Is anyone 50+ and still in full aggressive growth mode with IRA?

[Which Roger]

I do (age minus 10)% in bonds. Everyone's situation is different. Several responders have indicated that they have "more than enough", i.e., a very low withdrawal rate due either to a large portfolio or other income such as pension and SS. This group is well beyond the threshold for a 100% success rate. In such cases, one is safe with just about any asset allocation - be aggressive or conservative; it really doesn't matter if you don't need the money, so considerations other than having enough to live on can drive the asset allocation decision. This is much different from those who are "closer to the edge" wrt FireCalc-like calculations, where asset allocation can make all the difference between whether or not a portfolio will survive.

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

I'm planning on being solvent for the next 100 years just in case I stumble across some fountain of youth so I must have growth. Also I want more money each year in retirement rather than less. Even if I can't spend it all buying stuff there is always random gifting.

I know that at least one much older person gave me money to buy something for my kids a couple times when I politely declined a too generous tip stating they had too much money. I still smile at that memory and the older person who had too much money.

 

[cyber888]

At 50, I was 92% equity. Now at 55, I'm at 75% equity/25% fixed and alternatives

 

[Cobra9777]

We're 58 and 59 with 70% equity. Been retired 6 years. We have two pensions that cover about 50-60% of spend. SS at 70 should cover the rest, depending on inflation. I like bonds for stability during this early period when we are dependent on withdrawals and SoR risk is high. Over time, we'll probably transition to 100% equity. Even at 100%, if you consider the NPV of our pensions as bond-equivalents, it's really 70/30. The portfolio mainly serves as protection against inflation, longevity, and LTC. So I think equity is appropriate, especially after SS starts.

 

[street]

62 and 75 to 80% equity and don't plan on changing that even if I live into my 80's.

 

[imoldernu]

Not as aggressive as the geezers posting here.

I know some people here holding no stocks and being 100% in bond and cash. They just have not responded yet.

Me... Just I Bonds, SS, and a small annuity. The rest is in personal property and LTC policy..

Ooops... (unenterprising) three tiny stocks from which we just get quarterly dividends, just to replenish wallet cash.

 

[brett]

In our late 60's. At any given time, equities are 50-60 percent of our portfolio.

But....we have a very low draw down percentage. I suspect this is the key for many people. If we did not have a good DB and we relied only on our investments for retirement income then I suspect our equity allocation would be in the 35 percent range. If we included the current estimated NPV of our DB as an asset, then our equity position would be in the 40 percent range.

 

[DeborahB]

I’m 71 and probably 80% in dividend paying stocks, mostly individual stocks. I have a couple of REITs, some bond funds, some misc. My goal is for everything to pay significant interest or dividends. I have some stocks with huge unrealized LTCG that pay small dividends. I’m doing okay and I don’t fret.

 

[gwraigty]

Not as aggressive as the geezers posting here.

I know some people here holding no stocks and being 100% in bond and cash. They just have not responded yet.

About 95%+ in bonds, with a mix of individual issues and ETFs. No particular desired asset allocation.

 

[GenXguy]

How many ignore this and stick with and aggressive growth strategy?

I ignore it as all bad advice or advice that is so limited as to be useless. My AA consists of more than just stocks and bonds. So I basically express my AA as "equities to every thing else".

Right now, in my mid 50's, I'm 43% equities. I plan to use a rising equity glide path during FIRE so that I will increase my equities, the opposite of the conventional advice you gave.

About 95%+ in bonds, with a mix of individual issues and ETFs. No particular desired asset allocation.

Does that make you 95+ years old based on the OP's advice?

 

[gwraigty]

Does that make you 95+ years old based on the OP's advice?

If so, I'm looking pretty darned good for my age!

 

[SecondCor521]

It is impressive that your WR is so low. It is under even the meager dividend yield of the S&P. You are safe no matter what you do.

Thanks, but it is the consequence of several mistakes on my part. So while the optimizing and competitive part of me is proud, the rest of me is more ambivalent.

1. I inherited a bad worry habit from my Mom, who was wonderful in pretty much every other way. So even though I have enough, I don't feel like I do.

2. I assumed that I would not have any income outside my portfolio. In fact I do have income from outside my portfolio.

3. I assumed my kids would get no scholarships and no financial aid. This assumption was erroneous.

4. I've always assumed the future would be no better than the past. The past ten years have been very good, so that assumption was, in essence, wrong.

There are a few others things that have happened as well. In general, I've planned to survive based on everything turning out badly, but things have been turning out well so far. So far.

 

[MikeWillRetire]

I am 57 and planning to retire in 2 years. I'm conservative by nature, so my AA is 35/65.

 

[Speculator]

I'm going on 69 and am 14% in real estate, 65% in dividend paying stocks and 21% in cash. As an aside, I discovered a sad fact about real estate: "You don't know what it's worth until you go to sell it." I tried to sell a home in 2008 and was very surprised at what buyers thought it was worth.

 

[marko]

Age 67

60/40. Recently re-allocated more aggressively from ~55/45.

 

[Rickt]

Age 59 now, retired 2 years and withdrawing living expenses from our portfolio, no pension.
We were 100% stock prior to retirement. Retired at 57 and changed AA to 85/15 and then changed to 70/30 in Sept, 2018. Plan to keep AA at 70/30.

 

[MarieIG]

You people keep wanting me to do math.

I don't have everything in a spread sheet and it's not in one place.

So, I don't have a lot of bonds. What I have are bond funds tucked away in some target retirement funds, a little Vanguard total Bond fund, and some paper bonds in a safety deposition box. Cash, yes, but it that waxes and wanes a little with some selling or buying. So, my kinda-sorta goal is 75/10/15; (I prefer cash to bonds at the moment, yes, I know) but it is probably around 90/2/8.

 

[cyber888]

I have already found the fountain of youth .. so that's a problem

I'm planning on being solvent for the next 100 years just in case I stumble across some fountain of youth so I must have growth. Also I want more money each year in retirement rather than less. Even if I can't spend it all buying stuff there is always random gifting.

I know that at least one much older person gave me money to buy something for my kids a couple times when I politely declined a too generous tip stating they had too much money. I still smile at that memory and the older person who had too much money.

 

[TimSF]

56 years old, 6 years retired, and 70% stocks.

 

[Navigator]

When I was in my 50s I was 100% stock. Being an engineer, I looked at how the strategy of having your age in bonds would work under different market conditions, using historical market returns. If you plan on living another 30 years, owning at least 60% stock outperformed the age in bond strategy in every market condition, usually by a wide margin.

 

[Floridatennisplayer]

Age 64. Of our total investable assets: 40% equities, 20% bond, 20% cash, and 20% annuity.

Retired in January and looks like our SS, annuity, and small pension cover 100% of our living expenses as planned. I know I have too much cash in a MM fund. Should throw some of that into something else.

 

[DrRoy]

60 and 59%.

 

[dixonge]

We are around age 60. 100% RSP (equal weighted S&P 500 fund) - but we have pensions

 

[hulurt1]

I'm 66. Have 93% in stocks..3 years in cash, all IRA and Roth. Haves 1.2m and do not take SS. I'm hoping for the market to go down so I can move from Ira to Roth. ;last year at the dip moved and was able to get back the tax I had paid and up 10% on the move.
SS is if market really crash's I will take when my cash runs out.

 

[wrigley]

I'm 59 and about 75/25.

Mike