AGG
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
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Beginning Automatic Investing: Need direction
Best bond funds to lock in today's high interest rates?
BTC's Growing Ties with U.S. Equities and Bonds - An August Overview
Recommended Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) allocation - how am I doing? (federal 401k per se)
Selling shares in Bond ETF to build a CD ladder?
Do you think bonds ETF like AGG would out perform the SP500 in 2023?
Bond funds vs. individual bonds for an IRA that will be withdrawn over the next 5 years.
Bond Allocation - Bond Index Fund vs. Treasuries Ladder?
Bayer AG and the German Rise 1.2 point
JEPI (JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF ) 10% yield...seems too good to be true.
Bayer AG update part 2 : Bayer AG is massively undervalued.
BAYER AG is Undervalued, cheapest in a decade
Total Bond Funds have had a historic drop since August 2021
Are you holding on to your BOND FUNDS? Or bailing out before they crash further?
IF you invest some of your money in BOND FUNDS are you getting scared they now go down along with stocks
SPY- The bull run continues... for now
It's way better to buy at market close than at market open, most gains happen overnight for major ETFs
Live on dividends? Have you noticed that the dividend yield of core bond funds is dropping every month?
Is buying AGG Bond ETF a more optimal option than holding cash in the near future 2-3years?
Is selling covered calls for Bond ETFs (i.e. AGG) a viable strategy?
Someone convince me this YOLO play is really fucking stupid.
Someone convince me this YOLO play is really fucking stupid.
NFPs tomorrow and the treasuries market (TLT, GOVT, AGG)
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What the fuck kind of bonds were your parents in that were down 10%? The AGG was never even down -1.5% this year. You’re LARPING or clueless.
I have been in the market for about 40 years, via 401K, then adding IRA Roth, and then a brokerage account. I never have used a real broker, mostly just low cost simple investment brokerages, like Fidelity, Schwab (and Scottrade and TD Ameritrade), and I just mostly used funds, now mostly index ETFs to invest my money, only after 20 years of saving did I start buying any single stocks or complex ETFs (REITS, dividend ETFs, etc). If you go 40-60% in VTI or IVV, IMH IJH, then about 10% in REITS, 20% in international, a small but gorwing amount in bonds/fixed income (10-20% and growing with your age, AGG, LQD, SGOV, etc). that will do fine and diversify you some. As you age, you can see if there are areas that you better want to add to, like Gold, Cryto (I mostly avoid it), and other alternatives. So far it was worked well for me, and got me near retirment early. Good luck. I have friends with fancy (expensive) brokers almost all of whom have done worse than I have, and I am not beating the S & P most years, but coming very close with much less volitility.
Which bond funds? Don't forget to include dividends in your return. [AGG is roughly flat](https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.php?AGG&p=3) in the past 6 months. Bonds, even the highest quality ones, *are not reliably anti-correlated* with the equity market. Historically they average about zero correlation, though that fluctuates over time. For example, during inflation shocks like the 70s and 2022, they tend to correlate with stocks, while during financial crises / recessions like 2008, they tend to anti-correlate. Bond prices are inversely related to their yields (like any financial asset priced by DCF). Yields have not changed much since six months ago, but six months ago was a bit of a local low in yields. Recently, quite a lot has been happening, as you are probably aware. But how that impacts bonds is complex. Tariffs can be inflationary, especially in the short term. Bonds don't do well with rising inflation, so that would be a negative. Tariffs can also hurt economic growth. That would reduce the real neutral rate, which would help bonds. Falling growth can also lead to lower inflation, which would help bonds. Historically, US treasurys have been seen as a highly desirable safe haven and were priced with zero risk premium. However, there are concerns that the current trade war could lead foreign countries to lower their US holdings of treasurys or other actions. That would lead to oversupply and hurt bonds. There's probably other factors as well. With how fast this situation is developing, it's hard to keep track.
If you want part of your portfolio to be fixed income, isn't AGG fairly pointless compared to SGOV? Or is that just a strange exception because of covid interest rates?
Correct. Considering your risk tolerance: 40% AGG/30%VOO/30%VXUS would work well over a 10 yr + time frame. Rebalance quarterly.
My AGG bonds are up another .7% Today is a pretty good day
AGG bonds up .65%. today is a great day Outperformed the SPX by 450 bps 2ez
AGG bonds up .5% that's a pretty good day today
It sounds like you’re in a great position with the $505k and have made smart moves by paying off your debts. With your goal of generating around $3,000/month in passive income while also preserving your capital, it’s important to balance risk and reward. You're already getting some solid returns with your Treasury Bills ($1,661/4 weeks), but they’re not going to get you to your goal of $3,000/month. I think dividend ETFs could definitely be a good route to explore, but like you mentioned, it can be hard to know which ones are actually safe or risky. Here’s a potential strategy that might help you diversify and get closer to your goal: 1. High-Quality Dividend ETFs: Look for well-established dividend ETFs with a track record of stability and consistent payouts. Funds like VYM (Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF) or SCHD (Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF) focus on high-quality companies with a history of stable or growing dividends. These can provide solid income with relatively lower risk compared to more volatile options. 2. REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts): While you're cautious about direct property investing right now, REITs could still offer a decent return. They focus on income-generating real estate and tend to pay higher dividends. Look for ETFs like VNQ (Vanguard Real Estate ETF) or SCHH (Schwab U.S. REIT ETF). Just be mindful that REITs can be more volatile, especially in the current market, so it’s about balancing them in the right proportion. 3. Bonds or Bond ETFs: Given that you’re currently getting income from Treasury Bills, you might want to consider broadening your bond exposure with a mix of government and corporate bonds. Funds like BND (Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF) or AGG (iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF) provide diversification and can add stability to your portfolio. 4. International ETFs: To further diversify, you could consider adding some international exposure. There are ETFs like VEA (Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF) that focus on dividend-paying companies outside of the U.S. This can provide a hedge against domestic market volatility. 5. Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP): Another option to boost income without solely relying on interest/dividends is a systematic withdrawal plan. With this, you’d withdraw a set percentage (say 5-6% annually) from your initial capital, allowing you to generate a steady stream of income while also taking advantage of long-term market growth. But this approach does carry more risk to your principal. Since your goal is around $3,000/month, that’s $36,000 annually. With your current $505k, you’re targeting a return of about 7% annually. Depending on how you split your investments across dividend ETFs, REITs, and bonds, you can adjust the mix to balance risk and return. At the end of the day, diversification is key. Keep monitoring your portfolio’s performance, and don't be afraid to tweak things as the market changes.
Many Americans would consider me non-American because of my skin color, so I can reply? 35% SP500 15% VEU (International) 15% Small Caps IWM 15% Mid Caps IWS 20% AGG, Bonds. I could care less what happens, I check every few weeks and If I see anything move away from my allocation I rebalance it. My 10 year average returns is 10.66% If you take the average of all the stock ETFs I mentioned they all pretty much provide 10% returns yearly, and that includes the underperforming small caps and international which still have returned 10% since inception, so if they ever breakout the 10% average since inception would be much better, sure if you go back 10 years they aren't so hot compared to SP500, but who will complain about 10%, not me.
Good on you for trying to get this figured out at your age. Here is some friendly advice that I urge you to consider, but please do your own research as well. With $3,000 monthly to invest, you're in a fantastic position to build wealth, but it's smart to be thoughtful about your approach. If I could start over at your age, here's what I would do: # The Core: Index ETFs (70-80%) I'd make diversified index ETFs the foundation of my portfolio. They give you broad market exposure while minimizing the risk of any single company tanking your investments. * Total US Market ETF (VTI or ITOT): 40-50% of portfolio * International ETF (VXUS or IXUS): 20-25% of portfolio * Bond ETF (BND or AGG): 0-10% depending on your risk tolerance This core approach gives you exposure to thousands of companies across different sectors and geographies, which significantly reduces your risk compared to individual stocks. # Individual Stocks (20-30%) With the foundation set, I'd allocate a portion to individual stocks you believe in. This gives you the opportunity to potentially outperform the market while keeping overall risk in check. Consider companies with: * Strong competitive advantages * Consistent growth in revenue and earnings * Reasonable valuations * Industries you understand or are passionate about Rather than chasing the next Nvidia, focus on quality businesses you'd be comfortable holding for 5+ years. # My Personal Strategy I'd implement a systematic approach: * Automatically invest in my core ETFs every month * Research individual companies thoroughly before investing * Resist checking my portfolio daily (this leads to emotional decisions) * Rebalance once or twice a year * Continue learning about investing through books and reputable sources Remember that consistency is far more important than timing the market. The monthly $3,000 commitment will benefit enormously from compound growth over time.
AGG...ten year return: 1.31% whoo-de-do.
You can also consider paying a flat fee (typically $1-2000) for a one time financial plan, and then implement it yourself, at Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard or such and then \\check on it every few years. I set up a plan for my wifes IRA and it has done great, just buying 5-20% each of a few ETFs, (IVV, small cap, med cap, international stocks etf and bond etf, dividend ETFS, AGG, LQD, REITS, and then added other ETFs as I found them. It has come very close to matching the S& P 500, but with less volatility and higher dividends. You can set that up and then only worry about it once a month or every 6 months. Make sure that your cash is parked in a high yield ETF or MMF, that means that any caash makes 4-5% right now.
I'm done timing this garbage, give me an easy to follow jack bogle influenced account, and I'm happy now. Ride it up or down. 40% SP500 10% IWS (Mid Caps) 10% IWM (Small Caps) 20% VEU (International) 20% AGG (Bonds) Give me 8%-11% returns for the next 20-30 years, that's all I want. I will pump 15% of salary into it, and retire a happy man.
Protect yourself from inflation, buy stocks and add a safety net with bonds. Buy when there is fear in the market, it works on the upside too, everyone has been feeding you a crash is coming since 2022, and here we are in 2025 with none to be seen outside of your standard 10% corrections. Something like below, will let you grow your account and protect against any drawdowns. SP500 - 35% Small Caps - 10% Mid Caps - 10% International -15% AGG - 30%
ride the market with some safety. 85-15 portfolio. Jack boggle was right, stop trying to time the market and just settle with a bond/equity portfolio you are comfortable with and keep investing, and ride the waves. 15% small caps (IWM) 15% international (VEU) 15% mid caps value (IWS) 35% SP500 5% company I work for (medical sp100) 15% Bonds (AGG)
Bogglehead influenced investor checking in, here is my 401k portfolio, I'm in my 30s with 6 figure account. 85/15, stocks to Bonds (I want some protection so I don't panic and sleep well, but don't want 60/40 where I take a massive returns hit, I just don't want to see account 50+% down, so this will help prevent that). Small caps - 15% Mid Caps - 15% SP500 - 35% International - 15% AGG Bonds - 15% SP100 Company I work at - 5%
Thanks! Is this something one can figure out by looking at AGG fund news on a site you recommend or something that requires following general financial news overall and determining the cause/effect of events? What you say makes sense but I wouldn't have pieced it together myself had you not explained it.
The US Treasury announces quarterly refunding regularly about treasury auctions. There was a note this morning that the Treasury said that it didn't expect to increase the size of note and bond auctions for a few quarters. This caused treasury bond yields to fall overnight. This in turn caused investment grade corporate yields to also fall - so bond funds like AGG go up.
I’m going to preface with some baseline assumption 1. your nest egg is enough to maintain your desired standards of living. 2. Your risk tolerance is the let’s say same as average people. Your target goal is to slowly drawdown your nest egg and maintain the purchasing power. - can’t go too safe like all fixed income or fixed annuities or inflation will just eat you alive - can’t take a lot of risk either since regardless of market condition, you still need to take withdrawals and you don’t have the condition to recover well. Inflation: a few things to consider for inflations. - TIPS adjust principal with inflation - equities does hedge somewhat against inflations So how much allocation? I think 70/30 is OK for the few years but 60/40 maybe safer. I think as long as it’s over 50 it should be OK I’ll go with 6/4 - - Bond - 20 AGG broad bond index - 10 TIP just the tips - 10 maybe a corporate bond? Like VCLT? Or just another 10 on TIP - equity: broad base diversification. Diversifying beyond just US equities. Goal is to take only market risk…world market. - 35 VTI - US all cap so more than SP500 - 25 VEU - world ex-US
That's why I buy $DJT and $AGG Bond ETF. I'm playing both sides
Make sure you are actually looking at total return and not just price of the ETF. Also - with MUB - you have to also factor in the post-tax return which will depend on where you live and your tax bracket. Obviously, if you live in New York or California, a fund like MUB can potentially make sense. Both AGG and MUB are bond funds that maintain a constant intermediate duration. So that means that instead of maturing and getting your principal back. It's buying bonds so that the fund duration stays about the same. The duration on those funds are about 5 years. So selling them now while the yield is higher than in the past is kinda like selling at the lows. I personally find it simpler to hold target maturity funds instead.
Technically, you can't have a firm grasp on stock index funds if you don't understand bonds since the DCF for stocks has the same factors that bonds have plus additional factors. But I get what you mean. You don't need to know DCF to just buy and hold a broad index fund long term. Bond funds tend to be more varied. You don't have a net loss of 3-4% over many years. You are looking only at the price change and did not include the income distributions. Here's a total return chart: https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.php?IAGG,MUB Bonds have two main factors: duration and credit. Short duration, high rated bonds will be close to cash and very low risk. Long duration, high rated bonds will be more volatile, even approaching stock volatility for the longest durations. But not very correlated to stocks. Lower rated bonds will be much more correlated to stocks. IAGG has a portfolio of foreign government and investment grade corporate bonds. It hedges the currencies so it acts like an index of USD bonds. It has medium duration and medium high credit rating. It's interesting that your advisor went with IAGG over a domestic bond index like AGG, though there's not that much difference because currency hedging will tend to equalize the yield and the duration and credit exposure is similar. Maybe they thought the yield curve looked more attractive in other countries at the time. IAGG has outperformed AGG over the past few years, so if so, they were right. MUB holds municipal bonds which are not taxed at the federal level (or the state in which they were issued). Also medium duration and medium high credit rating. These are most suitable if you are in a high tax bracket; less useful if you are in a lower bracket.
For 100.000$ account: Write 15x SPY 500 PUT 19DEC2025 = 1119 \* 20 =16.785$ Invest 116.785$ in 1 year Treasury @ 4.25% => 121.748$. Yearly Return 21,748%. This is an example! Adjust STRIKE and AMOUNT (or DURATION) of options to your risk profile/liking. The investment itself can be adjusted to CORP/AGG bond (ETF) or Index like SPY/QQQ if even more risk appetite.
I would keep a small amount as a minimum. Studies show way less volatility with only a very small lose for 10-30 % bonds. Plus when Covid strikes, you can sell the bonds at a huge game and buy into stocks, which dropped like 30-40%. I did that then, and made up for any lower yield in bond for the rest of my life. Since bonds and stocks can swing wildly, it is helpful to have some of each. Same for REITS and other alternative areas, but all in moderation for most people. Just like owning a few stocks (not just ETFs or mutual funds) can allow way more flexibility in tax loss harvesting and other tricks. So while a 90:10 mix of SPY/AGG is simple, and worked well for many, it does not allow for more complex tricks to lower taxes and such.
VGSH VGIT VGLT (short int long bonds) SPIB SPHY (corporate int and high yield bonds) VMBS (mortgage backed securities) My bond allocation is divided evenly between all six. They all pay every month. Some perform better in certain conditions than others. I like the outlook of all of them and plan to hold them all indefinitely. In my 401k I have just FXNAX (Fidelity MF AGG / BND equivalent) because no other real bond choices.
If you like what it's doing, then just replicate the percentages with cheaper ETFs. For Schwab these would be SCHB (US), SCHF (International) and SCHZ (bonds). Ignore small/medium/large cap splits in your current allocations, that's largely just smoke and mirrors to make it look like your roboadvisor is doing more work. Just invest in SCHB for US and call it a day. Every brokerage has their own versions of all-market index funds, I use iShares, which is ITOT, IXUS, AGG. Track roughly the same indices, charge roughly the same fees.
Easy. I'm going to invest 2% of my fiancée and I'm paychecks like I do every Thursday! Here's my weekly purchase: $ACVF - 40% $AGG - 30% $BTC - 15% $NTSE - 5% $FERG - 5% $DJT - 5%
If you do not mind a little risk, right now corp bonds pay more than 5% with excellent rating. I got a 5.75% DUE 11/29/34 from a top rated major bank not callable. Prior week 7.25% 2036 callable corp bond A+ rating. Even Muni in a high state interst exempt and Fed exampt bought in 2023 would pay 5.3-5.5% effective rate. These have appreciated 5-21% if I chose to unload. They emcompass 2020-2099 maturities. The large cap 500 index is overvalued from recent AI hypes. Like many I am into small growth, midcap growth and index since returns have almost matched S&P lately. Bottom line I haver them spreaded out different type etf, muni, Fed gov agency as well as corporate up to 2040s. The high yield, Sgov, AGG are there to cushion them. My goal is 17.5-20% total portfolio are into fixed income.
I mean if youre scared or whatever you just got VT and some AGG
I have a college Freshman and Junior, both of whom will attend graduate school as well, and here is my take. I have most of the 529 accounts set to 30% S&P 500 and 70% in the most conservative "bank interest" position, basically a money market fund. My older one started college in Sept. 2022 near the bottom of the worst bond market ever. This made it quite clear to me that bond funds - where you cannot isolate the interest/dividend - are just as volatile as stocks. The "conservative" glide paths of these 529 plans can be just as shaky. Even now, the NAV of a basic U.S. bond index fund like AGG is *down* 1.6% YTD, and with 3.8% dividends reinvested (net 2.2%), that still pales in comparison to a simple money market that earned around 5% this year with no price volatility. I am strongly considering moving to 100% cash in these accounts as soon as I can execute a change - there is a limit of 2 per year and I've already exhausted them.
I manage all my own portfolios and investments so adding value through investment tilt based primarily on economic and market data. Creating a portfolio based on overall risk and then allocating that risk to maximize return with limiting risk. Examples would be tilting more towards US Large Growth rather than International Growth for the last 10 years. Say a TDF has 35% in International I may lower that to 15% and reallocate the other 20% somewhere else. Flip side is at some point when economic signs point to out performance for International I can go 45% or higher. Small cap growth has been hit hard since interest rates have gone higher and been an under allocated portion of portfolios. For bonds it’s allocating to tilts like High Yield and Corporate Treasuries the last few years rather than AGG, BND(X), IEF, TLT etc. There are some active bond funds that generally outperform their peer group and Index and are in the top 10 percentile for the last 1/3/5/10 years. Those consistent funds are ones I like because even with a higher ER the overall return to my clients is usually net 2-3% higher. Back at the end of 2021 when the Fed said they were going to start raising interest rates, I took off duration and small cap growth and reallocated to high yield and value equites. Now I’m not perfect and seeing high yield bonds decrease by 8% in 2022 wasn’t good but it was a lot better than AGG (-13%) and TLT (-31%) or IEF (-15%). Most often I like to pair investments within a portfolio for risk balance. If I add risk high yield then add treasuries for risk free return. That combination might have the same risk but slightly different returns.
Sorry about the bad link - I had just added the FAQ entry and there's a markdown rendering bug in Reddit web - this link to the wiki will work - see the explanation from Prof Damodaran from NYU Stern i- [https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/wiki/faq/#wiki\_why\_can\_bond\_yields\_go\_up\_when\_the\_fed\_is\_cutting\_rates.3F](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/wiki/faq/#wiki_why_can_bond_yields_go_up_when_the_fed_is_cutting_rates.3F) You didn't mention the bond fund - but is sounds like AGG since you mentioned iShares. There is also a good discussion on your question from last week here which you may find helpful - [https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/comments/1gfkvdo/by\_how\_much\_do\_interest\_rates\_have\_to\_go\_down\_to/](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/comments/1gfkvdo/by_how_much_do_interest_rates_have_to_go_down_to/) See the comments from RIP\_Soulja\_Slim.
I follow the Boglehead strategy using five funds VTI, VXUS and AGG,BNDX and SGOV. I allocate my risk based on a formula (128 - age). [https://www.bogleheads.org/](https://www.bogleheads.org/)
SGOV, BNG, AGG. Pick the one with the highest yield.
Thanks for sharing. To sum up, focusing on any individual sectors is a bad idea (makes a portfolio too "messy?"), and so I should drop the gold, infrastructure, energy, financial, and REIT funds as well as the midcap fund and dividend funds (GPIX & EVT). Then I should do these replacements because they are superior (less risky? likely to perform better?): ** bonds AGG instead of VWAHX ** large cap FNDX instead of VWELX ** small cap IJR instead of AVUV ** global/international IEFA instead of VT ** broad market AOA instead of VTSAX
Government bond ETFs, very liquid. It's where we keep our emergency fund and housing fund. SGOV(0-3 months), VGSH (1-3 years), ISTB (1-5 years), IEF (7-10 years) or even AGG (less sensitive to federal interest rates).
SHY rallied, JNK rallied, even AGG is up a bit IEF, TLT tho? Fucking flat 
General question about Bond ETFs: I'm relatively new to most things investing and am still conducting my own research but can't figure this one out. From what I understand about bond prices is that their movement is inversely related to the movement of interest rates so you're better off buying bonds when interest rates are high and you expect them to lower in the future. As for Bond ETFs, they are funds that hold multiple bonds of varying grades, maturities, types etc. A Bond ETF will have a target average maturity that is maintained by the fund manager as they buy new bonds and sell off old ones. Therefore, my thoughts were that given the current high interest rates and the expectation that the Fed will cut and continue to cut rates over the next year or two, it would make sense to invest in Bond ETFs now. Additionally, it would make sense to invest in funds that have a duration of say 1-4 years which would capture the higher interest rates seen recently and would hold their value over the next few years even though rates are dropping then you could switch to a longer duration fund depending on the timeline of your goals and when rates reach neutral or lower. However, what I'm seeing is ALL Bond ETFs (BND, BNDX, LTL, VTEB, MUB, AGG etc) have dropped after the fed announced their 50 basis point cut, including long and short duration ETFs, corporate, municipal, and government bond ETFs. I know bond ETF prices are determined by the market like any other security that is publicly traded but shouldn't Bond ETFs be a more attractive investment to everyone as the rates drop? What am I missing here?
Just buy AGG if you need the money in a year.
[https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund\_portfolio](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio) boggle heads would say some aggregate bond index BND-vangaurd SCHZ - schwab BNDS - state street AGG - black rock There are MF versions as well
If I had to guess, I would guess that the part of the cut that was a surprise was that is was 50bps and not 25bps, the stock market liked that; the stock market is a lot more volatile; the stock market is more sensitive to rate cuts and what they imply about the economy than something like AGG is.
I agree with some of this...obviously not the the part where I made a "dumb" argument ;-) Sometimes markets do act irrationally. I think it's much more likely in the case of AGG that this cut and expected future cuts are priced in than that the entire bond market is acting irrationally.
Don't buy the business. Don't try to play catch up by putting everything on black. Businesses fail. Open a brokerage account (say, with Charles Schwab or Etrade). Transfer your $125,000 of savings there. * Use 70% to buy Vanguard Total Stock Market Index ETF (ticker: VTI). About 311 shares. * Use the balance to buy iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF (ticker: AGG). About 370 shares. * Every month, put 10% (more if you can) of your take home into the above ETFs in the same proportion. * Do **not** panic in a market downturn. Just keep going. You should be good by the time you retire.
Personally, I took profit last week on AGG TLT 😅
It's been more than 6 to 9 months since it was mentioned everywhere that AGG TLT SCHD are a good opportunity. The Dividends, Investing, etc. groups used to laugh at me about AGG TLT. Now I'm smiling and taking profits.
- https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AGG/options/ - https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/etf/agg/option-chain I'm not burning my morning pretending to be your advisor but there's no bid being reported at that strike on any date on the chain.
It's better not to invest in individual stocks. I would advise anyone starting to invest to split their money between VTI and AGG, rebalance quarterly at most, and invest in individual stocks in smaller, incremental amounts.
Ok let's pick AGG. It has a yield of 3.75%. It's top holding is 50% US Treasuries, of which a 4% note is the most common of the fund. HYSA is around 4.2% right now if not better depending on the bank. Looks like the most appropriate option for OP situation.
I've designed portfolios for a lot of people simply using many of the ETFs that you have there. You can have a great diversification with VOO, VT, VTI, SCHD, AGG, VCSH, etc. Once you get your portfolio built, you're paying yourself first, reinvesting dividends, etc. you can then start foraying a bit into individual stocks. Long story short, I don't think you need to consolidate more from where you are. Fixed income should play a role but if you are younger then what you have is just fine. You can do very well with that plan you have. Good luck TJ [https://www.reddit.com/r/InnerCircleInvesting/](https://www.reddit.com/r/InnerCircleInvesting/)
>what should I be putting my money into for it to really start working for me and grow with me. Sounds like you just learned some of the most important lessons an investor can learn. And the sooner the better.so you don't grow up to be a dgen and just gamble your life savings away. Because you'll always be surrounded by degens the rest of your life and tempted to try your luck again. Keep dollar cost averaging into VT until you retire. Maybe add some SCHD for more dividend income if you want. When you're middle aged and planning your retirement begin accumulating AGG or BND to balance the equity portfolio with the aggregate bond index for fixed income. Read "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing" by John Bogle . Twice
Glad to see that you're looking to branch out. When setting up new portfolios for people, we always discuss risk tolerance, complexity, etc. You can set up a very nice portfolio with as little as 4-5 ETFs. If you want to add some individual stocks, that is something I tell people not to hesitate doing AFTER learning to pay yourself first and setting up a good diversified plan. Many times when setting up a portfolio, I'll simply suggest VOO, VT, VTI, SCHD and bond fund or two like VCSH, BND or AGG. It doesn't need to be a lot more complicated than that. From that point, you invest monthly and then as you gain confidence and experience, you can start exploring some individual stocks, expand your knowledge, etc. Good luck out there on your journey! You're on the right track! TJ [https://www.reddit.com/r/InnerCircleInvesting/](https://www.reddit.com/r/InnerCircleInvesting/)
Go to portfoliovisualzer.com and plug in your portfolio and compare to a portfolio of 50/50 VT and VTI. I suspect you will have similar returns. Your portfolio may be overcomplicated. Mine is as well with two dozen ETFs. A result of more than a decade of overthinking and tweaks and pressing on the scales, all to obtain virtually identical returns to a 70/30 ACWI and AGG portfolio(I track performance carefully). No advice, just an observation.
An ETF can also be invested in bonds, such as BND and AGG, for example. ETFs are traded intraday on the market, but that doesn’t mean they are only invested in equities. I highly recommend learning more before committing anymore capital. I do not recommend people invest in anything they don’t fully understand
59(M) and 55(F). Married. Retiring in Texas (No state income tax). Both retired Federal civil servants earning pensions. When we respectively turn 62, we will collect social security. The combination of our pensions and social security will put us in the 22% tax bracket. In addition, we each have traditional and Roth IRA's. My retirement "deployment strategy" is as follows: I'd really like some feedback. * Approximately $10,000 in Checking Account * Approximately $80,000 in HYSA * Market Down Turn Fund... I calculated how much money above pensions and social security we'd need on a "tightening our belts" budget and then allocated 6 years of capital to this fund. $175,000 in bond funds. 30% in BIL (1-3 month T-Bill EFT currently 5.2% yield), 30% in PULS (Ultra Short Bond EFT currently 5.7% yield), and 40% in AGG (Aggregate total bond market fund currently yielding 3.7%). The intent is to draw upon these funds in the event of a market down turn. All dividends will reinvest overtime. * Self Insuring Life Insurance... When one of us dies, that pension stops. We did not choose the survivorship option. Therefore, I took 6 years of one of our pensions and set it aside. In the event of one of our deaths, there will be 6 years of equivalent pension available to draw on for the survivor. During that 6 years, it's assumed the survivor is selling some assets we wouldn't be using anymore (motorhome, boat). This fund is $325,000 and is invested in 30% SCHD, 40% JEPQ and 30% JEPI. Dividend funds. All dividends will reinvest overtime. * Primary Retirement Funds: Assuming 10% average rate of return (slightly below historical market return), 3% inflation, and accounting for a generous retirement standard of living, I calculated how much money do we need in our respective traditional IRAs. The annual withdrawal from the IRA's was set such that we "max out" the 24% tax bracket. Thus, the withdrawal is the top of the 24% tax bracket minus our pensions and social security. That withdrawal... pays the taxes on the total withdrawal, goes to standard of living, and whatever change is left over goes to Roth conversion. These funds are invested in SPY. There's roughly $1.6M in each traditional IRA, $3.2M total for this purpose. Using the 10% RoR, 3% inflation, 24% Max bracket withdrawals, these accounts get to zero when I am 99 years old and my wife is 95 years old. * That's all we "need" for a very nice retirement. * Growth Funds: I trimmed the Traditional IRA's down to the $1.6M each for the Primary Retirement funds strategy. In trimming them, I do large one time Roth Conversions. After the Roth Conversions, I end up with $3.6M in my Roth account and $1.6M in my wife's Roth account. These Tax Free accounts aren't really needed for our retirement plans and will be invested in individual stocks. I can draw upon these funds for "whatever" along the way. * We are 100% debt free. I believe that answers all the context and background info. Quesitons 1) Are BIL, PULS, and AGG the right investments for the Market Down Turn Fund? If not what? and WHY? I don't know much about bonds. 2) Are SCHD, JEPQ, and JEPI the right investments for the Self Insurance Fund? If not what? and WHY? I don't know much about Dividend Investing. 3) Is there anything I could improve upon? I understand we are in great shape... but retirement is scary. Looking to learn. Please and thanks
You are a couples of weeks late. The higher safer rates are gone faster than people think. I have been buying US govt agency 10, 20 and 30 year long term bond. All are callable type to be called away as early as next spring, or 2026. Offering almost 6%. The other safer choice is 3 month Treasury at 4.8%. Not worry that gov't will default. If the deep interest cuts it will eventually getting called away. I imagine I can resell them if wanting the money. In the next few months to a year I have multiples of them maturing. Last Oct-Nov I bought a massive CA munibonds 10-15 year offering close to 5-7% w/o state tax for residents. I notice prices of esp GO bonds have gone up 15-20% indicating there is a strong demand. I will sat on my AGG fund to park my cash. It normally goes up when interest declines. The price suggests it is already priced in suggested interest cuts...
Skip mid cap for now. They have very low returns. Small cap growth will shine. Some bonds will rise especially aggrgrated mixed maturity ones. AGG is a good one. I will look for materials, health care mfs. Foreign can be replaced with regional and I smell India, and cash rich middle east etfs (not into oil which is volatile). You also need large cap growth etf/mf.
This interest reduction will be nothing compared to last one. 1-1.5% the first year or 2. Looks like depressed bonds will go up as it already shows strength on AGG. Some of the retired CD etc can go to large or even small cap stocks.
AGG is a popular one. I have other mf funds actively managed and I will soon to break it even since bond prices on existing intermediate and long term start moving up and can make some money after 2nd interest fall. I just snatched up some 20-30 year callable Fed agency bonds at 6% paying semi-annually. First call is next Feb and another one is 2027 that pays 5.94%. 0-3 months Treasury offers less than 5% is as much as one can get from the Treasury. I doubt Fed agencies will default and likely they will be called back before maturity.
I will invest in high income fund in some US reit notes. Many have been paying 8-9% for years. They have to pay off 90% net profit to avoid paying high corp taxes. Also some US index that sells covered calls. One example is SPYI that pays 12.1%. If you like US Federate bonds AGG is secure and I expect with the interest coming down it is already moving up and will be in low 100s in the future. I have 28% in fixed income and cash consists of these funds. Never put your eggs in same basket. Diverse even with same company on notes and maturity dates. If the rates reduce I will move more into small cap category. Plenty of quality etfs in UAE, and India.
At 44, I would invest 70/30 equities to bonds. VT or VTI for stock, AGG for bonds. Steer towards 60/40 as you get closer to retirement. As you say, Tbills are good right now but you need an equity tilt to get the growth you need for your nest egg to materially appreciate before you retire since your assets are starting from ground zero. You mention TBills: they are good now but will go down as rates fall over time. Fixed income (bonds, tbills, HYSA, etc.) are more of a way to stabilize a portfolio for withdrawals & peace of mind in down years vs. a means to get growth. Some may even advocate 80-100% in equities, that is also an option based on your risk tolerance.
So stupid question - AGG is the bond fund I invest in although a very small portion of my portfolio. It has been down for years from my initial investment. Now I get monthly “coupons” that I reinvest in AGG. Is this because it owns bonds that were bought when interest rates are low? Wouldn’t it make sense to buy some 2-5 year bonds and then if rates drop could sell for a profit be hold until maturity ?
I did this a lot as a bond trader on the street, and I'd recommend much great caution. Borrow is unstable, transaction costs very high (unless you are talking about USTs), and you will be subject to margin most likely (as oppose to repo as professionals access). If you want to be short bonds, I'd just short bond ETFs - TLT, AGG, IEF, LQD, HYG etc.
Some AGG can not hurt. In this unsettled market I am not sure I want to go all in equity. SchD. The old saying was 100-age into equity rest in fixed income. Then they said a few years ago 110-25 into equity. These days people like to be all into stocks or growth stocks.
https://preview.redd.it/yby7dnhb2bhd1.png?width=1399&format=png&auto=webp&s=335c3851ede12e45d78435b22b91d54cc3a57c5b Of course! But now he's taking some profits! AGG BND, etc. is currently at a certain top.
This is typically true, though there are some atrocious financial planners out there. Not the standard, but something to be aware of. I think that the value of a CFP is often more their ability to advise when to put in and take out money from what accounts, and how much you can take out based on your goals, age, assets, etc. They can also help with tax planning strategies. It is unlikely that their investment strategy will yield much better if any better returns than simply putting it all in a blend of VOO and AGG. But them driving your investments isn't the only thing they do.
If that's the case - then yes - it sounds like you are seeking target maturity bond funds. And that's basically what those two products are. But don't discount the comment by u/probablywrongbutmeh - if you want something similar to AGG which has an average of 5-7 year constant duration but you want it to mature - you can simply just use a target maturity investment grade bond fund that matures in 5-7 years instead of building a ladder with 1 year rungs.
Anyone who has been invested from 2008-2022 had a bad time with bonds because rates were so low and rising slowlt over that time. 2019 and 2023 were OK years for bonds when rates fell in 2019 and expectations for rates fell in 2023 AGG was up 8.68% and 5.58% respectively. If you are avoiding them because of bad returns you need to understand that backdrop and also the relationship between bonds and rates. The futute of something like AGG is much much brighter than something lile CDs. CDs and T Bills have massive reinvestment risk as rates fall, youll have both missed the price upside of longer duration bonds and locking in rates for longer time periods.
1 - If there's a schwabb portfolio you like, no reason not do it if it has the right asset mix. No cost on the portfiolio itself, and you'll just want to make sure none of the etf fees are too high. Beyond that, choosing funds for a 3 fund is fairly easy, and I wouldn't overthink it too much. 2 - is this money separate from retirement funds, is there a short term goal for the money? If not, you can get longer duration bonds and lock in slightly higher rates for a longer period of time now instead of just trying to get better rates for 5 years. Also, remember that bonds/fixed income isn't really where you're trying to generate large returns or asset growth at this stage. > Any recommendations on what I should consider buying? If you have a specific timeframe for the money, buy a bond fund, or duration bond fund (like Ishares bond funds that expire in a given year), that match the duration. IF not, buy a generic bond fund like BND or AGG or a longer term treasury fund. > I'm ready to move half of the $1M in SNAXX to bonds in preparation for interest rates coming down Make your decision on this, since you're behind "big money" in this thought process. You can see prices on longer duration treasury ETFs are already up from the expected rate drop in September.
You know why? because they all bought the top on SPY QQQ and NVDA! lol I've been investing in SQQQ and AGG BND bonds for two months now. And everyone's laughing at me lol
You are late! Retail investors tend to stay euphoric when the markets are at the top, and once we see a 10% drop, they want to cover? Since May-June, I've been telling everyone in all the groups to buy bonds to cover themselves, like AGG and BND, and everyone was laughing and mocking me... Hahaha, bonds?!? What a clown, they said... Obviously, buying AGG now seems a bit risky to me...
The world is/was in a bubble territory. All billionaires are taking some profits and buying some bonds like AGG BND etc. to hedge. Why has NVDA dropped by 20% in 3 or 4 days? I'd rather ask why NVDA has increased by x4 in 12 months. Nissan, Toyota are dumping like TSLA or F or STLA. The Japanese index also includes manufacturers of parts for semiconductors.
All good funds but with a lot of overlap. I would seek a more diversified portfolio. More like VTI for US coverage, IEFA for some international and AGG for bonds. 50/25/25. Another good choice these days is a target date fund. They can be very low cost and are as set it and forget it as it gets.
theoretically if i switched AGG with FBND would that be better or worse for me?
Yes. VOO and SPY track the same index, but SPY is more geared towards options traders. VGT is a tech index and VWO is an emerging markets index, and AGG is a bond index. So you have a portion of your investment in domestic equities, a tech tilt which is fine, some international equities, and some bonds.
SPY is the good solid "Warren Buffett" recommendation. Continually buy and hold across 3+ decades, in good time and bad times, good things will happen if you don't panic-sell. VGT is tech-focused. It really blew up in the last decade or so. Will that continue at the same pace with the AI boom or is it overvalued and due for a correction? Who can say? I'm sure you'll make respectable money either way on a long time-frame. I don't mess with emerging market-specific stuff just cuz I assume the S&P 500 has enough international business. I know guys like Dave Ramsay have it as a staple of their portfolio. Not for me. Your choice. SCHD underperforms the S&P 500 which is already the conservative investment IMO. Your choice. I'm not impressed by AGG's performance at all. Across 20+ years it's just lost money?
So you think $15 VOO $5 VGT $5 VWO $5 AGG would be a better idea to do?
Beginner investor, asking for help I am in my teens looking to invest, I had an account made on Fidelity Youth yesterday and I used an AI for help with a portfolio. I don’t currently have a job but am looking to get one soon, so I only have 30 dollars. What the AI told me is that i should do this portfolio $10 SPY $5 VGT $5 VWO $5 SCHD $5 AGG before I do anything I want to know if that’s a good or bad idea to do that plan. Thank you.
Yeah I'm pumping my contributions into AGG. Not to change my allocation, but to try to keep up with my target bond percentage as ITOT continues its crazy run. Stick to the plan. It's a good plan.
As a wealth manager myself, you can’t judge your advisor by necessarily the returns. What is your investment objective, risk tolerance, liquidity, net worth…etc. There are a lot of questions that he asked you, at least should have asked you when you first met. Depending on your answers you provided, is a portfolio that he recommended. If you said anything about being somewhat conservative, a 5.5% return over the last few years is spot on. Don’t judge your wealth manager just on the upside performance. How does he/she manage risk and the downside? Any Reddit degen on here will tell you dump it all in VOO and AGG and get yourself a balanced portfolio because they don’t have a wealth manager and don’t know any better. VOO is a great complement to a complete portfolio. Low expense ratio and does a great job tracking S&P. A good wealth manager in your tool bet is always best. They are there to help guide you through more than just investments. They provide advice, walk you off the ledge when the market turns for the worst, help with liquidity when needed, and assist with major goals and finances for the rest of your life. If you have a good relationship with the advisor, ask them questions. Inform yourself. What is the portfolio you are in? Work with your advisor, don’t just rely on them to call you. It’s a two way street, some clients don’t like to be bothered and just want to set and forget. Some want hand holding, and some want just an annual review. Talk to your advisor, don’t necessarily fire them.
They probably also have International and EM stocks which havent done as well. If you just look at VT + AGG at 60/40 hes probably spot on, maybe even outperforming a bit.
If you want to buy a broad market ETF without thinking about it, you have a few options based on how broad you want broad to be: VT is Vanguard's total world fund (the broadest) VTI is Vanguard's total US fund (a bit narrower) VOO is Vanguard's S&P 500 fund (this is a large-cap US index that almost everyone compares their returns to...it's 500ish companies selected by the S&P criteria, which I guess are pretty good, since it's hard to beat consistently over time) There are also a bunch of bond funds...AGG or BND are the broad bond funds. If you want 90/10, just buy 90% VOO and 10% BND, and every time you put more money in the market, buy one or the other to maintain that ratio. Vanguard is usually the best fund manager, because they have a very low expense ratio (that's basically the fraction of your money they use to pay to keep the fund running...e.g. salaries for the managers and marketing expenses). If you're very new, you can just keep your cash in a money market account with your broker while you figure everything else out. Money markets are paying ~5% right now, and they're almost risk-free.
AGG, Oil, Gold, NDX liftoff. aka, the everything rally.
USFR, AGG, VTI, FSPGX, UPRO are all index funds. USFR is similar to a money market fund and with no risk. AGG holds a portfolio of bonds and has some risk. SPY and FSPGX hold stocks and can lose a bunch of money in a bad year (like 50% in 2008). UPRO is highly leveraged and can lose almost all of its value in a bad year. You will need to determine how much you are willing to lose if things go against you. 0% -> money market fund 5% -> commercial paper 10% -> broad bonds 20% -> mostly bonds, some stocks 35% -> stocks and bonds 50% -> mostly stocks more -> leverage
If your objective is to invest in bonds, the only safe option is AGG (ETF of US Bonds). But personally I don't invest in bonds thinking in dividends: Dividends makes you pay early taxes, which greatly affects the compound interest in the long term.
Solid start! Consider adding a bond ETF like AGG or BND for diversification.
60/40 TQQQ/AGG isn’t much of a sound strategy in my view, but I’m glad they’ve done well.
Compared to something the EFTs mentioned in my post, bonds and bond EFTs aren't returning nearly the yields comparatively. BND & AGG for example as EFTs and looking at individual Govt issue bonds for several weeks have not enticed me. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against them. Maybe more towards the third quarter, I will start to invest in some bonds once I have what I feel is a healthy amount in VOO and the others, just to shore things up and add diversity.
But the dividend isn't 25 cents. The first screenshots shows 25 cents in my account. It was added today. But I check dividens, and they are all over $1. Wait, I just realized that my automatic investment is a total of $25, and Robinhood does a 1% match, and 25 cents is 1% of $25. Maybe that's it. I assumed the 1% match went with the daily recurring buy I have for VOO and AGG.
it literally says AGG dividend and VOO Stock Lending. so that's where you are making money from. what's the question?
> not to outperform the market Reddit is gonna lose their mind on this one. But that isn't always true. It's true that out performance in equities is pretty difficult to come by, specifically large cap equities. But I do a lot of small scale pensions, and those generally require a larger fixed income allocation (works well once you're in your 50s so this isn't inappropriate). The FI portfolio I run has outperformed the AGG by ~2% over the last 5 years. Outperformance is not that hard to come by outside of equities. Shit, the entire idea of a cap weighted index is nonsensical once you understand what it's doing. But that don't stop people from dumping money in the agg anyway.
You're not selling covered calls if you don't have the funds to "cover" in the account. You can't do what you're suggesting unless you're talking about selling naked calls - which I wouldn't do. So you want money to pay with? Interested is trading? Start making regular deposits into your brokerage account (every pay check). Use 60% of your deposit to buy TQQQ and the other 40% to buy AGG. Come back in a year.
If someone gave me 160k by September, I’d invest it into VOO, SPY, AGG, etc 🥴 someone wanna give me 160k??
Here's my attempt to reassure or convince her... haha (A strategy based on dividends and avoiding buying the market top on SPY QQQ...) This is exactly what I've been doing for the past few weeks... 20% VWO: Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF. Yield 3.37% 30% VEA: Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF. Yield 3.27%. 30% SCHD: Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF. Yield 3.41% 20% AGG: iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF. Yield 3.41% More suggestions ? VNQ JEPI JEPQ DBC ...
Equities are the best performing asset class of all time. If your investing time-frame is over 5 years buy a total market index fund such as ITOT or VTI. If you want to add some exposure to fixed income add BND or AGG in a tax advantaged account. Ensure you consider asset location. Bond interest is taxable at standard income rates. It purely serves as ballast if you are too nervous about volatility.
My own personal quibbles with how brokerages market products to newbies aside... I'm all for them. I actually buy fractional shares all the time, as it allows me to invest exact dollar amounts according to the allocation I desire. I also have a running bet with a trader friend. Every year for the last 3 years we have a contest: We both have a Robinhood account, he actively trades options and stocks and cryptos, and I just buy $9 of SCHD, $9 of SCHG, and $2 of AGG every day. I had better returns than him in 2022 and 2023, though I will likely lose in 2024. I bring that up to point out that I'm technically buying fractional shares every day. They do have a point, and they can be beneficial to someone with a small account.
7% per year for someone in their 70s isn’t that bad honestly IMO, if those are net numbers. Most people that age want to have a very stable return stream and index funds have a lot of volatility. Sure you could just 30% VOO, 30% BIL, 30% AGG, and 10% whatever. But that’s a risk tolerance decision.