Does anyone have any experiences in investing in Cryptocurrencies?

[atomicblue224]

I have been in this for few months now. I have decided that Bitcoin isn't gonna last long . I started to invest in Stellar Lumen XLM coins and I am trying to invest in Ripple XPR. This is an example of my investment that I had with Ventic Trading. That was an old one I had a while back.

 

[atomicblue224]

I had invest with this company for several months , my current balance after investing is $16,000 but I had to pay "20% taxes before I can withdraw. 16,000. I'm locked out because I was harsh with them when I asked them questions about the taxes. I had to pay taxes in order to withdraw 16,000

 

[atomicblue224]

I used to have wallet at Coinbase but decided to use Exodus wallet for my Steller Lumen XLM. I can store my profits in Exodus and Lobstr.

 

[Fryowa]

I have been in this for few months now. I have decided that Bitcoin isn't gonna last long . I started to invest in Stellar Lumen XLM coins and I am trying to invest in Ripple XPR. This is an example of my investment that I had with Ventic Trading. That was an old one I had a while back.

I had invest with this company for several months , my current balance after investing is $16,000 but I had to pay "20% taxes before I can withdraw. 16,000. I'm locked out because I was harsh with them when I asked them questions about the taxes. I had to pay taxes in order to withdraw 16,000

I used to have wallet at Coinbase but decided to use Exodus wallet for my Steller Lumen XLM. I can store my profits in Exodus and Lobstr.

No offense, but you don't seem like the type of dude who should be playing the cryptocurrency market. I mean, if you don't understand even the most basic concepts of having to pay taxes then you should probably stick to the occasional scratch ticket.

You said a few days ago that you're poor and on SS disability. Something's fucky here, but I digress...

In any case, withdrawing your money and paying taxes on it is going to negate any significant profits and then some. If you're on disability and somehow have cash to play around with (not sure how that works in your situation), you should be maxing out an IRA first.

Better yet, from the sounds of this and previous posts, it might be wise to find a trusted family member to act as your special power of attorney and take you to meet with a CFP.

 

[HawkGold]

You didn't get locked out because of your words. They may not talk to you because of words. They may call authorities if you threatened them.

You only have to pay taxes on the profit, not on the balance. You can't buy stocks through an exchange about anywhere without paying taxes on profit unless it's in a retirement-type account.

I do suggest starting a budget and getting the basics of life needs down first before play money investing on something this risky. I personally don't like Dave Ramsey as he suggests spending way too much money on cars. I prefer something like Crown Financial for guidance.

As a side note, a relative of mine had an affair and the guy paid her $5000 as restitution sort of. She had an Apple computer and invested it in Apple with no investing sense as she liked the computer. This was in the late 80s. She still has it. She has spent little of it. Today she can't get out of bed or feed herself, but she owns a lot of Apple stock. The road is paved with people who didn't know what they were doing and did well along with those who don't do well. Having worked in a wealth management firm, I know how they invest. They really don't know what they are doing. I applaud people trying to do things themselves, but you really need to learn things first.

So many people gripe and hold on to assets because they don't want to pay capital gains. I'd love to have to pay 100k in cap gains as you know what would mean? I"d have a significant amount of cash.

 

[Ree4]

I have a lot in Ravencoin, not from investing but from mining. It's a great project with great use case. It's on sale right now! One of the best things about it is that it's open source. Not too many coins are. Also not a pump and dump like several others - doge for example has no intrinsic value.

Here's the whitepaper (purpose) it does a good job explaining the basics of blockchain along with how Ravencoin works. Even if you aren't interested in RVN specifically it's still a good read to help understand crypto.

Whitepaper

A peer-to-peer blockchain designed to handle the efficient creation and transfer of assets from one party to another. It’s an open-source project based on Bitcoin

ravencoin.org

 

[thedukeofearl]

I had invest with this company for several months , my current balance after investing is $16,000 but I had to pay "20% taxes before I can withdraw. 16,000. I'm locked out because I was harsh with them when I asked them questions about the taxes. I had to pay taxes in order to withdraw 16,000

Gotta be careful about the Harshness

PC and all that these days

Too much sensitivity going around

 

[Luftgekuehlt67]

All I know about crypto is it is one of the primary contributing factors preventing me from buying a new graphics card, so I kinda fuckin' hate it!

 

[atomicblue224]

Gotta be careful about the Harshness

PC and all that these days

Too much sensitivity going around

I probably made him deaf!

 

[atomicblue224]

All I know about crypto is it is one of the primary contributing factors preventing me from buying a new graphics card, so I kinda fuckin' hate it!

I didn't like that much but it was a learning experiences.

 

[tweeterhawk]

No offense, but you don't seem like the type of dude who should be playing the cryptocurrency market. I mean, if you don't understand even the most basic concepts of having to pay taxes then you should probably stick to the occasional scratch ticket.

You said a few days ago that you're poor and on SS disability. Something's fucky here, but I digress...

In any case, withdrawing your money and paying taxes on it is going to negate any significant profits and then some. If you're on disability and somehow have cash to play around with (not sure how that works in your situation), you should be maxing out an IRA first.

Better yet, from the sounds of this and previous posts, it might be wise to find a trusted family member to act as your special power of attorney and take you to meet with a CFP.

One gets the sense atomic actually is a pretty sharp dude and may even play a lawyer in real life. I don’t know for sure. Just a hunch.

And I recognize speech patterns…

 

[Ree4]

All I know about crypto is it is one of the primary contributing factors preventing me from buying a new graphics card, so I kinda fuckin' hate it!

Hahah I hear that!

 

[atomicblue224]

You didn't get locked out because of your words. They may not talk to you because of words. They may call authorities if you threatened them.

You only have to pay taxes on the profit, not on the balance. You can't buy stocks through an exchange about anywhere without paying taxes on profit unless it's in a retirement-type account.

I do suggest starting a budget and getting the basics of life needs down first before play money investing on something this risky. I personally don't like Dave Ramsey as he suggests spending way too much money on cars. I prefer something like Crown Financial for guidance.

As a side note, a relative of mine had an affair and the guy paid her $5000 as restitution sort of. She had an Apple computer and invested it in Apple with no investing sense as she liked the computer. This was in the late 80s. She still has it. She has spent little of it. Today she can't get out of bed or feed herself, but she owns a lot of Apple stock. The road is paved with people who didn't know what they were doing and did well along with those who don't do well. Having worked in a wealth management firm, I know how they invest. They really don't know what they are doing. I applaud people trying to do things themselves, but you really need to learn things first.

So many people gripe and hold on to assets because they don't want to pay capital gains. I'd love to have to pay 100k in cap gains as you know what would mean? I"d have a significant amount of cash.

That's exactly what my dear wife told me. You're right. I didn't know what I'm doing. I might as well get a wealth manager or financial advisor.

 

[HawkGold]

That's exactly what my dear wife told me. You're right. I didn't know what I'm doing. I might as well get a wealth manager or financial advisor.

They don't know either. I had a Fidelity Mgr look over my portfolio and he liked it. Basically buy mutual funds or buy your own stocks like a mutual fund and have 7 or more stocks. Right now I have about 20. I'm way ahead of my wife's mutual funds 47 percent to 27 percent this year, but soon, it could be behind and she'll be ahead. It's a dance. I spread across industries and put a stronger portion in tech and emerging tech. I also buy small, mid, and large cap. Heavy on retail. If I had put a lot more money in Pinterest, I'd be way ahead, but I've done well with it. I check it periodically and dump dogs after reading outlook from several sources. Today I bought 2 energy stocks (one green). But seriously the wealth managers don't know either. The game is always played against one who has a lot more inside information than you. I'm not all in right now, but mostly. It's fun. I use several companies for the holdings, but Fidelity to me is the best. Your about 50 right? If I were you (and I'm not) I would be aggressive on growth to make up but keep an eye on things. I use Market Watch, Motley Fool, and a few others. I stay away from Motley's hot stocks. I have a few cheapos as well.

If you get caught in a market crash, it will come back so don't miss the rebound, which I've done.

Working in ag occasionally I buy options on corn.

 

[Fryowa]

That's exactly what my dear wife told me. You're right. I didn't know what I'm doing. I might as well get a wealth manager or financial advisor.

They don't know either.

No-load index funds.

CFPs are strictly there to take your money in fees no matter what they tell you. Ameriprise, EDJones, Fidelity, they're just the Amway of investments. It's a pyramid scheme where they take advantage of folks who don't know how markets and investing work by making it sound ridiculously confusing. I don't mean this in a bad way, but guys like you are bleeding fish in the ocean to these sharks. They want your business BAD.

But...you can have the best of both worlds (ease of management) by telling whoever your CFP is that you want everything in no-load index funds.

No-load means no fees, and index funds are those that mirror one or a combination of the major stock indices. Basically you're limiting risk and volatility because whatever the market as a whole does, your money does. There isn't someone moving your money around trying to make your returns look good and taking a cut every time they make a transaction.

You're "guy" is going to try and guilt trip you by saying something along the lines of, "But, isn't my management worth something to you?" (meaning his fees). No, it's not. because there are many, many studies over the years showing that--after fees--actively managed portfolios do not perform any better (and sometimes worse than) index funds. Burton Malkiel's book, "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" is a great resource for many of these studies and also does a great job debunking the EDJones bros selling snake oil. It's a time-tested book and required reading for a lot of finance majors. You sound like a guy who'd greatly benefit from reading it. There are many good takeaways from it, but the best one is that it's been rigorously shown that throwing darts at the stock page of a newspaper in the long run is just as effective as using a CFP to manage your money after they take their fees.

Resist the guilt trip of CFPs. They're trying to sell fake Rolexes out of their trench coats no matter how nice their offices and vehicles are. You know how they got all that money and those cruises and company vacations? By taking suckers' money. Tell them "no-load index funds" and ignore the sales pitches. They are required by law to act in your best fiduciary interest and they will put your money there if you tell them to. They will give you every lie in the book, and those companies have gone to great lengths paying for "studies" of their own showing how they perform better, but it's BS. Do your own research from publicly-funded academic studies and make your decisions based on that.

 

[okeefe4prez]

No-load index funds.

CFPs are strictly there to take your money in fees no matter what they tell you. Ameriprise, EDJones, Fidelity, they're just the Amway of investments. It's a pyramid scheme where they take advantage of folks who don't know how markets and investing work by making it sound ridiculously confusing. I don't mean this in a bad way, but guys like you are bleeding fish in the ocean to these sharks. They want your business BAD.

But...you can have the best of both worlds (ease of management) by telling whoever your CFP is that you want everything in no-load index funds.

No-load means no fees, and index funds are those that mirror one or a combination of the major stock indices. Basically you're limiting risk and volatility because whatever the market as a whole does, your money does. There isn't someone moving your money around trying to make your returns look good and taking a cut every time they make a transaction.

You're "guy" is going to try and guilt trip you by saying something along the lines of, "But, isn't my management worth something to you?" (meaning his fees). No, it's not. because there are many, many studies over the years showing that--after fees--actively managed portfolios do not perform any better (and sometimes worse than) index funds. Burton Malkiel's book, "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" is a great resource for many of these studies and also does a great job debunking the EDJones bros selling snake oil. It's a time-tested book and required reading for a lot of finance majors. You sound like a guy who'd greatly benefit from reading it. There are many good takeaways from it, but the best one is that it's been rigorously shown that throwing darts at the stock page of a newspaper in the long run is just as effective as using a CFP to manage your money after they take their fees.

Resist the guilt trip of CFPs. They're trying to sell fake Rolexes out of their trench coats no matter how nice their offices and vehicles are. You know how they got all that money and those cruises and company vacations? By taking suckers' money. Tell them "no-load index funds" and ignore the sales pitches. They are required by law to act in your best fiduciary interest and they will put your money there if you tell them to. They will give you every lie in the book, and those companies have gone to great lengths paying for "studies" of their own showing how they perform better, but it's BS. Do your own research from publicly-funded academic studies and make your decisions based on that.

I have some passive funds that are just S&P 500 mirrors. The one thing I don't like about them is that I do not believe that passive money managers should be allowed to vote shares that the fund holds. Once they vote , the money isn't passive. The whole point of being passive is you are just assuming the active investors will mind the store and exercise capital discipline.

I am long 600 shares of Exxon that I bought during The Germ at around 40. My wife and I typically like a broad mix of broad stock market and fixed income exposure because my wife has low risk tolerance after growing up in the Japanese asset bubble. But of course, bond yields are now trash so I convinced her to start going with very high quality blue chips with decent dividends in lieu of the absurdly low fixed income yields. JPMorgan, Exxon, Valero, Verizon, Southern Company, etc. Now everything is fine and my blended yield on that portfolio is over 7% thanks to the market crash, but a bunch of chucklefucks voted to put some green energy lunatics onto the board of Exxon. Now I have nothing against green energy, Valero is my favorite stock that I held for years and sold into the beginning of The Germ and repurchased at a significant discount and Valero is the largest renewable fuel producer in the US. But I really disagree with Exxon going balls deep chasing green energy.

Turns out this passive investing rage has created a handful of massive investment firms that have outsize power in voting and they want to layer their own environmental shit onto the companies they invest in. I still like Exxon, but if these people hijack the board and slash its exploration and capex budget, it is going to have very fucking negative consequences for the United States. I don't give a shit what target automakers have, oil is going to be critical for developed economies for decades. If Black Rock or Vanguard wants "green energy" they should invest in it, not force some behemoth like Exxon to move out of its core competency. Look at what happened to GM when they tried to turn into a conglomerate. Look at what happened to GE when they thought they could get into finance. Look at what happened to AIG when they pretended to be an investment bank. These mega corps are not designed to pivot. They simply can't do it over a prolonged period. Freightliner ain't gonna move product from the Wal-Mart distro center to your local store without oil. BNSF ain't gonna get your products from the port to the inland port without oil. Boeing's airplanes ain't gonna fly without oil. The CAT equipment that mines the cobalt and lithium ain't gonna run without oil.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

No-load index funds.

CFPs are strictly there to take your money in fees no matter what they tell you. Ameriprise, EDJones, Fidelity, they're just the Amway of investments. It's a pyramid scheme where they take advantage of folks who don't know how markets and investing work by making it sound ridiculously confusing. I don't mean this in a bad way, but guys like you are bleeding fish in the ocean to these sharks. They want your business BAD.

But...you can have the best of both worlds (ease of management) by telling whoever your CFP is that you want everything in no-load index funds.

No-load means no fees, and index funds are those that mirror one or a combination of the major stock indices. Basically you're limiting risk and volatility because whatever the market as a whole does, your money does. There isn't someone moving your money around trying to make your returns look good and taking a cut every time they make a transaction.

You're "guy" is going to try and guilt trip you by saying something along the lines of, "But, isn't my management worth something to you?" (meaning his fees). No, it's not. because there are many, many studies over the years showing that--after fees--actively managed portfolios do not perform any better (and sometimes worse than) index funds. Burton Malkiel's book, "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" is a great resource for many of these studies and also does a great job debunking the EDJones bros selling snake oil. It's a time-tested book and required reading for a lot of finance majors. You sound like a guy who'd greatly benefit from reading it. There are many good takeaways from it, but the best one is that it's been rigorously shown that throwing darts at the stock page of a newspaper in the long run is just as effective as using a CFP to manage your money after they take their fees.

Resist the guilt trip of CFPs. They're trying to sell fake Rolexes out of their trench coats no matter how nice their offices and vehicles are. You know how they got all that money and those cruises and company vacations? By taking suckers' money. Tell them "no-load index funds" and ignore the sales pitches. They are required by law to act in your best fiduciary interest and they will put your money there if you tell them to. They will give you every lie in the book, and those companies have gone to great lengths paying for "studies" of their own showing how they perform better, but it's BS. Do your own research from publicly-funded academic studies and make your decisions based on that.

Ok, Here's my situation.........

Well first going back to the OP, I don't relate at all or really understand cryptocurrency so I ain't jumpin' in.

Back to my situation.

I'm in my 29th yr working at the U and have a nice TIAA-Cref portfolio/account. It's made some bang over the years and just that one account is heading north now compounding after $500k. My wife and I also have a CFP. When we decided to move she quit her job and started another. The CFP of course rolled her previous 401k into a product he recommended after we did a review, which was fine.

Two things. He's hell bent on managing my TIAA-CREF account and can only do it thru certain advising companies. I presume he wants to manage it for the nominal % fee. He also wants to manage it because it is doing well. He proposed a fee structure with me and I negotiated back another kind of on a sliding scale as the account gained. So, the more the account gained the % went down. He agreed. I always questioned his need to manage this account as TIAA-CREF have advisors for free and make changes. I don't think I need him reviewing and making changes. TIAA-CREF does that.

#2 During our annual review, he seems to on an annual basis recommends moving my wife's old work 401K to a new portfolio every year. I really questioned the product he moved it to a couple years ago as it sounded pretty hokey. Sure enough it sat in that a year before he (and now his sidekick who I think is training) decided to move it again because it didn't do jack shit in that other account. This during TRUMP's years when shit was going well. So, in the last 4 years he's moved it at least 3 times. I come to think its just so he can get commission on moving it to a new product.

Of course I always like this guy and he came recommended by my co-worker. He's a nice guy but he's there to sell you shit. It ended up my neighbor (who I respect in regards to this kind of shit) went to this guy as well. Pretty well respected.

Anyhow, I do notice the rackett that is going on and being played.

1) I should tell him that I don't need him or the company he works for needs to manage my work TIAA-CREF account, correct? I'm just throwing $$$ into the wind there.
2) We should find a decent product for my wife's account and stick with it?

 

[Fryowa]

Ok, Here's my situation.........

Well first going back to the OP, I don't relate at all or really understand cryptocurrency so I ain't jumpin' in.

Back to my situation.

I'm in my 29th yr working at the U and have a nice TIAA-Cref portfolio/account. It's made some bang over the years and just that one account is heading north now compounding after $500k. My wife and I also have a CFP. When we decided to move she quit her job and started another. The CFP of course rolled her previous 401k into a product he recommended after we did a review, which was fine.

Two things. He's hell bent on managing my TIAA-CREF account and can only do it thru certain advising companies. I presume he wants to manage it for the nominal % fee. He also wants to manage it because it is doing well. He proposed a fee structure with me and I negotiated back another kind of on a sliding scale as the account gained. So, the more the account gained the % went down. He agreed. I always questioned his need to manage this account as TIAA-CREF have advisors for free and make changes. I don't think I need him reviewing and making changes. TIAA-CREF does that.

#2 During our annual review, he seems to on an annual basis recommends moving my wife's old work 401K to a new portfolio every year. I really questioned the product he moved it to a couple years ago as it sounded pretty hokey. Sure enough it sat in that a year before he (and now his sidekick who I think is training) decided to move it again because it didn't do jack shit in that other account. This during TRUMP's years when shit was going well. So, in the last 4 years he's moved it at least 3 times. I come to think its just so he can get commission on moving it to a new product.

Of course I always like this guy and he came recommended by my co-worker. He's a nice guy but he's there to sell you shit. It ended up my neighbor (who I respect in regards to this kind of shit) went to this guy as well. Pretty well respected.

Anyhow, I do notice the rackett that is going on and being played.

1) I should tell him that I don't need him or the company he works for needs to manage my work TIAA-CREF account, correct? I'm just throwing $$$ into the wind there.
2) We should find a decent product for my wife's account and stick with it?

I don't like telling people what to do with their money, there are a ton of variables. But, it's true that CFPs make their money by moving yours around whether you gain or lose. That is a conflict of interest.

Always, always, always remember that every single thing he recommends you do is to make himself money first. He could very well show you that he made more return on your money than an index fund, but after fees it's a wash at best and likely worse. And you have to be the type of person who can resist guilt trips. CFPs are in a unique position in that they are trying to make money off you, but they also legally have to do what you tell them (fiduciary duty). That means that they have to invest your money in stuff that makes them zero money if you tell them to, so you will get every guilt trip and scare tactic in the book. If you're the type who has severe anxiety over stuff like that then maybe actively managed stuff is best for you, and the price you pay a CFP is for the warm and fuzzies. You'll still be able to comfortably retire with what you and your wife have built up.

Last thing, the no-load index fund idea obviously isn't something I came up with. Lots of people a whole lot smarter than me recommend them as well, so do some googling of reliable sources.

 

[HawkGold]

Ok, Here's my situation.........

Well first going back to the OP, I don't relate at all or really understand cryptocurrency so I ain't jumpin' in.

Back to my situation.

I'm in my 29th yr working at the U and have a nice TIAA-Cref portfolio/account. It's made some bang over the years and just that one account is heading north now compounding after $500k. My wife and I also have a CFP. When we decided to move she quit her job and started another. The CFP of course rolled her previous 401k into a product he recommended after we did a review, which was fine.

Two things. He's hell bent on managing my TIAA-CREF account and can only do it thru certain advising companies. I presume he wants to manage it for the nominal % fee. He also wants to manage it because it is doing well. He proposed a fee structure with me and I negotiated back another kind of on a sliding scale as the account gained. So, the more the account gained the % went down. He agreed. I always questioned his need to manage this account as TIAA-CREF have advisors for free and make changes. I don't think I need him reviewing and making changes. TIAA-CREF does that.

#2 During our annual review, he seems to on an annual basis recommends moving my wife's old work 401K to a new portfolio every year. I really questioned the product he moved it to a couple years ago as it sounded pretty hokey. Sure enough it sat in that a year before he (and now his sidekick who I think is training) decided to move it again because it didn't do jack shit in that other account. This during TRUMP's years when shit was going well. So, in the last 4 years he's moved it at least 3 times. I come to think its just so he can get commission on moving it to a new product.

Of course I always like this guy and he came recommended by my co-worker. He's a nice guy but he's there to sell you shit. It ended up my neighbor (who I respect in regards to this kind of shit) went to this guy as well. Pretty well respected.

Anyhow, I do notice the rackett that is going on and being played.

1) I should tell him that I don't need him or the company he works for needs to manage my work TIAA-CREF account, correct? I'm just throwing $$$ into the wind there.
2) We should find a decent product for my wife's account and stick with it?

From 1 above. You don't need them unless you are a compulsive gambler that will take enormous risks.

From 2.... Don't put yourself in a situation to have to "stick" with anything.

 

[okeefe4prez]

Ok, Here's my situation.........

Well first going back to the OP, I don't relate at all or really understand cryptocurrency so I ain't jumpin' in.

Back to my situation.

I'm in my 29th yr working at the U and have a nice TIAA-Cref portfolio/account. It's made some bang over the years and just that one account is heading north now compounding after $500k. My wife and I also have a CFP. When we decided to move she quit her job and started another. The CFP of course rolled her previous 401k into a product he recommended after we did a review, which was fine.

Two things. He's hell bent on managing my TIAA-CREF account and can only do it thru certain advising companies. I presume he wants to manage it for the nominal % fee. He also wants to manage it because it is doing well. He proposed a fee structure with me and I negotiated back another kind of on a sliding scale as the account gained. So, the more the account gained the % went down. He agreed. I always questioned his need to manage this account as TIAA-CREF have advisors for free and make changes. I don't think I need him reviewing and making changes. TIAA-CREF does that.

#2 During our annual review, he seems to on an annual basis recommends moving my wife's old work 401K to a new portfolio every year. I really questioned the product he moved it to a couple years ago as it sounded pretty hokey. Sure enough it sat in that a year before he (and now his sidekick who I think is training) decided to move it again because it didn't do jack shit in that other account. This during TRUMP's years when shit was going well. So, in the last 4 years he's moved it at least 3 times. I come to think its just so he can get commission on moving it to a new product.

Of course I always like this guy and he came recommended by my co-worker. He's a nice guy but he's there to sell you shit. It ended up my neighbor (who I respect in regards to this kind of shit) went to this guy as well. Pretty well respected.

Anyhow, I do notice the rackett that is going on and being played.

1) I should tell him that I don't need him or the company he works for needs to manage my work TIAA-CREF account, correct? I'm just throwing $$$ into the wind there.
2) We should find a decent product for my wife's account and stick with it?

Notwithstanding my rant about passive funds above, for the middle class they are the best way to generate wealth.

There are a few that I recommend. VTI (Vanguard Total Market) and SPY are fantastic products. VTI has something like a 3 basis point annual cost and SPY has I believe a 6 basis point annual cost. Unless you get into industry specific ETFs, you should never pay more than 10 basis points for an annual fee. I gamble on certain specific stocks if I think they have a chance to moon over 10 years or if I think they got unfairly beaten down, but for the most part, I am in VTI, SPY, VYM (a Vanguard high dividend fund that I'm holding for a long time to provide the bulk of my retirement income outside of a tax deferred account) and I took a position in XLE (energy specific ETF) last year. Over a 40 year career, the delta of paying 100 basis points and 6 basis points on management is massive.

Your financial guy might be churning your account, dude.

Another thing, I would rather be in cash than a bond fund right now. If rates go up, there's a chance you will never get your principal back on a bond fund. If you want fixed income (and I think everyone should have some) then just buy CDs or Treasuries. No credit risk and you can build your own ladder. Your TIAA account should likely predominantly be in a low expense ration widely diversified fund like VTI or SPY.