Archives for April 2022

Vanguard’s Special Tax-Efficient ETF and Mutual Fund Combo

Posted on April 28, 2022 // 4 Comments

This is a bit of an “inside baseball” topic appealing only to serious DIY investors, but I found this FT article about Vanguard’s unique tax-efficient fund structure quite interesting. Apparently, Vanguard has both a patent and special SEC permission that allows it have have a mutual fund and ETF version of the identical underlying portfolio, just as different share classes. The patent expires in 2023, but the SEC may not give other fund providers the special permission:

Vanguard’s “exchange traded fund-as-a-share-class” structure allows the Pennsylvanian powerhouse to operate a mutual fund and a sister ETF as essentially the same vehicle, generating superior tax efficiency and economies of scale.

As we saw with the Vanguard Target Retirement fund fiasco, if a mutual fund has to sell shares a whole, it can generate a lot of taxable capital gains that get distributed to all individual mutual fund holders even if they didn’t sell themselves. The article explains how ETFs have a different tax structure that allows more separation, and how sharing a portfolio with ETFs benefits Vanguard mutual fund holders.

The arrangement has provided clear tax deferral benefits for investors, however, due to a quirk in US capital gains tax regulations.

When mutual fund investors redeem, the sale of underlying holdings in a “cash” transaction potentially triggers a tax liability for all investors, even those not redeeming.

In contrast, the in-kind transactions that ETFs typically engage in means trading activity occurs outside of the fund so there is no tax “pass-through”.

By bolting together a mutual fund and an ETF, Vanguard is able to siphon securities that have appreciated out of the mutual fund into the ETF and dispose of them via an AP, so the tax liability is not triggered.

“That was the origin of the Vanguard plan. They started this because they had an awful lot of capital gains build up and thought ‘can we not kick it out?’” Pershkow said.

This did make me wonder about the flip side – are ETF investors even a little bit exposed to the mutual fund side? If there was a market crisis severe enough that a huge amount of mutual fund assets were suddenly sold off, might that create a large enough capital gain that the ETFs could not “absorb” it through their structure? Could ETF holders then still be stuck with a shared capital gains distribution?

ETFs and mutual funds now have different expense ratios. Vanguard launched their first index ETF, the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), back in 2001. For many years, Vanguard kept the expense ratio of the (admiral) mutual fund and ETF share classes exactly the same. However, these days there is a slight differential. It seems obvious to me that ETFs are cheaper for Vanguard to manage, and they are trying to avoid the ETF holders having to subsidize the mutual fund holders. A few examples:

  • Vanguard Total Stock Market: ETF 0.03% vs. Mutual Fund 0.04%
  • Vanguard Total International Stock: ETF 0.07% vs. Mutual Fund 0.11%
  • Vanguard Total Bond Market: ETF 0.04% vs. Mutual Fund 0.05%
  • Vanguard Total International Bond: ETF 0.07% vs. Mutual Fund 0.11%

Tax-free mutual fund to ETF conversions. This leads back to an actionable reminder. If held at Vanguard, these 18 mutual funds [pdf] can be converted to ETFs in a tax-free conversion and leave you with a lower expense ratio. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a a way to do this online. You may need to test out Vanguard’s phone customer service.

The PDF covers a few of the pros and cons of mutual funds vs. ETFs.

Each mutual fund and its corresponding ETF carry the same degree of risk because—as 2 share classes of the same fund—they invest in identical portfolios of underlying stocks and bonds. The most noticeable differences are:

– ETFs have much lower investment minimums because you only have to buy 1 share at a time, not meet a $3,000 (or higher) minimum.
– ETFs are priced in real time throughout the trading day, whereas mutual funds are priced once, at the end of the day.

I would also add:

  • Buying a mutual fund used to be a lot simpler than buying an ETF if you just wanted to buy a fixed amount like $500 worth, but with many brokerages offering fractional shares, it’s less of an issue now. However, Vanguard itself does not support fractional shares. All things equal, I still enjoy the relative ease of dollar-based purchases of mutual funds at Vanguard.
  • When you buy an ETF, you may buy at a premium or discount to net asset value (NAV). In contrast, mutual fund purchases and redemptions are always done exactly at end-of-day NAV. In some cases, the difference may be larger than any expense ratio differences. Of course, the random intraday fluctuations may be greater than the NAV premium/discount as well.

One partial (but more complicated) solution is to occasionally convert your holding ETFs if you accumulate a sizable amount such that the expense ratio difference is significant. But for new purchases, use the mutual fund as long as you can meet the initial minimums. This way, most of your holdings will be the ETFs at the lower expense ratio.

In the end, these are relatively small differences in expense ratio. 0.01% ER difference times $100,000 = $10 a year. You will need to accumulate a sizable portfolio before the values are in the hundreds of dollars per year.

Filed Under: Investing //

Mastercard Free ID Theft Protection and Credit Monitoring

Posted on April 28, 2022 // 9 Comments

Update April 2022: Just a quick update that this has been a useful, additional free identity theft protection service. Today, I electronically signed some “power of attorney”-type papers through Docusign and they had me answer some identity verification questions like “which address have you been associated with?” that pulled from my credit reports and driver’s license data. Immediately, I got the following alert from Mastercard Identity Protection that even included the exact questions asked:

Previously, this service has also alerted me that my personal information like name/email have been found in data breaches from random websites like autoexpresscars.com and drivesure.com. These are all events that did not trigger any alerts from my other credit bureau-based monitoring services. Therefore, I feel signing up for this additional free service rounds them out. Services like Docusign are useful but open you up to potentially more severe cases of fraud.

Original post:

Data breaches are scary fact of life these days. If you have a Mastercard, did you know that they offer a Mastercard ID Theft Protection service to cardholders for free? If you activate it, Mastercard has paid on your behalf for a private-label identity theft protection service provided by Generali Global Assistance, Inc. (GGA). The same way that Safeway doesn’t actually make their generic version of Cheerios, Mastercard has outsourced this service. Thanks to reader Bill P for the tip.

Services are provided by Generali Global Assistance, Inc. (GGA), one of the largest providers of private-label identity protection services in the United States. GGA has handled thousands of identity-related cases and has protected millions of customers since it began offering the service in 2003. GGA’s in-house identity theft resolution specialists are certified identity theft risk management specialists – CITRMS® certification by the Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE) and FCRA-certification (Fair Credit Reporting Act by the Consumer Data Industry Association).

You’ll receive an alert if there’s a change to your TransUnion credit report (e.g., new inquiries, new accounts, updated personal information by creditors). That’s nice, but I already get more comprehensive coverage from all three bureaus than this from my combination of Credit Sesame, Credit Karma, and FreeCreditScore.

The difference that caught my eye was their emphasis on full-service, human help if you do become a victim of identity theft. Emphasis mine:

This program is designed to help protect you from identity theft and provide full-service, hands-on assistance in the event of an incident. Studies have shown that the largest cost to victims of identity theft is lost time and stress associated with figuring out how to restore their identity, including replacing cards and documents while communicating with creditors to dispute fraudulent activity. In the event of an incident, we will assign you with a personal case manager to help you resolve issues, saving you countless hours and reducing the stress associated with identity theft.

Their package of services includes: identity theft affidavit assistance and submission, creditor notification, dispute and follow-up, 3-bureau fraud alert placement, inform police/legal authorities, placement of credit freeze and opt-out services provided by certified identity theft resolution specialists.

These could be hollow claims, but hopefully they are truly helpful in taking care of these things on your behalf. If you have a Mastercard, it may be another worthwhile service to add to your defenses.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers, Insurance //

I Savings Bonds: Nearly 10% Yield + 10X More Popular!

Posted on April 24, 2022 // 16 Comments

Nothing like a 10% yield with no principal risk to attract more attention to a quiet little investment option. The WSJ has a new article What Are I Bonds? Everything You Need to Know to Earn Nearly 10% Interest as a follow-up to The Safe Investment That Will Soon Yield Almost 10% (paywall?). No groundbreaking discoveries, but you might find something useful as they are admittedly more complicated than a traditional bank savings account. Here’s an interesting stat of how TreasuryDirect is selling several billions of dollars more than in previous years:

Americans snatched up nearly $11 billion in I Bonds, which are inflation-adjusted U.S. savings bonds, over the past six months, compared with around $1.2 billion during the same period in 2020 and 2021, according to Treasury Department records. That figure will likely rise even higher on an expected jump in rates next month.

Another common question is to buy this week in April or wait until May. Here is another perspective:

I Bonds will be subject to at least one rate change in a 12-month period. Elliot Pepper, a financial planner in Baltimore, doesn’t know what the next rate after 9.6% will be. So, he’ll try to mitigate the risk that it will be lower than 7.12% by taking half of his annual limit and “locking in” the combined 7.12% and 9.6% and then buying the remaining $5,000 in late October, when he has more visibility about the next rate.

If the rate then is lower than 7.12%, Mr. Pepper said he would have been better off investing his $10,000 maximum before May. If the rate is higher than 7.12%, he would have been better off buying the bonds after May, he said.

My view remains that historically, a 7.12% inflation rate is much higher than average. So if you take a step back, your options are:

7.12% for 6 months + 9.62% for 6 months + ??? for 6 months

Or:

9.62% for 6 months + ??? for 6 months + ???? for 6 months

I’d rather lock in the 7.12% over an unknown number. However, if the new rate in October does end up being even higher, I will still eventually get that future ??? rate as a long-term holder of I bonds (it’ll just be shifted six months later). Finally, you get to start earning the interest a month earlier if bought in April. As I had the cash available in other low-interest vehicles, I saw no reason to wait. I’ve already maxed out for 2022 and 2021 (and 2020 and 2019…)

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Vanguard Customer Service Complaints

Posted on April 22, 2022 // 70 Comments

Vanguard is based right outside of Philadelphia, so the Philadelphia Inquirer often provides helpful insights on the company. Their new article Vanguard clients take to social media over customer service mishaps (possible paywall?) provides a good overview of the ongoing customer service concerns at Vanguard. I guess I am not alone.

“If I’m calling, it’s because I really need someone,” said Blumenkrantz, a 68-year-old retiree of the Internal Revenue Service. He needed help finding the correct amount for a required minimum distribution from an IRA. After posting on Vanguard’s Facebook account, “I got a boilerplate response directing me to the same phone number I’ve been unsuccessfully using.”

Loyal Vanguard clients, such as Blumenkrantz, are coming out publicly — in interviews, on social media, and in letters to the company — saying they’re fed up with what they see as declining customer service.

As a decades-long customer myself, it’s not just that Vanguard is growing fast because they have a suddenly popular product that they just can’t keep up. That might be understandable. What is annoying is that they are consciously spending even more money on advertising, questionable marketing arrangements, and annoying pop-up ads when I log into my account to grow even faster, while obviously not spending the same amount on hiring enough skilled staff.

It’s like they keep cramming more people on the bus, while yelling “Hey everyone! Get on the bus!”, while not making the bus any bigger.

via GIPHY

Internally, Vanguard customer service reps say that they’re overwhelmed.

“I never thought I’d have to tell a client looking to transfer $1 million to call back because of call volumes,” said one person currently working at Vanguard. “The only way to fix the issue is by mass hiring.”

The Inquirer article also included some results from JD Power’s customer satisfaction surveys, showing that Vanguard phone support was a weak point relative to Fidelity and Schwab.

I would love to be able to recommend Vanguard without any reservations. Right now, I can only recommend buying their ETFs from a commission broker where you are comfortable. Using their favored nautical terms: I feel the Vanguard ship is headed in the wrong direction. I am still hopeful that Vanguard will steer the ship back on course.

Filed Under: Investing //

Till Financial Review: Kid Banking App That Teaches Compound Interest

Posted on April 21, 2022 // 17 Comments

There are many apps in the “reloadable debit card for kids” category, where parents can transfer money into their account and kids can spend it. However, I have been looking for a better app that can illustrate the power of compound interest and deferred gratification. Till Financial allows the parent to incentivize savings via both custom matching and interest amounts. The idea is to provide them a safe place to fail and learn, such that they don’t have to learn it later through missed opportunities and credit card debt. Here are some important highlights followed by details about my favorite features:

  • No monthly fees. No premium tier exists, so not even requests to “upgrade”.
  • Child can be of any age. Family owner must be 18+.
  • Free virtual and optional physical Visa debit card.
  • Now supports both iOS and Android app.
  • Banking services provided by Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC.
  • No interest paid.

Match each savings contribution. Parents can encourage transfers to savings by matching each transfer by a custom percentage. For example, if they move $10 from their Spend bucket to the Savings bucket, you might match another $5 or $10. Any transfers both in and out of savings must be approved by a parent/admin account.

Pay monthly “interest” on savings balances. Parents can also encourage savings accumulation by paying a custom “interest” rate. For example, you might pay them 5% or 10% monthly for a while and see if they notice how fast it can compound if they don’t touch it. 5% growth every month compounded for a year is +80% growth, i.e. $100 would turn into $180. 10% growth every month compounded for a year is +213% growth, i.e. $100 would turn into $313!

Automatic weekly allowance or one-time transfers. You set the allowance to “auto-pilot” once a week, or just give manually.

Save for a specific goal. Your child can set a goal (ex. $100 for Airpods) and then redirect their allowance, other income, or requested gifts from friends and family into that goal.

Tasks. You can create a menu of specific tasks along with specific payouts (ex. $25 for mowing the lawn.) Tasks can be made available daily, weekly, or on a one-time basis.

If it’s free, how does Till plan on making money? This quote from TechCrunch sums it up well:

Besides making money on interchange fees, Till aims to earn revenue by partnering with merchants to offer rewards to users. It also plans to earn referral fees by referring the teens to other financial institutions when they get older and have different needs.

“It’s not our intention to be your son or daughter’s forever bank. It’s our intention to be their first bank,” Burton said. “So, when they hit the age of majority, we’re actually giving them a high-five off of our platform and introducing them to maybe their first college loan or their first credit card.”

Does Till offer a sign-up bonus for new customers? Yes, if you apply at this link and enter my referral code JP8548 during sign-up, you will get $25 (now only $10?) once you set up an account, create a family, fund, and make one debit card purchase transaction. My cash bonus arrived without problem.

My kids are still on the younger side, so I have been using this mostly as a virtual piggy bank for my kids so far, as they can log into their account and see the (growing) balance. I expect to gradually allow them to handle money and take some responsibility for their spending and saving decisions.

Bottom line. If you are looking for an educational spending app for your kids, check out Till. This is not a “high interest” account, but more about showing them how compound interest and consistent savings adds up. Hopefully, they can use the app to learn deferred gratification in a real-world environment. There is currently a referral bonus for new customers.

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

Warren Buffett Charlie Rose Interview 2022 (Berkshire Annual Meeting)

Posted on April 21, 2022 // 1 Comment

The 2022 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting will be held in-person in Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday, April 30th. It will also be streamed live via CNBC webcast starting at 8:45am Central Time (6:45 Pacific).

As a sort of promotion for the annual meeting, Warren Buffett recently did an interview with Charlie Rose, embedded below.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, talks to Charlie about the company he created, his friends, his values, and life at 91.

 

If you aren’t very familiar with Buffett, the hour-long interview serves as a good overview of his advice and observations. As a long-time follower, I didn’t notice any new insights (he’s probably saving the good stuff for the annual meeting). Certain media latched on his comments about Elon Musk, which didn’t sound unreasonable to me:

“That shows what America produces. I mean, Elon, didn’t–he’s taking on General Motors, Ford, Toyota, all these people who’ve got all the stuff, and he’s got an idea. And he’s winning. That’s America. You can’t dream it up. It’s astounding,” Buffett said.

Buffett has done a great job keeping his daily life focused and simple. He doesn’t write emails (which means he doesn’t have to sift through spam everyday like me!). He doesn’t check social media. He doesn’t have a huge car collection, watch collection, art collection, or house collection. He just tells his support team if he wants to make a stock or bond trade, and they handle it for him. He can focus on talking to the right people, absorbing important information, and making big decisions in a swift manner. I wouldn’t do the same things myself, but he does what he finds purposeful.

Finally, he is happy that he has earned the trust of millions of people regarding the stewardship of their hard-earned money. Teaching is all about making a complex subject easier to understand. Warren Buffett likes to teach, and that is what makes him special to a DIY investor like me.

Filed Under: Investing //

Know What You Own: Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) Infographic

Posted on April 19, 2022 // 3 Comments

Often you’ll hear investment advice like “just buy an index fund and forget about it”, but when a severe crisis occurs, it’s really hard to just forget about it. Substitute advice like “sell now and wait for the dust to settle” may start to sound equally wise. It’s harder to maintain faith in an investment if you don’t understand what you actually own.

As an example, I own real estate investment trusts, and Visual Capitalist just published a handy infographic on The World’s Largest Real Estate Investment Trusts. They are all headquartered in the United States, which makes them also the top 10 holdings of the Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ).

In fact, these ten companies make up about 50% of VNQ. Here’s a quick peek at what specific types of real estate properties these companies own.

  • Prologis. This industrial REIT manages things like warehouses and distribution centers. Their largest customers are Amazon.com, Home Depot, and FedEx.
  • American Tower. This communications REIT owns communications infrastructure like cellular towers. Their largest customers are AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
  • Crown Castle. This communications REIT owns communications infrastructure like cellular towers. Their largest customers are AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
  • Public Storage. This self-storage REIT is the largest self-storage brand in the US.
  • Equinix. This data center REIT manages internet connection and data centers. Their customers include Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Meta/Facebook, and Nokia.
  • Simon Property Group. This mall REIT manages shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. The largest of their 200+ properties all around the country is King of Prussia in Philadelphia.
  • Welltower. This healthcare REIT owns senior housing (independent living, assisted living and memory care communities), post-acute care, and outpatient care centers.
  • Digital Realty. This data center REIT owns “carrier-neutral data centers and provides colocation and peering services” for hundreds of large companies.
  • Realty Income. This commercial REIT specializes in free-standing, single-tenant commercial properties that work on triple net lease agreements (the lessee handles property taxes, insurance, and maintenance on the properties). Largest tenants include Walgreens, Dollar General, 7-11, and Dollar Tree.
  • AvalonBay Communities. This residential REIT invests in apartment complexes.

REITs own a wide variety of real estate that touch our lives every day. You may live in or drive by an apartment complex, shop at a Walgreens, have your Amazon order shipped from, connect your phone to 4G/5G from, or be browsing a website that pays rent to one of these companies. When the next crisis inevitably occurs, you should remember that your investment in REITs owns a part of all these physical properties. Yes, their stock market price may drop for a while, but you are still owning critical infrastructure for the economy that isn’t going anywhere.

With a market-cap weighting, you will always own the most successful REITs. Would I have invested in data centers on my own? Cell towers? Public storage? The good news is that I don’t need to know.

Here is the historical chart for the Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ). $10,000 invested at inception in 1996 would be worth $130,000 today with dividends reinvested. A traditional rental property would have also appreciated a lot over the last 25 years, but there are also several variables in the mix (leverage via mortgage, interest paid, repair/maintenance costs, time spent, taxes, deprecation, deferred capital gains, etc.) I am still fascinated by the idea, but for now owning real property via REITs suits my lifestyle and personality much better.

Filed Under: Investing, Retirement //

INVEST: New American Express and Vanguard Co-Branded Robo-Advisor

Posted on April 18, 2022 // 7 Comments

I had to double-check the date when I received the press release for this product to make sure it wasn’t April 1st. 🤯 INVEST is a new partnership between Vanguard and American Express, but Vanguard provides all of the financial investment advice. More accurately, Vanguard is paying a credit card company to find new customers and charging those new customers higher prices to cover the marketing costs. Yes, the same Vanguard that made its brand by putting its customers first, selling direct, and not paying sales commissions to financial advisors though big upfront loads on mutual funds. Somebody please create an animated GIF with Jack Bogle shaking his disappointed head. 😞

Another step towards the “New” Vanguard(TM). I wonder how many “consultants” were involved. Ah well, I suppose I should take a closer look anyway.

  • Annual gross advisory fee of 0.50%. (Waived for the first 90 days.)
  • Minimum $10,000 to eligible assets to start.
  • Includes Vanguard’s digital advisory platform.
  • Access to a 30-minute consultation where you can talk with a Vanguard advisor.
  • If you maintain $100,000 or more in your account(s) managed by INVEST, you get ongoing access to “an unlimited number of advisory phone calls”
  • Bonus American Express Membership Rewards® points annually based on the average annual taxable assets: 5,000 points for $50,000+, 25,000 points for $100,000+, 50,000 points for $500,000+.
  • Interest boost on American Express High Yield Savings Account. Get $15 for every $10,000 in average daily balance over the last 12 months (up to $50,000) in your Amex Savings account.

We basically have a few add-ons wrapped around the basic Vanguard Digital Advisor Services (VDAS) product (my review). As a reminder, VDAS sets you up with a model portfolio of low-cost Vanguard index ETFs and charges an annual gross advisory fee of only 0.20% and a lower minimum investment of $3,000.

So let’s add on the perks. Everyone gets a one-time 30-minute phone call. Thirty whole minutes! With a real, live human! If you give them $100,000, then you get unlimited phone calls. They don’t promise access to certified financial planners or anything specific. But if you had $50,000 to invest, you could alternatively upgrade to Vanguard Personal Advisory Services (VPAS) which also includes access to human advisors and more complex advice. VPAS charge an annual advisory fee of 0.30% on top of the expenses from underlying investments. Add on the estimated 0.05% from a model underlying ETF portfolio, and you’d have 0.35%.

For the bonus points, using a value of of 1 cent per Membership Rewards point, the bonus works out to a $50 value on exactly a $50,000 balance, or 0.10%. But that’s a little deceiving because you need $10,000 to open an account. That makes the bonus worth only 0.05%. $250 value on exactly a $100,000 balance is 0.25%. $500 value on exactly a $500,000 balance is 0.10%. So $100,000 is the sweet spot, but the cutoff is a bit severe if you miss it.

For the savings account interest boost, you are adding about 0.15% to the interest rate at the most optimistic on the AmEx online savings account. Their current rate is 0.50% APY. That’s about the same as most “high yield online savings accounts”, but comparison shoppers can almost always do much better. I wouldn’t really consider this a worthwhile bonus since 0.15% is not a significant margin when you don’t know if the base rate will stay competitive.

To summarize, the added perks do not reliably offset the higher cost of this product when compared to going directly through Vanguard.

Vanguard, known for not paying commissions to financial advisors…. is paying a commission to American Express. So why are you paying 0.15% to 0.30% more annually than going direct through Vanguard? Well, you should know that up to half of the fees that you pay will go directly into American Express’s pocket.

American Express (Amex) will receive a promoter fee in an amount that is up to 50% of the advisory fee that you pay to Vanguard Advisers, Inc. (VAI) if you enroll in INVEST. The promoter fee Amex receives will be reduced by certain costs, including the cost of your advisory calls with VAI Financial Advisors and other benefits that provide an incentive for you to consider INVEST. This promoter fee will be paid by VAI to Amex for so long as you maintain your advisory relationship with VAI.

Is this the most evil thing ever? No. You can always argue that anything that exposes people to investing is good, even if it’s a bit more expensive than necessary. I’m still disappointed. Vanguard was different because it was boring with little advertising and letting the product sell itself.

Bottom line. INVEST has Vanguard’s robo-advisor at its core but with a higher costs and added perks. The added perks do not reliably offset the higher cost of this product when compared to going directly through Vanguard. The reason for this is that… wait for it…. costs matter. Vanguard has to pay American Express a cut of half of your fees forever for this marketing relationship, which eventually lowers your returns as an investor. I wonder what company taught me that?!

via GIPHY

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Investing //

MMB Portfolio 2022 1st Quarter Update: Dividend & Interest Income

Posted on April 14, 2022 // 2 Comments

via GIPHY

Here’s a slightly-altered quarterly update on the income produced by my Humble Portfolio. I track the income produced as way to add a different view of performance. The total income goes up much more gradually and consistently than the number shown on brokerage statements (price), which helps encourage consistent investing. I imagine them as building up a factory that churns out dollar bills.

Annual income history. I started tracking the income from my portfolio in 2014. Here’s what the annual distributions from my portfolio look like over time:

  • $1,000,000 invested in my portfolio as of January 2014 would have generated about $24,000 in annual income over the previous 12 months. (2.4% starting yield)
  • If I reinvested the income but added no other contributions, today in 2022 it would have generated ~$46,000 in annual income over the previous 12 months.
  • If I spent every penny of the income every single year instead, today in 2022 it would still have generated ~$36,000 in annual income over the previous 12 months.

This chart shows how the annual income generated by my portfolio has changed.

TTM income yield. To estimate the income from my portfolio, I use the weighted “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 (usually zero for index funds) over the same period. The trailing income yield for this quarter was 2.51%, as calculated below. Then I multiply by the current balance from my brokerage statements to get the total income.

Asset Class / Fund % of Portfolio Trailing 12-Month Yield Yield Contribution
US Total Stock (VTI) 25% 1.30% 0.33%
US Small Value (VBR) 5% 1.77% 0.09%
Int’l Total Stock (VXUS) 25% 3.21% 0.80%
Emerging Markets (VWO) 5% 2.96% 0.15%
US Real Estate (VNQ) 6% 2.78% 0.17%
Inter-Term US Treasury Bonds (VGIT) 17% 1.19% 0.20%
Inflation-Linked Treasury Bonds (VTIP) 17% 4.52% 0.77%
Totals 100% 2.51%

 

Stock market dividend growth over time. Stock dividends are a 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. The ratio of dividend payouts to price also serve as a rough valuation metric. 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.

Here’s a related quote from Jack Bogle (source):

The true investor will do better if he forgets about the stock market and pays attention to his dividend returns and to the operating results of his companies.

If you retired back in 2014 and have been living off your stock/bond portfolio, your total income distributions are much higher in 2022 than in 2014. Here is the historical growth of the S&P 500 total dividend, which tracks roughly the largest 500 stocks in the US, updated as of Q1 2022 (via Yardeni Research):

This means that if you owned enough of the S&P 500 to produce an annual dividend income of about $26,000 a year in 1999, then today those same shares would be worth a lot more AND your annual dividend income would have increased to over $100,000 a year, even if you had spent every penny of dividend income every year!

Here is the historical growth of the total dividend of the EAFE iShares MSCI ETF, which tracks a broad index of developed non-US stocks (VXUS is a newer ETF), via Netcials.

European corporate culture seems to encourage paying out a higher percentage of earnings as dividends, but is also more forgiving of adjusting the dividends up and down with earnings. US corporate culture tends to be more conservative, with the expectation that dividends will be growing or at least stable. This is not true across every company, just a general observation.

Use as a retirement planning metric. It’s true that during the accumulation stage, your time is better spent focusing on earning potential via better career moves, improving in your skillset, and/or looking for entrepreneurial opportunities where you can have an ownership interest. As an overall numerical goal, I support the simple 4% or 3% rule of thumb, which equates to a target of accumulating roughly 25 to 30 times your annual expenses. I would lean towards a 3% withdrawal rate if you want to retire young (before age 50) and a 4% withdrawal rate if retiring at a more traditional age (closer to 65).

However, I find that tracking income makes more tangible sense in my mind and is more useful for those who aren’t looking for a traditional retirement. Our dividends and interest income are not automatically reinvested. They are another “paycheck”. Then, as with a traditional paycheck, we can choose to either spend it or invest it again to compound things more quickly. Even if we spend the dividends, this portfolio paycheck will still grow over time. You could use this money to cut back working hours, pursue a different career path, start a new business, take a sabbatical, perform charity or volunteer work, and so on. This is your one life and it only lasts about 4,000 weeks.

Filed Under: Goals, Investing, Retirement //

Wells Fargo $1,500 New Business Checking Account Bonus (In-Branch Only)

Posted on April 11, 2022 //

(Update: Looks like Wells Fargo ended this promotion early. Hope those interested got the code while they could.)

wellsfargo_logoWells Fargo has a $1,500 bonus offer if you open a new business checking account in a physical branch with a special bonus code from this offer webpage. Thanks to reader Matt for the tip. Here are the bonus details:

  • Open a new, eligible business checking account at a Wells Fargo branch with a minimum opening deposit of $25 by 05/13/2022. You must provide the bonus offer code (generated via link above) to the banker at the time of account opening.
  • Have at least $5,000 ending daily balance in your new business checking account on the 30th calendar day and the 60th calendar day after account opening.
  • We will deposit the bonus into your new business checking account within 30 days after meeting all offer requirements.

Here is the full list of documents you will need to bring to the branch for each type of business (sole proprietorship, LLC, corporation, etc). If you are a sole proprietorship that does work using your legal first and last name and your SSS as Tax ID, there aren’t any additional documents beyond a driver’s license required.

More fine print:

You must open a new Initiate Business Checking®, Navigate Business Checking®, Optimize Business Checking® or Analyzed Business Checking account in order to be eligible for this bonus offer.

This offer is intended for new business checking customers only. You must use your bonus offer code at account opening when you apply for a new eligible Wells Fargo business checking account. For this offer, a new business checking customer is identified by the U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number for the business used to open the new business checking account.

You are not eligible for this offer if:
– You are a current owner of a Wells Fargo business checking account.
– You received a bonus for opening a Wells Fargo business checking account within the past 12 months.
– You are a Wells Fargo employee.

Bonus offer code can only be used once.

While this requires an physical branch visit, Wells Fargo does have nearly 5,000 branches nationwide (map locator) and this is a quite big bonus with relatively modest balance requirements.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

MMB Humble Portfolio 2022 1st Quarter Update: Asset Allocation & Performance

Posted on April 10, 2022 // 2 Comments

portpie_blank200Here’s my quarterly update on my current investment holdings as of 4/8/22, including our 401k/403b/IRAs and taxable brokerage accounts but excluding a side portfolio of self-directed investments. Following the concept of skin in the game, the following is not a recommendation, but just to share an real, imperfect, low-cost, diversified DIY portfolio. The goal of this “Humble Portfolio” is to create sustainable income that keeps up with inflation to cover our household expenses.

TL;DR changes: Both stocks and bonds went down a small bit. Slightly overweight REITs, slightly underweight International Stocks. As usual, collected dividends and interest and reinvested available leftover cash.

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. I also create a new tab each quarter, so I have snapshot of my holdings dating back many years.

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

Stock Holdings (same as last quarter)
Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI, VTSAX)
Vanguard Total International Stock Market (VXUS, VTIAX)
Vanguard Small Value (VBR)
Vanguard Emerging Markets (VWO)
Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF (AVDV)
Cambria Emerging Shareholder Yield ETF (EYLD)
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 bonds
U.S. Savings Bonds (Series I)

Target Asset Allocation. This “Humble Portfolio” does not rely on my ability to pick specific stocks, sectors, trends, or countries. I own broad, low-cost exposure to 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 have faith in the long-term benefit of owning publicly-traded US and international shares of businesses, as well as high-quality US Treasury and municipal debt. My stock holdings roughly follow the total world market cap breakdown at roughly 60% US and 40% ex-US. Some minor wrinkles are the inclusion of “small value” ETFs for US, Developed International, and Emerging Markets stocks as well as additional real estate exposure through US REITs.

I strongly believe in the importance of knowing WHY you own something. Every asset class will eventually have a low period, and you must have strong faith during these periods to truly make your money. You have to keep owning and buying more stocks through the stock market crashes. You have to maintain and even buy more rental properties during a housing crunch, etc. A good sign is that if prices drop, you’ll want to buy more of that asset instead of less. I don’t have strong faith in the long-term results of commodities, gold, or bitcoin – so I don’t own them. Simple as that.

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. Usually, whatever model portfolio is popular in the moment just happens to hold the asset class that has been the hottest recently as well.

Find productive assets that you believe in and understand, and just keep buying them through the ups and downs. Mine may be different than yours.

Stocks Breakdown

  • 45% US Total Market
  • 7% US Small-Cap Value
  • 31% International Total Market
  • 7% International Small-Cap Value
  • 10% US Real Estate (REIT)

Bonds Breakdown

  • 66% High-Quality bonds, Municipal, US Treasury or FDIC-insured deposits
  • 34% US Treasury Inflation-Protected Bonds (or I Savings Bonds)

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. This is more conservative than most people my age, but I am settling into a more “perpetual income portfolio” as opposed to the more common “build up a big stash and hope it lasts until I die” portfolio. My target withdrawal rate is 3% or less. With a self-managed, simple portfolio of low-cost funds, we can minimize management fees, commissions, and taxes.

Holdings commentary. I know I sound like a broken record, but really, my best investment decisions have been convincing myself to do nothing during times of stress. Sometimes it was easy, sometimes it was hard. Still, after investing steadily for over 15 years, my results have exceeded my expectations and the fluctuations are now often greater than my annual spending. To make it easier, I try to ignore daily talk about stock movements.

There is ALWAYS something that looks worrying. I am a “buy, hold, and cash the checks” kind of investor. I often wonder how I can teach my children such patience in investing, and that seems to be the hardest aspect.

Performance numbers. According to Personal Capital, my portfolio down about 6% for 2022 YTD. US stocks, International stocks, and even US bonds are all down roughly 6-8%. REITs are the only things that went up. As such, in terms of rebalancing, the portfolio is slightly overweight in REITs and slightly underweight in International Stocks, so that is where the excess cash will be invested this quarter.

I’ll share about more about the income aspect in a separate post.

Filed Under: Goals, Investing, Retirement //

Best Interest Rates on Cash – April 2022 Update

Posted on April 6, 2022 // 6 Comments

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of April 2022, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities (useful for both cash reserves and as possible bond substitutes). I look for lesser-known opportunities available to individuals while still maintaining FDIC insurance 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 4/6/2022.

Significant changes since last month: Short-term rates are moving up. Don’t overlook US Treasury bonds, as they are now relatively attractive in the 6-month to 5-year range, while CD rates are still lagging (but may catch up later). 7.12% Savings I Bonds still available if you haven’t done it yet. SoFi 1.25% APY and some short-term CD rate bumps from the banks. Deposit promos are another alternative.

Fintech accounts
Available only to individual investors, fintech companies often pay higher-than-market rates in order to achieve fast short-term growth (often using venture capital). “Fintech” is usually a software layer on top of a partner bank’s FDIC insurance.

  • 4% APY on $2,000/$6,000. Current offers 4% APY on up to $2,000 on each of their “savings pods”. Free users get 1 savings pod, while premium users get 3 savings pods. Potential promos include $50 bonus and “Premium free for life”. Please see my Current app review for details.
  • 3% APY on up to $100,000, but requires direct deposit and credit card spend. HM Bradley pays up to 3% APY if you open both a checking and credit card with them, and maintain $1,500 in total direct deposit each month and make $100 in credit card purchases each month. Please see my updated HM Bradley review for details.
  • 3% APY on 10% of direct deposits + 1% APY on $25,000. 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 customer $50 bonus via referral. See my One Finance review.
  • 3% APY on up to $15,000, requires direct deposit and credit card transactions. Porte requires a one-time direct deposit of $1,000+ to open a savings account. Porte then requires $3,000 in direct deposits and 15 debit card purchases per quarter (average $1,000 direct deposit and 5 debit purchases per month) to receive 3% APY on up to $15,000. New customer bonus via referral. See my Porte review.
  • 1.20% APY on up to $50,000. You must maintain a $250 direct deposit each month for this balance cap, otherwise you’ll still earn 1.20% on up to $5,000. They also pay 6% on USDC stablecoin, but I avoid this as it is not FDIC-insured (and you can get higher rates elsewhere if you did want to hold USDC.) New customer $100 bonus via referral. See my OnJuno review.
  • 1.25% APY (no balance cap). SoFi is now offering 1.25% APY with no balance cap as of 4/5/22. You must maintain a direct deposit each month of any amount. Convenient if you already have a relationship with them. See $25 + $300 SoFi Money new account and deposit bonus.

High-yield savings accounts
Since the huge megabanks pay essentially no interest, I think every should have a separate, no-fee online savings account to accompany 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 is still 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, but the lesser-known fact is that the 1% APY is available for everyone. Thanks to the readers who helped me understand this. Unfortunately, some readers have reported their applications being denied.
  • AdelFi (formerly ECCU) is offering new members 1.01% APY on up to $25,000 when you bundle a High-Yield Money Market Account & Basic Checking. (Existing members can get 0.75% APY.) To join this credit union, you must attest to their statement of faith.
  • There are several other established high-yield savings accounts at closer to 0.50% APY. Marcus by Goldman Sachs is on that list, and if you open a new account with a Marcus referral link (that’s mine), they will give you and the referrer a 1.00% APY for your first 3 months (a 0.50% boost). You can then extend this by referring others.

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 (plan to buy a house soon, 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. CFG Bank has a 13-month No Penalty CD at 0.85% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. Ally Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.50% APY for all balance tiers. Marcus has a 13-month No Penalty CD at 0.65% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. You may wish to open multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
  • Alternatively, Marcus has a 10-month CD at 1.10% APY and a 1-year Treasury Bond has a rate of about 1.76% (purchase at TreasuryDirect.gov or with brokerage account, details below).

Money market mutual funds + Ultra-short bond ETFs
Many brokerage firms that pay out very little interest on their default cash sweep funds (and keep the difference for themselves). Unfortunately, money market fund rates are very low across the board right now. Ultra-short bond funds are another possible alternative, but they are NOT FDIC-insured and may experience short-term losses at times. These numbers are just for reference, not a recommendation.

  • The default sweep option is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund which has an SEC yield of 0.19%.
  • Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund currently pays 1.45% SEC yield ($3,000 min) and 1.55% SEC Yield ($50,000 min). The average duration is ~1 year, so your principal may vary a little bit.
  • The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 1.36% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 1.23% 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 4/6/2022, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.19% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 1.76% annualized interest.
  • The Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF (GBIL) has a 0.22% SEC yield and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a 0.04% (!) 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 for electronic I bonds 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 2021 and April 2022 will earn a 7.12% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More on Savings Bonds here.
  • In mid-April 2022, 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). 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, as I feel the work required and risk of messing up exceeds any small potential benefit.

  • Mango Money pays 6% APY on up to $2,500, if you manage to jump through several hoops. 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/or 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.

  • Lafayette Federal Credit Union is offering 2.02% APY on balances up to $25,000 with a $500 minimum monthly direct deposit to their checking account. No debit transaction requirement. They are also offering new members a $100 bonus with certain requirements. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).
  • Quontic Bank is offering 1.01% APY on balances up to $150,000. May be useful for those with high balances. You need to make 10 debit card point of sale transactions of $10 or more per statement cycle required to earn this rate.
  • The Bank of Denver pays 2.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases of $5+ each, receive only online statements, and make 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 1.00% APY on up to $25k. Thanks to reader Bill for the updated info.
  • Presidential Bank pays 2.25% APY on balances between $500 and up to $25,000, if you maintain a $500+ direct deposit and at least 7 electronic withdrawals per month (ATM, POS, ACH and Billpay counts).
  • 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.

  • NASA Federal Credit Union has a special 49-month Share Certificate at 1.80% APY ($10,000 min of new funds). Early withdrawal penalty is 1 year of interest. They also have a 15-month special at 1.20% APY and 9-month at 0.90% APY.
    Anyone can join this credit union by joining the National Space Society (free). However, NASA FCU will perform a hard credit check as part of new member application.
  • KS StateBank has a 5-year CD at 2.05% APY ($500 min). Early withdrawal penalty is 18 months of interest.
  • 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. Right now, I see a 5-year CD at 2.70% APY. 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 CD at 3.00% APY vs. 2.64% for a 10-year Treasury. 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 4/6/2022, the 20-year Treasury Bond rate was 2.81%.

All rates were checked as of 4/6/2022.

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