Ask Rande 10,000+
- Rande
- Rande
- mdorsey
- Rande
- QQQless
- Rande
- QQQless
- Rande
- CalWine
- Rande
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» Rande - Re: knowledgeable CPA
In response to message posted by Dirk:Dirk,
If you don't already have one, you could ask around for referrals (from friends, business associates, etc.). Another good source is your state society or the AICPA. Following is for CA Society of CPAs:
Click on "Find a CPA." You should end up here (search engine page):
http://www.calcpa.org/ask/find/index.html
You can also try the following:
-- posted by Rande
» mdorsey - Re: Bond Funds Now?
In response to message posted by CalWine:I am not Rande but, bonds and bond funds have a great price increase in the last 18 months. That said, if you are looking to hold these bond funds for the long term for income the change in NAV going forward will be offset by increased yield over time. So go ahead. Many people your age have 50% of their portfolio in fixed income.
-- posted by mdorsey
» Rande - Re: Bond Funds Now?
In response to message posted by CalWine:
Alan,
I would agree with Mike -- with bond funds, over time the yield will fall and the NAV will rise just as the yield will rise and the NAV will fall. Given a long-term time horizon, it all evens out in the end and if your expectations are for something in the 5-6% range on coupon with no material capital appreciation/depreciaion when it's all said and done, then I don't think you'll be disappointed. So long as you're able to ignore the short-term ups and downs and stay the course, that is. Most important is having a mix of bonds and stocks that you're comfortable with within the context of your long-terms goals, objectives, needs, and personal preference. My favorite all-purpose taxable bond fund is the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index -- great diversification, duration in the low end of the intermediate range, high quality, and low expenses. Everything you should be looking for in a bond fund. Good luck.
BTW -- Is that a recent picture? We should all look so good at 60! 
-- posted by Rande
» QQQless - Index funds
Rande, if you have previously discussed index funds and whether they may properly be regarded as an "all seasons" investment vehicle, I apologize for bringing up the question again. But I frankly don't know to what extent an investor may properly commit the equity portion of his or her portfolio to a fund such as Vanguard Total Stock Market Index. Is this the kind of fund that can provide stability and appreciation over a period of years? Diversification seems good, and costs at Vanguard are low. I am looking at a tax-deferred account with a time horizon of ten or more years until withdrawal. I'd appreciate knowing your thinking on this question. If you think index funds can play a part in an equity investment portfolio, what do you think of Vanguard? Are there others that are worth looking at?-- posted by QQQless
» Rande - Re: Index funds
In response to message posted by QQQless:QQQless,
I don't see a problem whatsoever with using the Total Market Index fund for the entire U.S. equity allocation. You'd own "everything" -- S&P, Dow, Naz, value, growth, large, mid, small, old economy, new economy, etc. Won't do as well as if you had everything in the right place ahead of time, but you also won't do as poorly as if you had everything in the wrong place ahead of time. But you'll do well over long periods of time with a lot less volatility in the short run, and that's not bad -- especially if it helps you stay the course. And since it's impossible to know ahead of time where the best place will be, why not own everything in a market weighting and let the market decide?
In fact, you could do worse than to index the whole portfolio with just three funds. For example, a 50/50 portfolio might be allocated as follows:
40% Total US Stock Market Index (fund or VTI)
10% Total International Stock Market Index fund
50% Total Bond Market Index fund
Talk about a "gone fishing" portfolio that's not only low-cost and tax-efficient, but also likely to outperform the majority of active managers over long periods of time. Is such an approach for everyone? Probably not. In the real world, investors get itchy, they crave some action, and hate to be "average." A compromise might be to dedicate the bulk of the core portfolio (80-90%) to a passive approach and use the rest to "explore" with actively-managed funds, individual stock selection, sector weightings, etc. If you're lucky, you might add some value from time to time. And, if not, you haven't put your entire financial future on the line. Either way, you've satisified what Keynes called the "animal spirits" with a small amount to the point where you can just let the grass grow with the rest.
-- posted by Rande
» QQQless - Re: Re: Index funds
In response to message posted by Rande:Thanks, Rande, for a very good answer. I'm going to give some serious thought to this and consider the pros and the cons of doing something like what you suggest. At the moment my tax deferred accounts are all in cash, so when I begin to build a porfolio I will have a lot of freedom in making choices.
-- posted by QQQless
» Rande - Re: Re: Re: Index funds
In response to message posted by QQQless:Q,
To the extent you include active management, the deferred accounts could be a good place for it all things being equal. But, while index funds have the added advantage of tax efficiency when held in taxable accounts, I'd definitely focus on the asset allocation and investment decision first and foremost. Then, to the extent you can be tax efficient in your implementation it might make sense to put the higher turnover stuff in the deferred accounts. Good luck.
-- posted by Rande
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