Hey everyone, it’s Finance Fridays again. Today I was going to look at my portfolios and see if I needed to rebalance or not. So rather than just do all the work, I’d figure I’d share the data and my thoughts with you guys, without getting into too much detail. So let’s talk about “My Portfolios for 2018“.

My Portfolios for 2018

The major retirement accounts I have are:

• Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) [mine]
• Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) [hers]
• 457 (Prudential) [hers] from old job
• 403b (Vanguard) [hers] from old job
• 403b (TIAA CREF) [hers] from old job
• Fellowship 403b (TIAA CREF) [hers]
• Residency 403b (MetLife ) [mine]

“Gambling Accounts”

• Crypto Portfolio [mine, with an ok from her]

Ok, so let’s jump in:

Thrift Savings Plan

Our TSP’s are very similar as you might expect:

My Current TSP 2018

Her Current TSP 2018

Our Allocations are identical:

TSP Contribution Allocation

I’ve talked about why I’ve chosen this particular allocation before, and people will agree or disagree with me. Basically, it’s a variation of an approximation of the “three fund portfolio“. It’s an 80/20 split of stocks and bonds, which is aggressive for age. It’s essentially an “age – 15” in bonds portfolio. Then I’ve split up the 80% stocks into 50% C fund (large cap), ~33% I Fund (international), and 17% S fund (small cap). This ends up being 40% C Fund, 27% I Fund, and 13% S Fund overall.

My 20% bonds aren’t technically bonds, they’re government securities, in the G Fund.

For a better explanation of what each fund holds, you can go here – Investing in the TSP: The Individual Funds.

This last year we’ve continued to show gains, which is explains why my C and S funds are a larger proportion of the allocation, whereas the G fund is now a smaller proportion.

457 (Prudential)

Prudential 457

This doesn’t really need its own pie chart, but I’m including it for completeness, and because I like pie charts.

The 457 option we had didn’t have very good options for funds. Also, since it isn’t/won’t be a huge portion of our overall retirement portfolio since we can no longer contribute to it, I decided to throw it into a good “balanced fund” with Vanguard Wellington Admiral Shares – which is ~65% stocks, 30% bonds, and 5% reserves.

Some people use Vanguard Wellington as an “all in one fund”, and to be honest, it’s not a bad option. Although I consider it somewhat conservative for younger people, and then becomes too aggressive as you get older. At some point in future I will move this into a different fund.

Vanguard 403b [hers]

Vanguard 403b

This is basically a 3 fund portfolio. I think when I originally made it, I made it 33/33/33 or maybe it was 70/30, which was more conservative than the 457 and my TSP at the time. I think I did this to somewhat balance things out. However, because of the gains in the stock market over the last few years, it has kind of fallen out of balance. I should probably take this time to rebalance it. I also don’t really like that I have so much international tilt in this portfolio.

Here’s the list:

Total Bond Market Index Fund Admiral Shares
Total International Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares
Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares

I haven’t decided what to rebalance to. I may just go back to 33/33/33 just to keep it simple. Or, I may make it more similar to our TSP and go 80/20, with less of an international tilt. We’ll see.

Old 403b [TIAA CREF] [hers]

TIAA CREF 403b

My wife has a few accounts from an old TIAA CREF 403b which are all in 80/20 splits. It’s kind of complex, because there are 3 separate accounts because there is an annuity that was a free match. Honestly, I really don’t like what TIAA CREF offers in house. Of the options for CREF only, the best options I could find were:

• CREF Equity R1 — for broad stock market index (0.64% expense ratio)
• CREF Bond Market R1 — for bond index  (0.70% expense ratio)

One account has access to TIAA-CREF options, which are slightly better, with the best options being:

• TIAA-CREF Equity Index Fund – Retirement Class  (0.30% expense ratio)
• TIAA-CREF International Equity Index Fund – Retirement Class (0.31% expense ratio)
• Metropolitan West Total Return Bond Fund Class M (0.66% expense ratio)

Now these ratios aren’t horrible, but they’re significantly higher than Vanguard.

• In the two accounts, it’s 80% Equity R1 and 20% Bond Market R1.
• In the other account, it’s 80% Equity Index and International Equity Index and 20% Total Return Bond.

However, because the market has been doing well, they’re all closer to 84% and 16%, and should be rebalanced.

I wanted to see if any new Vanguard funds were added, but unfortunately no. I may go through all the offerings again at some point, but I am not hopeful to find anything better.

Fellowship 403b [TIAA CREF] [hers]

Fellowship 403b [hers]

This was an 80/20 split, but has now become 84/16. I should probably rebalance this soon as well.

Residency 403b [Metlife] [mine]

Residency 403b [MetLife]

So I chose some “meh” picks back when I originally made my Residency 403b before I knew anything. Then certain funds were replaced and I tried to estimate a 3 fund portfolio when I knew more, but couldn’t with the offering provided to me. So I got lazy and just said ok, Retirement Fund 2045 then. Done and done. Not a horrible option…

However. I received a notice in the mail that we would be getting new funds added… and among them are:

• Total International Stock Index Admiral VTIAX
• Total Stock Market Index Admiral VTSAX
• Inflation-Protected Secs Admiral VAIPX  (This is a TIPS)
• Total Bond Market Index Admiral VBTLX

YES.

So… obviously I need to rebalance here. Just to keep everything similar, whatever I decided to rebalance the other Vanguard funds to, I will do the same here.

This is a good lesson. Make sure you rebalance on a regular basis and check out any new funds offered. Retirement funds change all the time, funds are changed and replaced often.

What about your Crypto Portfolio?

It looks like this:

Crypto Portfolio CRSF

Please remember:

My crypto portfolio is miniscule in comparison to the rest of my retirement accounts. Only invest (gamble) what you can afford to lose.

The End

And there ya go… that’s how you look at your accounts and try to rebalance things.

Don’t miss the forest through the trees. Stay the course.

TL;DR

Take stock of your retirement funds on a regular basis.

Don’t forget to rebalance based on your retirement plan.

Check to see if new better funds are available.

Don’t miss the forest through the trees. Stay the course.

-Sensei

Agree? Disagree? Questions, Comments and Suggestions are welcome.

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