Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

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theac
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Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by theac »

In January 2022 I exchanged about 35% of my VBTLX (Total Bond) into VAIPX (Inflation-Protected Fund) and because of the present inflation, VAIPX paid a pretty good 1st Quarter distribution. And I see it was a much better distribution for the 2nd Quarter. I did this mostly as an experiment since I really don't understand TIPS, whereas I'm very comfortable with I-Bonds.

I realize these higher distributions will only last as long as inflation does, but I'm wondering if I'm OK with my present bond allocations, or if I should be in a higher percentage of VAIPX, or maybe even exchanging all of VBTLX into VAIPX (considering my life circumstances).

And, when inflation drops, would I still be better off staying in VAIPX (considering my circumstances such as age etc.) or would I want to drop back to a lower VAIPX percentage, such as back to my present one? I'm sure there are a lot of variables we can't foresee right now, but I'm just looking for a general idea and my options.

My Circumstances:
Almost 68 years old, single, good health, getting Non-COLA pension (covers expenses), will start SS in either:

A: January 2023
B: January 2024 (Most probably this one, but could possibly be C)
C: August 2024 (at age 70)

My total portfolio is :
Stocks 10%
Bonds 85%
Cash 5%

Bond Portfolio Breakdown:
Nominal 50%
Inflation-Protected 50%

Nominal Portfolio Breakdown:
66% VBTLX
34% mixed (About 75% of this is 3-6 month T-Bills, 25% VWEHX)

Inflation-Protected Portfolio Breakdown:
VAIPX 50%
I-Bonds 50%
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by Outer Marker »

Your bond portfolio looks fine, but you would probably be well advised to avoid switching back-and-forth. I'm not a huge fan of TIPS, but do hold a smattering of them as an inflation hedge. (They were bought long before current inflation issues). Holding half nominal bonds and half inflation bonds is a reasonable way to split the difference, though I'd migrate more of the inflation portion into ibonds as purchase limits permit. I also prefer shorter duration bonds to Total Bond.

However, what really sticks out about your portfolio is the extremely low 10% equity allocation. That is off the efficient frontier, and is both riskier and lower yielding than a portfolio containing more stocks. See: https://ikeikokwu.com/2012/04/09/the-ef ... -frontier/ The point of minimum risk is probably around 25% equities, and greater expected returns at the same risk level a an all-bond portfolio is around 30% (which is where most of the "target date income" type funds live). I would consider gradually adding more equities over the course of the year to get yourself up to 25%. More stock is effectively adding inflation protection by increasing your expected returns.
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by theac »

Outer Marker wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 7:22 am Your bond portfolio looks fine, but you would probably be well advised to avoid switching back-and-forth. I'm not a huge fan of TIPS, but do hold a smattering of them as an inflation hedge. (They were bought long before current inflation issues). Holding half nominal bonds and half inflation bonds is a reasonable way to split the difference, though I'd migrate more of the inflation portion into ibonds as purchase limits permit. I also prefer shorter duration bonds to Total Bond.

However, what really sticks out about your portfolio is the extremely low 10% equity allocation. That is off the efficient frontier, and is both riskier and lower yielding than a portfolio containing more stocks. See: https://ikeikokwu.com/2012/04/09/the-ef ... -frontier/ The point of minimum risk is probably around 25% equities, and greater expected returns at the same risk level a an all-bond portfolio is around 30% (which is where most of the "target date income" type funds live). I would consider gradually adding more equities over the course of the year to get yourself up to 25%. More stock is effectively adding inflation protection by increasing your expected returns.
Yes I am planning on adding to my small Total Stock Market holding (going to buy as VTI and convert the mutual fund shares I'm already holding). Since I'm almost maxed out of cash in my ROTH, may buy some of it in taxable too.

And yes I've been buying the annual $10k in I-Bonds for years, and just this year opened an entity account with my Living Trust so did $20k this year, and will do $20k from now on.

As for the VAIPX. I really don't plan to go any lower than my present holding, but was wondering if at my age I'm not better off switching out of the Total Bond fund altogether and into only VAIPX. I don't want to be jumping in and out of it, but was thinking if and when inflation drops, then after a while I could maybe go back to like only 50% VAIPX.

But I really don't know enough about it to know if being 100% VAIPX would be a good idea or not at this age.
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by Outer Marker »

theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:14 am But I really don't know enough about it to know if being 100% VAIPX would be a good idea or not at this age.
No one knows. That being the case, 50/50 is a reasonable compromise.

If it makes you feel better, Vanguard Target Retirement Income (which would be age-appropriate) has 1/3 Total Bond, 1/3 TIPS, and 1/3 International Bond. If you don't like international bond (like most of us), and redistribution that, you'd wind up at 50/50 as you have it. https://investor.vanguard.com/investmen ... omposition Note too that the VG fund is 30% equities.
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by retired@50 »

Outer Marker wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:04 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:14 am But I really don't know enough about it to know if being 100% VAIPX would be a good idea or not at this age.
No one knows. That being the case, 50/50 is a reasonable compromise.

If it makes you feel better, Vanguard Target Retirement Income (which would be age-appropriate) has 1/3 Total Bond, 1/3 TIPS, and 1/3 International Bond. If you don't like international bond (like most of us), and redistribution that, you'd wind up at 50/50 as you have it. https://investor.vanguard.com/investmen ... omposition Note too that the VG fund is 30% equities.
One quibble about the percentages in the bond funds.
It appears it's more like 50% total US bond, 25% TIPS fund, 25% International bond.

See image with percentages below.
Image

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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by Outer Marker »

retired@50 wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:10 am One quibble about the percentages in the bond funds.
It appears it's more like 50% total US bond, 25% TIPS fund, 25% International bond.
Opps. Thanks. Read the wrong line. That said, I think 50% TIPS is plenty, apparently twice the Vanguard fund's holdings.
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by theac »

Outer Marker wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:04 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:14 am But I really don't know enough about it to know if being 100% VAIPX would be a good idea or not at this age.
No one knows. That being the case, 50/50 is a reasonable compromise.

If it makes you feel better, Vanguard Target Retirement Income (which would be age-appropriate) has 1/3 Total Bond, 1/3 TIPS, and 1/3 International Bond. If you don't like international bond (like most of us), and redistribution that, you'd wind up at 50/50 as you have it. https://investor.vanguard.com/investmen ... omposition Note too that the VG fund is 30% equities.
OK, good to know that 50-50 is considered a reasonable mix.
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by dbr »

Outer Marker wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:15 am
retired@50 wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:10 am One quibble about the percentages in the bond funds.
It appears it's more like 50% total US bond, 25% TIPS fund, 25% International bond.
Opps. Thanks. Read the wrong line. That said, I think 50% TIPS is plenty, apparently twice the Vanguard fund's holdings.
The Vanguard allocation to TIPS seems odd. It is enough in TIPS they think you should have it and so little it wouldn't matter. I assume they use some kind of portfolio optimization tool to arrive at such allocations, so if one believes in that, then take Vanguard's advice. Note it is also short TIPS, which is another oddity. Vanguard published a paper supporting short TIPS as they are better correlated with inflation. I think that paper missed the point because longer TIPS are just as well indexed to inflation as short TIPS but also have term risk. Mixing up different kinds of risk is not helpful. If one wants a theory on duration it would probably be that a person with an investing time frame of 15-20 years would do well with bond duration about half that, which gives you intermediate duration bonds.
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by dbr »

theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:20 am
Outer Marker wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:04 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:14 am But I really don't know enough about it to know if being 100% VAIPX would be a good idea or not at this age.
No one knows. That being the case, 50/50 is a reasonable compromise.

If it makes you feel better, Vanguard Target Retirement Income (which would be age-appropriate) has 1/3 Total Bond, 1/3 TIPS, and 1/3 International Bond. If you don't like international bond (like most of us), and redistribution that, you'd wind up at 50/50 as you have it. https://investor.vanguard.com/investmen ... omposition Note too that the VG fund is 30% equities.
OK, good to know that 50-50 is considered a reasonable mix.
That does not mean 100% TIPS or 0% TIPS is unreasonable, especially if the portfolio is more stocks than bonds. A person investing at 100% bonds probably needs to take a much closer look at exactly what they are trying to do.
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by theac »

dbr wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:26 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:20 am
Outer Marker wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:04 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:14 am But I really don't know enough about it to know if being 100% VAIPX would be a good idea or not at this age.
No one knows. That being the case, 50/50 is a reasonable compromise.

If it makes you feel better, Vanguard Target Retirement Income (which would be age-appropriate) has 1/3 Total Bond, 1/3 TIPS, and 1/3 International Bond. If you don't like international bond (like most of us), and redistribution that, you'd wind up at 50/50 as you have it. https://investor.vanguard.com/investmen ... omposition Note too that the VG fund is 30% equities.
OK, good to know that 50-50 is considered a reasonable mix.
That does not mean 100% TIPS or 0% TIPS is unreasonable, especially if the portfolio is more stocks than bonds. A person investing at 100% bonds probably needs to take a much closer look at exactly what they are trying to do.
The reason I don't mind being at 90% bonds is that between my present pension and my soon-to-be SS checks, I doubt I will ever spend any of the portfolio which is almost all in a ROTH (except for I-Bonds and some short Treasuries).

It will just go to my heirs so I really don't plan on doing anything with it.
But I do expect to be adding a little to the equity side.
"We keep you alive to serve this ship. Row well...and live." Ben Hur...and The Taxman! hahaha (a George Harrison song)
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by dbr »

theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:41 am
dbr wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:26 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:20 am
Outer Marker wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:04 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:14 am But I really don't know enough about it to know if being 100% VAIPX would be a good idea or not at this age.
No one knows. That being the case, 50/50 is a reasonable compromise.

If it makes you feel better, Vanguard Target Retirement Income (which would be age-appropriate) has 1/3 Total Bond, 1/3 TIPS, and 1/3 International Bond. If you don't like international bond (like most of us), and redistribution that, you'd wind up at 50/50 as you have it. https://investor.vanguard.com/investmen ... omposition Note too that the VG fund is 30% equities.
OK, good to know that 50-50 is considered a reasonable mix.
That does not mean 100% TIPS or 0% TIPS is unreasonable, especially if the portfolio is more stocks than bonds. A person investing at 100% bonds probably needs to take a much closer look at exactly what they are trying to do.
The reason I don't mind being at 90% bonds is that between my present pension and my soon-to-be SS checks, I doubt I will ever spend any of the portfolio which is almost all in a ROTH (except for I-Bonds and some short Treasuries). It will just go to my heirs. But I do expect to be adding a little to the equity side.
So we could say that your close look at what you are trying to do with your portfolio is that there really are not any critical objectives you need to meet. The result tends to support that exactly what bonds you hold is not important.
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by toddthebod »

theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:41 am
dbr wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:26 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:20 am
Outer Marker wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:04 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:14 am But I really don't know enough about it to know if being 100% VAIPX would be a good idea or not at this age.
No one knows. That being the case, 50/50 is a reasonable compromise.

If it makes you feel better, Vanguard Target Retirement Income (which would be age-appropriate) has 1/3 Total Bond, 1/3 TIPS, and 1/3 International Bond. If you don't like international bond (like most of us), and redistribution that, you'd wind up at 50/50 as you have it. https://investor.vanguard.com/investmen ... omposition Note too that the VG fund is 30% equities.
OK, good to know that 50-50 is considered a reasonable mix.
That does not mean 100% TIPS or 0% TIPS is unreasonable, especially if the portfolio is more stocks than bonds. A person investing at 100% bonds probably needs to take a much closer look at exactly what they are trying to do.
The reason I don't mind being at 90% bonds is that between my present pension and my soon-to-be SS checks, I doubt I will ever spend any of the portfolio which is almost all in a ROTH (except for I-Bonds and some short Treasuries).

It will just go to my heirs so I really don't plan on doing anything with it.
But I do expect to be adding a little to the equity side.
Your logic seems backwards. If you needed to spend the money, you'd want it in bonds to protect the principal. If you don't need the money, and you plan on passing it to your heirs (who, in turn, may not need the money for decades), you can afford to take more risk.
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by theac »

toddthebod wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:50 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:41 am
dbr wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:26 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:20 am
Outer Marker wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:04 am
No one knows. That being the case, 50/50 is a reasonable compromise.

If it makes you feel better, Vanguard Target Retirement Income (which would be age-appropriate) has 1/3 Total Bond, 1/3 TIPS, and 1/3 International Bond. If you don't like international bond (like most of us), and redistribution that, you'd wind up at 50/50 as you have it. https://investor.vanguard.com/investmen ... omposition Note too that the VG fund is 30% equities.
OK, good to know that 50-50 is considered a reasonable mix.
That does not mean 100% TIPS or 0% TIPS is unreasonable, especially if the portfolio is more stocks than bonds. A person investing at 100% bonds probably needs to take a much closer look at exactly what they are trying to do.
The reason I don't mind being at 90% bonds is that between my present pension and my soon-to-be SS checks, I doubt I will ever spend any of the portfolio which is almost all in a ROTH (except for I-Bonds and some short Treasuries).

It will just go to my heirs so I really don't plan on doing anything with it.
But I do expect to be adding a little to the equity side.
Your logic seems backwards. If you needed to spend the money, you'd want it in bonds to protect the principal. If you don't need the money, and you plan on passing it to your heirs (who, in turn, may not need the money for decades), you can afford to take more risk.
Yes, except that I like to sleep good at night and don't care for the stress that comes with risks I don't need to take. I'm more concerned with preservation than profits, and if a little evaporates over the years, I can live with that.
"We keep you alive to serve this ship. Row well...and live." Ben Hur...and The Taxman! hahaha (a George Harrison song)
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by dbr »

theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:54 am
toddthebod wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:50 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:41 am
dbr wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:26 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:20 am

OK, good to know that 50-50 is considered a reasonable mix.
That does not mean 100% TIPS or 0% TIPS is unreasonable, especially if the portfolio is more stocks than bonds. A person investing at 100% bonds probably needs to take a much closer look at exactly what they are trying to do.
The reason I don't mind being at 90% bonds is that between my present pension and my soon-to-be SS checks, I doubt I will ever spend any of the portfolio which is almost all in a ROTH (except for I-Bonds and some short Treasuries).

It will just go to my heirs so I really don't plan on doing anything with it.
But I do expect to be adding a little to the equity side.
Your logic seems backwards. If you needed to spend the money, you'd want it in bonds to protect the principal. If you don't need the money, and you plan on passing it to your heirs (who, in turn, may not need the money for decades), you can afford to take more risk.
Yes, except that I like to sleep good at night and don't care for the stress that comes with risks I don't need to take. I'm more concerned with preservation than profits, and if a little evaporates over the years, I can live with that.
Yes, people often forget that someone who intends to pass money to others may in fact want to have a lot of certainty regarding how much will be there as time goes on. Each investor gets to decide that for themselves. The only condition is that the investor should be aware of what to expect. That is why I often suggest using this tool and looking at the historical behavior of portfolios at different asset allocations.

https://engaging-data.com/visualizing-4-rule/
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theac
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by theac »

dbr wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 11:03 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:54 am
toddthebod wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:50 am
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:41 am
dbr wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:26 am

That does not mean 100% TIPS or 0% TIPS is unreasonable, especially if the portfolio is more stocks than bonds. A person investing at 100% bonds probably needs to take a much closer look at exactly what they are trying to do.
The reason I don't mind being at 90% bonds is that between my present pension and my soon-to-be SS checks, I doubt I will ever spend any of the portfolio which is almost all in a ROTH (except for I-Bonds and some short Treasuries).

It will just go to my heirs so I really don't plan on doing anything with it.
But I do expect to be adding a little to the equity side.
Your logic seems backwards. If you needed to spend the money, you'd want it in bonds to protect the principal. If you don't need the money, and you plan on passing it to your heirs (who, in turn, may not need the money for decades), you can afford to take more risk.
Yes, except that I like to sleep good at night and don't care for the stress that comes with risks I don't need to take. I'm more concerned with preservation than profits, and if a little evaporates over the years, I can live with that.
Yes, people often forget that someone who intends to pass money to others may in fact want to have a lot of certainty regarding how much will be there as time goes on. Each investor gets to decide that for themselves. The only condition is that the investor should be aware of what to expect. That is why I often suggest using this tool and looking at the historical behavior of portfolios at different asset allocations.

https://engaging-data.com/visualizing-4-rule/
OK thanks I'll look into it.
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by Outer Marker »

theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:54 am Yes, except that I like to sleep good at night and don't care for the stress that comes with risks I don't need to take. I'm more concerned with preservation than profits, and if a little evaporates over the years, I can live with that.
The key point from the "efficient frontier" graph is that holding a 10% equity allocation is less safe than a 25% equity allocation. You have both higher volatility and lower expected returns. We're in an unusually bad year where both bonds and stocks are doing poorly. But, generally speaking, better diversification will give you a gentler ride.
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by dbr »

Outer Marker wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 2:02 pm
theac wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:54 am Yes, except that I like to sleep good at night and don't care for the stress that comes with risks I don't need to take. I'm more concerned with preservation than profits, and if a little evaporates over the years, I can live with that.
The key point from the "efficient frontier" graph is that holding a 10% equity allocation is less safe than a 25% equity allocation. You have both higher volatility and lower expected returns. We're in an unusually bad year where both bonds and stocks are doing poorly. But, generally speaking, better diversification will give you a gentler ride.
If a person looks at that in https://engaging-data.com/visualizing-4-rule/ the difference shows up in the range of end point wealth, quoting 10% and 90% percentiles starting at $1M for 30 years:

10/90 $1.3M-$2.9M range/average 84%
25/75 $1.6M-$3.4M range/average 63%

So you get more money with less relative uncertainty at 25/75

If you chose 100/0 then you get $3.0M-$10.2M 124% A large range but more lowest wealth and way more highest wealth.

At least I hope I read the numbers right.
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by elpollo »

pardon if I add a question to the thread:

Does anyone know how many times a year, VTAPX Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index

inflation-Protected Securities Admiral Shares 922031737 VAIPX

pay out dividends? I see the VG "ex-dividends" sheet , it lists

3/30/22 6/30/22 9/30/22 ; and I just receive rather large distributions, but for tax planning I'm needing to know if this is going to happen 3 x /year only ?

2)
if its "quarterly what happens to the end of the 4th quarter ex-dividends?

3)
is it different from other VG bond funds like IT bond index which pays out monthly ?

as even with Intermediate-Term Bond Index Admiral Shares 921937801 VBILX ; the ex-dividends worksheet is only listing 3/30/22 ;

so I must be missing something I believe VBILX and most Bond funds pay dividends monthly ?


Sadly, I'm thinking though I just took a big bite of VTAPX; and VAIPX ; a month ago , I may need to take the capital loss and sell them to rebuy them in my IRA, as for ACA and Tax Bracket space, I need smaller distributions and I guess OIDs (though I chose to 'reinvest' these, I believe they will still be taxable as Capital Gains?

:confused
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by Robot Monster »

Of possible interest...

"How Much in TIPS (or a new way to look at the efficient frontier)" post link

And...

Speaking very generally, it usually makes sense to hold some TIPS when your portfolio is is less than 70% stocks.

If your portfolio is less than 50% stocks it could make sense to have most of your bonds as TIPS.

A very rough rule of thumb, in table form:

Code: Select all

Stocks	LTT	TIPS	STIG
100%	0%	0%	0%
90%	10%	0%	0%
80%	20%	0%	0%
70%	20%	10%	0%
60%	20%	20%	0%
50%	20%	30%	0%
40%	10%	40%	10%
30%	0%	50%	20%
LTT = Long-term Treasuries
TIPS = Broad TIPS fund (or Series I Savings Bonds or individual TIPS ladder)
STIG = Short-term investment grade corporate bond fund
link to original post
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by gmaynardkrebs »

Outer Marker wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 7:22 am However, what really sticks out about your portfolio is the extremely low 10% equity allocation. That is off the efficient frontier, and is both riskier and lower yielding than a portfolio containing more stocks. See: https://ikeikokwu.com/2012/04/09/the-ef ... -frontier/ The point of minimum risk is probably around 25% equities, and greater expected returns at the same risk level a an all-bond portfolio is around 30% (which is where most of the "target date income" type funds live). I would consider gradually adding more equities over the course of the year to get yourself up to 25%. More stock is effectively adding inflation protection by increasing your expected returns.
If the OP's aim is to preserve his current wealth in terms of purchasing power, the lowest risk portfolio is 100% TIPS. The bonds on the efficient frontier chart you posted are 10Y Treasuries, which do carry significant inflation risk, so I question the chart's relevance in this case. As to stocks' inflation protection, it seems to me that whether, how much, and over what time horizons stocks provide inflation protection is debatable. We don't live in the Tobin Q world anymore.
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Re: Best % of VAIPX (Inflation Protected Fund) at age 68?

Post by theac »

Robot Monster wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 9:50 am Of possible interest...

"How Much in TIPS (or a new way to look at the efficient frontier)" post link

And...

Speaking very generally, it usually makes sense to hold some TIPS when your portfolio is is less than 70% stocks.

If your portfolio is less than 50% stocks it could make sense to have most of your bonds as TIPS.

A very rough rule of thumb, in table form:

Code: Select all

Stocks	LTT	TIPS	STIG
100%	0%	0%	0%
90%	10%	0%	0%
80%	20%	0%	0%
70%	20%	10%	0%
60%	20%	20%	0%
50%	20%	30%	0%
40%	10%	40%	10%
30%	0%	50%	20%
LTT = Long-term Treasuries
TIPS = Broad TIPS fund (or Series I Savings Bonds or individual TIPS ladder)
STIG = Short-term investment grade corporate bond fund
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Thanks a lot for this info. I just finished that thread you linked.

I'm thinking I am going to transfer a bit more from my Total Bond Fund into VAIPX since I'm retired, in my late 60s, my present pension is not COLA,
and my equity holdings are such a small percentage.

I'm also going to work on upping the equities to maybe 20% minimum by adding to VTI.
"We keep you alive to serve this ship. Row well...and live." Ben Hur...and The Taxman! hahaha (a George Harrison song)
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