New to site; Reposting from 'Hi I am ...' Category .... looking for advice

[megacorp-firee]

Originally Posted by megacorp-firee

I am decloaking today, after lurking for about 1 ½ years. First I would like to thank you all for your outstanding input. This site has been one of my primary retirement financial tutoring tools. You have answered a lot of my questions as well as made me comfortable with my decision to retire.

I am planning on FIRE'ing at the end of June. I will have 30 years with Megacorp, so I guess the RE side of it is technically incorrect. I am married with adult children who are doing well and don't need any financial assistance from us. DW will be 57 and I will be 56.

$1,725,000 assets not including house (equity about $650,000), cars, or personal property
Total portfolio allocations as follows:
US Stocks - 38%
Intl Stocks - 18%
REITs - 6%
Bonds - 19.6%
Municipals - 7.5%
Cash Equiv. (stable value fund, CDs, Bank Accts) - 10.9%
$ 1,010,000 of it in 401K
US Stocks - 34%
Intl Stocks - 31%
REITs - 10%
Bonds - 15 %
Cash Equiv. (stable value fund) - 10%
$715,000 in taxable accounts
I will get a pension from Megacorp to the tune of about $50,000 a year, non-cola'ed.
I think I have the health insurance figured out (as much as one can ... Wow big ticket!)

About 3 years ago, after decades of buying individual stocks in taxable accounts, playing with options, semi-day trading, ...etc. (investment Las Vegas style), along with systematically putting max into 401K and Megacorp stock plan (relatively sane safe investing), I went to a FA for help.
I had no bonds or other fixed income investments. He helped me balance things out (both taxable account and 401K) and get to the AA that I needed to better guarantee a safer retirement. We put $280K of taxable money in preferreds, municipals, and some Canadian oil trusts (hey ... It's hard going cold turkey). I get a bit over 7% annualized return on this part of the portfolio. He also helped open my eyes to a better 401k AA. I was 100% in equities and now have some balance in my life.

PLANS:
After years of LBYM, we have, what I think, is a adequate nest egg to do what we want to do.
Our current plans are to travel extensively for the first 4 or 5 years, but as predictably, on the relative 'cheap'. Billy and Akaisha Kaderli's web site has been an inspiration. We estimate that location overseas (Asia) initially will cost us about $50K/year for Billy and Akaisha type traveling (we're not as experienced as they are ... yet).. We think we will splurge and would have a maximum total budget of about $100K a year, but could go up to $130K per year for the 1st 5 years if we had wanted to.

On retirement, we plan on converting our 401k to IRA's for estate purposes. We will convert IRAs to Roth IRAs as 'taxable situation' dictates (at this time I plan on perhaps converting up to 20% effective tax rate level). Specific plans for 401K is to roll it to a Vanguard account (see I have been paying attention). I was planning on rolling the entire 401K into Vanguard index funds (but see ETF alternative below). I am playing with the idea of tossing about $200K of taxable money into the FA account (for some more fixed income and for the flexibility of talking to some 'knowledgeable' financial person from time to time). He charges me by the transaction. Usually under $90 for a $20,000 investment, $60 for a $10,000 investment. These are buy and hold type of investments, income producing, so I have not worried about the costs so far. So far he seems to be working in my best interest and has found/did the leg work on investments I would not have found on my own.

Here is how my FA account is distributed:
BPP - $30,000
GDV - $18,000
IKL - $14,000
HGM - $16,000
PYI - $15,000
TVC - $14,000
NQU - $48,000
FFC - $26,000
HTE - $25,000
MNP - $39,500
PWE - $23,000
3 mth T-Bill - $45,000
Total: ~ $314,000

Could you please comment upon this as the fixed income portion of my FA account. Am I taking too much risk?

I have about $400,000 in other taxable accounts, CDs, ....etc., which, as I had previously stated, am considering putting $200,000 into the FA account for more income. The balance I would probably throw into some CD ladders or ? As part of an emergency fund.

Back to the 401K rollover. My understanding is that for estate reasons, you don't want to hold the 401K but roll it over to an IRA (ala our living trust lawyer)
However, while 'studying' the new ETFs (I have dabbled in vti, agg, and veu, for the small (50K) in my Roth IRAs), I am now wondering if that would be the way to go (lower fees, ....etc.) Originally I was looking at the following for Vanguard account (which sort of mirrors my 401k equities allocation):
MUTUAL FUND Alternatives:
VFINX - 25%
VISVX - 25%
VGSIX - 14%
VEURX - 9%
VPACX - 9%
VEIEX - 9%
VTRIX - 9%
ETF Alternatives:
VTI - 50%
VNQ - 14%
VEU - 27%
VWO - 9%
Could I please get a comment on these alternatives. Thank you.

I have run FIRECALC and at a 100% success rate
Confession being good for the soul and all of that ... I believe I am a recovering market timer re-allocator. I would consider re-adjusting from a 60/40 allocation to a more conservative allocation given the right signals.

Sorry for the long and rambling post, and thanks again for all of your knowledge and assistance.
This is a GREAT public service.

I would appreciate advice in the following 2 areas:
1) risk of my income portion of portfolio that I have in FA account
2) Vanguard mutual fund vs. EFT
a) risk assessment of AA

Thanks.

[jIMOh]

what is the AA of the $715,000 in taxable accounts.

Could you post fund names with the tickers as well?

[megacorp-firee]

Whoops, made a counting error: Taxable account is $665,000 and Roth is $50,000
Here is how it breaks down:

BPP - Blackrock Opportunity Trust - $30,000
GDV - Gabelli Div and Inc Trust - $18,000
IKL - Bank of America Pfd - $14,000
HGM - General Motors Pfd - $16,000
PYI - PreferredPlus Trust TWC1 - $15,000
TVC - Tennessee Valley Authority Pfd - $14,000
NQU - Nuveen Quality Income Muni Fd - $86,000
FFC - Flaherty & Crumrine Claymore Pfd Sec Inc Fd - $26,000
HTE - Harvest Energy Trust Units Canadian - $25,000
MNP - Western Assets Municipal Partners Fd - $39,500
PWE - Penn West Energy Trust Canadian - $23,000
3 mth T-Bill - $45,000
Cash & CDs - $35,000
INCOME PRODUCING & Cash Allocation: 58%

IBM - $167,000
qqqq - $112,000
EQUITIES Allocation: 42%
Plan is to sell IBM and qqqq and put into income producing assets in taxable accounts and roll 401K to Vanguard equity mutual funds or ETFs
Giving me an overall 60/40 AA.

Roth IRAs - $50,000
VTI, AGG, VEU

Vanguard MUTUAL FUND Alternatives:
VFINX - Large Blend - 25%
VISVX - Small Value - 25%
VGSIX - REIT - 14%
VEURX - European Index - 9%
VPACX - Pacific Index - 9%
VEIEX - Emerging Mkt Index - 9%
VTRIX - Int'l Value - 9%
Vanguard ETF Alternatives:
VTI - Total Stock Market Index - 50%
VNQ - REIT - 14%
VEU - Int'l All World Equity w/o US - 27%
VWO - Emerging Markets - 9%

Thanks in advance for any assessments.

[lswswein]

Originally Posted by megacorp-firee

roll 401K to Vanguard equity mutual funds or ETFs
Giving me an overall 60/40 AA.

Roth IRAs - $50,000
VTI, AGG, VEU

Vanguard MUTUAL FUND Alternatives:
VFINX - Large Blend - 25%
VISVX - Small Value - 25%
VGSIX - REIT - 14%
VEURX - European Index - 9%
VPACX - Pacific Index - 9%
VEIEX - Emerging Mkt Index - 9%
VTRIX - Int'l Value - 9%
Vanguard ETF Alternatives:
VTI - Total Stock Market Index - 50%
VNQ - REIT - 14%
VEU - Int'l All World Equity w/o US - 27%
VWO - Emerging Markets - 9%

Thanks in advance for any assessments.

Hi MCF
I don't have much experience with Fixed Income stuff and the preferred stuff is a bit compilcated to assess, so for now I will stick with the Vang Mutual Funds(MF) vs ETF's issue.

A good primer on ETF's is here:
http://www.altruistfa.com/etfs.htm and
http://www.altruistfa.com/readingroomarticles.htm#ETFs

Read atleast the first link of the 2 above, the 2nd ones has a lot of refernces which basically validate most of the stuff in the first link.

In your case, if I understand it right, you are debating between MF vs ETF in your rollover IRA. So the tax efficiency is not a big issue for you. The lower Expense ratios will certainly help, as at Vanguard all the ETf's are priced lower than the MF's. But in your case you need to compare against the Admiral shares class Expense ratio. Then the advantage might not be that much. I think you should be able to do a spreadsheet with all the expense ratios easily if you spend sometime on the Vang website.

Btw Vanguard has ETf's for almost all their indices.
https://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/...ndsVIPERByType
So you donot have to shirnk your ETF list compared to your MF list.

Anyway which ever route you go, You have a good starter allocation. I would suggest you think some more about how much you want to tilt Value and small; Also I suggest VTSMX instead of VFINX for large; I would start with VTSMX as the core and then build around it. You have to first think and write down what your AA philosophy is.

Hope this helps and feel free to ask questions.
-h
p.s: For more on Fixed Income I would suggest diehards.org - read larryswedroe's post; He also has a great book on Bonds.

[megacorp-firee]

Thanks for the guidance lswswein.

The reading assignment gave me some good direction, although there are differing opinions and conclusions as you read them. In any case, it's a great reference list.

It doesn't seem that VG has matching ETFs for all indices (and that's why I shrunk my list). In any case after my 'homework' I am now leaning towards index funds. Bernstein leads me to believe that I can get better execution advantage, which offsets the ETFs lower ER, especially if I can (as you pointed out) qualify for Admiral shares 'discount'.

My AA philosophy (if you can call it that) is that I want to take a minimalist (sufficient diversification while keeping the number of funds small), long term buy and hold type of position. I can afford a bit of aggressiveness in my allocations in that I have the pension buffer. Once set, I would annually review and re-balance and go back to enjoying 'FIREing'. So I want to stay away from specific sector/geography selections that may require too much 'attention' as the environment changes.

Follow- up questions:
1) are you suggesting that I lean more or less towards value and small
2) why VTSMX versus VFINX (other than being a broader index?)

Thanks again lswswein.

[Olav23]

Also to add, if you are in the withdrawal phase, you might be better off with MFs just so you don't have to pay commissions. If you plan on withdrawing in larger chunks, it might be more of a wash.

I'm sure this is not news to you, but just wanted to make sure you had considered that.

[clifp]

If you are going to roll the 401K into Vanguard, I would definitely stick into Admiral funds. The couple of basis points higher of an Admiral fund than an ETF is small compared to the comission cost of buying/selling the ETF for withdrawal/reblancing, the difference between the bid and ask, and for Vanguard internation ETFs the .1 to .8% premium. My only comment/question is there are particular reason you have 36% in international funds? Many/Most? of the Fortune 50 get 1/2 their revenue from oversees. Second why so much 14% in REIT, you already have a large income portfolio, an excellent pension, and you own your own home, so you don't need the income and I don't think you need the inflation hedge.

Personally, I think REITs are overvalued and if we really are the beginning states of bursting Real Estate bublle, I wouldn't want to own a big REIT position.

[lswswein]

Originally Posted by megacorp-firee

The reading assignment gave me some good direction, although there are differing opinions and conclusions as you read them.

See that is why it is difficult to give good advice. Whatever anyone tells you, one could find a special case where something does not apply. And then I would have misguided you. Now you know the details and you can make your own decision.

In any case after my 'homework' I am now leaning towards index funds.

Great decision.

My AA philosophy (if you can call it that) is that I want to take a minimalist (sufficient diversification while keeping the number of funds small), long term buy and hold type of position.

Follow- up questions:
1) are you suggesting that I lean more or less towards value and small
2) why VTSMX versus VFINX (other than being a broader index?)

Follow up research ideas;
1. Have you looked into the coffeehouse investor? Great book on simple allocations and getting on with your life. Its a book both you and your wife could easily read and stay the course. If you are not an tinkerer like a lot of us here who like discussing the minutiae as an hobby I do not have a stronger recommendation. Also the website:
http://www.coffeehouseinvestor.com/

2. The amount of Value and Small tilt is something you have to research and come up with on your own. It depends on your personal risk assessment. Both value and small have higher individual volatility compared to Total Mkt (remember your total protfolio might have lower volatility but some people get stuck on how volatile some individual fund is! - This is human) I would think back to how to reacted to the 2000 bear mkt and also the fact that now you might have more time to "dwell" on your portfolio in your retirement. Would you struggle to stick to your AA?

3. I suggested VTSMX over VFINX because it gives your instant diversification and reduces volatility and since it is 30% non-large your tilt towards small does not have to be pronounced.

Hope this is useful and also remember I could be a 13yr old girl in missoula

-h

[lswswein]

Originally Posted by megacorp-firee

It doesn't seem that VG has matching ETFs for all indices (and that's why I shrunk my list).

Because I have a bad habit of nit-picking!

https://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/...ndsVIPERByType
https://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/FundsIndexOnly

VFINX - Large Blend - ?? VV is very close
VISVX - Small Value - VBR
VGSIX - REIT - VNQ
VEURX - European Index - VGK
VPACX - Pacific Index - VPL
VEIEX - Emerging Mkt Index - VWO
VTRIX - Int'l Value - ?? (nothing close @ Vanguard but other options exist)

But then you have to admit that both the ones missing ETF's are not passive index funds - VFINX is decided by a committe and VTRIX is an active fund. :-)

-h
p.s: Sorry had to pick that nit

[megacorp-firee]

Originally Posted by clifp

... is there are particular reason you have 36% in international funds? ... Second why so much 14% in REIT,

1) Bad habits are hard to change. I got here by betting investing in equities. I got religion as I neared retirement and figure out that if i keep on putting big bets on 'red', eventually it'll hit 'black' and I will be too old to start over. I am making my best attempt at morphing, as evidenced by the 'few' individual stocks I now own. ... After having said that, I believe that the world economy growth will come from outside the US from non-US companies, so I put a substantial alllocation into international. I can be convinced to lower it a bit (like 28% or so) ... do I still need some more 'headshaping on this?' .
2) again history ... recent REIT gambles investments, have paid off big. Even as residential RE has gone down the tubes. It seems to me that REITs are not linked to the residential RE environment. Again I am looking for opinions

Thanks for your and Olav23 advice.

Logistical question: how do you do multiple quotes and quotes from differnt replies in a single post? ....since you all are teaching this person to fish, maybe you can point me to where I go for a users guide or help of this nature.... Thanks

[megacorp-firee]

Originally Posted by lswswein

... If you are not an tinkerer like a lot of us here who like discussing the minutiae as an hobby
.......Would you struggle to stick to your AA?
... I could be a 13yr old girl in missoula

I am a recovering tinkerer, ... and would like to NOT do so in the future, although discussion and debate would be an enjoyable (yes ... a sadistic streak) new hobby. But I do want to try and buy/hold/forget and go drink wine and get 2 hour massages like Billy A.

I lowered my sails and toughed it out in 2000. Did not sell a thing and DCA'ed my 401K through it with max investments it wasn't pretty, but it's all fixed now and better than new... Your point is well taken about more time to dwell, but I have convinced myself that I have the disipline to stay the course once I have an AA that I am happy with.... (although I did confess in my original post that I am a closet DMT dressed in re-allocators clothing).

it would be unfortunate if you are ...a 13 year old girl from M. ... my son is too old and my grandson is too young. in any case, your parents should be proud....

Thanks again lswswein. You've given me some good advice, items to think about, and some more homework assignments.

By the way, can you give me a hint on how you do muliple posts in a few sentences or less? ty

[lswswein]

Originally Posted by megacorp-firee

By the way, can you give me a hint on how you do muliple posts in a few sentences or less? ty

I am making the assumption that you are asking about multiple quotes. Start with the standard stuff of clicking on quote. now when you want to end the first one add [ /quote] - I added an extra space so that this does not become part of the quote. Write what ever your want to reply and then add [ quote] (again I added the extra space after [) This one starts the next quote. Just keep making sure you have [ quote] and [ /quote] between what ever you are quoting. Try it a few times and use the preview button along and you should be able to figure it out.

Does it make sense?
-h
p.s: Mutiple post quotes is more difficult. just open another window with the post and then copy and paste between the [ quote] [ /quote] If you want author name just add [ quote author=lswswein]

[megacorp-firee]

Originally Posted by lswswein

Does it make sense?

yes, I think I've got it.

p.s: Mutiple post quotes is more difficult. just open another window with the post and then copy and paste between the [ quote] [ /quote] If you want author name just add [ quote author=lswswein]

Originally Posted by clifp

Personally, I think REITs are overvalued and if we really are the beginning states of bursting Real Estate bublle, I wouldn't want to own a big REIT position.

Got it... Thanks lswswein

[lswswein]

Hi mcf
I strongly recommend you to create an investment plan. A link to get you started is below:

http://diehards.org/forum/viewtopic....ghlight=#20015

Do read what laura writes in the 2nd post. I do understand that you are not an newbie but sometimes thinking about the basics helps you clear up stuff.

-h

[megacorp-firee]

Greetings lswsein, we've gotta stop meeting this way, people are starting to talk.

Are you a teacher? You've given me more assignments than my 8th grade math teacher....

I think I have an investment plan and am looking for another set of eyes and ideas on what I have. But it couldn't hurt to take a clean sheet to this.

Thanks Teach ... gotta go and start my homework assignment.

[lswswein]

The good karma meter was running low so I had to fill up. I guess it is good to go now

-h