It's not something I have much aptitude for. Most of my efforts to manage big chunks of money -- buying a new car or a house, coping with a disastrous IRS audit back when I owned rental property -- have been instances of trying to minimize the damage and muddling through. So this stuff worries me. I know I'm going to lose money and the question is how to minimize the loss.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
6 comments:
Good luck Ms. Ecks. Hope that curmudgeon's guy can help you out.
I had an account with Vanguard through my work, but we were bought out and the new company was with Fidelity. So they changed all of our 401(k) accounts to Fidelity. I never noticed any difference between the two. They both were helpful to me, no matter the fact that I was small potatoes to them. But still, I know when we changed over, many of us were terrified, since Vanguard had been so good for us. So I can only wish you good luck, and I hope you find what you are comfortable with.
Good luck,
and also, in a weird way, I take some comfort in knowing someone I think of as a "more responsible grown-up" than I am struggles with this stuff. I'm kind of dreading retirement planning...
The best thing I ever did around money was sign up with Tracee and let her manage my retirement accounts. We meet regularly to discuss our tolerance for risk (and balance risk with rewards) vs. my retirement timeline and desired retirement income, then she works the numbers and comes back with new recommendations for what should be in my portfolio.
I will admit on my 401(k) side we use the "invest like you are going to retire in 20x0" mutual fund options to automatically move from stocks and bonds to less volatile (but lower return) investments as we get closer to the target retirement age for that fund.
I think of it as retaining someone who is as expert in the retirement planning field as I am in mine.
The problem with a pile of money is every one who wants to help you save it wants some of it. It is hard to find someone you trust to handle your future.
Good luck.
6 years away from full company retirement, 8 years away from full Social Security, Highly risk adverse, Single, and with a statistically longer period of retirement.
My advise to you and my daughter is the same. Set aside as much money into IRA as possible as early as possible. She likes risk as much as a cat likes a bath. Unfortunately it comes with the territory.
I recommended that her IRA be invested in no load, low fee, non-12b, broad base Index mutual funds. That at the very least she should allocate 50 percent to a broad base equity mutual fund (Vanguard Total Stock Fund VTSMX). And 50 percent to a broad base fixed income mutual fund (Vanguard Total Bond Fund VBMFX). This mix of investments is called the “Couch Potato Fund”.
I reomended that she start what I call a supplement savings plan. I would invest it at the very least in same mutual funds and to the same proportions as suggest for your IRA.
I recommend a really strict review of her monthly budget with intent of finding 5 percent of her monthly income with intent to fund a supplemental savings program.
Max out any contribution to 401k or 403c plans. Roll them into your own IRA. (You control your fate).
I suggested to her that a 60/40 or 70/30 split on hwe IRA and supplemental savings plan would be better.
I am sure by now your eyes have rolled up back into your head so I will stop. Good Luck and God Speed.
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