Hi, I'm retiring in April at age 71

[ghariton]

I guess I'm a bit old for early retirement. But I've been a DIY investor for some 20 years now, and I am always looking for discussions and suggestions as to how to manage one's own money.

I've retired before, in 1999, but I lost two thirds of our money in the 2000-2001 crash, and so I went back to work. The second time around, I worked for myself and enjoyed it a lot more than when I was an employee. So I kept going past the planned age of 65. But now it's time to go.

I'm basically a buy-and-hold investor, mostly in widely diversified index ETFs. I do use 5 % to 10 % of our money as play money, i.e. stock picking. Over all, that has gone less well than the indexed portion of our portfolio, and confirms me in my approach of sitting back and letting the broad market do my work for me.

I look forward to participating in your discussions.

George

 

[street]

Welcome! It sounded like you loved what you did and when the fun stops then it is time for a change.

I wish you the best in retirement.

 

[Cayman]

Welcome George. Sounds like you had the good fortune to have an enjoyable second career. Wishing you all the best in your retirement.

 

[marko]

Welcome! Never too late to retire early!

Not being critical but just wondering how a 'buy and hold investor' lost two thirds of your money in the 2001 crash. Or are you just talking about paper NW and suddenly felt you didn't have enough to live on?

 

[Dtail]

Welcome to our wonderful site George.

 

[braumeister]

just wondering how a 'buy and hold investor' lost two thirds of your money in the 2001 crash.

If he was in individual stocks (especially some of the more speculative ones), it's entirely likely.

Anyway, that's in the past, so welcome to our little world here.

 

[joeea]

Welcome and congratulations on your new retirement!

What are you doing differently now based on what happened in 2000-2001?
Help us learn from your experiences?

 

[target2019]

Welcome! Never too late to retire early!

Not being critical but just wondering how a 'buy and hold investor' lost two thirds of your money in the 2001 crash. Or are you just talking about paper NW and suddenly felt you didn't have enough to live on?

Simple. Look at a typical growth index fund for that time period. USAA Growth fell from s peak of just over $26 to less than $10. That's a paper loss, of course, unless...

 

[growing_older]

I was heavily into tech mutual funds in the late 90s. Huge drops did happen to buy and hold in the specialty funds.

 

[athena53]

I was heavily into tech mutual funds in the late 90s. Huge drops did happen to buy and hold in the specialty funds.

Yeah, I had the same question- but some stocks never recovered after the crash, Enron being a good example.

 

[SheitlQueen]

Welcome, and congratulations on your re-retirement!

 

[gayl]

Welcome! Good to hear from another who remembers the 2000 crash (when we 'thought' tech couldn't survive a millenial shift LOL). We're you in tech index mutual funds? Just wondering

 

[marko]

Simple. Look at a typical growth index fund for that time period. USAA Growth fell from s peak of just over $26 to less than $10. That's a paper loss, of course, unless...

Well that was my question. If you sold (unlikely for a buy and holder) your loss is on paper which I'm not sure I see how that would force you back to the workforce after an early retirement. Unless as noted, you were heavy on Enron.

 

[tmm99]

I'm happy to hear that your second career worked out so well. I'm sure there were people who lost as much during the downturn and weren't as lucky.

Welcome to the forum! Love to hear your story!

 

[akidagain2018]

Welcome! I am wishful that once I ER, soon-ish, I will migrate to another income generating business that I really enjoy. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[pb4uski]

Yeah, I had the same question- but some stocks never recovered after the crash, Enron being a good example.

But in that case the culprit is inadequate diversification.