Question for current retirees

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 We have a COLA'd pension and SS that covers our expenses and then some. The IRA and her federal TSP funds are conservative, but that lets DW sleep at night and is mostly to cover the gap if I get The Big Ache and the pension drops 30%. She won't be SS FRA for another six years and then she'll be fine financially if I'm pushing up daises. The IRA is 40/60 total stock index (10% total international) and total bond fund or a couch potato portfolio. The TSP is mostly the "G" fund, very conservative. There is also a good bit in a credit union savings account, more than I feel is necessary. I would be more aggressive if on my own but again, this lets DW sleep at night and there is value in that.

Hmm. I suspect the additional value is in not being yelled at and blamed for any losses, too! :!


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[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulligan Hmm. I suspect the additional value is in not being yelled at and blamed for any losses, too! :!

Yes, well, there is that too...

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 Yes, well, there is that too...

You have to be careful with those "loss aversion" people... $10 in gains isnt worth the risk in pain of a potential dime loss.


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[rodi]

DH gets SS (18% of our budget)
We have rental income (16% of our budget.)
I will start a very small, non-cola pension at the end of this year. (6.5% of our budget)
The rest comes from our investments/nest egg.

When I start SS in another decade-ish, that will cover 21% of our budget. So - all in, we'll only have 61% of our spending covered by SS, pension, rent.

Our asset allocation is
60/40 equities/fixed&cash.

broken down further:
40% Large cap domestic
10% Small cap domestic
10% international
25% bonds
15% cash and CDs. (DH is very tied to CDs as a nervous nelly. I finally got him to roll a few IRA CDs into Wellesley.)

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodi DH gets SS (18% of our budget) We have rental income (16% of our budget.) I will start a very small, non-cola pension at the end of this year. (6.5% of our budget) The rest comes from our investments/nest egg.

That's a nice way of looking at it.
My pension is 27% of our budget.
DW's pension is 12%.
My SS will start this year and be 20% of budget.
DW's SS will start in two years and also be 20%.
So that's 79% of our total budget which is what I meant when I said earlier it covered "most expenses."

Being the conservative type I am, a 55/40/5 allocation lets me sleep soundly.

[akck]

We're about 90% invested in equities and 10% cash. We'll both have pensions and SS. When all income streams come online, they'll exceed our expenses for a long period, so we'll likely keep a high equity allocation. A large allocation is in high dividend yield stocks and funds.

Oh, I'm retired and my wife will be retiring this year.

[Rustic23]

Currently 100% cash. When invested close to 100% equities. Like others we have COLA'd and Non-COLA'd pension and SS that more than covers all expenses. I figure the kids will end up with the IRAs.

[lawman3966]

"Retired" due to health issues about a year ago (age 56).

Allocation: 64/10/26 stocks/bonds/cash.
My bond-cash allocation is reversed compared to most. This arises from my hearing so many pundits warn that interest rates were bound to rise, thus sending bond prices down.

One advantage I've learned of regarding having assets in the form of a lump sum instead of a pension is eligibility for various subsidies. I'm on Obamacare, and am eligible for food stamps, and a free cell phone.

[SJ1_]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trapperjohn I have a question for those that are currently retired: What is your target asset allocation in your retirement portfolio? Do you also have or will you have a pension? I'm retired and recently talked with a financial planner. He recommends that I change to a stock/bond AA of 65% / 35%. I'm just wondering what other retirees have. Thanks in advance.

30% stocks
70% mostly CD's; bonds in vanguard wellesley

I have a small pension and rentals

[trapperjohn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corporateburnout For the OP do you have a pension?

Yes, I have a pretty good non-COLA pension. I'll also start taking SS at 62 in 2 years. SS and pension together will cover 100% of expenses.

I understand that AA is highly connected to risk tolerance. I only initially asked the questions to get a sense of what a "typical" retiree is already doing. I know there's a lot of variation.

My current AA is 70/25/5 equities/bonds/cash, but since I'm retired now, I feel I should get more conservative. Up to now, I've been very aggressive and had anywhere from 70% to 90% stocks.

The FP suggested 65/35 equities/bonds. It appears that the majority (not all, but many) seem to have AA that are around what the FP is suggesting. That probably surprises nobody.

[RockyMtn]

58, retired at 51. 60% stock, 38% bonds, 2% cash. Have a non cola'd pension now. Another one at 65. SS at 70. Pension, dividends and BOD fees pay the bills.

[SteveNU]

Retired 3 years ago at 56 and worked part time until the end of last year.

Non cola pension covers ~60% of our budget
My SS at 62 will cover ~35% of our budget
Wife retires in a few months at 55 and will have a small cola pension that will provide beer money
Wife's SS at 62 will cover ~20% of our budget
So we have 115% of our budget covered when all of those sources are on line.

Currently about 65/35/5, stocks, bonds, cash in our retirement accounts which will be our fun/spoil the kids and grandkids money😊



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[LitGal]

I have a survivor's pension from DH, my own STRS, plus SS. Assets allocated roughly 35% stocks/ 45% bonds/ 20% cash. Because of the pensions, I aim for the investments to simply stay ahead of inflation in case I need to start tapping them 15-20 years from now.
The cash helps me sleep at night.

[fritz]

We retired at 58/57 (7 years now). No pensions. We both took SS at 62. My SS and our taxable dividends covers base living expenses. Wife's SS is travel funds/extras (as it goes away when one of us does). Own home - no debts. Investments are 35% taxable, 49% IRA, 12% Roth, and 4% cash in bank savings acct. Stock bonds are at 52/48.

[ejman]

Currently 65 retired at 52. 50/50 equities/bonds rebalanced as needed (seldom) within 10% band. Started SS at 62, tiny corp pension of $400/mo which started at 65.

[blenhardt]

MY allocation is 40/30/30. Age 70 retired for three years. Yes, very conservative. We believe we have enough and want to minimize loses if the big one comes. With two non-cola'd pensions and SS we only need savings for extras now. Will start to need it as inflation picks up.

[frayne]

Interesting read that kind of dovetails into this thread.
Forbes Welcome

[Dog]

I will be following this thread as DH and I need to sit down and discuss where we are from an allocation perspective.
I retired in 2014 (56) and DH retired last month (58). We are the same age. He will receive a small pension (FERS) and has a respectable TSP balance. His FERS and supplement will cover about about 50% of our current expenses. I started a 72t in 2015 and it will cover remaining expenses, extras and allow funneling some to our Roths (Roth conversion).

Our breakdown is (not including FERS pension and supplement):
59% my IRA
18% DH TSP
6% CDs
5% My 401k
2% Roths
10% cash (50% of this pending sale of primary home)

We also have 3 cars that are paid for as is our retirement home.

In 4 years DH will move from supplement to SS at 62 and the pension will then be COLA'd. My 72t requirement will be fulfilled and depending on economy and finances I will decide if I take SS. If I opt for SS at 62, then SS & pension will cover expenses. Investments will be frosting and we are hoping to leave a decent estate for DD.



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[daylatedollarshort]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulligan You have to be careful with those "loss aversion" people... $10 in gains isnt worth the risk in pain of a potential dime loss.

I don't know about Walt34's wife, but for me it is not losing dimes - it is losing multiple years worth of living expenses that I would prefer to avoid.

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort I don't know about Walt34's wife, but for me it is not losing dimes - it is losing multiple years worth of living expenses that I would prefer to avoid.

Oh, Im with you... I am extremely conservative and "by the book" I should be considerably more aggressive...No thank you... I was just taking the loss aversion idea down to a trivial daily spend level.


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