there is a case for a lottery-ticket-style investment of BTC, but I’d avoid nearly all the other random cryptocurrencies. (As in, I’d rather own BTC than spend what the average American does on lottery tickets, which adds up to over $250/year for every adult!) The appeal of BTC is that there is a finite amount (especially after the recent halving), and all these additional coins go against that. I own about 0.25 BTC via the Voyager app from a couple years back ($25 referral bonus).

Filed Under: Investing //

GMO 7-Year Asset Class Return Forecast Check-in: 2020 vs. 2013

Posted on December 22, 2020 // 2 Comments

Although I avoid daily stock market quotes, I have been reading Jeremy Grantham’s quarterly letters and the GMO 7-Year Asset Class Return Forecasts for over 10 years now. These projections are based on their proprietary models, with a strong focus on historical valuation. Each year, I can now compare their current forward-looking forecast against how their past forecasts have turned out. Here’s the GMO forecast looking forward as of November 2020:

Here was their forecast back in July 2013:

Using the S&P 500 as US Large Cap, we see that the forecast of -2.1% annualized real return was quite far off. ETFReplay shows that both the IVV and VOO S&P 500 ETFs returned +117% between July 30, 2013 to July 30, 2020. That is an annualized return of 11.7%. SmartAsset shows annual inflation ran 1.8% during that time. That results in a 7-year annualized real (inflation-adjusted) return of 9.9% between July 2013 and July 2020.

One takeaway here is that making investment moves (market timing) based on valuation can be quite unreliable and painful. If you’re out of the market and get it wrong, when do you go back in? You’ll have to swallow your pride and admit a mistake. In my experience, it is simply easier to do nothing than to jump in and out. Instead, I use these forecasts to help me remain a buy-hold-and-rebalance investor. Here’s how:

  • They usually temper the urge to put all your money in hot and popular asset classes. They help keep your expectations reasonable. For example, right now it is unreasonable to expect another 7 years of 10% annual returns from the S&P 500.
  • They usually provide support for rebalancing and buying more of beaten-down and currently unpopular asset classes. Manage your risk.
  • They remind you that future 5/7/10-year bond returns will be very close to current 5/7/10-year bond yields.
Filed Under: Investing //

Free Investing Book PDF – 12 Simple Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement (Two Funds for Life)

Posted on December 15, 2020 // 1 Comment

Paul Merriman is a long-time financial advisor known for his “Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Portfolio” that utilized a more complex 10-fund version of a low-cost index fund portfolio. Although now retired from advising, he continues to add new content to his website for the Merriman Financial Education Foundation that is geared more towards to DIY investors.

He has published a new book called We’re Talking Millions!: 12 Simple Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement by himself and co-author Richard Buck. For a very limited-time, you can download this book in PDF format for free. I would recommend downloading it now and saving it to read later. I haven’t read it yet, but a quick skim shows that it appears to be a condensed version of everything on his site.

This book is designed to show you how you can change your life by making a handful of smart choices. It’s a recipe for potentially accumulating millions of dollars you can spend in retirement and leave to your heirs. […] But one thing is new: an action plan that applies them in a single solution that can be carried out easily by just about anybody who has a job. We call this plan Two Funds for Life.

Much of the 12 steps are based on common personal-finance advice, and they are still good advice. But if you’re looking for what Merriman offers that is different, that’s the “Two Funds for Life”. It appears that Merriman is still a strong believer in the future outperformance of small-cap value stocks. Here are the bare basics:

The basic Two Funds for Life recommendation for your 401(k) plan is pretty simple:

• Multiply your age by 1.5.
• Use the result as the percentage of your portfolio that should be in a target-date retirement fund. The rest goes into a small company value fund.
• As you get older, rebalance these two funds periodically, ideally once a year, based on your age at the time. This will gradually reduce your small-company value exposure.

Based on this formula, a 30 year-old today would hold 55% of their portfolio in a low-cost US Small-Cap Value index fund and 45% in a Vanguard Target 2055 Retirement Fund (assuming retirement at age 65). The Small-Cap Value percentage decreases each year by 1.5%. By the time they are 65 years-old, they would effectively transitioned to 100% Vanguard Target Retirement (Income) fund.

I appreciate the simplicity as this is much easier than juggling 10 funds yourself (Merriman also recommends M1 Finance to manage your DIY portfolio automatically). Still, 55% is a lot to hold in Small Value and you will definitely want to have read enough about company size and value factor investing and have faith in the fundamental reasons behind this approach before implementing this plan. I’m sure the book will contain his supporting evidence, but you should read about all the drawbacks as well before making the final decision. I own a small-cap value fund myself, and you must accept that small value stocks have gone through very long periods of underperformance relative to the S&P 500.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Investing, Retirement //
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