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

[Big_Hitter]

No IRA here, just 401k/ps

 

[Running_Man]

I count 37 entries of with an average holding of 71% equities the median is 75%

 

[NW-Bound]

^^^^ The S&P dropped 3% today. That makes the average 69%.

 

[OldShooter]

If you are in the mid 70s or older and still have a decent portfolio that you are not likely to exhaust and are thinking of passing on to your heirs, there's no reason to cut back on stock AA.

The broader point here is that the age-based rules are silly in that they ignore the amount of money involved and the person's goals for the money.

A 70 YO with $200K
A 70 YO with $10M, planning to leave a sizeable estate
A 70 YO with $1M and a goal that his last check will bounce.
A 70 YO with a COLA pension and WR near zero, planning a charitable estate.

Same AA based on being 70? And ignoring family history lifetimes and male/female differences in lifetimes? again!

Most of our money will outlive us. 72YO and 75%.

 

[stephenson]

65 and probably 80/20 in IRA ...

If the market tanks like in Dec 18, I’ll sell out of bond funds and buy stocks cheap ...

No issues with being way over allocated in equities ... pensions and rental income provide addition hedge against longer periods dow ... everyone’s perspectives vary based on wide variety of factors.

On the other hand ...many that are 55-65 on this thread may not remember when the equity market sucked?

 

[bonvoyage]

65 and probably 80/20 in IRA ...

On the other hand ...many that are 55-65 on this thread may not remember when the equity market sucked?

I started working in the early 90s and have not forgotten that stocks appreciated very slowly until about 1996 when they suddenly started exploding.

 

[carnivalday]

Just retired last year at 65 and have about 90% in dividend paying stocks, ETFs, CEFs, and preferreds.

 

[ejman]

Apparently I'm the chicken here. 50/50 since I ER'd 17 years ago. Took SS at 62, currently my WR rate hovers around 1%. Works for me. I do have a wide 10% rebalance band so nothing to do for years and years. Just the way I like it.

 

[HI Bill]

95% at 52 (FIRE - 1 year)
81% at 53 (FIRE - 0.5 years)

 

[almost there]

58 next month, 3.5% ave on 100% CD's.
Nice not to have to even think about it.
Better things to ponder in life. lol lol
The market took up too much of my time/life.
Burden has now been permanently removed...........
Last couple years.
Good riddance.,

 

[Joe1954]

We keep 60% stocks, 40% bonds in the 5 years since retirement. Will start taking SS next June at full retirement age. At that point, will drop from 6% to 4% withdrawal rate. Have enough in Bond funds, that we could “manage” another 2008 disaster. I do find it thrilling to have 60% in stocks, but I do watch it closely My wife (retired teacher) got a boost when we dropped that expensive BCBS health insurance when we both just hit Medicare...hey, there has to be some perks to turning 65 !!

 

[Old Microbiologist]

I am 66 and spouse is 71 with 100% of IRA's traded actively. These accounts including ROTH's make up roughly 1/3 of our savings, 1/3 is in cash, and 1/3 is in an brokerage account. The IRA's were all rolled over to TDAmerica Trade accounts which are traded aggressively with highly volatile stocks as with the normal brokerage account. Never more than 50% at a time never using margin and only when it is favorable otherwise we go to 100% cash. Because we over-planned and these accounts are unnecessary for our retirement as our pensions are far more than we needed we can be more fast and loose with these accounts. I doubt we will ever need to cash them in. The mandatory withdrawals just go into the normal brokerage account. We bail early with volatile stocks when it goes south then wait it out.

 

[KrisQuit]

53 next month. Plan to ER in two years. My AA is 75/25 @ Vanguard. I doubt I will be touching any of it for about ten years, or so, so it has time to weather the ups and downs of the market.

 

[rayinpenn]

Im 65 i have perhaps 25% cash equivalents 75 dividend stocks. It was my goal to get to 15% cash

 

[jayanu]

I know that many make their AA their years of age in bond funds and the remaining percentage in stock funds. How many ignore this and stick with and aggressive growth strategy? Maybe there are even some 60+ still doing this. Just curious. Thank you.

I am 74 and 85 in Equity - 70 in US and 15 Intl) since this money will be for the kids. Regular IRA for living off of RMD is 75% Equities

 

[oscar1]

About 90/10 here and the 90% is full aggressive indexed low expense ratio. Been thinking about pruning this back as our risk profile changes as we age. Any market downturn will be a paper loss until it rebounds so having enough cash on hand is key for us to maintain our standard of living.

 

[LarryMelman]

53 next month. Plan to ER in two years. My AA is 75/25 @ Vanguard. I doubt I will be touching any of it for about ten years, or so, so it has time to weather the ups and downs of the market.

Umm... what will you live on between ER and "about ten years"?

 

[Mountain skier]

age 58....45/55 cash. Cash better than bonds for our situation. Non Cola pension will cover 50-75% of expenses until SS starts

 

[RunningBum]

I know that many make their AA their years of age in bond funds and the remaining percentage in stock funds. How many ignore this and stick with and aggressive growth strategy? Maybe there are even some 60+ still doing this. Just curious. Thank you.

You might be interested in this thread and poll I started 2 years ago. 75% do not use an age based and almost none do their age in bonds, so your premise is wrong, at least based on that sampling. And it certainly doesn't mean that the only option besides age in bonds is a more aggressive growth strategy.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/age-based-aa-poll-88258.html

 

[Souschef]

Age 81
Totally in equities
Our basic expenses are covered by SS and small pensions.

 

[KrisQuit]

Umm... what will you live on between ER and "about ten years"?

Valid question. I have a healthy taxable account I wasn’t counting in this (as I view it simply as savings), normal savings, and a retired spouse whose money I wasn’t counting in this at all.

 

[GenXguy]

Valid question. I have a healthy taxable account I wasn’t counting in this (as I view it simply as savings), normal savings, and a retired spouse whose money I wasn’t counting in this at all.

I count ALL of that as part of my stash, as it should be. That money is just as spendable as dedicated retirement savings.

 

[KrisQuit]

I count ALL of that as part of my stash, as it should be. That money is just as spendable as dedicated retirement savings.

Sorry. Didn't realize there were rules. I count my money the way it works for me. Back to lurking.

 

[gwraigty]

Sorry. Didn't realize there were rules. I count my money the way it works for me. Back to lurking.

Please don't stay in the shadows. I - and probably others - figured that you had money in a taxable account to rely on.

And if anyone wants to nitpick, the thread title did specifically ask about an IRA (and probably including retirement accounts in general). Though the question is equally valid for taxable accounts as well.

 

[GenXguy]

Sorry. Didn't realize there were rules. I count my money the way it works for me. Back to lurking.

It's not a rule, it's just more of a standard when people are talking about the 4% rule and their AA. People talk about their stash or net worth in these discussions, and they include their brokerage, savings, checking, etc. Sorry if I offended.

The OP did state IRA, but for many people, an IRA is just a small part of their retirement stash to be lived off of in retirement. I have a Roth IRA but about 5 times as much in my 457/401 accounts, and then double that in my brokerage/savings accounts. My 43% in equities is across all of those.