Looking at your investment performance

[racy]

Well, I veered a bit off course...
An event having nothing to do with stocks shook me to the core. No excuses, but the urge to gamble came,...my brain saying "put $$ in VFH and JDST", easy bucks! Didn't work out that way. Lost about $1500 ....

Don't think of it as a loss, rather categorize that $1500 as "education expense".

 

[LOL!]

The ~$1500 was a substantial loss of the chosen investment. Folks can take a look at a chart of JDST. It only lost 33% or so in less than a few minutes. So though there wasn't much invested in it, the percentage loss is substantial.

Since tax-efficiency was sort of mentioned, holding BND in a taxable account is not wise because of the taxes one would pay.

 

[brett]

I used to look at it quite frequently.

At retirement, we turned it over to an advisor. Now I review it quarterly. In November we do a tax preparation review. So far so good. Pleased with the service, the advice, and the results.

 

[kcowan]

What does your advisor charge?

 

[brett]

PHN. Just under one percent. They have a sliding scale. They have several offerings. We went for the complete management option.

Very pleased with the service, the team we deal with, and the results. PHN was purchased by RBC a few years ago but the players are the same. If anything,we have a broader selection of opportunities.

 

[frayne]

How do you guys keep from market timing or panicking when things go south?

The longer you are in the market, you just get used to the bumps and grinds.

The bumps are much more enjoyable than the grinds but remember what Bogle said and you can't go wrong "stay the course."

 

[akck]

Hate to say this, the biggest factor for staying the course was losing 50% in market value and being paralyzed do do anything about it (dropped enough that I didn't want to realize a loss). Actually, it was the recovery that followed was the real factor, where I ended up with over a 100% gain over my starting point. I also learned to sell stocks that I thought would take years to recover and reinvest in ones that would recover quicker.

One other thing to ignore is, "this time it's different." I've heard it enough times to now stop listening to the experts saying it. Sure, they might be right at some point, but you'll miss more opportunities by believing it.

 

[calmloki]

Were it me I'd ignore the market and miss all sort of buying opportunities. The gal, however, insists on both watching the news for the latest thing to be VERY AFRAID of and recording all our Morningstar end of day position values. She then likes to be sure who all has paid and we record our net worth. daily. Maybe that is a good thing, as we are becoming desensitized to market swings. I suspect that what will be a real problem is choosing to sell anything - rental and loan and property sale income exceeds our needs. Would be very difficult to see our net worth going down, even though we have sufficient to get us to the end of our days and could stop playing rather than running up the score.

 

[NW-Bound]

...Would be very difficult to see our net worth going down, even though we have sufficient to get us to the end of our days and could stop playing rather than running up the score.

+1000

Once a multi-millionaire, one does not want to go back to be a millionaire, let alone a thousandaire.

 

[samclem]

How do you guys keep from market timing or panicking when things go south?

I avoid looking at it. And I really don't care about daily movements. I guess if I were going to spend it all on Tuesday, I'd be concerned about what the balances are doing between now and Tuesday. But I'll be spending it over the next 40 years, so what happens day-to-day is just not important.

 

[Markola]

Everyone has a different asset allocation thermostat. I was 100% equities when it looked like the world was ending in 2009. I flinched and went 80/20. I felt better and have generally been 90/10 to 80/20 since. Maybe the OP's comfortable thermostat setting is more like 40/60 or even 20/80 and experience will determine what is comfortable. Nothing wrong with that and it beats the certainty of losing money through inflation by staying all cash. There are Vanguard Life Strategy Funds with those allocations and other posters have mentioned Wellesley, which does a remarkable job.

Part of the way that I'm built differently than the OP is that I dislike seeing cash laying around, because it isn't doing anything and it's losing value. Everyone is different and we each have to figure out what we are and, through experience, try to hang on to this uncontrollable beast we're all riding. Or, like the vast majority of people, we can choose not to ride at all and assume our health will hold and we'll work forever.

 

[Fedup]

Today is the one of days to test your AA. Dow is down 195 as I type.

 

[W2R]

Today is the one of days to test your AA. Dow is down 195 as I type.

Not even 1%.


I was lucky, because I got quite a test the year before I retired. So after that, this seems pretty small I guess.

 

[ERD50]

Today is the one of days to test your AA. Dow is down 195 as I type.

Not even 1%.


I was lucky, because I got quite a test the year before I retired. So after that, this seems pretty small I guess.

Agreed. 1%? Not even worth noting. Or to paraphrase Crocodile Dundee "Aht's naught a deep! Now HAT's a deep (pointing to 2000 an 2008!)!"


Hey, it's even better with LEGO's!

https://youtu.be/681zVPfnKN8?t=10

-ERD50

 

[Fedup]

Op is complaining about $1500 on a $700K portfolio. Just put this in perspective. It's like $7k if my math is right.

 

[nash031]

One other thing to ignore is, "this time it's different." I've heard it enough times to now stop listening to the experts saying it. Sure, they might be right at some point, but you'll miss more opportunities by believing it.

This goes for both the way down and the way up. Maybe some day it will truly "be different", but chances are we'll be worried about ammunition and canned goods more than electronic credits ($). I'm willing to bet that doesn't happen in my lifetime.

 

[Koolau]

If you have a long enough time frame, it almost doesn't matter when you get in. Lots of good advice so far, but I would simply suggest that you decide YOUR asset allocation in your portfolio and then worry about whether to go in slow or fast, based on age, when you plan to take from your port, etc. AA is probably the most important decision we will make about our portfolios.

Personally, I keep a relatively low stock level in my port because I hate losing more more than I like gaining - especially since I consider that I have "enough." Of course, ask me in 10 years - if I live so long - and I may have changed my tune. YMMV

 

[almost there]

"How do you guys keep from market timing or panicking when things go south? "


By only having about 1/12 th of my net worth in the stock market. And often even its in cash. Burned too many times..............

 

[ownyourfuture]

How do you guys keep from market timing or panicking when things go south?

Sometime in February 2009, I looked at my Fidelity account.

About 5 minutes later, when I was done vomiting, I added 200 shares of Bank of America, & 100 Johnson & Johnson.

Obviously, I wish I would've had more guts, & bought more, but what I'm most proud of is the fact that I didn't capitulate & sell.

Buy'em When They're Cry'n - Sell'em When They're Yell'n

 

[almost there]

They're Yell'n

 

[akck]

This goes for both the way down and the way up. Maybe some day it will truly "be different", but chances are we'll be worried about ammunition and canned goods more than electronic credits ($). I'm willing to bet that doesn't happen in my lifetime.

That's my assessment too. The cash you've kept under your mattress for fear of a market/world crash will be worthless, except as a fire starter.

 

[Markola]

They're Yell'n

Right, but the problem is, they've BEEN yell'n. See the Cape10:

http://www.multpl.com/shiller-pe/

What is certain to happen is that stocks will either go up, down or sideways. So I own some bonds, and my house, which will either go up, down or sideways. And I stay largely out of cash, which goes down.

 

[COcheesehead]

They're Yell'n

I stay the course with my AA. I bought some stuff yesterday to keep balanced. I just keep it to math and try and put emotion aside. It has served me very well over the long haul.
They were yell'n in 2011 and 2013. Both turned out to be mid points in the rally.

 

[COcheesehead]

Right, but the problem is, they've BEEN yell'n. See the Cape10:

Shiller PE Ratio

What is certain to happen is that stocks will either go up, down or sideways. So I own some bonds, and my house, which will either go up, down or sideways. And I stay largely out of cash, which goes down.

I agree with the cash position. There are alternatives that at least pay you to wait. I only keep enough cash to pay the bills for a couple months. Never had an issue even in the blow off of 2008.

 

[nash031]

I keep a cash position that's not entirely insignificant (~2% of portfolio) but also not so big as to be an anchor in the event of a crash. I've found that having cash to make value buys when it dips keeps my mind right. The mental exercise of finding stocks or funds that are cheap and undervalued helps remind me that this is what the market does whether in real estate or stocks or other areas. There are always times when things go on sale, and I want to buy on discount!