Investment

» tjg911 - Asset Assessment Tools????

In response to Asset Assessment Tools???? posted by trnhlxfgh:

In addition to Morningstar, T Rowe Price has one called portfolio x-ray in their investment tools. It is free though there is a more comprehensive one you can pay to use. I have used the free one and it will dissect a mutual fund into a style box with percentages. I don't think that one will combine different investments, it is to see what is in a mutual fund.

I also have gotten a report of overlapping stocks in different mutual funds either at Morningstar or T Rowe Price. I entered all my 401k stock mutual funds and was surprised at how little overlap there was in these 8 or 9 stock mutual funds.

Fidelity has the ability to combine all your investments into 1 report. It is called FULL VIEW and if you have access to their website, ie you can log in, you can use it. They manage our 401k so I can do it there.

As mentioned Vanguard can do the same thing within your account. I don't remember what it is called but it is obvious if you look at your portfolio there's an option to combine or include other investments. I think the Vanguard results are better than the Fidelity because they use pie charts (iirc) to breakdown equities vs fixed income where Fidelity did not.

Financial Engines can also gather your portfolio into one place. You can enter pensions, social security, annuities, anything. It does not break these investments down by asset allocation but they will run Monte Carlo simulation to determine the likelihood of your portfolio surviving retirement.

Each of the 3 have slightly different ways of portraying this information so it is interesting to look at all of them if you can.

Tom

-- posted by tjg911

» trnhlxfgh - Asset Assessment Tools????

In response to Asset Assessment Tools???? posted by tjg911:

Thanks for all the suggestions. Surely one of those suggestions is what I'll do.

I have 401(k)s at Fidelity from my current employer and two former ones. Fidelity sent me a beautifully packaged (even bound) analysis at year-end. The trouble is that it only looked at my holdings in my current employer's plan. This really irritated me; because they have data on so much of my holdings, yet they sent me this beautiful analysis that was incomplete and worthless to me.

-- posted by trnhlxfgh

» trnhlxfgh - Asset Allocation Tool - Quicken

In response to Asset Allocation Tool - Quicken posted by Kirk:

I'm going to try Quicken. I tried Vanguard's site and Morningstar. I really like Morningstar, but I can't justify the cost just for the pie chart. They offer a 14-day trial, which I'm trying, but I'll have to cancel due to cost. Maybe some day I will be able to justify the Morningstar cost, but I'll have to become a more sophisticated investor 1st. I wouldn't use enough of what I'd be paying for. I got quicken for about $26, which seems well worth it.

-- posted by trnhlxfgh

» davey52 - Asset Allocation Tool - Quicken

In response to Asset Allocation Tool - Quicken posted by trnhlxfgh:

Hello trnhixfgh; TD Ameritrade has all the Morningstar x-ray options I think you're looking for. Just have to open an account with them. I've used them for the last twenty years. Since the merger of Waterhouse/Ameritrade they've become very cost conscious however the Morningstar feature is free.

-- posted by davey52

» stocktiger - Asset Assessment Tools????

In response to Asset Assessment Tools???? posted by trnhlxfgh:

Fidelity has some good portfolio analysis tools. On the left side of your account page down toward the bottom. You may want to roll your 401K accounts there into a IRA. That way you can see the whole banana.

I use it frequently to see Asset Allocation %'s. Check it out.

-- posted by stocktiger

» somedude3 - AA

I'm in a low tax bracket in a state with no income tax. I've divided the bond side of my taxable account into four investments, 1/4 into each of the following VFIIX, VFSTX, 3 year CD at 6% and Ibonds divided between 2% and 3% base rates. The stock side is mostly S&P 500 with small amounts in international and small cap. Have about a 50/50 mix of stocks and bonds. Does this seem like a reasonable allocation for a 50 year old?

-- posted by somedude3

» somedude3 - re AA

In response to re AA posted by Kirk:

Thanks Kirk, enjoy your site. You do a great job.

-- posted by somedude3

» bob90245 - Winter 2007

In response to Fall 2006 posted by bob90245:

Recently closed out my "Explore" trade for the Favorable Season. Here is my current asset allocation:

7.5% Lrg Blend ( IWV )
6.6% Lrg Value ( VTV, IWE )
7.4% Mid cap ( IWR )
7.4% Sml Value ( FLPSX )
7.4% REITs ( VGSIX )
7.3% International ( FDIVX )
4.4% Int'l Value ( EFV )
30.3% Bonds ( 401k Stable Value Fund, I-Bonds, FTHRX, VFIIX, EIA, NVX )
21.3% Cash

Largely completed transitioning my portfolio to be more like the Coffeehouse Portfolio (equal percentages for each stock asset class). There's still some room to add to Int'l Value. And I'll be doing that bit by bit this year.

-- posted by bob90245

» passenger - Winter 2007

In response to Winter 2007 posted by bob90245:
Hello:

In coffeehouse portfolio, the sample allocation uses Vanguard mutual funds. I found quiet a few of them were not top performers in their category. If you go to Morningstar.com and check Total Return for a fund, it would list its performance in the category. It probabl worth choosing a fund that beat its category most of the time with small lacking occasionally as your holding for that category. For example, CSRSX/SSREX may be a better choice than VGSIX.

-- posted by passenger

» bob90245 - Index Funds Are Not Top Performers

In response to Winter 2007 posted by passenger:
.
In coffeehouse portfolio, the sample allocation uses Vanguard mutual funds. I found quiet a few of them were not top performers in their category.
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I agree that Vanguard index funds are never the best in their benchmark categories. That is by design.
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However, most often, you will find that the best funds in their categories don't stay there for long. The odds of winning funds to continue their winning ways diminishes over time. For example, of the funds which outperformed for a decade, many of them failed to outperform in the following decade. Click HERE to read more.
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For a related article I wrote, click HERE.

-- posted by bob90245