Have You Bought Equities In Withdraw Phase

[GravitySucks]

Don't want to hijack another thread so I'll post my confession here:

I've been retired 7 years and haven't bought any equities (other than selling one fund for a lower expense one.)
I've sold equities to live on, to change my AA, and to rebalance. But those were all selling equities for fixed income or cash.
The recent hiccup moved my AA from 62/38 to 58/42. Not seeing a need to rebalance yet, though I have sold at 62/38 to rebalance before.
Anyone else not buy any equities since retiring?

 

[LOL!]

I've definitely sold and bought equities. I keep my asset allocation intact which requires me to buy equities when equities go bad.

 

[unclemick]

I've definitely sold and bought equities. I keep my asset allocation intact which requires me to buy equities when equities go bad.

2006 I went full auto for my retirement portfolio. Computers do the rebalancing.

heh heh heh - under 5% - a 'few good stocks' may be one or two a decade keep the male hormones in check - that and watching football. Medicine not investing.

 

[ziggy29]

If you are still maintaining an asset allocation which requires occasional rebalancing, sure, if the market tanks enough it is feasible to think one has to buy equities in a rebalance. That is a lot scarier than it is while still working, I think, but it is important to make the strategy work as it generally calls for periodic rebalancing around a target AA.

 

[jollystomper]

While I was working we made too much to qualify for Roth IRAs. Since retiring, with DW still working part time, we can now contribute to Roth IRAs and have been buying equities in this manner.

 

[audreyh1]

Don't want to hijack another thread so I'll post my confession here:

I've been retired 7 years and haven't bought any equities (other than selling one fund for a lower expense one.)
I've sold equities to live on, to change my AA, and to rebalance. But those were all selling equities for fixed income or cash.
The recent hiccup moved my AA from 62/38 to 58/42. Not seeing a need to rebalance yet, though I have sold at 62/38 to rebalance before.
Anyone else not buy any equities since retiring?

Yes, I bought equities in 2008, 2009, late 2011, 2016, 2019. Pretty much every time in a down year or immediately after a down year.

 

[RobbieB]

With current AA of 80-20, no, as much as I would like to...not buying equities.

 

[Winemaker]

My AA is not carved in stone, is 65/30/5 much different than 60/30/10? 63/27/10? I took some money off the table in January, and again in February, enough to say I sold high and some higher, but not enough to alter anything significantly in the grand scheme of things. I did do some buying last Friday, DCAing.

 

[walkinwood]

Yes! Every time my AA goes out of whack favoring bonds.

 

[AltaRed]

Retired almost 14 years, In recent years, I have only traded in equities to swap one for another perceived better opportunity. That occurs very infrequently, perhaps once every 2 years or so. I pretty much live off annuity and investment income with the odd equity being sold now and then for certain big luxuries like home renos, major trips and autos.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

61, retired 13 years. 100% stock portfolio never needs rebalancing, but I do buy some stock most quarters with excess dividends. I also sell/buy stocks when valuations of the stocks I own vs those I track but do not currently own get out of whack (IMO), sometimes several times per year, sometimes not for 2-3 years.

 

[DrRoy]

I have also only sold equities. Some to raise cash for spending, and some to make AA adjustments. I also have been on a plan to gently but permanently reduce my AA as the market rose.

 

[donheff]

I exchanged $150K to equities over three days on this fall. I still have a way to go to get my AA up to where I decided I want it.

 

[ERD50]

In 2008, my AA got out enough for me to decide to rebalance, so I bought equities, and luckily got them near the lows.

I will noodle on this later, but it seems prudent to have standing limit orders set for the point at which one would want to reblanace, that would make it automatic. That said, even though rebalancing sounds good, the studies I've seen are rather neutral on it. You can end up selling along the way on a long bull, and buying too early on a protracted dip.

You can test it at www.portfoliovisualizer.com.

-ERD50

 

[GravitySucks]

Oops.
I've been thinking I've been living on the equity upsurge and not buying any and not touching my FI but really:

I have probably spent $5,000 from bond interest and I have been buying equities as dividends and cap gains are set to reinvest automatically. So that explains a couple things.[emoji849]

 

[gcgang]

I’m with the OP. Eight years in, sold a few equities, but taking mutual fund distributions and all dividends in cash. Never have bought an additional share since retirement. Still around 65% Equity.

I’ve got more money and fewer years than when I retired, so I’m opting for the don’t take unnecessary risk option.

 

[Perryinva]

Only been retired 9 months, and had sold most equities at end of November 2019. Bought $300k over 3 days during this dip. A lot more ready to buy with, but anticipate more drops. After todays latest rout, I am only down $4k from my Feb peak, (was 6k over yesterday) but with many more shares and the Dow over 3000 points lower. So yeah, when the opportunity is clear (to me), I buy.

 

[Gill]

Been retired 17 years and my IP is to gradually reduce my equity ratio and hold it at 30% Haven't purchased any equities in years and happy holding right around 30%. I have about 20% of my portfolio in TIPs and I-Bonds and that, coupled with my 30% equity position, is sufficient inflation protection.
Gill