Author Topic: Fidelity total stock market or fidelity 4 in one  (Read 1474 times)

dabighen

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Fidelity total stock market or fidelity 4 in one
« on: September 07, 2018, 12:41:28 PM »
Which is your preference, i know 4 in one is more diversified but total stock has a better record.  I just sold a balanced fund ive been holding obto for a decade and a half and i plan to hold onto this for another 10 years or so but want to go more into equities than balanced fund did.  Thanks, Matt

Rob_bob

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Re: Fidelity total stock market or fidelity 4 in one
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2018, 01:46:40 PM »
The total stock has better performance because the U.S. has done better than international and doesn't have bonds.

What does the future hold?

Does the AA of the 4 in 1 fund fit your risk profile? Is it an AA you wish to have?  It looks reasonable to me for a one fund portfolio.  It's really about your long term goals.

Frankies Girl

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Re: Fidelity total stock market or fidelity 4 in one
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2018, 02:21:58 PM »
They are two different types of funds. You're comparing apples to oranges.

The total stock market index (FSTVX) is 100% equities and it's all U.S.-based funds to boot. Fidelity 4in1 (FFNOX) is a blended fund made up of a bit of total U.S. stock market, some international stock market, a bit of bonds and a tiny dash of cash...

Of course FSTVX going to look better when the U.S. market is doing well overall because pure stocks always outperform blended funds. Bond/cash are a drag when the market is good. You hold them because when the market crashes or corrections happen, they switch gears and start growing and halt the plunge of your total portfolio - allowing you to have a safety net as it were to draw from in times of poor stock performance.

If your allocation says "I want to have the safety of bonds because REASONS" then you don't hold 100% stock/equities. You can use FSTVX for your stocks, and go select a nice solid bond index fund to fill up your asset allocation and self-manage your own portfolio, but FFNOX is a cheap blended index fund with a gross ER of 0.13%, decent performer when compared to other blended index funds and the simplicity of holding one fund that has a blend of what you want overall is quite convenient. It has a low turnover, but there are some pretty high $$ of dividends/cap gains generated, so it isn't tax efficient as some other vehicles and I'd likely want to make sure to hold it in a tax deferred account if possible.

I like FFNOX due to its cheapness and simplicity, but I personally hold individual funds like FSTVX and Fidelity U.S. Bond Index Fund (FSITX) for bonds in my case because they are even more cheap to hold and I prefer to self manage anyway and can tweak my holdings easily.
« Last Edit: September 07, 2018, 02:30:11 PM by Frankies Girl »

MDM

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Re: Fidelity total stock market or fidelity 4 in one
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2018, 03:21:04 PM »
Both are good funds.  FSTVX is less tax-efficient that Vanguard's VTSAX (e.g., see fstvx tax inefficient site:bogleheads.org - Google Search.


dabighen

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Re: Fidelity total stock market or fidelity 4 in one
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2018, 06:31:09 PM »
Thanks all, i dont like the AA of 4 in one just because of the small cash and bond holding, I would love it if there was just a 3 in 1 maybe 70% us stock, 15% int and 15% emm but i have yet to find a fidelity fund like that.

 

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