I purposely imitated the title for the excelllent recent thread about simple vs. complicated bond fund choices since I'm wondering about parallel issues for my overall portfolio.
I'm ER'd on a far-from-ideal (too small) nest egg and at 60 (with DW only 53) have to be really careful about sharp drawdowns between now and taking SS somewhere between 65 and 70. Current portfolio is very U.S.-centric, which given U.S. vs. intl'l and EM equity valuations seems unwise going forward.
Like many here I'm a big fan of Vanguard and one option I'm considering is just duplicating the allocation in their LifeStrategy Conservative Growth fund (42% Total Bond, 18% Int'l Bond, 24% Total Stock, 16% Int'l Stock). That gets me plenty of diversification globally and across asset classes, low ER's and simplicity but of course no tilts to small/value etc.
The other thing I'm looking at is paying $2500 a year (fixed fee, not % of assets which I would never pay) to an FA I know and trust for a much more complex DFA slice and dice allocation that would also have 40-45% in equities. The fee of course goes against my cheapskate, DIY nature but I also think there's a high probablility that the more precise targeting of market segments and disciplined tilting to small and value will more than make up for it.
Any thoughts appreciated.
I'm ER'd on a far-from-ideal (too small) nest egg and at 60 (with DW only 53) have to be really careful about sharp drawdowns between now and taking SS somewhere between 65 and 70. Current portfolio is very U.S.-centric, which given U.S. vs. intl'l and EM equity valuations seems unwise going forward.
Like many here I'm a big fan of Vanguard and one option I'm considering is just duplicating the allocation in their LifeStrategy Conservative Growth fund (42% Total Bond, 18% Int'l Bond, 24% Total Stock, 16% Int'l Stock). That gets me plenty of diversification globally and across asset classes, low ER's and simplicity but of course no tilts to small/value etc.
The other thing I'm looking at is paying $2500 a year (fixed fee, not % of assets which I would never pay) to an FA I know and trust for a much more complex DFA slice and dice allocation that would also have 40-45% in equities. The fee of course goes against my cheapskate, DIY nature but I also think there's a high probablility that the more precise targeting of market segments and disciplined tilting to small and value will more than make up for it.
Any thoughts appreciated.
