TDF
Templeton Dragon Fund
stock NYSE Closed Ended Fund

They are correct, I have vanguard and heard of this issue with TDF. Not sure if it was fixed or not, but I still like vanguard. Most of my brokerage/roth is with them.

What is your opinion on "minimum" international % allocation for a taxable brokerage, is 80/20 VTI/VXUS enough? I was reading the Bogglehead book which suggested 20% as maximum Boggle suggested but minimum Vanguard recommended all people have
\[I also have a TDF in 401k (equiv) so that should give some market-weighted international\]

No other investments. My father earns well and has a strong pension secured from his work. They have other money that I can have them put into a CD so that makes sense.
Can you explain why VT for the other half as opposed to a TDF?

All stocks in taxable is often a good idea, since bonds generate taxable income at higher rates but that's a simplification, and you should prioritize getting the bond allocation you want overall in your portfolio. Look up your specific Target Date Fund's bond allocation, and see if you think that's enough for you. If you want more you might want to either add bonds or change TDF to an earlier one. If you are >20years out from retiring I would personally be OK with being pretty light in bonds.
Either of the portfolios you mention are good all-stock options. I'd keep it simple and do the VTI/VXUS.

0.68% is not THAT high. If you wanted cheaper though you could probably go with SP 500, SP GLB EXUS and FXNAX (if you want bonds). Of course this doesn’t have the convenience features of a TDF. And yes, it’s okay to utilize TDFs in both accounts - just treat them as one whole.

Bonds are really complicated and there's not much room for significant difference in performance so a broad fund with a low er like BND is best, or BNDW instead if you want to add international fixed income.
40% is probably overly conservative, but I don't like the age based "rules" of thumb. Your age is really a stand in for how much time until you'll want to start spending that money and assumes you'll be withdrawing at a sustainable rate. Basically mirroring what a TDF would do. Most TDFs will have you about 10% fixed income during your career when you're still contributing to your retirement savings and about 15 years from retirement will begin to increase so something like 60/40 or 50/50.
Whenever you're reading rules or suggestions it's important to think about the assumptions they're based on and the perspective they're written from. You might get seemingly contradictory comments, but one is talking about specifically retirement savings and another is talking about your overall savings which may include money for nearer term goals. When talking about asset allocation, especially when referencing age, the typical assumption is that you'll retire around 65 and you'll have enough to cover your expenses with a sustainable withdrawal rate around 4% at that time.

Would the TDF potentially be problematic in a taxable account? Didn't vanguard have some huge capital gains tax issues with their target date funds a few years ago. My understanding/memory is that the TDF are actively managed and in a retirement account the sale of securities and purchases of others to rebalance the fund results in zero tax penalty, but in a taxable account you can have essentially zero change of value but large taxable events.

I think they'd be well served with a TDF (you'll have to work with them to assess the appropriate blend) and let it grow (hopefully). Once they retire, I'd set up an automatic sale/withdrawal of \~4% from this fund to be transferred into their savings account at the end of each year. Every few years I'd adjust the withdrawal amount to account for inflation.

TDF's are an easy, hopefully cheap way to have a total portfolio. Bonds do provide stability, but the amount the stability someone needs is up to them.

Are mom and dad married and planning on retiring together?
Do they have other monies invested?
Why would you be involved with the selling shares?
> I’m thinking she should put it into a TDF for the next 7 years or so
Does it all have to come out in seven years, or do you mean she begins to withdraw at age 65 but keeps the remainder invested?
Investing the money in a 2035 Target Date Index Fund would be a pretty reasonable default selection, assuming the plan is to leave it there forever, just withdrawing as she needs it.
If not a TDF, then the [three-fund portfolio](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio)
of total US + total International + Bonds, looking at what a target date fund [glide path](https://institutional.vanguard.com/investment/strategies/tdf-glide-path.html) would do for something 10 years from retirement.

My mother is 58 and received a $200k windfall. She has no investing experience and is a stay at home mom (father still works) but approached me with an interest in investing this. Savings/emergency fund is accounted for.
I’m thinking she should put it into a TDF for the next 7 years or so. Any alternative thoughts or guidance for this scenario? I’m wondering whether it just makes sense for me to manage it myself so that I can handle the selling of shares for their retirement income.

That defeats the purpose of a TDF. Bonds provide the downside protection for when you get nearer to retirement.

I own zero individual stocks.
80% of nest egg is in a Fidelity TDF, 20% is in a pension fund that will be lump sum rollover into the same Fidelity TDF.

I believe they are 60/40 in TDF which is slightly different than VT which is at 63/37 at the moment.

Is 50/50 been a regular recommendation from VG? This would be irrelevant if someone holds VT or a TDF, in that case the allocation (at least in the US vs ex-US sense) it's always changing.

Dude I literally exclusively Vanguard TDF and chill.

Unless you're blessed with an extraordinary 401k mix of options -- most plans are not (and increasingly, getting worse), it's really hard to recommend the managed option. No offense to Fidelity, but for example, my 401k has mostly TDFs (Target Date Funds), which I dislike, but if one uses a TDF, you don't need anyone to 'manage it'. The answer is to just pick one and only one and be 100% in it. You don't need to pay anyone 1% for that.
I used to such a wonderful array of ETFs... 5 large cap/S&P aligned... 3 midcaps, even a couple small caps... on top of several foreign funds (including both emerging and separate developed, plus a mixed!)....
Even then, I still preferred to self-manage, but at least BITD - I could see it making sense.
To be clear - the crappy menu of options nowadays is the faulty of the plans (and entities like Mercer), not Fidelity... but it increasingly makes the choice of any sort of "management fee" a complete waste of money.

Nothing wrong with dumping it all in a TDF. they typical are in 5 year increments, picking one with a date slightly after you think you'd retire will keep it slightly more aggressive into your career.
If you wanted to be slightly more aggressive you could pick up some VINIX (S&P500 fund) or if your company is big enough VIIIX (same S&P 500 fund, just a cheaper expense ratio).

I think you're right. The American TDF looks way too complex. You might be better off putting it into VFIAX your 5% into VTIAX and the rest into their version of a broad bond fund and live with the returns until he retires and you can roll them into vanguard. BTW glad you're doing this for your parents.

Me! I have a 401k through work that’s 100% in a 2060 TDF. I also have an HSA that’s 100% in the same 2060 TDF. In my brokerage, I’ve got an 80/20 split of VTI/VXUS.