Retired with only 300K in ML/ split 60/40

[rathgar]

Thanks all,
I try to educate myself, but I'm just a teacher - no background in investing. Never even had a 401K - it's my husbands.

doing the best I can reading these boards.
Thanks for your patience with my questions/ concerns

 

[Aerides]

Thanks all,
I try to educate myself, but I'm just a teacher - no background in investing. Never even had a 401K - it's my husbands.

doing the best I can reading these boards.
Thanks for your patience with my questions/ concerns

And probably you're more like most of us than you think. Before I got serious about ER I had no clue, but I learned loads from sticking around here. Not necessarily studying, but it works like osmosis after a while.

Bottom line for you, there were many stories of people selling in 08/09 and not coming back. It's a very natural reflex to want to cut one's losses, but it's the wrong instinct. They aren't losses until/unless you sell.

In 2008 I lost about half my 401k. 150 ish went to 75 ish. (that was all I had then). I didn't sell. By the end of 2009 it was starting to tick back up, and by 2011 we were definitely into a bull. I don't remember when I broke even again, but safe to say it wasn't long, and within a couple of years left prior-highs in the dust. None of that could have happened if I'd sold and put my remaining 75k in something "safe." And I wouldn't have ER'd.

 

[mrfeh]

Thanks all,
I try to educate myself, but I'm just a teacher - no background in investing. Never even had a 401K - it's my husbands.

doing the best I can reading these boards.
Thanks for your patience with my questions/ concerns

It's not rocket science. Don't feel intimidated.

"Just a teacher" - you are more than qualified to learn what you need to learn.

 

[RunningBum]

You're on a good start by asking here. Of course it's up to you to weigh the opinions of strangers on the internet vs. your professional financial advisor. Just keep in mind we get no benefit from you taking our advice. Your FA does.

 

[rathgar]

Hi all,
so I see the market is down again 1000 points at this moment-
does this seem normal or way beyond normal?
are any of you getting concerned that this is something never seen before with the market?

 

[braumeister]

Hi all,
so I see the market is down again 1000 points at this moment-
does this seem normal or way beyond normal?
are any of you getting concerned that this is something never seen before with the market?

It's not normal, but certainly not unprecedented.

Here is the one year chart. Looks pretty rough, doesn't it?



Now here is the 20 year chart, and you can see we've been here before.

 

[yakers]

As long as it's sitting you're not losing money. You'll only lose money if you sell out now. You're the one that controls whether or not you lose money...not the ups & downs of the market.

Not only that maybe it was never worth what those nice numbers showed in your portfolio reports, only worth it if you cashed it out then,, but who would do that FOMO/market going even higher.

 

[calmloki]

I'm a poster child for selling at the wrong time, then not buying at the right time. Around Christmas 2018 the market dropped a huge amount, then crept up a hair and I held off buying, waiting for it to drop again. Our cash sat for over a year making next to nothing. At least I didn't panic sell, as I'd done at an earlier crash. Also failed to be in the market for years of major growth after that crash. Selling at the highest and buying at the lowest is just about impossible - not selling, in the faith that the sun WILL come up tomorrow, is a safer bet.
Vanguard will make moving everything from ML really easy by the way.

 

[Go-NoGo]

Vanguard will make moving everything from ML really easy by the way.

+1

Vanguard/Fidelity/Schwab will do the move for you, they just need to know the ML account numbers and they will transfer the money. You will not have to "fire" your ML agent or even speak to her to tell her you are closing the account.

 

[ERD50]

Hi all,
so I see the market is down again 1000 points at this moment-
does this seem normal or way beyond normal?
are any of you getting concerned that this is something never seen before with the market?

We have seen it, and much worse, and riding it out has done just fine.

Also, don't forget that these large drops occur after a run up. If you weren't in the market, you wouldn't be up enough to drop this much!

Perspective: A 60/40 balanced fund (VBINX) is UP ~ 9% over the past year. Stop worrying about day-to-day, and think long term. Here's a 10 year look of 60/40 versus just bonds. Your 60/40 could drop 70%, and you'd still be ahead of a bond-only portfolio.



link to chart (you need to set the scrub bar to the desired time frame):

https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.php?VBINX,VBMFX


Relax. -ERD50

 

[Katsmeow]

Hi all,
so I see the market is down again 1000 points at this moment-
does this seem normal or way beyond normal?
are any of you getting concerned that this is something never seen before with the market?

No I am not concerned. It is the nature of investing that sometimes things go down. Look at Braumeister's 20 year chart. You have to look at the long term. I don't really understand why you are at Merrill Lynch and would not lock in losses to go buy an annuity.

 

[racy]

....are any of you getting concerned that this is something never seen before with the market?

What concerns me is that you're still dwelling on this.

 

[ERD50]

Hi all,
so I see the market is down again 1000 points at this moment-
does this seem normal or way beyond normal?
are any of you getting concerned that this is something never seen before with the market?

What concerns me is that you're still dwelling on this.

I just looked back at rathgar's posting history. Not sure she's reading the replies, at least there aren't many responses from her. And she doesn't seem to be accepting any of the obviously good advice either.

Still with Merrill-Lynch after this? :

100K in Cash - Merrill Advisor Yelling At Me to Invest

https://www.early-retirement.org/fo...l-advisor-yelling-at-me-to-invest-101948.html

-ERD50

 

[SnowBound]

Hi all,
so I see the market is down again 1000 points at this moment-
does this seem normal or way beyond normal?
are any of you getting concerned that this is something never seen before with the market?

This is normal. The market (almost) randomly goes up and down. Best thing to do is automatically buy fixed dollar amount of the market every month. If the market is low, you get more shares; if the market is high you get less shares. If you can't sleep well, check the market less often. This could be the fourth major downturn I've rode to the bottom.

The long term market return is 9.2%. The average investor earns 3%. Don't be the average investor.

 

[friar1610]

Thanks all,
I try to educate myself, but I'm just a teacher - no background in investing. Never even had a 401K - it's my husbands.

doing the best I can reading these boards.
Thanks for your patience with my questions/ concerns

In regard to the bolded quote above...you are being unnecessarily negative and hard on yourself. What you mean to say is Hey - I'm a teacher. I help people to learn stuff they don't know every day. I can do the same for myself and learn enough about investing to free myself from ML and take charge of my financial life!

I echo the advice you've received above. Don't sell now. No annuities. Maybe work another year. Educate yourself.

Best wishes.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

In regard to the bolded quote above...you are being unnecessarily negative and hard on yourself. What you mean to say is Hey - I'm a teacher. I help people to learn stuff they don't know every day. I can do the same for myself and learn enough about investing to free myself from ML and take charge of my financial life!

I echo the advice you've received above. Don't sell now. No annuities. Maybe work another year. Educate yourself.

Best wishes.

I like it! Nicely stated.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

That looks like NAV+dividends reinvested. Yes? More people should see that instead of simply plotting the NAV (e.g., "the DOW" etc.)

 

[MarieIG]

It will probably go down more before it goes up.

You mentioned that you have a pension and your DH is 65.

What are your base expenses; and what would be the family income upon retirement. Do you have any money in cash?

Can you reduce your expenses?

It's clear you don't want to, but you can always work OMY.

If you panic, you will probably pay ML a large fee to lock in your losses.