normr60189

Comments

• “Perhaps you could contribute some of your [personal experiences and perspectives]”? My notes indicate that I’ve posted/commented 300+ times in the last 12 months. Forum posts since 6/11/2025 are available by clicking on my handle. Comments also, and repeatedly clicking on the “Load More……” box loads some earlier posts and comments.  I generally post only that which in my opinion might be meaningful and consistent with the purpose of the site. I would like to think that there are a lot of younger people out there who have an interest beyond retirement topics. Ergo I practice some restraint.   I was a paid writer for a business that publishes financial/investing ideas and retirement planning. I wrote on all manner of such topics. After 10 years I hung up that hat in 2025. To read what I wrote required a paid subscription. I do administer a couple of facebook groups, a couple of blogs and a YouTube channel. These are specialized and have nothing to do with finance/retirement. I consciously limit my online time spent on finance/retirement matters, etc. This is part of my goal to live a meaningful, purposeful life and I have no idea how few read what I write here. I am not, and have never been an entertainer although some of what I have written or put up on YouTube may be entertaining.

  Post: Where are the ladies?

  Link to comment from March 28, 2026

• Anyone approaching or in retirement should be practicing wealth defense and that could include some funds outside of the stock market. That’s what experts, including Christine Benz at Morningstar suggest. How much depends upon one’s “sleep number”.  Some suggest 5 years’ worth, others suggest more, others less.  Keep in mind the amount is after calculating expenses and subtracting Social Security and Pension benefits as well as other income. For example, if my annual expenses are $60,000 and my only retirement benefit in retirement is a $23,000 annual SS benefit, I would need to pull $37,000 from my savings and retirement portfolio, each year. 5 years would suggest $185,000 in savings outside of the stock market. What’s the historical evidence? Since 2000, stock market downturns haven’t lasted more than 19.5 [months]. Some have lasted only 6-7 months. But it can take years for the market to recover and that is what matters. For example, the bear market downturn which began in March 2000 spanned 19.5 months and the market declined 36.77%. However, 10 years later the post down-turn cumulative return was only 20.8%. The October 2007 bear market lasted 14.5 months with a 51.9% decline. Five years later the cumulative return was 136.7%. As I approached retirement, I re-allocated my retirement funds and accumulated “cash”. At retirement I was 70%/30% stocks/bonds-cash. Today I own even fewer stocks/stock funds.  One of the challenges is to manage greed. This can occur as Fear of Missing Out. I’ve read that long bull markets may foster complacency in investors. In 2007 if one was heavily invested in financials, the negative impact was worse than the S&P average. Today, large allocations in tech may also carry additional risk. Another component is just how large the retirement fund is, and how many years it will be required to last. As we progress through our retired years, we may find that our savings are excessive. For someone in that situation, the amount of cash may not be critically important. For example, let’s say I were to run my numbers. Quicken’s Lifetime Planner is a useful tool for this and there are others. I can be sophisticated about this and include a SS benefit reduction if I am concerned about that, or if I am concerned about a “worst case” scenario. In my case, the numbers indicate excessive savings. That implies I could have a larger percentage of stocks, or spend more each year, or reduce savings. Any decision is where managing greed becomes important. 

  Post: Any concern?

  Link to comment from March 28, 2026

• Managing my emotions after the Dot-Com bust has made me a much better investor. and, I sleep better at night, too. I'm a firm believer of being prepared for the next downturn as well as a boom market. Purchasing stock sectors that are out of favor is a tried and true, long term approach. When the EV economy was being pushed and subsidized was one such opportunity.

  Post: Time to Be Fearful

  Link to comment from March 28, 2026

• Well, I'm just a heteosexual guy and I notice the same old stuff being discussed over and over. I leave for a week and it seems I haven't missed a thing. I skim read, but seldom comment on those topics because "what's the point?"

  Post: Where are the ladies?

  Link to comment from March 25, 2026

• There will be a sizeable correction one day. You can bet on it. We each should answer the question "Are you in thought, or in action?" and you are in action.

  Post: The Bear Market Survival Kit (Pharmaceuticals Not Included)

  Link to comment from March 25, 2026

• I have a plan in place and I'll stick to it. "Be prepared" is that old motto

  Post: The Bear Market Survival Kit (Pharmaceuticals Not Included)

  Link to comment from March 25, 2026

• A few years ago I concluded I was under withdrawing. I begin with the RMD calculations but shifted to a modified guardrails approach. I evaluated just about every approach Christine Benz writes about at Morningstar. I ran a few scenarios and decided the MGA was best for me.  I have both traditional and Roth IRAs. My largest single annual withdrawal was 10% of the total value of these accounts. However, these accounts recovered and currently indicate a peak value. That’s been generally true on December 31 of each year. Because of circumstances we haven’t spent all of our withdrawal in recent years. That’s likely to be so in 2026. We are fortunate and don’t have to exercise caution with our spending. We’ve increased our charitable giving and G is currently on the east coast caring for an elderly relative. We have no concerns about the cost of her trips, which number 3-4 each year.  I’ll probably take a larger withdrawal this year. It is really more about tax management at this point. I’m allowing our taxed accounts to increase in value although I want to avoid going up a bracket with withdrawals. I have no intention of taking additional withdrawals from the Roth IRA in the foreseeable future.

  Post: Forget the 4% rule.

  Link to comment from March 20, 2026

• “About 65–70% of private-sector workers have access to a retirement plan (401k and the like), the bad news, roughly 50–55% actually participate. “ In other words, we are free to make bad choices. Nothing new here, and I won’t spend much time thinking, writing or worrying about the bad choices made by others.  I will note that the bail-outs may begin very early in life.

  Post: Retirement in America is not a pretty picture…and not getting better.

  Link to comment from March 18, 2026

• In 1960 my father’s employer was acquired by another firm. On payday everyone in the backoffice was told to queue up at the door and as they walked through each was handed their final paycheck and told “goodbye”.  In 2000 or so HR departments began culling candidates using new metrics. One was dinged for “loyalty” as it was felt that longer term employees were slackers and had potential hiring issues. After all, there had to be a negative reason they stayed with a firm for a decade or more.  Hiring and firing practices have been streamlined and automated for decades. HR departments have become very good at this. It may be convenient to assign blame. I never fired anyone, but I did assist some employees that were not a good fit in finding a job elsewhere. Loyalty is a two-way street. I read that today, younger employees are more interested in what is called work-life balance. In my business some employees put personal life first, and were clearing their desks at 4:50pm each day and out the door at 5:00. If a project had issues, too bad; let someone else deal with it. A potential hire once told me during the interview process “For that wage I’ll come to work, but if you want some effort you’ll have to pay more”.  We didn’t hire them.

  Post: America Doesn’t Just Do Layoffs. It’s Fallen in Love With Them

  Link to comment from March 18, 2026

• We are unequipped to deal with a disruption, no matter how many gold bars or cartons of cigarettes we own.  I’ll use a large scale natural disaster as an example. A hurricane struck the Gulf of America a few years ago. Large sections of the states of Louisiana and Mississippi were without power or transportation. Municipal water treatment systems were down. Wells could not be pumped. Within a few days all stores of potable water had been depleted. Several days thereafter the food ran out. Society quickly broke down in previously quiet suburban enclaves. It got ugly, although the media preferred to concentrate reporting elsewhere. Based upon my personal experience, I say if you want to be a survivalist put in a lot of solar power, own a few acres, have a source of potable, treatable water and a stash of seeds, etc. Oh, and better have guns and a lot of ammo.  The fact is, most people would not survive. But dream on.

  Post: Why Marlboro Gold is better Than Gold 

  Link to comment from March 15, 2026