For my traditional IRA, I have 75% in equities and 25% fixed income that can pay my MRDs for the next 5 years. My equity position consists of 17 mostly broad based index ETFs, with a few conservative sector ETFs, all llow cost. There arises the question of redundancy and subsequent overlap. Interstingly, I did an analysis. There are only 2  that had similiar indexes: DGRO = Morningstar US Dividend Growth and HDV = Morningstar Dividend Yield Focus. But their composition and results differ. There are 4 that were different plays on the S&P 500, but each unique. So here they are: DGRO DIA FDUS FDVV FHLC HDV IEMG IVV IWM MDY ONEQ QUAL SPHD USMV VTV XLF XLP. All except IEMG are US centric. All have dividends, with an average portfolio yield a little over 2%. It is fairly conservative. No exotic sector plays. Light on tech. I put the final touches on this composition this week. So no historical performance figures. Be nice to beat the S&P 500 going forward. My intent is to have this portfolio for a  long long time. For my wife after I pass. Thru the inevitable ups and downs of the market. Curtail my exhorbitant # of trades, aside from rebalancing once a year. Regarding overlap, no doubt there is duplication of stocks, but the distribution amongst sectors appears well spread out, a little light in tech and a little heavy in consumer defensive. But that’s OK, being conservative. After 30 years of doing my own investments, this is the ending result.

I am constantly re-learning how LITTLE I know.
 
I was going to try to stop buy and selling stocks on just a smaller gain, just to see them keep rising as soon as I sold. Or just doing bad in general.
So, I thought I'd tried a new approach of buying things with "good" dividends, holding them and not worrying about price fluctuations, and keeping the dividends for
household expenses, estimated taxes, whatever...
I bought NLY, AMLP, GLOP and PBA; along with Royal Dutch Shell, which is now falling in price with oil & not sure whether to hold, but might sell just to get a tax loss--oh, wait, that's another subject.
So, today in double checking the rules on what makes a dividend qualified (I remembered 60 day holding period), I see that REITs and MLPs (I guess even ones like
AMLP that don't issue a K-1) likely don't qualify to get qualified dividends, so dividends just treated as ordinary income or ST capital gains? Great.
 
In my little search, I did find one article in which the writer said that she always regularly bought a certain REIT (I think it was) on ex-div day when the price was down;
then sold it on the day before ex-div day. She said that if you added it all up, she made more that way than by collecting the dividends. Well, looking at the chart for the particular security you mentioned, there were lots of times it was lower and higher than close to ex-div date.
 
But, really no sense if me holding these and taking an arbitrary gain on ex-div day vs. buying high and selling low over and over--if I can accurately predict the timing; or
just watch and sell when a gain and buy when it's down again--if the divs aren't qualified.
This looks to be getting harder to do as lots of things seem to be just free falling recently...
 
I don't really know for sure how to tell by looking at stock lookup in Fidelity or elsewhere, if a particular security does or doesn't get qualified dividends. You would think this would be easier to do...
 
Any advice or just comments appreciated.
 
Thanks in advance!

If you apply the 4% rule,what's your threshold for enough .
Fido doesn't allow a poll so you can only answer.
$1M and I can breathe easy.
$2M and easy street .
$3M just to be sure.
$4M is a minimum for my needs.
$5M covers my concerns .
If you don't have $10M or more in assets, you should still be working.
It's all relative if I recall Einstein.

lol

My division was just sold from a Fortune 50 company - we are now a private company owned by a Private Equity group.
As a result, all of our benefits have changed.  I'm wondering a few things:
 
1.  What are the contribution limits on YOUR specific 401k plan?  My old plan (with the Fortune 50 company) we could contribute Pre-tax or Roth 401k up to $18,500 (plus the $6K catch-up provision for those over 50 years old).  Additionally, we could contribute additional post-tax dollars up to the Federal maximum of $55K (which includes the company match).  However, in my new company, we can only contribute up to $18,500 (plus the $6K catch-up)....no post-tax contributions allowed beyond those limits.
     1.a....wondering what other people's 401K Contribution limits look like (are you in a big or small company?)?
     1.b....why would a company limit the contributions to only $18,500 vs. expanding the limit to $55K
 
2.  Does your company offer a pension?  I heard pensions are a dying breed, so just wondering?
     2.a....my new company offers a lump sum contribution into your 401k on Dec 31 of each year, a percent of your pay
     2.b...my old company offered a tradition pension with annuity payments based on a complicated formula
 
Hoping to just get some feedback...maybe to make myself feel better?!

Sometimes it pays to ignore technical signals, but not very often.  A quick look tonight (Friday) at five year one-week bar charts and MACDs tells a really ugly tale and points to a high probability that bond / fixed income prices are headed much lower and rates may increase well beyond current expectations.  Pull up the charts and consider:
 
1. IEF (7-10yr) and TLT (long bond) ETF prices have clearly broken below the necklines of huge multi-year head and shoulders formations, and MACD are on strong sell signals.  The scope of the downtrade associated with the H&S breakdown point to, for example, a 4+% 10yr Treasury.
2. Highly leveraged MREITS NLY and AGNC also have broken H&S and MACD sells.
3. The following asset-type ETFs ALSO have broken (if slightly less perfectly formed) H&S and MACD sells: MUB (munis), LQD (investment grade), and PFF (preferred stocks).
4.  And although it is a less well-formed H&S, HYG (junk) is ALSO bustola and on an MACD sell.
 
These technical indicators/signals project such dire outcomes that it is frankly hard to believe the shoud NOT be ignored this time, and they will quickly reverse --- and the projected outcomes diverge really wildly from the current "benign slowly-rising rate" dominant narrative.  FWIW, although I'm not a slave to technicals, I plan to remain in 75-PLUS% cash until these technicals either soon clear and reverse or (unhappily) complete.
     Thoughts?  Corrections?  Amplifications?

I currently sit at 24% cash; and a quarter of that is my 30-month expense/budget fund.

What is your current cash portion?  Has it recently increased or is it the same as always?  Any plans to bump it up?

Just double checking.  My father has several rental properties in an LLC.  His state allows a TOD (transfer upon death) of the LLC to his heirs, to be divided equally.  They receive a step up in cost basis at the time of his death.  This all sounds fine to me and that it should avoid probate.  His personal residence has a TOD as well.  Am I missing anything?

The individual sectors allow you to do the weightings yourself and adjust for risk and preference versus a total market fund.

Does anyone know who if there is any Cannabis stocks in any mutual fund portfolios?  Healthcare?

I currently receive special cash dividends from Main Street Capital and CME Group.  This month, Commerce Bancshares,  goes ex-dividend in advance of paying their annual 5.0%  stock dividend. The stock dividend is in addition to their regular cash dividend of 1.44%.   Earlier, I asked Investor Relations about this;

 
CBSH has paid a stock dividend since 1994.  They have found it to be very popular with retail investors who hold their stock.  It's paid at the end of the year in December.  This year, the Record Date is 11/30/2018.  The Ex-date is generally two business days before the Record Date.  Whole shares that are issued are not subject to federal tax.  Any fractional shares will be issued as cash and are taxable.
 
I was attracted to CBSH for a variety of reasons, mainly their improving financials.  To be clear, I'm not suggesting anyone buy them. They are neither distressed or
trading at deep value.  Yet it is nice to find a share-holder friendly company with a little growth to go along with a 6.4% dividend.
 
I'll be interested to see how this works out.   I expect to see the stock drop later this month.  I also wonder if this is treated as a stock split to avoid taxes.  CBSH continues to buy back shares and it doesn't look like this policy has been dilutive to shareholders.