Stock Market & Retirement Planning

Yes sir. I mean seeing AAPL will go below $100 today most likely should have a major target. As well as stocks that pay large dividends. That is all I am buying up right now, things like AT&T, etc.

Yup, for my personal IRA I buy mostly funds and ETFs rather than initial stocks, but what I have right now is a relatively conservative set of funds that target dividend-paying stocks. Ride it out, that's all we can do. We just met with my in-laws advisor, and a lot of their money has been transferred into fixed income funds and the like - very little stock, so they'll be in good shape.
 
Luckily I'm young enough to do this, but I'll take this as a buying opportunity and ride it out. Hopefully we don't get to that point again, but when the market was < 10K, I upped my retirement contributions at work. If we keep going down, I'll probably do the same.
Nothing like a long time horizon. Makes taking these roller coaster rides much easier.
 
Possible time to buy
 
Yes sir. I mean seeing AAPL will go below $100 today most likely should have a major target. As well as stocks that pay large dividends. That is all I am buying up right now, things like AT&T, etc.
Going the safe dependable route of high paying dividend stocks?? nice.
 
Nothing like a long time horizon. Makes taking these roller coaster rides much easier.
True, unfortunately 90% of average investors can separate emotion from the fact they have X years (usually 25+) to retirement and need to trust in long term historical returns....
 
I think the market has not bottomed yet, we could easily see another 5-10%. It will be interesting to see how things shake out over the next few weeks. China is scary but I like it when the market makes a correction like this as there are/will be some great stocks on sale. I bought a lot of Dow Industrial stocks back in the spring of 2009 such as MMM, CAT, IBM, Pfizer, and KO when things were really bad and they sure came roaring back. I'll be a big buyer of AAPL if it dips to $90-$92 a share. I also like GM right now for the first time in decades.
 
True, unfortunately 90% of average investors can separate emotion from the fact they have X years (usually 25+) to retirement and need to trust in long term historical returns....

I think you meant to say they CAN'T do that and I agree. Fortunately I only play with money I can afford to lose so I stick to my 30 year time horizon :)
 
I think you meant to say they CAN'T do that and I agree. Fortunately I only play with money I can afford to lose so I stick to my 30 year time horizon :)

Yea. Definitely can't. Best to play with that money and keep the other stuff in a steady plan.


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The worse the market does the better my municipal bond funds are performing. I usually park money in muni's as you can count on 2.5% to 3% per year but with monthly dividends you end up with a net effective 4% to 5%, safe place to be in uncertain times.
 
The worse the market does the better my municipal bond funds are performing. I usually park money in muni's as you can count on 2.5% to 3% per year but with monthly dividends you end up with a net effective 4% to 5%, safe place to be in uncertain times.
I'm hoping you are using this also because of the tax advantage...
 
Just making one post in this thread to talk about our situation, as I don't really have any sage advice. I've been retired for 9 years, and my wife retired last year. We have a good portfolio, and at the advice of our counselor, we shifted some funds around to get a more balanced look. We are nearly 50-50 in stock funds and bond funds, so we minimize any downturns, while also not taking full advantage of upswings in the market. It keeps us on a fairly even footing when the market takes a big dip like it did last week.

We have been invested through Waddell and Reed for about 15 years now, and we have been extremely happy with our investment adviser.
 
Just making one post in this thread to talk about our situation, as I don't really have any sage advice. I've been retired for 9 years, and my wife retired last year. We have a good portfolio, and at the advice of our counselor, we shifted some funds around to get a more balanced look. We are nearly 50-50 in stock funds and bond funds, so we minimize any downturns, while also not taking full advantage of upswings in the market. It keeps us on a fairly even footing when the market takes a big dip like it did last week.

We have been invested through Waddell and Reed for about 15 years now, and we have been extremely happy with our investment adviser.

Sounds like you have a sound strategy and adviser! I look forward to retirement that is now less than 4 years away. We are in the process of hiring an advisor to help up with the transition to retirement and hopefully he will do good, safe, things for us.
 
Sounds like you have a sound strategy and adviser! I look forward to retirement that is now less than 4 years away. We are in the process of hiring an advisor to help up with the transition to retirement and hopefully he will do good, safe, things for us.

While I am no where near the retirement(I'm 29) I always try and pick the brains of people that are making the plans now. Currently I have a pension through work, and a Roth IRA I try and max out every year. But what are some of the things you look in an advisor, should I have one at this stage in my life, and come the age I can pull out my pension, do I pull it all out and trust an advisor? Or do I leave it in the pension fund and let them continue to manage it?


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While I am no where near the retirement(I'm 29) I always try and pick the brains of people that are making the plans now. Currently I have a pension through work, and a Roth IRA I try and max out every year. But what are some of the things you look in an advisor, should I have one at this stage in my life, and come the age I can pull out my pension, do I pull it all out and trust an advisor? Or do I leave it in the pension fund and let them continue to manage it?


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We were burned by an advisor back in 2008 so we have been very careful with our selection. First of all I would gain some knowledge by reading a dozen or more books on investing. A good first book would be The Affluent Investor: Financial Advice to Grow and Protect Your Wealth. By affluent the author means you have a $100k to invest, which eventually should apply to everyone who is planning for retirement.

I don't think most advisors will do better than an S&P index fund over the long haul but we now have enough assets to have access to some of the better(hopefully) advisors.

Our new advisor that we are just starting with comes highly recommended from one of my wife's old work colleagues who was the controller at a multi billion dollar company until he retired 5 years ago. He has been very happy with this guy so we are giving him a chance. It's still hard to turn over a large chunk of our life savings to even the most highly recommended advisor.
 
We were burned by an advisor back in 2008 so we have been very careful with our selection. First of all I would gain some knowledge by reading a dozen or more books on investing. A good first book would be The Affluent Investor: Financial Advice to Grow and Protect Your Wealth. By affluent the author means you have a $100k to invest, which eventually should apply to everyone who is planning for retirement.

I don't think most advisors will do better than an S&P index fund over the long haul but we now have enough assets to have access to some of the better(hopefully) advisors.

Our new advisor that we are just starting with comes highly recommended from one of my wife's old work colleagues who was the controller at a multi billion dollar company until he retired 5 years ago. He has been very happy with this guy so we are giving him a chance. It's still hard to turn over a large chunk of our life savings to even the most highly recommended advisor.

Thanks for the response and advice. Like I said before I'm a long ways from retirement but there harm in gaining as much knowledge as possible on it.

I'm in the mindset as you, that is hard to hand over your life savings. Plus with us, my wife doesn't work so all savings is done from my sole income. I was told I can start a Roth IRA in her name, and max that out at the same $5500 a year. So I will probably do that as well to give another form of retirement savings.


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Interesting thread as I'm considering joining retirement in the next 18 months. My philosophy has changed over time and I've been in the PASSIVE investing camp since the internet bubble. passive, index, factor-based, academic might be synonyms. Check out the Bogleheads forum for more detailed explanation. ), I believe that investing is all about consistency of market risk factor exposures (avoid risk) and expenses (cost saved is performance gained). All else is noise. Simplicity being the ultimate form of sophistication. A diversified, broad based, low cost portfolio that is periodically re-balanced that recognizes tax efficiencies continues to outferform speculative (Active) investments in the long term.

Bob (Diveguy)
 
My wife and I were careful to live well within our means while we were working. We both made maximum contributions to our 401k accounts. We lived on our base income and put any bonuses into savings. We avoided credit card debt - we rarely bought on credit, and when we did, all cards were paid off immediately before interest could accrue. Our only debts were mortgage and cars, and we both kept our cars long after they were paid off. My last 2 vehicles before the one I have now I drove for 14 years and 8 years respectively - the only reason I sold the second one is because we moved out of the country or I might still be driving it. We lived modestly, took nice vacations, usually scuba diving, but stayed within our budget.

We are probably better off now in retirement than we were when we worked. We live in a tiny town in northeastern Colorado. We own our home, both cars, and we just paid cash for a second house for a rental which my wife is managing. Our expenses are low, taxes low, life is good. :clapp:
 
My wife and I were careful to live well within our means while we were working. We both made maximum contributions to our 401k accounts. We lived on our base income and put any bonuses into savings. We avoided credit card debt - we rarely bought on credit, and when we did, all cards were paid off immediately before interest could accrue. Our only debts were mortgage and cars, and we both kept our cars long after they were paid off. My last 2 vehicles before the one I have now I drove for 14 years and 8 years respectively - the only reason I sold the second one is because we moved out of the country or I might still be driving it. We lived modestly, took nice vacations, usually scuba diving, but stayed within our budget.

We are probably better off now in retirement than we were when we worked. We live in a tiny town in northeastern Colorado. We own our home, both cars, and we just paid cash for a second house for a rental which my wife is managing. Our expenses are low, taxes low, life is good. :clapp:


Sound advice and exactly the strategies my wife and I have used to propel us to an early retirement in a few years (I am 50 years old). I grew up in the midwest and my very conservative father taught me long ago to live within your means and have no debt of any kind, including a mortgage, by the age of 50. When I got married he told be that the value of all my vehicles(cars, boats, RV's, motorcycles, etc.) shouldn't exceed half of our annual household income and it's one of the many rules I've lived by, at least until I retire and spend a bunch of money on a boat or two!! My wife and I have lived below our means and driven used cars or kept newly purchased cars for 150,000+ miles. We started saving for our kids college when they were babies so now that our oldest is off to college this year we have enough saved for his education.

A huge key was both my wife and I started saving 15% of our gross income into 401k's when we were in our early/mid 20's. It's takes discipline and is hard to do when raising kids but if you make $60k a year and save 15% a year from age 22 to 65 you will have $4.7 million saved if you get the long term rate of return(9.3%) of the stock market. Many employers match the first 6% so it really only means saving 9% or $450 a month on a $60,000 income. If you combine a 401k or Roth with other investments such as rental properties, financial independence can be achieved sooner than most can imagine. I can't believe I'm 50 but the rewards of planning and saving are a nice consolation for getting older!!
 
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It's hard to find a house these days that doesn't require a mortgage. :(

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Another major meltdown.
Remember when January used to be a good month?
 
Don't worry, Tuesday it will be up 400.... Time to start watching the VIX. Roller coaster ride is getting faster and bumpier.
 
Don't worry, Tuesday it will be up 400.... Time to start watching the VIX. Roller coaster ride is getting faster and bumpier.

I know not everybody invests, and it has risks like anything else, but most "working class" do try to set up some form of retirement. I wish everybody that voted paid attention to this stuff. And I dont say that as any party alignment.
 
I know not everybody invests, and it has risks like anything else, but most "working class" do try to set up some form of retirement. I wish everybody that voted paid attention to this stuff. And I dont say that as any party alignment.
You would think that the troubles in 2007/2008 would've taught us that, but as you know, we are doomed to repeat history. This will be another example of 'come on, invest, it'll be fine, right as the smart money is running out the door'-little people getting stuck with the losses. What are we down now, more than 2000 points on the Dow?
(I invest monthly, and even though i'm in the industry am not in a position to need to actively watch this on a daily basis.) - Upcoming job changes may need me to reevaluate this as i might become the investment specialist for about 50 representatives. Always a great time answering client questions :/
 
You would think that the troubles in 2007/2008 would've taught us that, but as you know, we are doomed to repeat history. This will be another example of 'come on, invest, it'll be fine, right as the smart money is running out the door'-little people getting stuck with the losses. What are we down now, more than 2000 points on the Dow?
(I invest monthly, and even though i'm in the industry am not in a position to need to actively watch this on a daily basis.) - Upcoming job changes may need me to reevaluate this as i might become the investment specialist for about 50 representatives. Always a great time answering client questions :/

I bet.
And the worst part is, the people that should be investing every month, have had their dollars shrink each month (thats not a guess, but fact based on tax increases) so they have less disposable to buy.

I hope this changes, but with rising health costs, companies laying off because of rising health costs, higher minimum wage coming and more...I think we are headed for worse.
 
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