Is anyone staying the course?
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targatom2019
Recycles dryer sheets
No, I am actually increasing international from 20% to 25% or even 30%.
OldShooter
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Jeez, no! We are staying the course; international is around 50% of our equity side.
IMO, ignoring international is an emotional decision not a rational one. I don't think anyone would argue with the fact that US world economic share is declining and will continue to decline. After all, we are only 5% of the world's population.
unclemick
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Vanguard Total World Stock Index is the one I'm planning to dollar cost average excess (not spent) $ into over the next ten years.
Heh heh heh - plan vs actual - we'll see.
Expect a bumpy ride - more fun than football.
pb4uski
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Yes. The underperformance of international equities for so many years caused me to abandon them in 2020. If and when they start to show signs of generating decent returns then I'll reconsider... I recognize that I may miss some of the upside but I'm ok with that.
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audreyh1
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No, still holding at about 20% of equities, which is where it has traditionally been.
CyclingInvestor
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Most of my 100% stock allocation is in international equities, if you count Canadian as international.
Dtail
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Exactly the same for me.
freedomatlast
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Yes. I always went against the advice of the "pros" and never had any and probably never will.
I always figured my VTSAX already held plenty of companies with international exposure.
COcheesehead
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Close enough to completely out, 2%. The less we’ve had, the better we’ve done. In my experience, they do not reduce volatility or enhance returns.
For reference I have a five star, well respected 50-70% equity allocation fund (call it balanced for simplicity) that only holds 5%. That should tell you something.
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RetireAge50
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I had set up some IRA’s earlier at Navy Federal with $50 which allowed additional deposits. I recently added $150k each for my wife and I so 300k total at 3%.
atmsmshr
Full time employment: Posting here.
Duplicate from Rodi's poll
Until 2 years ago, was 100% in stocks for the 401k. Of course there were some stomach flips during the Great Recession and Dot Com bust, but held fast during those times because I was blessed with pretty secure employment.
Upon realizing that Sequence of Returns Risk is devastating to early retirees, began to throttle back to a rising equity glidepath (ala Kitces and Pfau) the year before retirement (too late statistically, but I got lucky). In January 2020 rolled 401k to an IRA and took a single lump sum distribution on the most appreciated company match stock accounts and placed that into a brokerage account before turning 59.5 yo. Bulk of the IRA rolled into FUAMX Intermediate Treasury Bond Fund - which has appreciated 7.5% to date since purchase. (Sheer Luck). Immediately after rollover, did our annual expense to cash using Net Unrealized Appreciation from brokerage in January and February in order to capture Long Term Capital Gains. Caught the highs of company Mega. Sheer luck again to catch the highs - but then again the annual bonus structure at Mega is always tied to stock price during Valentines week.
Because I want to harvest LTCG before claiming SS for DW and myself, holding onto megacorp stock in brokerage to gain the 0% tax advantage for a few years. Down from its all time high, but I can always sell out of the IRA next year if that option is more appealing. Its a risk to have such a concentrated stock position in a single company - but it is the utility NextEra. Most people will keep paying their electric bills during the downturn - but I do expect some additional impact on an already high PE stock.
For those retiring early - the NUA and LTCG strategy during an IRA rollover is an awesome tax strategy. Just ensure you do not take any 401k with drawls before the rollover to IRA or you will have to wait for another triggering event to avoid tax consequence (reach age 59.5, disability, and my favorite out - death).
Originally at 40% equity per plan in January, Declining balance in brokerage for mega corp stock coupled with selling some S&P 500 index fund during rebound now has us down to 33% equity. Which allows me to sleep soundly. When stocks become less expensive, I will dollar cost average back into MSCI ex USA index, Russel 2000 index, and S&P 500 index. Particularly with the tiny Roth and go from all cash to all equity in that account.
Its amazing how much my personal risk tolerance changed between accumulation with a steady paycheck and retirement before SS/Pension with drawl phases of investment. The impact is immense.
Until 2 years ago, was 100% in stocks for the 401k. Of course there were some stomach flips during the Great Recession and Dot Com bust, but held fast during those times because I was blessed with pretty secure employment.
Upon realizing that Sequence of Returns Risk is devastating to early retirees, began to throttle back to a rising equity glidepath (ala Kitces and Pfau) the year before retirement (too late statistically, but I got lucky). In January 2020 rolled 401k to an IRA and took a single lump sum distribution on the most appreciated company match stock accounts and placed that into a brokerage account before turning 59.5 yo. Bulk of the IRA rolled into FUAMX Intermediate Treasury Bond Fund - which has appreciated 7.5% to date since purchase. (Sheer Luck). Immediately after rollover, did our annual expense to cash using Net Unrealized Appreciation from brokerage in January and February in order to capture Long Term Capital Gains. Caught the highs of company Mega. Sheer luck again to catch the highs - but then again the annual bonus structure at Mega is always tied to stock price during Valentines week.
Because I want to harvest LTCG before claiming SS for DW and myself, holding onto megacorp stock in brokerage to gain the 0% tax advantage for a few years. Down from its all time high, but I can always sell out of the IRA next year if that option is more appealing. Its a risk to have such a concentrated stock position in a single company - but it is the utility NextEra. Most people will keep paying their electric bills during the downturn - but I do expect some additional impact on an already high PE stock.
For those retiring early - the NUA and LTCG strategy during an IRA rollover is an awesome tax strategy. Just ensure you do not take any 401k with drawls before the rollover to IRA or you will have to wait for another triggering event to avoid tax consequence (reach age 59.5, disability, and my favorite out - death).
Originally at 40% equity per plan in January, Declining balance in brokerage for mega corp stock coupled with selling some S&P 500 index fund during rebound now has us down to 33% equity. Which allows me to sleep soundly. When stocks become less expensive, I will dollar cost average back into MSCI ex USA index, Russel 2000 index, and S&P 500 index. Particularly with the tiny Roth and go from all cash to all equity in that account.
Its amazing how much my personal risk tolerance changed between accumulation with a steady paycheck and retirement before SS/Pension with drawl phases of investment. The impact is immense.
RunningBum
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I am, mostly because the higher dividends were taking me to the edge of the ACA subsidy, and the uncertainty of how much foreign taxes get added made it tougher. Also I'm building up a large FTC carryover. I may buy back in someday, but probably not for a few years.
Hmm. 70% of my Roth is in VTIAX, down 12%. The dividends are re invested. I'm a waffler about this and appreciate all the comments.Vanguard Total World Stock Index is the one I'm planning to dollar cost average excess (not spent) $ into over the next ten years.
Heh heh heh - plan vs actual - we'll see.
Lawrencewendall
Full time employment: Posting here.
I have some exposure (2%) through some of my funds but I personally believe that the US stock market is the only game in town. Look at other countries economies. We may be hurting right now but the rest of the world is hurting worse. My .02
OldShooter
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Well, the important question is the % of your equity exposure that is international, not what is in a particular account.
Vanguard has published several papers on the international question. I think this one is maybe the most recent: "Global equity investing:The benefits of diversification and sizing your allocation" https://www.vanguard.com/pdf/ISGGEB.pdf
Here is the nutshell version:
"This paper concludes that although no one answer fits all investors, global market capitalization weight serves as a helpful starting point in determining the appropriate allocation between domestic and international equities. In practice, many investors will consider an allocation to international equities well below global market-capitalization weight based on their sensitivity to a number of considerations, including volatility reduction, implementation costs, taxes, regulation, and their own preferences."
Total portfolio, 13%.
OldShooter
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Well, 13% of equities is not an aggressive position to be sure. If it's 13% of a 60/40 portfolio then that would be 21% of equities, still not big.
I don't know nuthin' but if I were guessing I would say that there are reasons for internationals to outperform, first being the likely decline in the dollar's value and second being plain old regression to the mean. But those are five- or ten-year horizon things, not a few months' look.
My current allocation to international equities is close to 35% of my total equity position. When I re-balanced in March I added a slight bit more to this category over domestic equities. I have no idea when international will outperform domestic again, all I know, is that I'll be there when it does happen.
More like 60/37/3 with a five year horizon. I am encouraged by the market this morning. All the opening up videos on the news must have given the market a boost of confidence.
OldShooter
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
With respect, you shouldn't be. This is just noise. If you want some signal, look only at total return market performance graphs that are three years and longer. For example, the 5 year nominal return of the Dow is about 34% or 6% CAGR. Add in the dividends and i am a happy guy. You should be too. Or maybe a happy girl!
Looking once a year is plenty often enough. We pipsqueek investors are wood chips going over Niagara Falls. The ride is exciting but inconclusive, giving no clue to where we will be in a year or two.
nvestysly
Full time employment: Posting here.
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DW and I fall into the staying the course category. We did purchase a few shares here and there since things were on sale recently but nothing that moved the needle much. Similarly, we're not selling much because prices are depressed. We check our strategy from time to time (several times a year) and I update a spreadsheet with our dividends, etc. several times a year. Not much change in holdings since we retired almost 9 years ago.
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