Here is another snapshot of my retirement portfolio as of market close 10/7. As indicated in my previous snapshot, I simultaneously sold ~$10,000 of iShares S&P 500 Index ETF (IVV) and contributed $10,000 to my Solo 401k, which I used to buy Fidelity Total Stock Market Index Fund (FSTMX).
| Retirement Portfolio | ||
| Fund | $ | % |
| FSTMX – Fidelity Total Stock Market Index Fund | $10,338 | 15% |
| VIVAX – Vanguard [Large-Cap] Value Index | $12,875 | 19% |
| VISVX – V. Small-Cap Value Index | $12,813 | 19% |
| VGSIX – V. REIT Index | $8,237 | 12% |
| VTRIX – V. International Value | $7,200 | 11% |
| VEIEX – V. Emerging Markets Stock Index | $6,596 | 10% |
| VFICX – V. Int-Term Investment-Grade Bond | $7,467 | 11% |
| BRSIX – Bridgeway Ultra-Small Market | $1,930 | 3% |
| Cash – Unreinvested Dividends | $9 | – |
| Total | $67,456 | |
| September Fund Transactions |
| Sold 76 Shares of IVV @ $130.90 = $9,948.09 |
| Bought 274.952 shares of FSTMX @ $36.37 = $10,000 |
Current Asset Allocation per Morningstar X-Ray:
Current overall annual expense ratio: 0.26%
Thoughts
My shift of taxable funds into my 401k takes away some possible accessible money towards a house downpayment, but I feel that we will still have enough anyways and I’d rather take the tax savings now. I had to buy a slightly different index to avoid wash-sale rules, so it also changes my asset allocation mix a bit, which I haven’t had time to analyze in detail.
Asset allocation has also tilted toward domestic stocks and away from bonds… may want to rebalance soon.
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What is the wash-sale rule?
Wash sales: link
It really wouldn’t have mattered much actually, as only had something like a $50 loss.
Have you thought about an allocation to commodities as well? I’ve been looking at DJP from Barclay’s ishares funds. This would really round out your portofolio well. Comments?
I agree Bill… a little exposure to commodities never hurt anyone. However, commodity funds are somewhat difficult to come by and they tend to have higher entry barriers and heftier fees. I only know of two… one is by PIMCO and the other I can’t recall at the moment. It’s all a matter of taste though… the ability of the average individual investor is relatively new, which means that a lot of people made a lot of money without such access before.
The only thing other than that that I think I would do differently is put a bit more into international equities. I would like to try to keep a third of my equity investments overseas. Don’t take my comment the wrong way, Jonathan. I would love to be able to have a portfolio like that. Still in the process of working up to it. I’m only 23, though, so I have some time.
Bill – I have thought about commodities. If the expenses of the fund are right, I’d be open to adding some.
Chris – Hey, what are comments for? I’m probably going to add more International when I rebalance next.
The two commodity mutual funds are PIMCO?s PCRDX and Oppenheimer?s QRAAX. I currently own C class shares of the Oppenheimer fund, which I bought through ETrade because they pay a partial rebate on the 12b-1 fees. (25 or 50 basis points ? can?t remember right now) Without the rebate, the expense ratio is pretty high – around 2. The Barclays ETF I mentioned in an earlier post, (DJP) is relatively new and is more balanced than the Oppenheimer fund. The former uses the Dow Jones AIG index and the latter uses the MSCI. The MSCI is heavily titled towards energy, and with the recent price of oil going down, so has the NAV.
Other than that, I really like the holdings in your portfolio. It?s very similar to what I currently hold. I also recently followed your lead and moved some money out of pure plays (sold JNJ and CL) and moved them back into index products.
I enjoy reading your site. Thanks for the comments.
Commodities – DBC is what has interested me. I just opened a trading account at zecco.com which is free too.