Options in 401k when i cannot implement PP

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advaita123
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Options in 401k when i cannot implement PP

Post by advaita123 » Sun Apr 09, 2017 4:05 pm

Hello everyone

I am a new member. I have couple of questions.

a) In 401k when i cannot completely implement Permanent Portfolio, due to lack of options. I am going with 30% Stocks and 70% bonds. What do the board members recommend?

b) My IRA is invested in Permanent Portfolio as

VTI - Vanguard Total Stock Market (25%)

TLT - Ishared 20+ year Treasury Bond (25%)

IAU - Ishares Gold (25%)

VMFXX - Vanguard Federal Money Market (25%)

Does my ETF picks look right?

Is my Gold with IAU something recommended or is there is a current favorite for Gold ETF?

Thanks and I plan on staying here and reading other posts.
Kbg
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Re: Options in 401k when i cannot implement PP

Post by Kbg » Sun Apr 09, 2017 4:32 pm

I have all my retirement funds in Dual Momentum. Better returns, backtest as far back as PP and max drawdown about the same. It's more work though.
advaita123
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Re: Options in 401k when i cannot implement PP

Post by advaita123 » Sun Apr 09, 2017 11:07 pm

Thanks for the answer.

I have 30% Fidelity Total Stock etf and 70% in Fidelity Total Bond.

What do you mean by "Dual Momentum", the same Stock-Bond split that I have?
stuper1
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Re: Options in 401k when i cannot implement PP

Post by stuper1 » Sun Apr 09, 2017 11:29 pm

If you have more than say 15 years to retirement, I might recommend 40% to 50% in the Total Stock etf, as long as you can convince yourself that you won't sell during the inevitable downturns. When those downturns come, you just have to tell yourself that stocks will turn around at some point. The last thing you want to do is sell when things are down and lock in losses.
Kbg
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Re: Options in 401k when i cannot implement PP

Post by Kbg » Mon Apr 10, 2017 3:21 pm

Google Dual Momentum Gary Antonacci
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KevinW
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Re: Options in 401k when i cannot implement PP

Post by KevinW » Tue May 02, 2017 7:37 pm

The ETF picks look good. I hold IAU for my paper gold.

IMO, 30/70 total stock/total bond is a solid portfolio where the PP is unavailable.
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mathjak107
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Re: Options in 401k when i cannot implement PP

Post by mathjak107 » Sat May 06, 2017 5:31 am

not sure how old you are but if the long term is your horizon tying up money in assets that are used to mitigate temporary short term dips does not make a lot of sense .

i won't tell anyone else what to do , but make sure what you do has some logic to it .

in the short term the pp can be very volatile if all assets move the same way so if you have no tolerance for swings the pp is not likely to be very comforting in the short term .


in the intermediate term it can smooth out but the fact is it is the short term swings that cause the poor investor behavior .

so just think things through and make sure things make sense to you . there can be quite a bit of dollars difference if you make the wrong choice .even a 1 point difference over 30 years can be a huge amount of money .
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Tyler
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Re: Options in 401k when i cannot implement PP

Post by Tyler » Mon May 08, 2017 11:02 am

advaita123 wrote: Does my ETF picks look right?
The only difference between my personal PP ETF choices and your own is that I use SCHO for cash. I think you did a great job.

I also have no problem with your 401k choice. Just do the best you can, and if you ever switch jobs consider rolling over your 401k into an IRA where you'll have more choices.
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