Best short-term bond fund in a taxable account

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Fran K
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Best short-term bond fund in a taxable account

Post by Fran K »

I posted recently about selling a portion of my total bond fund allocation at a loss to buy a short-term bond ETF. Does anyone have a recommendation for The best short-term bond ETF if I want to consider taxable distributions?
Time is your friend; impulse is your enemy. -John C. Bogle
benway
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Re: Best short-term bond fund in a taxable account

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Last edited by benway on Wed Aug 03, 2022 8:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
dbr
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Re: Best short-term bond fund in a taxable account

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Do you mean you want distributions as large as can be found or as small as can be found?

The lowest would be a money market fund and the highest might be something like short term investment grade VFSUX or VCSH ETF. Other options are CDs and MYGA's.
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Fran K
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Re: Best short-term bond fund in a taxable account

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dbr wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 6:02 pm Do you mean you want distributions as large as can be found or as small as can be found?
I'm looking for small distributions or tax-advantaged distributions to avoid ordinary income tax, balanced against a reasonable return.
Time is your friend; impulse is your enemy. -John C. Bogle
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retired@50
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Re: Best short-term bond fund in a taxable account

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Fran K wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 7:52 pm
dbr wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 6:02 pm Do you mean you want distributions as large as can be found or as small as can be found?
I'm looking for small distributions or tax-advantaged distributions to avoid ordinary income tax, balanced against a reasonable return.
Here's one option. Vanguard Limited Term Tax Exempt.

https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-fu ... file/VMLTX

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ruud
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Re: Best short-term bond fund in a taxable account

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Fran K wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 7:52 pm I'm looking for small distributions or tax-advantaged distributions to avoid ordinary income tax, balanced against a reasonable return.
What is your tax bracket?
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Fran K
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Re: Best short-term bond fund in a taxable account

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ruud wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 8:04 pm
Fran K wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 7:52 pm I'm looking for small distributions or tax-advantaged distributions to avoid ordinary income tax, balanced against a reasonable return.
What is your tax bracket?
MFJ 24% Federal (near the bottom of the range) 4.95% State
Time is your friend; impulse is your enemy. -John C. Bogle
ruud
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Re: Best short-term bond fund in a taxable account

Post by ruud »

Fran K wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 8:11 pm
ruud wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 8:04 pm
Fran K wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 7:52 pm I'm looking for small distributions or tax-advantaged distributions to avoid ordinary income tax, balanced against a reasonable return.
What is your tax bracket?
MFJ 24% Federal (near the bottom of the range) 4.95% State
If you're OK with investment grade or corporate bond funds, VCSH (0.85% yield), IGSB (0.90% yield) or ISTB (0.94% yield) provide better after-tax returns than the short-term muni ETFs like SUB (0.29% yield). Even BSV, Vanguard's "default" short-term bond fund at 0.47% yield seems a better deal.
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