Author Topic: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***  (Read 5108 times)

detroital

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 39
***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« on: June 11, 2018, 08:51:22 PM »
Since retiring, have you invested more conservatively?  If so, how have you allocated your investments, by percentage?

secondcor521

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5503
  • Age: 54
  • Location: Boise, Idaho
  • Big cattle, no hat.
    • Age of Eon - Overwatch player videos
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2018, 09:36:22 PM »
Yes.  I reached FI in 2014 and RE in February 2016.  In June 2016 I moved from 100% low cost TSM index fund to 90% low cost TSM index fund and 10% total bond index fund.

G-dog

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 19096
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #2 on: June 11, 2018, 10:10:21 PM »
Nope. I am entirely out of bonds. But I have a pension and social security and a life insurance I can convert to annuity - I treat those like bonds. But my 401k, Roth, and post-tax Vanguard accounts, and my HSA are all in stock index funds.

FrugalZony

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1565
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2018, 10:54:51 PM »
Yes.
I was at 90% stocks (mostly VTSAX and a few single stocks) 8% Bonds 2% cash towards the end of my accumulation phase (I had sold my house and put 100% of the proceeds into VTSAX a year before FIRE).

During the last few months leading up to my FIRE date (August 2016) I redirected all new investments to get closer to my FIRE AA, which is 70 % STocks, 25% Bonds and 5% cash. Right before I FIREd, when I new not much more would come in to tip the scale, I rebalanced to fully reach that AA.

I have now been Fired for almost two years and just rebalanced for the first time in FIRE.
My plan was to do that in May, but I was a bit "distracted" using up my efund in May and only found the time to look at things this week.

With CD rates on the rise, I was almost tempted to take a bit more out of the stock market and into CD's but it was hard enough mentally to do the rebalancing, so I resisted that temptation.

Dicey

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 22318
  • Age: 66
  • Location: NorCal
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2018, 03:49:27 AM »
Five years post-FIRE,  DH still working. No changes. We've lived through enough ups and downs, plus have a big enough 'stache, that we don't crave "security". We're okay with volatility.

SwordGuy

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8955
  • Location: Fayetteville, NC
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #5 on: June 12, 2018, 05:54:41 AM »
We retired at the end of April.   No changes to asset allocation other than we (finally!) sold our old house so our cash position is too high.   We'll take care of that as soon as we know whether we need the cash to finish up our flip house or whether the contract on it takes place.  (It's got a contingency clause on it, so the buyer needs to get a contract on their own house.)  The plan pre-fire was to use the cash for flip house repairs, but we found a buyer early, who will do the repairs themselves.  Woot!

We have 4 income sources - rental houses, rental farm income, social security, and stock dividends/sales.

The first 3 provide the bulk of our expenses.  Given a few years, we'll pick up a few more rentals and our stock will only be used for emergency expenses or extra fun money.

Part of my wife's 401k is a product she chose for it 17 years ago.   We can't change it or withdraw from it until September.  Don't really understand what it is.   We're going to schedule a meeting with TIAA-CREF to talk over it.   We might change it in September to stocks.

I have some old IRAs and 401Ks hanging about.  We're going to consolidate them into Vanguard or Fidelity.   I have 3 old 401Ks in Fidelity.  I need to get them out of whatever garbage they are in into the equivalent of 80% VTSAX and 20% VTIAX.

I suppose those count as asset allocation changes post FIRE, but honestly, they are just things I put off pre-FIRE.   I had zero privacy at work.  No cellphones, had to share a phone with a room full of people and had to leave my desk to make the call.  I just didn't want to have detailed financial discussions at work.



ol1970

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 151
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #6 on: June 12, 2018, 07:56:57 AM »
No, but I was always conservative.  I'm about 35% correlated to the stock indices, the rest is in paid for apartment buildings, a bond ladder (who's income stream alone covers my annual burn by 120%), with the rest in various alternative investments, and a paid for beautiful waterfront home.  I'm definitely in the camp of once you've made it why play the game, but then again I did not make the bulk of my stache from market appreciate, I made it from my ability to create and be lucky enough to be born in a time and place I could take advantage of my skillset. 

If you are in the 3-4% withdraw rate window, I'd say you should keep the pedal to the metal though and be 90% stocks.  I totally understand the math about how the pile will grow, but unless you are wanting to have your name on a building or inflate your lifestyle dramatically, I think keeping so much risk exposure is just a little on the greedy side. 

Greystache

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 593
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #7 on: June 12, 2018, 08:11:52 AM »
I retired 3 years ago at age 55. At the time, I was 60% stocks, 35% bonds and 5% cash. Over the last three years I have moved to 50% stocks, 40% bonds and 10% cash.

Mr. Green

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4494
  • Age: 40
  • Location: Wilmington, NC
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #8 on: June 12, 2018, 11:33:13 AM »
I'm 34 and I've been retired for a little over a year now. We used to be 100% stocks. I imagined we'd be 90% stocks/10% after FIRE but we're actually more like 77% stocks/18% bonds/5% cash. I've held on to the cash component from our last property sale, anticipating a future real estate investment. I've done well with RE in the past but all by great buys came in a down market and I didn't want to be fighting myself psychologically about whether to pull money out of investment accounts to fund real estate while the market was in the tank.

bacchi

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7056
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #9 on: June 12, 2018, 11:51:40 AM »
Yes.

Retired at 90/10 but have been slowly increasing short-term bonds, to be spent down during the next recession.

Cassie

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7946
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #10 on: June 12, 2018, 12:13:44 PM »
Yes mostly out of stocks but we are older at 64.

Catbert

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3298
  • Location: Southern California
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #11 on: June 12, 2018, 02:58:48 PM »
In my 60s and retired 9 years.  Bonds 10-15%, rental real estate equity 20-25%, remainder stock.  I have a good pension so my need for bonds is less than most.

Gone Fishing

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2916
  • So Close went fishing on April 1, 2016
    • Journal
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #12 on: June 12, 2018, 06:27:59 PM »
No. 95%+ equities.  If it all comes crashing down, I have plenty of time for a do-over (30's).  If I was 65, my answer would be different.

Threshkin

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1088
  • Location: Colorado
    • My Journal
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #13 on: June 14, 2018, 09:20:12 PM »
FI about 4 years RE 20 months and counting.  DW still working but would like to quit once current clients are done.

I have not purposefully changed my allocation at all since FIRE.  Changes are mainly due to gains and SEP contributions to keep DW income low.

Investment Allocation: Roughly 95% Stocks, 3% Bonds, 2% Other

I am low 60s, DW is mid 50s.

Monkey Uncle

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1740
  • Location: West-by-god-Virginia
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #14 on: June 15, 2018, 04:58:12 AM »
I've been retired for about 5 months, and I haven't really changed mine.  I'm targeting 70/30.  Cash is just a few percent and is lumped in with the 30% bonds.  Right now I'm sitting at about 68/32 due to a cash payout when I left work earlier this year, but I expect that to balance back out gradually due to normal spending.

dude

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2369
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #15 on: June 15, 2018, 06:20:47 AM »
Following this page over the years has convinced me that a 60/40 allocation is the sweet spot:

http://www.retireearlyhomepage.com/reallife18.html

You can see that while the 75/25 has marginally outperformed the 60/40 since 1994 (a great year to retire SORR-wise), it has not done nearly as well in a bad SORR year (scroll to the bottom of the linked page to see how the various portfolios have fared since 2000) -- it's retained only 60% of its original balance, whereas the 60/40 has 92%, after 18 years of 4% inflation-adjusted withdrawals. Which tells me that a more flexible approach would almost certainly have resulted in a balance equal to or probably greater than the original balance.

Brother Esau

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 648
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #16 on: June 15, 2018, 07:49:30 AM »
Following this page over the years has convinced me that a 60/40 allocation is the sweet spot:

http://www.retireearlyhomepage.com/reallife18.html

You can see that while the 75/25 has marginally outperformed the 60/40 since 1994 (a great year to retire SORR-wise), it has not done nearly as well in a bad SORR year (scroll to the bottom of the linked page to see how the various portfolios have fared since 2000) -- it's retained only 60% of its original balance, whereas the 60/40 has 92%, after 18 years of 4% inflation-adjusted withdrawals. Which tells me that a more flexible approach would almost certainly have resulted in a balance equal to or probably greater than the original balance.

That is some great data, thank you for sharing.

LaineyAZ

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1052
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #17 on: June 15, 2018, 09:04:13 AM »
Yes mostly out of stocks but we are older at 64.

Same here, age 63 with a pension.

daverobev

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3961
  • Location: France
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #18 on: June 15, 2018, 03:07:31 PM »
Yes, reducing outstanding debt and slowly putting money into fixed income. I'm looking to have at least 2-3 years in cash, but I'm doing it from dividends rather than selling stuff in a big lump.

The debt is mostly temporarily gone, but I'm likely to be taking on some more mortgage soon. My wife still works, though.

I'm still not sure if I want to actually hold the mortgage debt and fixed income rather than just cancelling the morgage out (this is in Canada, where there are no long term fixed mortgages). It's a conundrum.

Cassie

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7946
Re: ***I ask that only retirees answer this thread, please***
« Reply #19 on: June 15, 2018, 04:22:13 PM »
We also each have a small pension