I'm taking over my IRA management

[skipro33]

I've decided to go in 100% with Dow Index, S&P500 index and a couple Large Cap equity funds. Buying in 10% of my (now) cash assets tonight. Near as I can tell, I dodged about 4.5% of market drop since cashing out last Friday. I think I'll continue to buy in as (if) the market continues to drop.



Something I forgot about income; Not only do I have my pension and starting this month, my SS, but in 4 years DW will be taking her SS at the tune of around $1,400 a month. To recap; been doing fine on my pension for 6 years, getting a 'raise' w/SS starting this month, DW's SS in 4 more years, then RMD 4 years after that. With that income being pretty solid, I'm not fearful of where the market will be in 8-10 years.

 

[jazz4cash]

So you’re staying at Fido? I did listen to a podcast. Very entertaining and I may subscribe to fill the void left by Bob Brinker going away, but not don’t think I’d hire their firm.

 

[dixter]

@skipro33 - You probably won't like my answer but at this time this is what I would suggest.... for now, just get all of your money out of investments... and then look for a 1 yr CD that you can get at Fidelity and make sure it insures all of your funds.... most likely will need to purchase several... Why? Too many bad signs right now... the FED is slowly raising interest rates, the FED has stopped the easing scheme and that indicated that the World Banks are no longer purchasing stocks and bonds to prop the markets up. The rest of the world is getting out of US obligations as they say they are still too expensive.. that indicates the interest rates are still too low and US obligations are still at prime... the rest of the world is at Par or below Par... You are now at a time to sit back for a while and watch... you won't get rich off of my recommendation but you won't go broke either... stay on the side lines for a year and see if you think this was good advice or not... you are young enough and you say you have the funds from pension/SS to survive... so.. take a deep breath.. relax and stay in cash for awhile...

 

[travelover]

@skipro33 - You probably won't like my answer but at this time this is what I would suggest.... for now, just get all of your money out of investments... and then look for a 1 yr CD that you can get at Fidelity and make sure it insures all of your funds.... most likely will need to purchase several... Why? Too many bad signs right now... the FED is slowly raising interest rates, the FED has stopped the easing scheme and that indicated that the World Banks are no longer purchasing stocks and bonds to prop the markets up. The rest of the world is getting out of US obligations as they say they are still too expensive.. that indicates the interest rates are still too low and US obligations are still at prime... the rest of the world is at Par or below Par... You are now at a time to sit back for a while and watch... you won't get rich off of my recommendation but you won't go broke either... stay on the side lines for a year and see if you think this was good advice or not... you are young enough and you say you have the funds from pension/SS to survive... so.. take a deep breath.. relax and stay in cash for awhile...

Do you seriously think you have insight that others do not? People who's whole livelihoods hinge on keeping track of every nuance, influence and event that moves markets?

 

[skipro33]

For now I am staying with Fidelity. I doubt they are making much money off me with my investment choices. I'll review after the first of the year when things settle down.

 

[dixter]

Do you seriously think you have insight that others do not? People who's whole livelihoods hinge on keeping track of every nuance, influence and event that moves markets?

Well I do remember in 2008 when a whole lot of people lost a lot of money that wall street kept telling people not to sell.. that was just pure lying to people about their investments...

I can honestly say that I didn't loose a single penny during that time frame.. because of my insight... so I guess it worked then and I'm just saying there is a huge imbalance that I think was caused by the world banks lowering interest rates too low for too long... the bond market is still price inflated over par because of the interest rate situation and the rates have to go up just to drive the prices back to par...

 

[skipro33]

The "staying in cash logic" reminds me of my recruiter trying to convince me to reinlist. While I'll never get rich, I'll always have 3 squares and a cot.
You mentioned 2008. In January 2008 the dow was at 13000. 10 years later it's 2018 and the Dow is at 24000. A solid 8% per year average growth. It took only 4 years to recover back to 2008 levels after that bubble burst.
Even if I go full in on equities, and it's the top of the bubble right now, I'm pretty sure I'd recover in 8 years and still see a reasonable return. And if I don't, well then, the rainbow is just that much closer then. I'll be averaging in over the next few weeks or months, depending how volatile the market remains.

 

[travelover]

Well I do remember in 2008 when a whole lot of people lost a lot of money that wall street kept telling people not to sell.. that was just pure lying to people about their investments...
..........

I never sold, though I did tax loss harvest, and I came out smelling like a rose. No one knows when to jump out or to jump back in, which one would also need to do to correctly time the market.

 

[Tracer]

when did they enter the market with their management?

Did they dump it all in at one time?
Did they unwind old positions to get you to a proper asset allocation?

If you were in all cash at this point in the cycle, how long would you take to reach full allocated asset balance?

I was self-directing my accounts which dropped about 40% during the subprime financial crises when I decided to go with their managed portfolios. At 59 years old at the time I went with a 60% stock, 40% bond and cash portfolio for my IRA and a 50% stocks for my non-IRA. I also have another IRA and Roth IRA held outside of the managed portfolios which are basically in index funds and the Contrafund which I've held continuously since the 70's. The portfolios have risen steadily during the long recovery we've enjoyed.

I sleep better at night now not stressing over what to do every time the market takes a turn one way or the other and just concentrate on enjoying my retirement. I've yet to need any of my IRA's. Having zero debt makes all the difference. I'm living off SS and 2 annuities I purchased from inheritance money I received about 10 years ago. Next year my IRA RMD's will begin.

 

[stephenson]

Skipro33,

I still believe Fidelity owes you .... something for having really screwed this up.

You are very kind to stay with them ... I would use leaving to go to Vanguard or Schwab as leverage to get something from them ... I would also call Schwab and see if they are offering transfer bonuses from Fidelity.

 

[skipro33]

Skipro33,

I still believe Fidelity owes you .... something for having really screwed this up.

You are very kind to stay with them ... I would use leaving to go to Vanguard or Schwab as leverage to get something from them ... I would also call Schwab and see if they are offering transfer bonuses from Fidelity.

I'm not sure what you mean by owes me? I agree they should have at leasted tried to make this right, but the manager I spoke with would only continue to explain how investing has no guarantees of any sort of performance. I'd argue back that all I wanted from them was an account that would match any run of the mill Growth With Income AA plus their fees and what I got was a total of 5% UNDER that. Then he kept putting it back onto me about my risk tolerance. I told him with the loss my account saw, I'd expect on a much more volatile AA and consequentially a much higher opportunity for growth. After two 1 hour each phone calls, I was going no where. He wasn't offering anything and I had the distinct feeling he isn't a position to. I can not see Fidelity offering me anything without it appearing they admit to screwing up. If they did that, I'd take them to court under the premise they failed as a fiduciary.


****EDIT****
Perhaps they should return their one percent management fee. If they did that, I'd be satisfied. Not happy, but vindicated that I was harmed and an attempt to make it right was made in good faith.

 

[stephenson]

Well, you sort of nixed them paying you back in some way by telegraphing your intent to sue them.

 

[skipro33]

Well, you sort of nixed them paying you back in some way by telegraphing your intent to sue them.

I've not expressed that intent to anyone at Fidelity. And if they are out there reading this, I open the door and offer to sign a document that returning their fees to my account satisfies my grievance.