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View Poll Results: Value of your retirement portfolio? See my definition in the post.
$100,000 - $250,000 5 2.05%
$250,001 - $500,000 12 4.92%
$500,001 - $1M 43 17.62%
$1M - $1,500,000 46 18.85%
$1,500,001 - $2M 38 15.57%
$2,000,001 - $2,500,000 23 9.43%
$2,500,001 - $3M 19 7.79%
$3M - $5M 35 14.34%
$5M - $7M 6 2.46%
$7M+ 17 6.97%
Voters: 244. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 05-09-2016, 09:23 AM   #61
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Originally Posted by W2R View Post
+1, and the same goes for the rest of you that want a different kind of poll. It would be fun to have several competing polls, and we would all learn even more about the difficulties of defining our terms for a poll.
Thank you for your support, W2R.
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Old 05-09-2016, 09:23 AM   #62
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I'm waiting for the how long is your Johnson poll.

I'm reminded of an old joke about condoms. There was some chuckling about the inscription on the condom, "Eat at Shorty's", until the condom was fully "extended", whereupon it said "Eat at Shorty's Truckstop, Bar and Grill, and Carwash in Chattanooga, Tennessee"...
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Old 05-09-2016, 09:25 AM   #63
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If you are selling your paid off house and living in a van down by the river, do you then get to count your house money in your portfolio?
That's me! Only its a very old motor home down by a creek that only runs in the spring. Yes. I counted what was in my portfolio. Whether or not I count what is in my house building cash bucket does not change my answer.
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Old 05-09-2016, 09:26 AM   #64
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As there are many creative members here you will get many different combinations of assets and income producing methods.

I for one like that, I'm always learning something new from others. I guess in this case creativeness can trump size.
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Old 05-09-2016, 09:35 AM   #65
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Originally Posted by aida2003 View Post
ETA: Not PUBLIC anymore! Posters saying that it's worthless and nothing to gain. This is a voluntary voting. Nobody will know YOUR portfolio and I do not care about YOUR portfolio though a lot of people choose to disclose sometimes. It's an anecdotal survey, I know. Just to get an idea how well y'all doing as compared to the whole population. I wouldn't believe whoever says that we are not curious...
Since you claimed it was to get an idea how we match to the whole population, what is the distribution for the whole population?
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Old 05-09-2016, 09:46 AM   #66
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Since you claimed it was to get an idea how we match to the whole population, what is the distribution for the whole population?
Sounds like you want to start your own poll with your own motivations and your own definitions! Feel free to do so. Then YOU will be in charge, and YOU will get to define your terms and motivations. Aida2003's statement seemed clear enough to me, but perhaps you will be clearer in stating your own motivations, for your own poll. I'm waiting.
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Old 05-09-2016, 09:56 AM   #67
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Thank you to the OP (or the mods) for making the poll private. However, the question posed is still not clear. Specifically, the requirement to omit an inheritance. I have received two inheritances, and I put them into my investment portfolio. One of them was 11 years ago. I don't know how I can separate out the past value of that inheritance, which was substantial, and calculate the present value of the remainder of my portfolio. Hence, I am not going to answer the question.
No thanks needed for making it private. I messed it up. It was my venture into polling, and not too successful as you can see per the feedback . I find it funny.

Re your inheritance, it's a bit tricky, but as you state it's very sizable. You don't need to account it to a dollar or even $100K. I'm sure you remember the amounts of inheritances you received and added to your IRA or taxable account. Can't you estimate the growth of each separately? You can be conservative and use S&P 500 return over the last 11 years and then another timeline for the newer inheritance.

I wished to exclude inheritances and lottery winnings because you didn't earn them per se. It's luck or kind of (not sure what term to use for inheritances).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In general, I thought people wouldn't take this poll very personal. You all know that Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, etc. do data mining and they use real data. Later you read an article saying that people have saved X dollars in 401k and Y dollars in IRA's and then extrapolate for the rest population.

So, my inquiry was how much of your own earned money a person or a couple saved in 401k+IRA+taxable. Of course, some people (successful entrepreneurs) have better chances as they have solo 401k or some 'C' type person got valuable options/stock. So, those will skew results as well as age because older people by definition should have larger balances (if they chose to save maximums). But don't worry I'm not planning to do any data mining as I'm clueless how it's done.

We can redo this poll in 30-40 years after people with fat pensions have left the playground. Hardly anyone will be awarded a pension in private sector in the far future.
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Old 05-09-2016, 09:57 AM   #68
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Originally Posted by W2R View Post
Sounds like you want to start your own poll with your own motivations and your own definitions! Feel free to do so. Then YOU will be in charge, and YOU will get to define your terms and motivations. Aida2003's statement seemed clear enough to me, but perhaps you will be clearer in stating your own motivations, for your own poll. I'm waiting.
No, no I don't at all. Where did you get that from? I quoted what the OP said.
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Old 05-09-2016, 10:06 AM   #69
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No, no I don't at all. Where did you get that from? I quoted what the OP said.
What you quoted was written in plain English, and seems clear enough to me. I'm just saying that those who cannot understand her well stated definitions and motivations, should start their own polls. It could be fun!

Meanwhile, I think she has already designed THIS poll and doesn't need any "help" redesigning it at this stage.
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Old 05-09-2016, 10:14 AM   #70
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Kidding aside, it is very difficult to get the kind of specifics we want from polls. Census data would be the better source, but such a thing does not exist.

Quote:
Originally Posted by aida2003 View Post
In general, I thought people wouldn't take this poll very personal. You all know that Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, etc. do data mining and they use real data. Later you read an article saying that people have saved X dollars in 401k and Y dollars in IRA's and then extrapolate for the rest population.

So, my inquiry was how much of your own earned money a person or a couple saved in 401k+IRA+taxable. Of course, some people (successful entrepreneurs) have better chances as they have solo 401k or some 'C' type person got valuable options/stock. So, those will skew results as well as age because older people by definition should have larger balances (if they chose to save maximums). But don't worry I'm not planning to do any data mining as I'm clueless how it's done.
One way to approach this could be to ask what % of the portfolio is tax deferred vs taxable. I would guess that for many of us most of the tax deferred savings comes from regular monthly saving over time, while the taxable has a larger component of bonus / stock options / sold my business.

Of course, this won't stop the smart-alecky responses (like mine ) but it might have some value. Here's a 2 year old thread on that, not a poll, but with responses you might find interesting. http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ths-70156.html
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Old 05-09-2016, 10:16 AM   #71
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What you quoted was written in plain English, and seems clear enough to me. I'm just saying that those who cannot understand her well stated definitions and motivations, should start their own polls.
And in clear and plain English, I asked what the benchmark measurement was.
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Old 05-09-2016, 10:18 AM   #72
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OK, some people are too shy to share their number. Here, I will spill my beans. Well, not all of it anyway.

Even if I divide the stash by 2 because I am married, each of us still has a 7 figure. That does not include the 2 homes, and we have no inheritance. In fact, we provided quite a bit of financial support to my inlaws who were broke.

And we have had no stock options, because we did not get to a high enough level at our megacorps (both are member of the Dow 30). All that money came from before and after-tax savings off earned income, plus some company matching. I even had a few years of working for no pay when I cofounded a startup that went belly up. Good thing I did not put any of my own money in there, just free labor.

We worked our butt off until the early 50 for my wife, mid 50 for me, so did not retire really early. I don't know how the American dream is defined, but I am not complaining.
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Old 05-09-2016, 10:29 AM   #73
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It was my venture into polling, and not too successful as you can see per the feedback .
Get over there in that long line. It is rare that a poll doesn't get "why didn't you" or "it would have been better had you" laments. Nature of the forum beasties...
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Old 05-09-2016, 10:46 AM   #74
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Get over there in that long line. It is rare that a poll doesn't get "why didn't you" or "it would have been better had you" laments. Nature of the forum beasties...
+1

Sometimes we critique the poll without understanding what the poll represents to the OP. It's actually been a good exercise for me, I gained a little insight into our portfolio and it's origin. Thanks for starting.

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Old 05-09-2016, 10:51 AM   #75
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How does that saying go? "Everything is bigger in Texas" .

Doing a little Googling, seems studies indicate that finger length ratios (but not the size of the fingers themselves) can provide a better clue. Maybe the next time someone says "I'll give you a palm reading", maybe it is not only the palm getting read. .
hmmmm.... now you are making me worry about when other guys shake my hand and smile
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Old 05-09-2016, 11:05 AM   #76
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No thanks needed for making it private. I messed it up. It was my venture into polling, and not too successful as you can see per the feedback . I find it funny.

Re your inheritance, it's a bit tricky, but as you state it's very sizable. You don't need to account it to a dollar or even $100K. I'm sure you remember the amounts of inheritances you received and added to your IRA or taxable account. Can't you estimate the growth of each separately? You can be conservative and use S&P 500 return over the last 11 years and then another timeline for the newer inheritance.

I wished to exclude inheritances and lottery winnings because you didn't earn them per se. It's luck or kind of (not sure what term to use for inheritances).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In general, I thought people wouldn't take this poll very personal. You all know that Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, etc. do data mining and they use real data. Later you read an article saying that people have saved X dollars in 401k and Y dollars in IRA's and then extrapolate for the rest population.

So, my inquiry was how much of your own earned money a person or a couple saved in 401k+IRA+taxable. Of course, some people (successful entrepreneurs) have better chances as they have solo 401k or some 'C' type person got valuable options/stock. So, those will skew results as well as age because older people by definition should have larger balances (if they chose to save maximums). But don't worry I'm not planning to do any data mining as I'm clueless how it's done.......
Wow, you really want folks to work looking up the estimated growth of their inheritance.

This part I find odd because while I worked for my $$$, after I invested it really is luck as to my earnings. Your return (size of portfolio) is a function of the investment. I've read of a couple retired in HI who invested a small amount in Apple in the beginning, while I didn't.

As for Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, etc. do data mining , they don't exclude the inheritances invested with them, since they have no idea of the fund sources.
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Old 05-09-2016, 11:21 AM   #77
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Would it be appropriate to estimate the value of my Beanie Baby collection and include that in the total?
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Old 05-09-2016, 11:22 AM   #78
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No thanks needed for making it private. I messed it up. It was my venture into polling, and not too successful as you can see per the feedback . I find it funny.

Re your inheritance, it's a bit tricky, but as you state it's very sizable. You don't need to account it to a dollar or even $100K. I'm sure you remember the amounts of inheritances you received and added to your IRA or taxable account. Can't you estimate the growth of each separately? You can be conservative and use S&P 500 return over the last 11 years and then another timeline for the newer inheritance.

I wished to exclude inheritances and lottery winnings because you didn't earn them per se. It's luck or kind of (not sure what term to use for inheritances).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In general, I thought people wouldn't take this poll very personal. You all know that Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, etc. do data mining and they use real data. Later you read an article saying that people have saved X dollars in 401k and Y dollars in IRA's and then extrapolate for the rest population.

So, my inquiry was how much of your own earned money a person or a couple saved in 401k+IRA+taxable. Of course, some people (successful entrepreneurs) have better chances as they have solo 401k or some 'C' type person got valuable options/stock. So, those will skew results as well as age because older people by definition should have larger balances (if they chose to save maximums). But don't worry I'm not planning to do any data mining as I'm clueless how it's done.

We can redo this poll in 30-40 years after people with fat pensions have left the playground. Hardly anyone will be awarded a pension in private sector in the far future.
Your poll title doesn't match your stated intention, which is confusing.

Most of us think of our total portfolio, and that would include earnings/savings, stock options, dividends, company matches, windfalls, inheritances, lottery winnings, etc. All of that goes into one big pot of money, does it not? And then it is invested. So if your goal was to measure "portfolio size" then artificially pulling out certain aspects of it is confusing, and inconsistent.

But now it sounds like you want to know how much people have saved. In that case it has little to do with portfolio size. You could just ask how much people have saved?

All the other difficulties remain - those who are house rich but portfolio poor by choice, those with pensions and annuities but not a lot of hard assets, etc - but in the first place your question is conflicted.

We happen to have a pretty simple portfolio. Less than 5% from inheritances/gifts. Less than 5% of our net worth in home equity. So I voted. You didn't say whether I should include our college savings portfolio in portfolio - it's our money, earned and saved with our wages and investment returns - but I didn't, and it didn't change our category regardless.
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Old 05-09-2016, 11:44 AM   #79
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Your poll title doesn't match your stated intention, which is confusing.

Most of us think of our total portfolio, and that would include earnings/savings, stock options, dividends, company matches, windfalls, inheritances, lottery winnings, etc. All of that goes into one big pot of money, does it not? And then it is invested. So if your goal was to measure "portfolio size" then artificially pulling out certain aspects of it is confusing, and inconsistent.

But now it sounds like you want to know how much people have saved. In that case it has little to do with portfolio size. You could just ask how much people have saved?

All the other difficulties remain - those who are house rich but portfolio poor by choice, those with pensions and annuities but not a lot of hard assets, etc - but in the first place your question is conflicted.

We happen to have a pretty simple portfolio. Less than 5% from inheritances/gifts. Less than 5% of our net worth in home equity. So I voted. You didn't say whether I should include our college savings portfolio in portfolio - it's our money, earned and saved with our wages and investment returns - but I didn't, and it didn't change our category regardless.
Well, now I gotta admit. Since my family has a very simple portfolio I cannot figure out the fancy stuff. Yes, I'd include options/bonus in stock, because that person worked his a$$ off to ascend the ladder to get that stock/options, they're vested, he/she can sell and add to the piggy bank if wanted.

No, I wouldn't include 529 or prepaid plans because it's still not yours unless beneficiaries don't use it and you cash out after paying penalties. But you can include this on the next poll once you've done it, not now if that money is still earmarked for education.

Our portfolio is very simple: two 401k's, two Roth IRA's and then taxable accounts. My vote didn't include paid-off house or cars nor 529 plan. I have prepaid my summer travel to the EU, but I didn't include that either :-P.
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Old 05-09-2016, 11:49 AM   #80
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This is interesting counterpart to portfolio/net worth polls. From late 2014, a poll on how much you need/want/desire/plan to spend each year in retirement: http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ire-74379.html

Shows that we have a wide collection of folks, all of whom are content in their own way.
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