Investing Forum

Index funds, Vanguard or Schwab?

Hi I’m new to FI and just started! Yeah! Question as the title. I do have Schwab account. Any input would be appreciated! Thank you!

trompettejoe 62 XP

4 hours ago 24 Share

Balancing out brokerage account without taxable event

I'm trying to figure out how to rebalance our brokerage account without having a taxable event however we have no losses to offset. It's a Vanguard account and it's not giving me the option to choose where to have our dividends reinvented in to. Maybe if I call in it's an option? Does anyone know how else I can go about rebalancing without taking a tax hit? In this account we currently have just VTSAX and VBTLX.

etravels16 540 XP

1 week ago 9 Share

529 accounts for Kids

Hello community, are all 529 accounts created equal so it doesn’t matter where you open them? Both my husband and I are military and have a TX residence. We would like to open a 529 account for each of our three children with fidelity since that’s where we currently hold our investments. Just wanted to make sure that’s the best choice. Thanks!

sjenkins 108 XP

2 weeks ago 3 Share

More Small Cap Value Thoughts

I have flip flopped back and forth pretty bad on small cap value. You can see my previous post on it. I thought of a different angle to it. If I were to tilt my portfolio outside of VTI and VXUS I would at most do 30% in small cap value / factor tilts. Let's say I get and extra 1% to 2% return on that 30% tilt. I would basically be adding 0.3% to 0.6% more to my returns. Not to mention most of these fund typically charge 0.3% to 0.4% expense ratios, like DFSV, AVUV, AVDV, etc. if you are effecti...

thinkpad12 777 XP

2 weeks ago 20 Share

M1 Finance

I have been using M1 finance for a couple of years now. One thing that recently became an issue recently is the inability to implement tax loss harvesting strategies using the platform. I also anticipate using tax gain harvesting as well in the future. I'm considering moving to one of the big three brokerages (Vanguard, Fidelity or Schwab). I'm wondering if anyone else using M1 shares these concerns and how others have thought about this? Thanks!

bhrisoulis 120 XP

4 weeks ago 5 Share

Shots fired ...

So, today (2026-07-27) Big ERN published a [post detailing his analysis of the Risk Parity approach](https://earlyretirementnow.com/2026/07/27/risk-parity-swr-series-part-64/), the latest in his SWR series. (BTW, it really helps make the experience if you imagine Karsten's voice reading aloud as you read the article.) As is customary for Big ERN, the post is extremely detailed and chock full of data and charts. His conclusion is a bit bearish. As someone who has considered moving in the directio...

roberto - 3,735 XP

1 month ago 50 Share

Bond fund returns and asset location explainer

I'm trying to put together my understanding of bond funds and how to use them. If I recall from my learnings: - Bonds or bond funds both appreciate and yield interest income - If you combine the two you'd get an overall rate of return - But, bond interest income is income in the normal sense, which means it would be taxed if you held the bond in a taxable account - Thus, the recommendation is to hold bond funds in a tax-advantaged account where the income will not be taxed Is that understanding...

dmcdonou 307 XP

1 month ago 5 Share

SBLOC to double dip invest and “Buy Borrow Die”

Curious why this isn’t talked about more in the FIRE space? I understand it’s a way more complex strategy than just the Simple path, but in terms of optimizing returns and reducing tax liability this seems like the superior option.

Javier F 263 XP

1 month ago 4 Share

Trump Accounts

Hi everyone, I'm hoping to hear your thoughts on the new Trump Accounts. I just had a baby last month. Based on my limited understanding, it sounds like by opening a Trump Account I can get a $1000 initial investment from the government. Beyond that, I am able to make $5000 of post-tax contributions annually. (Essentially, it's like a Roth IRA that does not require the minor to have earned income.) And the funds can only be invested in broad, low-fee index funds. When the child turns 18, the acc...

Abbey McTaggart 154 XP

3 months ago 11 Share

BlackRock??

Blackrock is the only group my 457 offers. I don’t like or agree with the company overall based on how they are monopolizing various industries. Is anyone else in the same boat? I know I can individually choose my own funds instead of a BlackRock target date fund. But I have quite a bit already invested in them. I feel like since it’s a target date fund, it is safer since I am 55 and nearing retirement. My question is do I leave my existing money sit and just change my future contributions?

SeaGlass7 54 XP

3 months ago 4 Share

Muni bond funds for a portion of emergency fund?

My annual spending is around $85-90k. One of my major goals over the next 2-3 years is to bump up my emergency fund to a full years worth of regular spending (not "oh shit I lost my job time to cut back" spending). I'm already close to maxing out all the tax-advantaged accounts available to me unless there's some wacky loopholes I don't know about. So I don't plan on using Roth vehicles for any portion of my e-fund. I don't know much about bonds, so I may be way off base here. But what do you gu...

Westie 1,516 XP

3 months ago 17 Share

Brokerage firm notification on fund transfers

I’m making a list of brokerage firms that notify you by email or text when a request is received to transfer some or all funds out of that brokerage firm. While some firms will notify you when the request is completed, I’m specifically looking for when the request is first detected. I know fidelity and Merrill do this. Wondering if anyone else knows of others firms for this? Thanks!

Becca 28 XP

3 months ago 4 Share

Factor Investing

Hey everybody, nice meeting you all! What are your thoughts on factor investing (i.e., the strategy pioneered and developed by Fama-French and their successors in financial research)? I know it is not strictly index investing. Nevertheless, from my understanding, it does follow the same fundamental understanding of the market being efficient and diversification at low costs is the way to go. It just takes the idea of market cap weighted funds one step further in tune with the contemporary financ...

samuelwillowcreek 43 XP

3 months ago 15 Share

S&P Indices Won't Change Eligibility Methodology for Mega-Caps

For anyone following the news about mega-cap companies like SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic going public, you might be interested to know that S&P Dow Jones Indices announced yesterday they will **not** change the eligibility requirements for inclusion in S&P indices for mega-cap companies. In the near term, this means neither SpaceX nor OpenAI will be included in S&P index funds anytime soon due to their lack of profitability. Anthropic is projected to be (barely) profitable sometime in 2026 howev...

BostonFI 6,146 XP

4 months ago 4 Share

Next step after paying off mortgage

We're in the fortunate position of paying off our mortgage and having no other liabilities to pay off. Now we're trying to decide where we should put our money next. I think we're leaning toward maxing out our HSA. Our Roths are maxed out. We also have a 403b and a brokerage account as well. Any other suggestions?

etravels16 540 XP

4 months ago 5 Share

New Fast Entry rule + SpaceX/xAI IPO about to wreck passive investing?

This video is nightmare fuel… We're about to all become shareholders of a company that is already overvalued because we're passively invested in index funds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X6YzlY_8tM Need to get some thoughts on this because it sounds pretty bad. Here's the NASDAQ fast entry page: [www.nasdaq.com](https://www.nasdaq.com/newsroom/nasdaq100-index-methodology-update-why-now) Basically the rules are intentionally being rewritten… it used to be that when a company first IPO'd, it h...

TraciTravels 323 XP

4 months ago 12 Share

$200k to invest in index funds over the next 2 months.

I'm thinking that with the war in Iran being on again / off again, it might be better to invest $50k at 4 times (or $40k at 5 times) across the next 2 months. If you had the choice, would you invest in one lump sum or space it out?

christyr1q 280 XP

4 months ago 14 Share

1031 Exchange to Delaware Statutory Trust

Hi all! I’m wondering if there’s anyone in the community who has ever done a 1031 exchange into a Delaware statutory trust? My parents are no longer able to manage their rental properties so they are looking for an easier alternative. There are some cons, like higher fees, but I’m thinking the return on hassle may be worth it. Any advice appreciated!

Shmupea 145 XP

5 months ago 5 Share

Financial Tracking Tool

I've used Personal Capitol (now Empower) for the last 10 years and am wondering what everyone else is using to track their net worth. I'm not so interested in budgeting as I've got a handle on that already, really just tracking overall net worth and investing. PC has helped me analyze my portfolio across all accounts (personal and work retirement) and make sure my allocation overall is where I want it. I'm currently testing a new tool call Origin since the first year is only $1. Recently PC has...

dm741 207 XP

5 months ago 27 Share

DIY platforms?

Hi, everyone, I'm new to FIRE, but have been investing for a while. My Roth IRA, IRA, and brokerage accounts are with Wells Fargo, but I'd like to move some (all?) of that somewhere where I'm not paying someone to hold my money while I'm doing most of the directing. What are the best or FI recommended platforms? TIA!

Vicki Adang 210 XP

5 months ago 9 Share