View Full Version : Vanguard Wellington Fund
I know most here are index investors, but I wanted to let everyone know that the Vanguard Wellington Fund, which has been closed to new investors since 2015, reopened at the end of July. So if anyone wants to buy it (I have it in my Schwab account, although for several years I couldn't buy it) they now can again.
I know of people who have done pretty well with a 50/50 mix of Wellington and Wellesley.
Someone at Vanguard must have had an interest in the Napoleonic wars.
Exactly, as that gives you a 50/50 mix!
Exactly, as that gives you a 50/50 mix!
I’m convinced maintaining a static asset allocation is the best approach for most people. It helps quarantine fear, greed and self-delusion.
I’m convinced maintaining a static asset allocation is the best approach for most people. It helps quarantine fear, greed and self-delusion.
Yes. I am thinking of moving money into both of these over time, so that in about 15 years, when I expect to not have the bandwidth to deal with complexity, I can just have that as my 50/50 allocation.
Wellington has been in my retirement portfolio for years. When doing an investment review with a Fidelity guy I questioned selling it and even Fidelity recommended keeping it.
iris lilies
9-8-21, 12:28pm
Tybee, You are smart to think about that. I am THERE now, I want simplicity. DH handles all of our finances and as you all know from my many posts in the past, that does not always go well as far as our communication. I DO have a list of accounts and amounts, so that is basic.
At the moment I don’t have big financial worries because the thing I was most concerned about —a plan to start spending down our stash—has taken care of itself as we throw craploads of money at this Hermann renovation.
But back to sensibly planning for old age and diminishing capacity for managing finances: a worry for me is that DH’s capacity will slip but I will not be able wrestle away from him daily money management. I don’t know what the markers are for that diminished capacity. How will I know? I don’t know.
GeorgeParker
9-8-21, 2:11pm
But back to sensibly planning for old age and diminishing capacity for managing finances: a worry for me is that DH’s capacity will slip but I will not be able wrestle away from him daily money management. I don’t know what the markers are for that diminished capacity. How will I know? I don’t know.Begin gently involving yourself in monthly, weekly, and finally daily money management by telling DH you need to know about these things in case he ends up sick or in the hospital for a few days at a critical point in the bill-paying cycle. You'll have to figure out how to phrase it most diplomatically. Some women just flat out tell their DH "I need to know how to do this stuff in case you die before I do."
The point is, do it slowly and gently so he'll understand you need to know these things and won't feel like you're trying to take over. Then when he starts to have diminished capacity, you'll be in a position to gently challenge his decisions and, if necessary, take the real decision making away from him.
This is something all couples need to think about. A person who handles all the family finances can die suddenly in an accident when they're 25 and leave their spouse helpless and baffled because they don't know what needs to be done or how.
What is particularly interesting about this fund? I am not familiar with it.
iris lilies
9-8-21, 3:03pm
Begin gently involving yourself in monthly, weekly, and finally daily money management by telling DH you need to know about these things in case he ends up sick or in the hospital for a few days at a critical point in the bill-paying cycle. You'll have to figure out how to phrase it most diplomatically. Some women just flat out tell their DH "I need to know how to do this stuff in case you die before I do."
The point is, do it slowly and gently so he'll understand you need to know these things and won't feel like you're trying to take over. Then when he starts to have diminished capacity, you'll be in a position to gently challenge his decisions and, if necessary, take the real decision making away from him.
This is something all couples need to think about. A person who handles all the family finances can die suddenly in an accident when they're 25 and leave their spouse helpless and baffled because they don't know what needs to be done or how.
While I have a rational brain I can pretty much figure out what needs to be done financially from our checkbook. We run everything through one checkbook and that makes financial history trackable.
I’m thinking along the lines of if I have diminished capacity as well —That will be tricky.
The best we can do is continue to reduce the number of accounts we have. Right now we have two checking accounts but when we move to Hermann we will eliminate the city one. We still have too many damn brokerage accounts, that will not change (accounts in THREE ED Jones physical offices? Yes we are those people.)
I honestly think I will probably drop dead and DH will be fine working on his little farmette and running his little financial accounts with a paper checkbook, having pointless meetings with his finanical advisors (had to listen to one of them drone on today for 1.5 hours.)
But back to sensibly planning for old age and diminishing capacity for managing finances: a worry for me is that DH’s capacity will slip but I will not be able wrestle away from him daily money management. I don’t know what the markers are for that diminished capacity. How will I know? I don’t know.
I read an article the other day about a study that found that a good indicator of early dementia is a decline in one's credit score. Apparently it's common for people in the early stages to start missing bill payments which then start to show up on their credit reports and in their FICO score.
I read an article the other day about a study that found that a good indicator of early dementia is a decline in one's credit score. Apparently it's common for people in the early stages to start missing bill payments which then start to show up on their credit reports and in their FICO score.
Could be, but I also think of my MIL who was sharp as a tack, but by the time she was in her 80s, she had taken advantage of her credit, and didn't need it anymore. She was always responsible, and never missed a payment, unless she was fighting with the credit card company, which happened quite a lot, and I know she really didn't care about her credit score at that point. It wasn't important to her. When we were going through that horrific time with her house during the recession, she told me to just stop making payments and let the bank take it. But I couldn't do that--I depended on a good credit rating to front business expenses.
I read an article the other day about a study that found that a good indicator of early dementia is a decline in one's credit score. Apparently it's common for people in the early stages to start missing bill payments which then start to show up on their credit reports and in their FICO score.
In my recent experiences dealing with elderly relatives in the final years, they had issues in paying bills in a timely fashion for all sorts of non-dementia-related reasons:
- they no longer cared to waste their limited time dealing with paperwork
- they didn't really care about their credit rating anymore
- they didn't have the resources to pay the bills promptly because land-rich/cash-poor
- they were preoccupied dealing with medical issues, and bills weren't their top priority
- they hired household managers/bookkeepers who did a poor job
- fraud by caregivers
Yes, I tell DH that he should pay more attention to our finances so that he can save us if I start to lose it. We also know of a few couples where one partner committed serious financial infidelity, so I think it's just generally a good practice for both parties to pay some degree of attention to the finances, even though DH trusts me and has good reason to do so.
This is something all couples need to think about. A person who handles all the family finances can die suddenly in an accident when they're 25 and leave their spouse helpless and baffled because they don't know what needs to be done or how.
My ex-wife had carefully removed herself from involvement in the family finances for 20+ years, despite all sorts of encouragement to do so. This seems to have left her at the mercy of shyster financial advisers and managers over the past few years, to her considerable detriment.
Which is a shame, as a simple YMOYL approach would have produced more than enough income to live very comfortable off of, and continued to grow her fortune (or, as I look at it, my daughter's inheritance).
Bother.
Could be, but I also think of my MIL who was sharp as a tack, but by the time she was in her 80s, she had taken advantage of her credit, and didn't need it anymore. She was always responsible, and never missed a payment, unless she was fighting with the credit card company, which happened quite a lot, and I know she really didn't care about her credit score at that point. It wasn't important to her. When we were going through that horrific time with her house during the recession, she told me to just stop making payments and let the bank take it. But I couldn't do that--I depended on a good credit rating to front business expenses.
In my recent experiences dealing with elderly relatives in the final years, they had issues in paying bills in a timely fashion for all sorts of non-dementia-related reasons:
- they no longer cared to waste their limited time dealing with paperwork
- they didn't really care about their credit rating anymore
- they didn't have the resources to pay the bills promptly because land-rich/cash-poor
- they were preoccupied dealing with medical issues, and bills weren't their top priority
- they hired household managers/bookkeepers who did a poor job
- fraud by caregivers
Obviously there are plenty of other reasons why an older person's credit score might decline, but baring any of those, simply forgetting to pay one's bills after a lifetime of always being fastidious about it is a red flag. I suppose one could also look for other signs like not always remembering to put the trash cans out the night before pickup day if that's a thing where one lives.
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