I have read Thom Hartmanns book Rebooting the American Dream. In it he discusses Securities Turnover Excise Tax.and setting the added expense ratio on to the a transaction at 0.25% on all transactions. I suggest he review the transition fees (expense ratios at Vanguard). They vary depending on the amount of money invested $50,000 dollars to say $5 million. For someone with say $500,000 in a VTINX Retirement Income fund, the expense ratio is 0.12%. The return on that fund is just north of 5%. With a sustainable distribution of 4%, the owner would receive about $20,000 for the year. Surely, Thom does not imply that one size fits all. That is additional 0.25% on to 0.12% is justified for a retirement fund.

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