I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that SEPs offered me as a self-employed professional a much better option for sheltering more of my earnings each year. I'm now long retired, but I note that this year, one can shelter $72,000! That adds up fast, though you eventually have to pay the piper.
I estimate the S&P 500 is down about 7% from its high, but it is still a couple of thousand points ahead of where it was only a few years ago. Rule 1 is always "keep calm". I agree with many commenters that one should have some cash or cash equivalents available if things get worse so as not to have to invade your core investment portfolio. Then take the Buffett view - the United States always bounces back.
I agree that every employee whose job must be terminated deserves to be treated with consideration and respect, and to some degree they deserve that treatment even if their termination is for cause. However, beyond that, I have many areas of disagreement with your post, and I'd bet there are many like me who chose to remain silent. In competitive markets, some businesses are run poorly and you have to expect they will falter or fail, and they will do the acts of severance poorly, too. But the competitive market, especially a volatile market that now includes large and powerful international competitors, exerts its own discipline. That often includes surprises and forced actions that cannot be predicted or cushioned. More people in the room doesn't help when their personal interests take precedence over the firm's. One must always be alert to one's own risks, and sometimes we choose our career path poorly or suffer despite our best efforts. (Which takes me back to my first sentence.)
Newton's law of fitness: A body at rest tends to stay at rest. A body in motion tends to stay in motion. Change your inertia to one of motion. Get out of the chair. Walk. Do anything to get your blood flowing. And work hard not to fall down. I am 75. I figure I have 20 years left. I think the first 10 should be OK. I exercise so the second 10 will be OK, too. And I don't cut corners.
I've started to use direct gifts of securities to my alma maters, and will continue to do so. I've taken to gifting blocks of shares that have the lowest basis while getting the market value as my deduction. This helps bring incremental tax efficiency to my portfolio and doesn't require me to build any new "structure" for giving. Simple and effective. But the ratcheting down of the value of deductions for charitable contributions based on income can add a new calculation chore. For example, my state phases deductions out and I have seen that the Federal government will start to do that for 2026 for certain higher income taxpayers.
Volatility is one way active market players can make money with a degree of confidence. Some good companies that are volatile still have fairly recognizable peaks and troughs. And people who track these companies can do really well over time if they buy during known troughs, and sell during peaks, as long as they don't get too greedy. While markets shocks can interfere, slow and steady in stable markets can pay off when one takes profits in smaller bites.
My RMD, combined with Social Security and a small pension, is more than I need to live on, and the monthly SEP distributions to me seem better than any annuity I can imagine. I am unlikely to ever withdraw more than my RMD (or less). And despite the surplus I have each month, I don't have much interest in increasing my consumption spending at all (though I've noticed I am gifting a bit more.) The RMD process did, however, help me to sort out what I should be doing with my investment choices and to simplify.
Sometimes working backwards helps. Decide where you want to be in ten years (or twenty years or another time, if you prefer.) Set a quantitative financial goal for that target year. Then build a chart year by year that tells you where you need to get to in each of the years before that target year to make that final goal. That chart should help you see how much you need to put away each year or how much your existing portfolio needs to grow each year in order to make it to the next year, and ultimately to the final goal. This is a realistic way to plan for the future, and will keep you from setting unrealistic goals that are simply unattainable, goals that won't get you where you want to go, or goals that you won't really commit to.
I don't have a lot of different funds, and I don't change the ones I do have often. But I do periodically retest them to see what they've done over the short and long terms, and whether my perception of the fund has changed. There are two things I do that are essential. First, I go to my public library and read any Morningstar reports on each fund, and I look at its star ratings - over all time periods, and I compare that fund with its peers. I also get a more current feel about whether the sector's attractiveness has changed. Second, I look at the list of each fund's top holdings, and I see if they are companies I'd actually want to own independently. I won't buy or keep a fund if its top holdings are companies I don't respect as businesses.
The last two times I moved, I felt some pressure to sell my home in what was a down market, and I occasionally looked at what those houses sold for when they were resold a few years later in up markets. The gap was pretty large. Did I give up too much? I console myself by thinking about the houses I bought with the proceeds of my sales. In both cases, I saw even greater increases in value with them, far outpacing what I supposedly had given up. You usually can't have it both ways unless you can somehow find a way to sell in an up market and simultaneously buy in a down market.
Comments
I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that SEPs offered me as a self-employed professional a much better option for sheltering more of my earnings each year. I'm now long retired, but I note that this year, one can shelter $72,000! That adds up fast, though you eventually have to pay the piper.
Post: Something to Think About
Link to comment from March 29, 2026
I estimate the S&P 500 is down about 7% from its high, but it is still a couple of thousand points ahead of where it was only a few years ago. Rule 1 is always "keep calm". I agree with many commenters that one should have some cash or cash equivalents available if things get worse so as not to have to invade your core investment portfolio. Then take the Buffett view - the United States always bounces back.
Post: Any concern?
Link to comment from March 29, 2026
I agree that every employee whose job must be terminated deserves to be treated with consideration and respect, and to some degree they deserve that treatment even if their termination is for cause. However, beyond that, I have many areas of disagreement with your post, and I'd bet there are many like me who chose to remain silent. In competitive markets, some businesses are run poorly and you have to expect they will falter or fail, and they will do the acts of severance poorly, too. But the competitive market, especially a volatile market that now includes large and powerful international competitors, exerts its own discipline. That often includes surprises and forced actions that cannot be predicted or cushioned. More people in the room doesn't help when their personal interests take precedence over the firm's. One must always be alert to one's own risks, and sometimes we choose our career path poorly or suffer despite our best efforts. (Which takes me back to my first sentence.)
Post: America Doesn’t Just Do Layoffs. It’s Fallen in Love With Them
Link to comment from March 22, 2026
Newton's law of fitness: A body at rest tends to stay at rest. A body in motion tends to stay in motion. Change your inertia to one of motion. Get out of the chair. Walk. Do anything to get your blood flowing. And work hard not to fall down. I am 75. I figure I have 20 years left. I think the first 10 should be OK. I exercise so the second 10 will be OK, too. And I don't cut corners.
Post: Frugal Fitness
Link to comment from March 14, 2026
I've started to use direct gifts of securities to my alma maters, and will continue to do so. I've taken to gifting blocks of shares that have the lowest basis while getting the market value as my deduction. This helps bring incremental tax efficiency to my portfolio and doesn't require me to build any new "structure" for giving. Simple and effective. But the ratcheting down of the value of deductions for charitable contributions based on income can add a new calculation chore. For example, my state phases deductions out and I have seen that the Federal government will start to do that for 2026 for certain higher income taxpayers.
Post: What is the best way to donate to charity in 2026?
Link to comment from March 9, 2026
Volatility is one way active market players can make money with a degree of confidence. Some good companies that are volatile still have fairly recognizable peaks and troughs. And people who track these companies can do really well over time if they buy during known troughs, and sell during peaks, as long as they don't get too greedy. While markets shocks can interfere, slow and steady in stable markets can pay off when one takes profits in smaller bites.
Post: Volatility is your Best Friend
Link to comment from March 9, 2026
My RMD, combined with Social Security and a small pension, is more than I need to live on, and the monthly SEP distributions to me seem better than any annuity I can imagine. I am unlikely to ever withdraw more than my RMD (or less). And despite the surplus I have each month, I don't have much interest in increasing my consumption spending at all (though I've noticed I am gifting a bit more.) The RMD process did, however, help me to sort out what I should be doing with my investment choices and to simplify.
Post: Forget the 4% rule.
Link to comment from March 9, 2026
Sometimes working backwards helps. Decide where you want to be in ten years (or twenty years or another time, if you prefer.) Set a quantitative financial goal for that target year. Then build a chart year by year that tells you where you need to get to in each of the years before that target year to make that final goal. That chart should help you see how much you need to put away each year or how much your existing portfolio needs to grow each year in order to make it to the next year, and ultimately to the final goal. This is a realistic way to plan for the future, and will keep you from setting unrealistic goals that are simply unattainable, goals that won't get you where you want to go, or goals that you won't really commit to.
Post: It’s Never Too Late
Link to comment from March 5, 2026
I don't have a lot of different funds, and I don't change the ones I do have often. But I do periodically retest them to see what they've done over the short and long terms, and whether my perception of the fund has changed. There are two things I do that are essential. First, I go to my public library and read any Morningstar reports on each fund, and I look at its star ratings - over all time periods, and I compare that fund with its peers. I also get a more current feel about whether the sector's attractiveness has changed. Second, I look at the list of each fund's top holdings, and I see if they are companies I'd actually want to own independently. I won't buy or keep a fund if its top holdings are companies I don't respect as businesses.
Post: Managing Investment Risk
Link to comment from March 5, 2026
The last two times I moved, I felt some pressure to sell my home in what was a down market, and I occasionally looked at what those houses sold for when they were resold a few years later in up markets. The gap was pretty large. Did I give up too much? I console myself by thinking about the houses I bought with the proceeds of my sales. In both cases, I saw even greater increases in value with them, far outpacing what I supposedly had given up. You usually can't have it both ways unless you can somehow find a way to sell in an up market and simultaneously buy in a down market.
Post: Value of Waiting
Link to comment from February 8, 2026