What is your Asset Allocation if you have no pension?

[NoMoreJob]

60/40 when I retired early. The '08-'09 financial crisis convinced me that 60/40 didn't match my actual risk tolerance so I dialed back to 50/50. I'll probably stay there until my Social Security (delaying until 70) and RMDs begin and then will reassess.

 

[bigfan188]

conservative allocation

80-18-2

I am 56 - still working (one more year syndrome) have a 1500 pension at 59. but i believe the asset allocation really depends how much you have in total assets. I have a good amt in taxable accts that i am more conservative- 30/70 with than i am in my tax deferred accts- 60/40. I need the taxible money sooner . I figure to spend down the taxable portion first ( not all) and look to manage tax deferred withdrawals to stay under the ACA income limits. That's my plan.

wondering what others think (plans)

FYI- my first post!!!

 

[ziggy29]

I have different strategies for the accounts from which I am taking SEPP (72T) and those I am not. Where I am not, I am at about 55/45. If the market has another Ursa Major, I'm ready to increase to about 65/35 after a substantial drop, but until then I am sleeping well at 55/45.

In the two accounts where I am taking SEPP, I am keeping about three years of withdrawals in money market funds to draw down from in case the market tanks -- in which case I won't have to sell any equities "low" to make my withdrawal. It's sort of a riff on the "buckets of money" strategy. The rest of it is about 60/40, so overall they are approximately 55/35/10.

 

[Maidensong]

Age 65 & 64. Retired since 2015, living on rental income from 10 units, $420 monthly non-COLA pension, and savings. Will take SS and spousal benefits at DH's FRA this year. Also have a taxable stock account we've dipped into for travel.

We have 100% equities in our IRA--some mutual funds, and 6 individual stocks that have done well for us. Because our SS and rentals will more than cover our expenses, we can tolerate more risk. We view the IRA as something we hope the kids (41 & 39) will inherit, so the time frame (minus our RMDs when necessary) is much longer than if we were planning on using the funds for ourselves.

It's really good to have multiple revenue streams. 2008 convinced me not to put all my eggs in the stock market basket.

 

[PNWK]

63/27/10

No ss for at least 5 years, no pension. Retired 2 years ago living on the taxable div/CG and the 10% cash.

 

[GoBears]

52/45/3

Ages 60 and 58. Will retire later this year at 61 and 59. I am currently debating on whether to reduce stock to 40 or 45 when I retire and continue with that allocation until I take SS between ages 67 and 70.

 

[doneat54]

Interesting, this thread led me to actually calculate mine and I found I was not as conservative as I thought I was. Ours is pretty much 50/50/0.


DW is still working and we are no pulling anything from the portfolio now. I took my pension as a lump sum, FIRE'ed 3 years ago.

Pretty much all of our cash got dumped to buy a second home this past summer. We have a third investment property that I bought 25 years ago that we plan to sell soon to build cash back.


Long term, I think I'd like to settle on something closer to 30/55/15 or so or so.

 

[friar1610]

Even though OP asked those w/o pensions to answer, I see many with pensions are responding, so I will too. With an excellent COLA pension (+ SSx2 taken early) we've come down on the side of a moderate AA rather than being too aggressive at 74 & 73. Currently 47/49/4. Will let equity either drift up to 50%+ if bull continues or buy up to 50% if we have correction/recession. Won't buy more equity in current hot market. Would cut equity back to 50% if it reached 55%. Conversely, dont plan to let equity go below 45% unless buying more would bring fixed income below a predetermined $ amount. May sound complicated but it makes perfect sense to us and our risk tolerance.

 

[RAMingione]

I tend to think of allocation as a sum of three buckets based on when I expect to draw funds:
Years 1-3: cash/short term bonds maybe 60/40
Years 4-7: Equities 50% / Bonds 40 / Cash 5
Year 8 and beyond (all remaining funds): as aggressive as you wish -- ~75/25
I keep total portfolio allocation within 1 or 2% of where these guidelines leave me. The important thing is to keep 2 or 3 years funds pretty liquid to avoid needing to sell equities in a down market (take distributions in cash and reinvest to maintain desired allocations - after replenishing cash requirements).

 

[mistermike40]

60 years old, non-COLA pension that covers all bills/essentials and then some. Current AA is 71/18/11. Due to the pension, AA is probably a bit more aggressive than most.

 

[INTJ10]

We are 42/55/3. I am almost 62 and wife 61. We will have SS but no pensions.

 

[Eucerin]

Where's the 31% cash parked? You might be able to still generate a decent bit of income from that much cash, which reduces the need to spend from the equity or bond portions of your portfolio.

That's what I did, but I was also lucky enough to get some CDs solidly north of 3% back before the Fed cuts of 2019..3+% money is pretty much all I need to pay the bills, and since I don't take leaving a legacy into account in my plan, am not concerned about losing out to inflation. That's my plan for now, until SS comes on line for DW (older than me by 6 years) and I can re-allocate some of that cash to higher risk assets..

15% of 31% in vanguard mm and ready to invest anytime; the other 15% is in CDs and bank mm for expenses.
I really like to invest the vanguard mm but the market is going so high, deep down I feel that the market will drop significantly but don't know when.

 

[IMATERP]

59 and I’ve been retired for 2 years. My asset allocation is 37%/50%/10%. I’ve staggered my bonds over the next seven years. At age 60, I will receive a 1600mo. pension and fully paid healthcare.

I’m way too conservative but have no dependent (nor independent) children. Thus, the cat gets the balance and what he doesn’t spend will go to wifey. [emoji3]

 

[levindb]

59 and I’ve been retired for 2 years. My asset allocation is 37%/50%/10%.

Does the cat have the missing 3%?
Are you being held hostage? Blink once for YES and twice for NO.

 

[IMATERP]

Does the cat have the missing 3%?
Are you being held hostage? Blink once for YES and twice for NO.

I think “Herbie” must have taken the 3%. Our 16 year old cat has asthma and uses a nebulizer (Flovent to treat,) Arthritis (Dasoquin and gabapetin to treat,) and the initial onset of Kidney disease (which requires special food at $3.00 per can.). So, we are looking at $200.00 per month before litter and veterinarian costs.

If I find the 3% we will move it into cash.

 

[street]

^ a guy gets away with nothing here. Lol

 

[Toddtheformeraccountant]

Other than $300K cash, $200K in short term fixed income, rest is 55% equities (about 70% S&P 500 ETF, 30% totalmarket ETF) 45% fixed income (mostly corporates mid about 7 year duration).

 

[bada bing]

I'm at 60/40. I have a "pension" which is a cash balance plan and can be taken
as a lump sum at any time. It is deferrable to age 72 and could be reasonably
counted as part of fixed income allocation, which would make my numbers more
like 50/50. My current plan is to annuitize the pension at age 70 though, plans
may change.

 

[luckydude]

Early 50s couple. No pension.

70% real estate
21% stocks
5% cash
4% alternatives (gold, arts, etc.)

Lucky Dude

 

[Retired Expat]

Early 50s couple. No pension.

70% real estate
21% stocks
5% cash
4% alternatives (gold, arts, etc.)

Lucky Dude

LuckyDude, you seem like one of the few here who use real estate as part of your asset allocation and in a big way too. I don’t know if it is that so few others do or if they consider them as long term investments like bonds. What led you to being so heavily weighted in Real Estate?

Not counting personal property such as primary residence and vacation home my allocation would be;

45% equity
29% bonds
23% income producing real estate
3%. cash or other liquid


I find real estate investing quite interesting as it generates a nice consistent cash flow (about a 6% return in my case) plus the upside of possible appreciation upon sale. Add to that the depreciation expense which reduces the tax burden on the income and I find it a great vehicle for generating retirement income. Strangely most Financial Advisors don’t promote it and few retirement focused websites discuss it much.

As I live part of the year in a foreign country it is ideal for generating foreign income/currency (alas taxable in the US as only foreign earned income gets any kind of tax break) as well saving me from the fluctuations of currency exchange and the various fees involved too.

 

[Tiger8693]

Other than $300K cash, $200K in short term fixed income, rest is 55% equities (about 70% S&P 500 ETF, 30% totalmarket ETF)

Don't S&P500 and TotalMKT run within a few tenths of a % of each other? Seems I saw that on another thread, but I also see a number of people in both of these and wonder if I should revisit....

 

[luckydude]

LuckyDude, you seem like one of the few here who use real estate as part of your asset allocation and in a big way too. I don’t know if it is that so few others do or if they consider them as long term investments like bonds. What led you to being so heavily weighted in Real Estate?

Not counting personal property such as primary residence and vacation home my allocation would be;

45% equity
29% bonds
23% income producing real estate
3%. cash or other liquid


I find real estate investing quite interesting as it generates a nice consistent cash flow (about a 6% return in my case) plus the upside of possible appreciation upon sale. Add to that the depreciation expense which reduces the tax burden on the income and I find it a great vehicle for generating retirement income. Strangely most Financial Advisors don’t promote it and few retirement focused websites discuss it much.

As I live part of the year in a foreign country it is ideal for generating foreign income/currency (alas taxable in the US as only foreign earned income gets any kind of tax break) as well saving me from the fluctuations of currency exchange and the various fees involved too.

Right now our portfolio is 140x our annual spending, plus DW wants to work for another 10 years at her $450k/yr job, so we're assured a very secured retirement and want to build a legacy for our kids and grandkids (if any).

With that in mind, we've bought a lot of farms and ranches in the last decade just on the edge of a big and expanding metro area in the southwest. Right now they generate a healthy rental income from tenants who farm and graze these properties, but the (very) long-term play (20-30 years) is to eventually sell or develop these land at greatly appreciated prices once as the metro expands there. There's no guarantee of course, but we're willing and able to take that risk.

Lucky Dude