Half-Baked Investment Concepts for Retirees

[rogerc1944]

Has anyone seen this article by Still River Retirement Planning Software? It certainly puts my thinking in the "half-baked" category! What do you think?

http://www.stillriverretire.com/Down...r_Retirees.pdf

[CCdaCE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rogerc1944 Has anyone seen this article by Still River Retirement Planning Software? It certainly puts my thinking in the "half-baked" category! What do you think? http://www.stillriverretire.com/Down...r_Retirees.pdf

Well, the devil is always in the details. They provide a generality and then shown how this has been blown out of proportion.

What they don't do is offer many alternatives and/or suggestions on what SHOULD be done (instead of the half-baked ideas). Useless.

Again, it all comes down to doing the math.

Quote:

While life expectancies have increased considerably in the last cen-tury, little of this increase has occurred in the last decade. Meanwhile, inflation – another oft-cited threat to retirees – has been low or moderate for a quarter century, and seems much less a danger now than it did to retirees back in the ‘80s.

What would you rather have? a "short retirement" of 5-10 years, (short life expectancy) and 10% inflation... or 30 years of retirement with 4% inflation.

Then they go on to offer no solution. I can come up with crap like this before I get out of bed.

-CC

[Darryl]

I think I may be half baked too.

Of course when the whole world's gone crazy, you'd be crazy if you weren't a little crazy too.

[CCdaCE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darryl I think I may be half baked too. Of course when the whole world's gone crazy, you'd be crazy if you weren't a little crazy too.

10 more minutes and some sour cream, butter, chives, bacon bits, etc. You'll be ready to eat!

-CC

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rogerc1944 What do you think?

I think we're getting our retirement advice from people who have no credibility or experience with the subject.

Older retirees spend less. However that doesn't imply that they spend less when they're older because they have fewer needs, and it doesn't always mean that they spend less because they're impoverished. It doesn't even imply that they're telling the truth! They're just two more facts mistaken as causality.

It's equally likely that today's 80-something retirees spend less because they learned about their spending habits during the Depression. Wait until those spendthrift Boomers & Slackers get to that age.

I would say that if your entire ER success rate depends on the difference between average annual inflation being 3.5% or 4% then it's better to keep working for another year... or to invest for growth during retirement. I've made my choice.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords However that doesn't imply that they spend less when they're older because they have fewer needs, and it doesn't always mean that they spend less because they're impoverished. It doesn't even imply that they're telling the truth! They're just two more facts mistaken as causality.

You know, I have you so well trained, I almost dont need to post anymore...

[unclemick]

Yanked my half baked potato off the grill and nuked for three minutes - got my T-bone done before the rain hit this part of NW Missouri.

Sooo - after the first 14 years of ER as a modest concession that I might not live forever and my investment plan is not necessarily uniquely brilliant(there are others just like me) - I retired my fixed 60/40 balanced index and did not leave 40/60ish value aka psst Wellesley on the table.

Lifecycle - autopilot. I'll be smarter than Vanguard with my mad money stocks - or not.

Soo - pssst Target Retirement - let Vanguard computers rebalance AND slide those asset classes as you age.

Party on(up to 5% variable) while you can still wiggle what you got.

heh heh heh - make use of modern technology - nuke the half baked!

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords I think we're getting our retirement advice from people who have no credibility or experience with the subject.

Kiyosaki, anyone??

[bssc]

I was not surprised that the ending was to call them up so they could give personalized advice.

[hellbender]

It's nice to see something written which is a little different from the drumbeat of conventional retirement investing advice. Allocate this, diversify that, stocks for the long this, index that, mpt this, swr that.

I personally start getting real uncomfortable when there is such widespread agreement about anything. I welcome alternative ideas, if only to quell the unceasing boredom.