Brent Wilson

Comments:

• I understand both the appeal of stoicism as well as the struggle of adhering to it. Still, I hope you are able to restrain your thoughts about the future and enjoy the present moment without reservation.

  Post: Turned Upside Down

  Link to comment from October 5, 2024

• This reminds me of a "rising equity glidepath" strategy. Essentially, you start retirement with an intentionally conservative allocation when your portfolio and financial goals are most at risk. As your portfolio grows, or other income streams like Social Security are turned on, you may find you need a smaller percentage of your portfolio to fund your spending. As this occurs, you could gradually increase your equity allocation to where you actually want it for the long term. I think that once you claim SS and feel comfortable increasing your equity exposure, you'll know you're past the "danger zone."

  Post: Sequence of Return Risk

  Link to comment from September 28, 2024

• I was raised in a meat and potatoes family but I've recognized the importance of tilting towards plant-based as I've gotten older. I've found smoothies are a painless way to get your fruits and veggies. I haven't eliminated meat from my diet but I limit red meat and incorporate meat alternatives like tofu and nuts. If you press out the water, cube it up, season, fry in healthy oil, and toss in a light sauce, tofu is a pretty tasty protein option.

  Post: Feed Your Brain

  Link to comment from September 19, 2024

• I agree with others' comments that your choices for asset allocation and types of investments are very personal and there is no right or wrong, only what you're comfortable with. Reviewing materials on this website is a great first step. Since you asked what others have found successful, I'll share my general approach. This may be overkill and of limited value to veteran HD readers, but maybe you will find it useful. I don't arrive at my asset allocation by targeting specific percentages for stocks and bonds. I'm 20 years out from retirement with a spouse and elementary school children. First, I think about our expenses and events that could happen in our lives (job loss, prolonged medical issues, etc.) which might lead to us drawing down our assets. First I consider how much cash I want in our savings account. Our family expenses are around $75K/yr, so we keep around $60K in a high-yield savings account and short-term CDs. Everyone's "margin of safety" is different, but for myself I want a large portion of what we could need for a full year in a risk-free, easily accessible, account. Beyond our cash, we have another $60K in a total bond market index fund held within our 401Ks. A total bond fund carries some risk but its downside is typically (2022 aside) much lower than stocks. As we age and get closer to retirement, I plan to add more to our bonds, including shorter-duration bonds, with a goal of having at least several years of expenses between our cash and bonds before retiring. Resulting percentages of our asset allocation don't concern me. As for investments, we currently only have Total Stock Market, Total International Stock Market, and Total Bond Market (though again we will be adding additional bond market index funds in the future). Best of luck to you.

  Post: Looking for Guidance on Formulating a Well-Balanced Investment Plan

  Link to comment from September 16, 2024

• Great article, thanks so much for sharing and for the resources to help build a ladder. This strategy has a lot of merit and remember reading a very popular article about it from Allan Roth. I'm not sure I'd call this a conservative solution but whatever it is, I find it appealing to guarantee an income floor that covers the expenses you care about most. Bravo.

  Post: Laying Down a Floor

  Link to comment from September 14, 2024

• While the sentence could be more clear, the context of the article leads me to believe the use of "mutual fund" and "fund" refer to actively managed funds. The use of "index" or "index fund" refers to index funds.

  Post: False Comparisons

  Link to comment from September 12, 2024

• For context I'm 39 and spouse is 41. 57% Tax-Deferred (Traditional IRA, 401k) 12% Taxable (Brokerage, Savings) 31% Tax-Exempt (Roth IRA, Roth 401k) I also want a mix. In our earlier working years with lower incomes we prioritized Roth but in our current phase of life with higher incomes we have been prioritizing tax-deferred. I expect this to change as one or both of us plan to shift to lower-stress/lower-income roles in the next several years, at which point we will go back to prioritizing Roth. As we approach 60ish years old and are (hopefully) looking at part-time or no-time work, we may use these several pre-Medicare years to make some Roth conversions. That is the plan at least, and plans may change based on work needs and future tax rates. In the end, as long as I have some sort of mix I feel ok and will make adjustments as our retirement picture comes into better focus.

  Post: What’s your asset breakdown by tax treatment?

  Link to comment from September 10, 2024

• I don't agree with the concepts of owning too little or too much of anything when sticking with a total market index fund through thick and thin. I would say I am perfectly diversified and always will be. Equal weight just seems like a needless bet against large cap generally and tech at this moment in time. When large cap outperforms, you'll be sad. When small cap outperforms, you'll be happy. I'd rather not worry about it and take what the market gives me.

  Post: Is Your Broad Market Index ETF Suffering from Tech Bloat? by Steve Abramowitz

  Link to comment from September 9, 2024

• Why worry at all about downside protection of your stock allocation? Isn't that what bonds are for?

  Post: Is Your Broad Market Index ETF Suffering from Tech Bloat? by Steve Abramowitz

  Link to comment from September 9, 2024

• Could you elaborate on this?  "We also have 2.5 years in cash, earning 7.25% in July, 7.12% in August and 6.38% starting September 1st, for September. I will know October’s rate in 6 days. These funds are in a Reverse Mortgage Line of Credit, yet another income tax free source of emergency funds, not currently being needed for a comfortable retirement, but there, “just in case,” I understand that if you draw from this line of credit, these withdrawals are tax free. But your first statement confuses me, as I have never heard of a Reverse Mortgage Line of Credit earning interest paid to the borrower. I was under the impression that the unused portion of your Reverse Mortgage Line of Credit will increase over time at a specified growth rate, but this isn't interest earned and paid to the borrower. For any withdrawals you make, you're not obligated to make payments but there is loan interest charged and added to the loan balance. Further clarification would be appreciated.

  Post: JEPI as a Bond Substitute? Don Quixote Confronts the Windmills by Steve Abramowitz

  Link to comment from August 30, 2024