Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tommaso who wrote (97638)	10/6/2002 1:25:32 PM
From: Joan Osland Graffius	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Tommaso, What is TIAA and CREF? I assume you are dealing with an employee savings plan. I am having the same problem with my daughters 401k. She has very poor options for capital preservation with any safety what so ever. They offer only two relatively safe bond funds - Pimco's Total Return Fund and a Vanguard Short-Term Federal Fund. This federal fund has a mostly mortgage backed securities and the average maturity is 2.5 years with returns of 3.9%. I feel sorry for these folks in employee funds as the providers have not been quick to provide good vehicles for hedging their assets. I do not like the money market fund they have because it has some scary debt backing up the fund. What I have done is put the majority of her assets in the short term federal fund, and a small amount in Pimco's Total Return Fund. If we get inflation this short term bond fund will lag but it is the best I can do with her options. They have a couple of Templeton foreign funds that have stocks that I like and have a small amount of her assets in these two. Templeton also has a US value fund where the manager is 37% in cash and I do not dislike the stocks that he holds, so I have a tiny bit of her capital in that one. As the dollar is getting devalued these Templeton guys are doing ok. I am at the point where just preserving capital with the options she has is the best I can do at the moment. I kind of look at the world this way - she gets close to a 40% tax break by putting her money in the 401k - we have very high taxes here in Minnesota and her employer matches her contribution $ for $, so if I can hang on to this capital at this point in time I will be happy. <g> Joan