Race from $2M to $4M...and Beyond!

[pecunia]

79 days now, but you are probably not counting.

[Much Fishing to Do]

About half of our retirement income will come from my pension which I'll be eligible for this summer.  That makes the dollar amount of the other accounts no so important now.  I've got less than 80 days till I potentially never work again.  Live is good.

Wow, when eligible for SS will it be significant?  Seems like you'll need no accounts at that point other than an emergency fund.

[rmorris50]

I look every day and update our NW weekly. Just because.


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[Fomerly known as something]

About half of our retirement income will come from my pension which I'll be eligible for this summer.  That makes the dollar amount of the other accounts no so important now.  I've got less than 80 days till I potentially never work again.  Live is good.

Wow, when eligible for SS will it be significant?  Seems like you'll need no accounts at that point other than an emergency fund.

For me, my pension will be 40% of salary.  Yes and no, my pension and SS will cover my needs and basic wants.  But what it truly does is allow me to stay in my HCOL and still have money to cover a lot of things that I want.

ETA:  and assures my inner bag lady that basically I won’t be in a position where I “have to go back to work at 75”

[Bateaux]

About half of our retirement income will come from my pension which I'll be eligible for this summer.  That makes the dollar amount of the other accounts no so important now.  I've got less than 80 days till I potentially never work again.  Live is good.

Wow, when eligible for SS will it be significant?  Seems like you'll need no accounts at that point other than an emergency fund.

For me, my pension will be 40% of salary.  Yes and no, my pension and SS will cover my needs and basic wants.  But what it truly does is allow me to stay in my HCOL and still have money to cover a lot of things that I want.

ETA:  and assures my inner bag lady that basically I won’t be in a position where I “have to go back to work at 75”

My pension will not have COA so look at SS as an inflation hedge.

[Taran Wanderer]

Here’s a question for you all. DD was at a game yesterday. A classmate took a photo of her with their phone. She didn’t want the photo taken, and she didn’t like the photo. She attempted to delete the photo. The phone got dropped, and the back glass broke. The parents expect us to do something about it.

Now naturally this phone is a month old, was a gift, is uninsured, and is a much more expensive phone than DW or I have, and of course way nicer than DD’s. Also, I’m in this club, and they’re probably in the negative NW club. They don’t know what club we’re in, but they know we’re in a club, so they have some expectations.

So what’s the right thing to do here? The phone is fully functional except for the broken back glass, so it works but is weakened and no longer waterproof. Do we pay for repair? Offer similar money toward a new phone? Limit any money to then cost of DD’s phone?

[shuffler]

Here’s a question for you all.

Seems like the only question is whether your daughter was at-fault or not.  Or to what degree.

DD was at a game yesterday. A classmate took a photo of her with their phone. She didn’t want the photo taken, and she didn’t like the photo.

Unless the photo was somehow especially and intentionally invasive/crude, I don't think there'd be any expectation of privacy at a game.

She attempted to delete the photo. The phone got dropped, and the back glass broke. The parents expect us to do something about it.

Your use of passive-voice ("the phone got dropped") makes me think your daughter was at fault.  That she was grabbing or wrestling for the phone, when its owner didn't want to give it to her.  Is that the case?

Now naturally this phone is a month old, was a gift, is uninsured, and is a much more expensive phone than DW or I have, and of course way nicer than DD’s. Also, I’m in this club, and they’re probably in the negative NW club. They don’t know what club we’re in, but they know we’re in a club, so they have some expectations.

Immaterial.

So what’s the right thing to do here? The phone is fully functional except for the broken back glass, so it works but is weakened and no longer waterproof. Do we pay for repair? Offer similar money toward a new phone? Limit any money to then cost of DD’s phone?

If your daughter was at fault, I'd think that paying the cost of the repair would be the general expectation.  Not unlike denting another person's car in a fender bender.

The way you wrote this up, it seems like you're putting a lot of weight and thought and supposition into the difference in the two families net worth and their approaches to spending.  I'd suggest you just focus on your own.  You're in this club.  You don't have to sweat this situation.  Not having to worry about or dwell on something like this is one of the benefits of being in the club.  If it's likely (as it seems) that your daughter is at fault, then just pay the cost and put the incident behind you.  It doesn't seem like this is a scam; the other people won't come out ahead of where they were before the incident.

[Dancin'Dog]

Here’s a question for you all.

Seems like the only question is whether your daughter was at-fault or not.  Or to what degree.

DD was at a game yesterday. A classmate took a photo of her with their phone. She didn’t want the photo taken, and she didn’t like the photo.

Unless the photo was somehow especially and intentionally invasive/crude, I don't think there'd be any expectation of privacy at a game.

She attempted to delete the photo. The phone got dropped, and the back glass broke. The parents expect us to do something about it.

Your use of passive-voice ("the phone got dropped") makes me think your daughter was at fault.  That she was grabbing or wrestling for the phone, when its owner didn't want to give it to her.  Is that the case?

Now naturally this phone is a month old, was a gift, is uninsured, and is a much more expensive phone than DW or I have, and of course way nicer than DD’s. Also, I’m in this club, and they’re probably in the negative NW club. They don’t know what club we’re in, but they know we’re in a club, so they have some expectations.

Immaterial.

So what’s the right thing to do here? The phone is fully functional except for the broken back glass, so it works but is weakened and no longer waterproof. Do we pay for repair? Offer similar money toward a new phone? Limit any money to then cost of DD’s phone?

If your daughter was at fault, I'd think that paying the cost of the repair would be the general expectation.  Not unlike denting another person's car in a fender bender.

The way you wrote this up, it seems like you're putting a lot of weight and thought and supposition into the difference in the two families net worth and their approaches to spending.  I'd suggest you just focus on your own.  You're in this club.  You don't have to sweat this situation.  Not having to worry about or dwell on something like this is one of the benefits of being in the club.  If it's likely (as it seems) that your daughter is at fault, then just pay the cost and put the incident behind you.  It doesn't seem like this is a scam; the other people won't come out ahead of where they were before the incident.

^This


And you could toss in the cost of insuring the phone "to save them the embarrassment of this happening again."  ;~)

[Taran Wanderer]

Yeah, I wrote it up somewhat neutrally.  It sounds like my daughter knocked it out of the other kid's hands, though not intentionally.  I figure we (meaning DD) will pay for the cost of repair.  It's not a big deal for us; it will be a bigger deal for her.  I don't think they'll push for a new phone.

On the plus side, it gave us an opportunity to talk with DD about how things change as she grows up, and consequences get bigger.  Horseplay isn't just a bump on arm or a scrape of the knee anymore.  Full size bodies have more momentum.  Horseplay in certain settings could cause physical injury or worse.  Toys are more expensive.  There are real consequences now for silly behavior.

The financial difference issue comes down more to this:  If she breaks someone else's phone, we are going to end up buying it.  If someone else breaks her phone, guess what... we are going to end up buying it. 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Yes, agree with GreenEggs and shuffler. I'd replace the phone.

[BeanCounter]

Yeah, I wrote it up somewhat neutrally.  It sounds like my daughter knocked it out of the other kid's hands, though not intentionally.  I figure we (meaning DD) will pay for the cost of repair.  It's not a big deal for us; it will be a bigger deal for her.  I don't think they'll push for a new phone.

On the plus side, it gave us an opportunity to talk with DD about how things change as she grows up, and consequences get bigger.  Horseplay isn't just a bump on arm or a scrape of the knee anymore.  Full size bodies have more momentum.  Horseplay in certain settings could cause physical injury or worse.  Toys are more expensive.  There are real consequences now for silly behavior.

The financial difference issue comes down more to this:  If she breaks someone else's phone, we are going to end up buying it.  If someone else breaks her phone, guess what... we are going to end up buying it.

Ouch. What bothers me most about this is that the phone wasn't in a protective case and also wasn't insured. I get that your kid might be responsible but don't they have some responsibility to protect the phone. This would bother me. a lot. I put my teen's phone in an otter box and I know that makes it bulky and a pain to carry sometimes but kids are kids and these things WILL happen.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

...
The financial difference issue comes down more to this:  If she breaks someone else's phone, we are going to end up buying it.  If someone else breaks her phone, guess what... we are going to end up buying it.

I don't think our financial status has ever factored in to who is responsible when a phone is damaged.  If my daughter knocks the phone out of someone's hands, then 'we' are responsible.  If someone else knocks the phone out of her hands, they are responsible. 

We had a situation where the phone was sitting on the ground and got damaged which was a bit more nuanced, but you get the idea...

[Taran Wanderer]

I stopped by a shop today. Repair cost will be ~$200. I’m not sweating it.  My daughter broke it, we’ll fix it. My reputation is more important than $200.

[Taran Wanderer]

And at $20 per lawn mowing, she’ll owe me ten lawn-mowings this summer. That should be about right.

[ATtiny85]

And at $20 per lawn mowing, she’ll owe me ten lawn-mowings this summer. That should be about right.

No punitive damages assessed?

[EscapeVelocity2020]

And at $20 per lawn mowing, she’ll owe me ten lawn-mowings this summer. That should be about right.

No punitive damages assessed?

Exactly.  Now that she has a damaged resume, you can probably cut the lawn mowing payments to $10...

[dividendman]

And at $20 per lawn mowing, she’ll owe me ten lawn-mowings this summer. That should be about right.

No punitive damages assessed?

Exactly.  Now that she has a damaged resume, you can probably cut the lawn mowing payments to $10...

Great suggestions. These are the shrewd financial moves that allow us to be in this race thread.

[ATtiny85]

You folks are killing me.

On the thread subject, I have been slightly annoyed over the last months with the continued somewhat sideways market action. "Annoyed" because I feel like there is not upward movement. "Slightly" because I know all these equities we keep buying are going to really mature up nicely over the next decade(s). Still, I take some enjoyment in seeing some upward movement. Our all time high was around December 2021. We save an awful lot (or I wouldn't be here I suppose) and still need some market gains to see a new high. My life is hard.

[Exflyboy]

You folks are killing me.

On the thread subject, I have been slightly annoyed over the last months with the continued somewhat sideways market action. "Annoyed" because I feel like there is not upward movement. "Slightly" because I know all these equities we keep buying are going to really mature up nicely over the next decade(s). Still, I take some enjoyment in seeing some upward movement. Our all time high was around December 2021. We save an awful lot (or I wouldn't be here I suppose) and still need some market gains to see a new high. My life is hard.

Wait till you retire.. My portfolio is a train wreck.. I've probably lost $0.5M.. HALF A MILLION DOLLARS! So my life is MUCH worse than yours!..;)

Note: I don't actually know how much I've lost cus I'm too lazy to check..

[2sk22]

You folks are killing me.

On the thread subject, I have been slightly annoyed over the last months with the continued somewhat sideways market action. "Annoyed" because I feel like there is not upward movement. "Slightly" because I know all these equities we keep buying are going to really mature up nicely over the next decade(s). Still, I take some enjoyment in seeing some upward movement. Our all time high was around December 2021. We save an awful lot (or I wouldn't be here I suppose) and still need some market gains to see a new high. My life is hard.

The market was mostly flat for over a decade from 2000 until about 2011. It took real faith in the market to invest for the long term back then! But the reward for this came much later when I was able to retire early in my 50s.

[ATtiny85]

You folks are killing me.

On the thread subject, I have been slightly annoyed over the last months with the continued somewhat sideways market action. "Annoyed" because I feel like there is not upward movement. "Slightly" because I know all these equities we keep buying are going to really mature up nicely over the next decade(s). Still, I take some enjoyment in seeing some upward movement. Our all time high was around December 2021. We save an awful lot (or I wouldn't be here I suppose) and still need some market gains to see a new high. My life is hard.

The market was mostly flat for over a decade from 2000 until about 2011. It took real faith in the market to invest for the long term back then! But the reward for this came much later when I was able to retire early in my 50s.

Yeah, for that entire time period I was working for two companies that were somewhat unstable. The first was Cummins, where they tossed out 5-10% of employees each year just because. The second was in the automotive sector where times just got real difficult in general in 2009. So I was more stressed about staying employed (somehow I did until landing at a much more stable company) that the monthly investments were simply on autopilot and rarely thought about.

I think when people like you share those experiences, it hopefully helps to fortify folks who have only been investing for a couple years. Once you convince yourself that the market is going to generally go up over a couple decades, then holding your nose, turning your head, and shoveling in all you can throughout times like this should be easier.

[Bateaux]

You folks are killing me.

On the thread subject, I have been slightly annoyed over the last months with the continued somewhat sideways market action. "Annoyed" because I feel like there is not upward movement. "Slightly" because I know all these equities we keep buying are going to really mature up nicely over the next decade(s). Still, I take some enjoyment in seeing some upward movement. Our all time high was around December 2021. We save an awful lot (or I wouldn't be here I suppose) and still need some market gains to see a new high. My life is hard.

Wait till you retire.. My portfolio is a train wreck.. I've probably lost $0.5M.. HALF A MILLION DOLLARS! So my life is MUCH worse than yours!..;)

Note: I don't actually know how much I've lost cus I'm too lazy to check..

I checked.  About 175K down from all time stupid high point.
Still about a million above where I need to be before even being concerned.

[pecunia]

You folks are killing me.

On the thread subject, I have been slightly annoyed over the last months with the continued somewhat sideways market action. "Annoyed" because I feel like there is not upward movement. "Slightly" because I know all these equities we keep buying are going to really mature up nicely over the next decade(s). Still, I take some enjoyment in seeing some upward movement. Our all time high was around December 2021. We save an awful lot (or I wouldn't be here I suppose) and still need some market gains to see a new high. My life is hard.

Wait till you retire.. My portfolio is a train wreck.. I've probably lost $0.5M.. HALF A MILLION DOLLARS! So my life is MUCH worse than yours!..;)

Note: I don't actually know how much I've lost cus I'm too lazy to check..

I checked.  About 175K down from all time stupid high point.
Still about a million above where I need to be before even being concerned.

Things may not dive too badly.  I just saw a Wall Street Journal video where the big companies are still doing the stock buy back thing.  They are going to buy a trillion dollars of their own stocks back.  Upon reflection, the guys that run these outfits are often paid in stock options.  They should scratch and claw and use every trick in the book to keep those share prices up.

[Taran Wanderer]

Just dumped some Quicken data into Excel and looked at our lifetime (since college) savings rate:

Average pre-tax savings rate:  36%
Average post-tax savings rate:  46%

Maximum pre-tax rate:  53%
Maximum post-tax rate:  63%

Early years dragged it down a bit, as did outside events like fancy wedding and honeymoon (totally worth it), fancy trips (totally worth it), and building our house.  However, we saved 19% or more after-tax in every year.  Interesting to see.

[rmorris50]

Yesterday the yield curve inverted even more based on the FED’s comments. Yet we still await the most anticipated recession in modern history.

We still planning to go forward with phase two of updating our house, mostly cosmetic, but still pricey. Since we are golden handcuffed to this house, might as well make it a beauty.


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[2sk22]

Just dumped some Quicken data into Excel and looked at our lifetime (since college) savings rate:

Average pre-tax savings rate:  36%
Average post-tax savings rate:  46%

Maximum pre-tax rate:  53%
Maximum post-tax rate:  63%

Early years dragged it down a bit, as did outside events like fancy wedding and honeymoon (totally worth it), fancy trips (totally worth it), and building our house.  However, we saved 19% or more after-tax in every year.  Interesting to see.

It's great that you were able to keep such accurate records. I am a bit (hah!) obsessive about collecting data but somehow never kept track of our savings rate. All I can say is that my wife and I both maxed out our 401Ks from the very beginning and then opened our brokerage account as we still had money left over each month.

In the bigger picture, maximizing the savings rate is most important early in your working career. As you get older, the effects of compounding dominate over the savings rate.

[Bird In Hand]

In the bigger picture, maximizing the savings rate is most important early in your working career. As you get older, the effects of compounding dominate over the savings rate.

20+ years in, I've certainly seen that a very good (or bad) year in the market will result in portfolio fluctuations that are much larger in magnitude than what we're saving now.  On the other hand, we're able to save at least 5x more per year now than when we first started saving.  During a down year in the market, our savings can offset a ~$100k portfolio drop, and for me that provides a lot of psychological comfort.  Not to mention locking in another $100k per year which we can reasonably expect to be worth a lot more in a decade or two when we're withdrawing it.

So while saving big early on is key, I wouldn't discount the importance of saving even bigger later on!

[Dicey]

Yesterday the yield curve inverted even more based on the FED’s comments. Yet we still await the most anticipated recession in modern history.

We still planning to go forward with phase two of updating our house, mostly cosmetic, but still pricey. Since we are golden handcuffed to this house, might as well make it a beauty.


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My crystal ball predicts there's going to be a whole lot of that going on in the future, as people cling to what may prove to be once-in-a-lifetime rates. At least the price of lumber is starting to normalize. We just finished a total gut reno of a small condo. With DIY and Craigslist/NextDoor, we kept the whole project to $25k. It's over in the RE section if you have any interest. I heartily agree with fixing up and enjoying it over fixing up to sell.

[arcturus]

Going to be an interesting CPI report on Tuesday for sure! 

I am having a similar thought to @Bird In Hand today -- that, while my savings certainly have not been enough to offset the declines of the past 12-15 months, the S&P 500 is 19% off its high, which means it needs to increase 23% to get back to where it was at its high.  So I have resorted to quickly doing some mental math like that to make sure I'm still on the right path.  Question is -- how long does it take to get there?   another 2 years?  another 4 years?    Even in the massive 2008-2009 recession is was only ~5.5 years before the market was back to all-time highs.

So the positive for me today is that I've been able save to keep myself within ~9% of my high water mark on my invested assets.  Last year not as good of a year for savings as I had intended, due to some unexpected expenses.

[2Birds1Stone]

So I have resorted to quickly doing some mental math like that to make sure I'm still on the right path.  Question is -- how long does it take to get there?   another 2 years?  another 4 years?    Even in the massive 2008-2009 recession is was only ~5.5 years before the market was back to all-time highs.

There is some good analysis of this information by Karsten over at ERN. The average it appears would be 82 months to return to inflation adjusted high, so we're still quite a way to go being ~14.5 months in.

https://earlyretirementnow.com/2019/10/30/who-is-afraid-of-a-bear-market/

He makes a good point, a 0% real return over 82 months is still pretty terrible performance if you're already retired. The article is worth a read for anyone wondering how close we might be to a "recovery".

[Dicey]

DH is newly retired and while he's a great steward of money, FIRE is my bag, not his. I know we have plenty of money, but he's concerned about our day-to-day living expenses. I just qualified for Medicare (he has a few years to go) and now he's grappling with when to take Social Security. One calculator suggests he start drawing at 62 (soon) and wait until I'm 70. This seems counterintuitive, because his benefits are higher than mine. Right now, the promise of 7% more for every year we delay taking it looks more attractive than before. What to do, what to do?

We finally sat down with the Rich, Broke or Dead calculator. It showed him that even if we live to 100 and spend like drunken sailors, we'll never run out of money, with or without SS, even with far more conservative AA's. It was a huge relief to him. We still haven't decided when to file, but it's great to know it doesn't really matter. If the market takes longer than average to recover, we can just activate SS and leave our investments alone. Of course, eventually we'll have to face RMD's...

MPP, for sure.

[Exflyboy]

Funny, @Dicey. HRH and I were having the same conversation today.. I.e we have two years of spending (assuming drunken sailor spending) before touching investments so if the market goes really South.. Well maybe we take our smallish company pensions and of course I hit 62 later this year.. Yipes!

Rich people problems.. RMDs up the waazoo fer sure.

[2sk22]

So while saving big early on is key, I wouldn't discount the importance of saving even bigger later on!

Absolutely! Salaries do rise with experience but my thought is that you cannot count on it as it becomes progressively harder to hold on to your job. I was joking to my wife recently that my biggest achievement was simply remaining employed for 30 years without getting laid off :-)

[ATtiny85]

So while saving big early on is key, I wouldn't discount the importance of saving even bigger later on!

Absolutely! Salaries do rise with experience but my thought is that you cannot count on it as it becomes progressively harder to hold on to your job. I was joking to my wife recently that my biggest achievement was simply remaining employed for 30 years without getting laid off :-)

I shake my head in amazement sometimes that I have dodged the workplace grim reaper for the last couple decades. Working for two companies that practiced hiring binge and purge for about 11 years, it sometimes does feel like my biggest achievement. I am at a company now that has been much more stable. We did do a decent sized reorg two years ago and a number of folks at the higher levels were squeezed out, but other than that it has been "do your job and you'll have a job."

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Here's hoping that the sharks in this group have a nice pile of dry powder.  Looks like opportunities are headed our way to start dripping in to equities...

[dividendman]

Here's hoping that the sharks in this group have a nice pile of dry powder.  Looks like opportunities are headed our way to start dripping in to equities...

My dry powder was mostly in BND... which turned out to be wetter than I'd like lol

[Exflyboy]

Here's hoping that the sharks in this group have a nice pile of dry powder.  Looks like opportunities are headed our way to start dripping in to equities...

My dry powder was mostly in BND... which turned out to be wetter than I'd like lol

Yup I got two years in cash for living and about 40% in in bond funds so not quite dry powder but I could see myself rolling say half my bond funds to VTSAX if we the 40% pullback one talking head was saying this wekend.

[Much Fishing to Do]

So while saving big early on is key, I wouldn't discount the importance of saving even bigger later on!

Absolutely! Salaries do rise with experience but my thought is that you cannot count on it as it becomes progressively harder to hold on to your job. I was joking to my wife recently that my biggest achievement was simply remaining employed for 30 years without getting laid off :-)

Heh, my wife often joked my biggest career 'mistake' was never being unemployed and often recounted her best 'vacations' were paid by UI....she had a point...I never saw one dime of that...

[Bateaux]

I'm at a four day high angle confined space rope rescue refresher this week.  Upgrading my skill set in case I retire and things go to crap.  Main purpose is I may join a search and rescue team in retirement.  That would be mostly volunteer, but there are some paid industrial applications. I've found out that my 54 year old body is both in better and worse shape than I anticipated.  You find out quickly when you are hanging on a rope.  You have to get yourself and someone else out of a daring situation.  Feeding my inner adrenaline junky.
In less than two months, I'll be out hiking the Appalachian Trail.  These skills are nice to have in remote locations, as we're also training in emergency medical response.
Have a great recession y'all.  Hopefully I'm out of phone service in the woods for most of it.

[Dicey]

I'm at a four day high angle confined space rope rescue refresher this week.  Upgrading my skill set in case I retire and things go to crap.  Main purpose is I may join a search and rescue team in retirement.  That would be mostly volunteer, but there are some paid industrial applications. I've found out that my 54 year old body is both in better and worse shape than I anticipated.  You find out quickly when you are hanging on a rope.  You have to get yourself and someone else out of a daring situation.  Feeding my inner adrenaline junky.
In less than two months, I'll be out hiking the Appalachian Trail.  These skills are nice to have in remote locations, as we're also training in emergency medical response.
Have a great recession y'all.  Hopefully I'm out of phone service in the woods for most of it.

Dang, many of us old-timers have been waiting and holding our breaths for you for so long. It's fantastic that you're finally crossing the finish line, albeit with multiple belts, suspenders, and now ropes. I hope you get to enjoy the fruits of your labors for many years to come.

[pecunia]

I'm at a four day high angle confined space rope rescue refresher this week.  Upgrading my skill set in case I retire and things go to crap.  Main purpose is I may join a search and rescue team in retirement.  That would be mostly volunteer, but there are some paid industrial applications. I've found out that my 54 year old body is both in better and worse shape than I anticipated.  You find out quickly when you are hanging on a rope.  You have to get yourself and someone else out of a daring situation.  Feeding my inner adrenaline junky.
In less than two months, I'll be out hiking the Appalachian Trail.  These skills are nice to have in remote locations, as we're also training in emergency medical response.
Have a great recession y'all.  Hopefully I'm out of phone service in the woods for most of it.

Dang, many of us old-timers have been waiting and holding our breaths for you for so long. It's fantastic that you're finally crossing the finish line, albeit with multiple belts, suspenders, and now ropes. I hope you get to enjoy the fruits of your labors for many years to come.

Yeh - Keep moving.  A body not used is like an old tractor left out in the rain.  The mechanism can get stiff and rusty and even useless.

[Much Fishing to Do]

Here's hoping that the sharks in this group have a nice pile of dry powder.  Looks like opportunities are headed our way to start dripping in to equities...

My dry powder was mostly in BND... which turned out to be wetter than I'd like lol

Heh, I hear you, just like 2007/8 bonds weren't much of a hedge and that does hurt.

I'm out of the dry powder game at this point as I'll just spend down what cash I have, though somewhat similarly fingers are crossed my cash lasts until new highs are hit again as the already owned shares would be plenty good enough. If it's in the next few years I should make it...

[2sk22]

Here's hoping that the sharks in this group have a nice pile of dry powder.  Looks like opportunities are headed our way to start dripping in to equities...

Just launched a salvo in the form of a $50k purchase of VTI :-)

I received a large check in February from the sale of my parents' home. After much pondering and studying this this excellent page on the Bogleheads wiki, I decided to use this opportunity to make my asset allocation more tax efficient and also slightly reduce the percentage in stocks. The last step in the rebalancing process was to move $200k to stock - but for some reason, I was hesitant. I'm definitely not a market timer but I guess I was waiting for the right moment. I just saw the big swoon in the market so I decided to resume stock purchases :-)

[2Birds1Stone]

Here's hoping that the sharks in this group have a nice pile of dry powder.  Looks like opportunities are headed our way to start dripping in to equities...

Just launched a salvo in the form of a $50k purchase of VTI :-)

I received a large check in February from the sale of my parents' home. After much pondering and studying this this excellent page on the Bogleheads wiki, I decided to use this opportunity to make my asset allocation more tax efficient and also slightly reduce the percentage in stocks. The last step in the rebalancing process was to move $200k to stock - but for some reason, I was hesitant. I'm definitely not a market timer but I guess I was waiting for the right moment. I just saw the big swoon in the market so I decided to resume stock purchases :-)

Thanks, now VTi is surely heading back towards $100/share.

[Bateaux]

With do over back to my youth, I'd go 50% VOO and 50% VTI and just ride the wave DCA.

[Bateaux]

Hey anybody alive in here?  Last week I did a 40 confined space rope rescue class.  Got my grade back, 94%.  Not bad right?  Well, there is a 6% chance that I might drop you. 👨‍🚒🪢

I just completed a 3 day two night backpacking trip.  I made 50 miles.  Holy shit I'm sore.  AT is in about 7 weeks.  Got to keep working hard.  Night y'all.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Well, if I ever get injured in the pontoon of a semi I know who to call, if you’re not out hiking 👍🏻

[2sk22]

Hey anybody alive in here?

Raises hand - Yup I'm here. It's now exactly two and half years since I retired. What have I been up to recently?

- I just gave a guest lecture on software engineering for a class that a friend teaches at a university. This was a lot more fun than I expected. The kids were engaged and asked good question.
- I joined a model train club last year and am having a lot of fun working on club projects.
- Started doing some embedded programming on Arduino and ESP32. I am blown away at how good the development environment and tools are for these devices. I am cooking up some robotics projects that I will start on.
- I will be meeting a bunch of tech startups that I am mentoring (at an incubator) next week.
- Have a bunch of fun trips booked for this year. The only real constraint we have is my wife's work schedule.
- Finished a big portfolio rebalancing - I posted about this recently. Thanks to my inheritance and wife's RSUs vesting, we are rapidly reaching ridiculous levels of "beyond" :-)

[ATtiny85]

...
- Started doing some embedded programming on Arduino and ESP32. I am blown away at how good the development environment and tools are for these devices. I am cooking up some robotics projects that I will start on.
...

It is crazy awesome how simple it is to get right into things and start writing powerful code that does pretty neat stuff. I mean, running even a pedestrian 80MHz clock means there is essentially no need for even a lick of code optimization, just let it burn. Interrupts? Nah, I will just poll every pin, be right back in a microsecond, you won't miss anything.

I tip my hat to those folks who are developing these tools and ports and libraries and so on and putting them out there for me to stumble through.

And the cost of the hardware barely registers as a hurdle.

[arcturus]

Here's hoping that the sharks in this group have a nice pile of dry powder.  Looks like opportunities are headed our way to start dripping in to equities...

I've been putting a bit of dry powder to work over the past week or so, including today.   Held off on a bit until after the Fed announcement today in the event it was another zinger, but seems the market was already expecting the .25% increase.   I've just been buying IVV and RSP.