Investing 102

[toy71camaro]

another good article..

Lately I have been trying to research/tackle the 401k.. but oh boy... thats a challenge.

[CRCRFT78]

I've lost a little interest in this ONLY because I have no money to invest. HOWEVER, I check this thread religously and watch the market as best as I can right now. I still have my goals mapped out and will continue to chug along as planned.

[toy71camaro]

Crcft... same here.. i check this thread probably 10 times a day. LOL


anyhow, good news... I started researching my 401k "Funds" that i could invest in. Re-thinking the whole portfolio based on "investing 102" strategies... First thing was to tackle all the "Large cap" style funds, as according to what I've read from a handful of different sources, that should make up for aprox 50% of my "portfolio" (Long term, 11+ years, aggressive).

I was on the 7th of 8 total funds, and think I "struck gold" (well, it felt like it anyway)... All the other funds had little or no dividend (by little, i mean less than 1% and some even less than .01). Which meant their "fee's" cost more than their dividend.

On a "research" level, i compared each funds fee's, Dividend, long term capital gains (which, is confusing), 1, 3, 5, 10 yr performance, top 10 "holdings" and their diversity (what % in what sector)... <--- I am not sure if this is a good way to compare funds. So any help here is appreciated... I then compared them to each other, and the S&P returns for those same time frames.


Anyhow, back to the "gold".... 7th of 8 total funds, and my head was spinning.. none "looked good"... until now... 2.54% dividend (2nd highest out of all 8), 0.36 fee's (lowest of all)... solid S&P comparison... and the kicker? their holdings... Solid Dividend "champions"... CVX, Royal dutch shell, Merck, VZ, HD, JNJ, Wells fargo, Boeing, MCD, T, KO, etc... Bingo! i know those, i trust those, they fit "investing 102"!



just thought i'd share.. finding that, made me smile.. and felt a huge "i dont know what to do" weight lifted off my shoulders.. I think i know what to do now

[GregWeld]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


That right there is why I've stuck with this thread!


You have no idea how good that makes me feel.

[Coursey]

Originally Posted by toy71camaro

Anyhow, back to the "gold".... 7th of 8 total funds, and my head was spinning.. none "looked good"... until now... 2.54% dividend (2nd highest out of all 8), 0.36 fee's (lowest of all)... solid S&P comparison... and the kicker? their holdings... Solid Dividend "champions"... CVX, Royal dutch shell, Merck, VZ, HD, JNJ, Wells fargo, Boeing, MCD, T, KO, etc... Bingo! i know those, i trust those, they fit "investing 102"!



just thought i'd share.. finding that, made me smile.. and felt a huge "i dont know what to do" weight lifted off my shoulders.. I think i know what to do now

Which fund did you find this in if you dont mind sharing?

[toy71camaro]

Originally Posted by Coursey

Which fund did you find this in if you dont mind sharing?

Dont mind at all! This funds ticker is: RWMFX

I dont have all 8 funds tickers with me at the moment (left my notebook at home). But if you'd like, I can list all 8 "Large Cap" funds that i was comparing this evening or tomorrow... (wouldnt mind if someone wanted to "doublecheck" my theory on those 8 diff funds. LOL)

[Sieg]

Way to do your homework Albert and thanks for the share.

[toy71camaro]

Originally Posted by Sieg

Way to do your homework Albert and thanks for the share.

No problem! any way I can help, I'll try.

[GregWeld]

You know I've said there's a little man on the street that tells everyone to do the opposite of what you've just done.... takes the market up AFTER you sell - -and down AFTER you buy....

Phillip Morse (PM) had grown so much --- and I have such an outsized gain (over 100K on 400K invested) that I "trimmed" 1500 shares earlier in the week.

Of course it's UP almost $2 a share today! I really hate that little guy... I really do!

Although -- for Investing 102 --- the statement "nobody ever went broke taking a profit" is true enough... trimming outsized gains should be a normal course of events for EVERYONE...

[ErikLS2]

For those in the 401(k) world where you only have mutual funds to pick from, this is about the best list of funds you'll find IMHO. Here is the link if you want to read up on the criteria to make the list:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestfunds/

Large Cap
Fund YTD Return 5 yr Return Expense Ratio Type
AMRMX American Funds American M... +6.34% +2.28% 0.62% Value
SSHFX Sound Shore Fund +14.43% -0.17% 0.95% Value
PRFDX T. Rowe Price Equity Inco... +10.15% +0.59% 0.70% Value
VWNFX Vanguard Windsor II Fund ... +11.79% +0.22% 0.35% Value
SWPPX Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund... +12.11% +1.61% 0.10% Blend
SWTSX Schwab Total Stock Market... +12.42% +2.14% 0.11% Blend
FMIHX FMI Large Cap Fund +10.56% +3.67% 0.97% Blend
SLASX Selected American Shares ... +10.51% -0.31% 0.93% Blend
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Mark... +12.38% +2.11% 0.07% Blend
VOO Vanguard S&P 500 ETF +12.05% -- 0.06% Blend
AMCPX American Funds AMCAP Fund... +12.48% +3.05% 0.73% Growth
JENSX Jensen Quality Growth Fun... +10.18% +3.41% 0.92% Growth
TRBCX T. Rowe Price Blue Chip G... +18.68% +4.41% 0.77% Growth
SEQUX Sequoia Fund +10.51% +5.66% 1.04% Blend

Mid Cap
Fund YTD Return 5 yr Return Expense Ratio Type
DEFIX The Delafield Fund +16.34% +5.41% 1.25% Value
FAMVX Fenimore Asset Management... +10.06% +0.79% 1.24% Blend
VIMSX Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fu... +13.03% +2.64% 0.26% Blend
VO Vanguard Mid Cap ETF +13.40% +2.74% 0.12% Blend
CAAPX Ariel Appreciation Fund I... +15.79% +3.23% 1.15% Blend
FPPFX FPA Perennial Fund +11.63% +4.66% 1.02% Growth
MERDX Meridian Growth Fund +12.49% +6.75% 0.81% Growth
POAGX PRIMECAP Odyssey Aggressi... +14.62% +5.26% 0.69% Growth
WEHIX Weitz Series Fund Hickory... +10.30% +1.33% 1.28% Blend

Small Cap
Fund YTD Return 5 yr Return Expense Ratio Type
PRSVX T. Rowe Price Small-Cap V... +10.96% +3.51% 0.97% Blend
PENNX Royce Pennsylvania Mutual... +12.17% +3.22% 0.90% Blend
NAESX Vanguard Small Capitaliza... +13.03% +3.35% 0.31% Blend
VB Vanguard Small Cap ETF +12.99% +3.47% 0.17% Blend
VBR Vanguard Small Cap Value ... +12.30% +1.34% 0.23% Blend
RYSEX Royce Special Equity Fund... +11.47% +6.71% 1.16% Blend
WAAEX Wasatch Small Cap Growth ... +14.02% +5.94% 1.24% Growth
BERWX Berwyn Fund +15.02% +4.15% 1.26% Blend

Specialty
Fund YTD Return 5 yr Return Expense Ratio Type
CSRSX Cohen & Steers Realty Sha... +9.32% -1.16% 0.97% Real Estate
IGE iShares S&P North America... +3.74% +5.77% 0.48% Natural Resources
RWX SPDR Dow Jones Internatio... +15.68% -6.38% 0.59% Real Estate
SDY SPDR S&P Dividend ETF +5.14% +1.92% 0.35% --
PRNEX T. Rowe Price New Era Fun... +5.14% +3.53% 0.67% Natural Resources
VGSIX Vanguard REIT Index Fund ... +8.83% -1.17% 0.26% Real Estate
VNQ Vanguard REIT Index ETF +9.74% -1.08% 0.12% Real Estate

Foreign
Fund YTD Return 5 yr Return Expense Ratio Type
DODFX Dodge & Cox International... +11.94% -1.56% 0.65% Large Value
OAKIX Oakmark International Fun... +16.13% +1.15% 1.06% Large Value
AEPGX American Funds EuroPacifi... +11.49% +0.84% 0.82% Large Blend
FSIIX Fidelity Spartan Internat... +10.55% -2.87% 0.20% Large Blend
VEA Vanguard Tax-Managed Inte... +11.10% -- 0.12% Large Blend
VEU Vanguard FTSE All-World e... +11.53% -- 0.18% Large Blend
VWIGX Vanguard International Gr... +13.27% +0.51% 0.47% Large Blend
VGTSX Vanguard Total Internatio... +11.26% -1.32% 0.22% Large Blend
VFSVX Vanguard FTSE All-World e... +12.93% -- 0.50% Small/Mid Growth
PRIDX T. Rowe Price Internation... +16.08% +1.09% 1.23% Small/Mid Growth
NEWFX American Funds New World ... +11.67% +4.43% 1.02% Emerging Markets
PRMSX T. Rowe Price Emerging Ma... +11.61% +3.60% 1.26% Emerging Markets
VEIEX Vanguard Emerging Markets... +12.94% +5.88% 0.33% Emerging Markets
VWO Vanguard MSCI Emerging Ma... +13.77% +5.98% 0.20% Emerging Markets
UMBWX Scout International Fund +12.87% +1.71% 0.94% Large Growth

Bond
Fund YTD Return 5 yr Return Expense Ratio Type
AHITX American Funds American H... +3.85% +5.74% 0.67% High Yield
DODIX Dodge & Cox Income Fund +2.11% +6.67% 0.43% Intermediate Term
FPNIX FPA New Income Fund +0.38% +3.59% 0.60% Intermediate Term
HABDX Harbor Bond Fund Institut... +2.21% +7.62% 0.57% Intermediate Term
TIP iShares Barclays TIPS Bon... +0.82% +7.74% 0.20% Inflation Protected
RPIBX T. Rowe Price Internation... +1.13% +5.99% 0.82% World
VIPSX Vanguard Inflation-Protec... +0.92% +7.54% 0.22% Inflation Protected
VWITX Vanguard Intermediate-Ter... +0.50% +5.23% 0.20% Muni
VBISX Vanguard Short-Term Bond ... +0.09% +4.60% 0.22% Short Term
BSV Vanguard Short-Term Bond ... +0.12% -- 0.11% Short Term
VBMFX Vanguard Total Bond Marke... -0.18% +6.25% 0.22% Intermediate Term
BND Vanguard Total Bond Marke... -0.31% -- 0.11% Intermediate Term
LSBRX Loomis Sayles Bond Fund C... +5.33% +7.12% 0.92% Multisector

Balanced Funds
Fund YTD Return 5 yr Return Expense Ratio Type
PRWCX T. Rowe Price Capital App... +9.07% +4.92% 0.73% Balanced
VWELX Vanguard Wellington Fund ... +6.51% +4.62% 0.27% Balanced

Target Retirement
Fund YTD Return 5 yr Return Expense Ratio Type
TRRBX T. Rowe Price Retirement ... +10.12% +3.15% 0.69% --
VTTHX Vanguard Target Retiremen... +10.63% +1.94% 0.19% --