I'm stuck

[gayl]

I haven't been this cash heavy since 2008. 15% pure cash. Think savings account. I keep thinking I should put it into something but what? How do I get unstuck? How do you?

I took 1% out last year in preparation for a horrific year, survived that, not taking anything out of my IRA this year.

[njhowie]

MINT or CLTL for extreme safety. If you're open to a little more risk, start running dividend yield filters on your brokers stock search screens. With the recent volatility in the markets some very nice/safe dividend payers have surfaced. I've begun nibbling on some 4% and 5% issues and will continue to buy more as opposed to reinvesting all my monthly amounts at CD/treasury yields which get too low.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gayl I haven't been this cash heavy since 2008. 15% pure cash. Think savings account. I keep thinking I should put it into something but what? How do I get unstuck? How do you? I took 1% out last year in preparation for a horrific year, survived that, not taking anything out of my IRA this year.

Well, where do you want to be? Is it a question of optimal fixed income to move cash to or how to get back into equities or how to optimize cash?

My online savings account pays 1.9%... not bad. VMMXX is currently sporting a 2.01% APR. If you're patient you can find CD specials in the 3% range.

If the question is how to deploy back into equities, you could just buy $x per month on the yth day of each month until you are where you want to be.

Finally, if you are taking money out of your IRA for other reasons (like part of a program to reduce the dreaded tax torpedo), you can still do so... just take it out of ticker xyz in the IRA and then invest the proceeds in ticker xyz in a taxable account.

[target2019]

We have been consistently adding cash to Discover Bank for better yield on cash. For too many years we left this in low-yield checking and savings. There are other possibilities.

[kaneohe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb4uski ....................................... 1)If the question is how to deploy back into equities, you could just buy $x per month on the yth day od each month until you are where you want to be. 2)Finally, if you are taking money out of your IRA for other reasons (like part of a program to reduce the dreaded tax torpedo), you can still do so... just take it out of ticker xyz in the IRA and then invest the proceeds in ticker xyz in a taxable account.

1) Good way to take emotion out of process(unless decision-maker thinks he/she is smarter than the rule )
2) If w/d from IRA and paying taxes anyway,might want to consider Roth where gains will be tax-free if able to follow the 5yr/59.5 age rules before w/d
funds from Roth.

[gayl]

I'm still 80% equities, 5% bonds, but the rest is cash .... SWVXX which is like a savings account + 2 savings accounts [emoji19] I know its psychological

[W2R]

Just follow your planned, written asset allocation for stocks, bonds, and cash.

If your present cash allocation is a greater percentage than your plan specifies, then spend the excess on stocks and bonds until you get to your planned, written allocation for each of those three categories.

If you do not have a planned, written asset allocation, maybe it's time to put one in place.

[gayl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R If you do not have a planned, written asset allocation, maybe it's time to put one in place.

I think that's it.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gayl I haven't been this cash heavy since 2008. 15% pure cash. Think savings account. I keep thinking I should put it into something but what? How do I get unstuck? How do you?

I have always had a lot of cash. It fluctuates and was temporarily as high as 40%, but currently at 26%.

However, I do try to get something out of them. I get around 2% from money market funds at my brokerage. The portion of that cash is in I bonds, which earned me 3% in the last 12 months.

[joeea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gayl I haven't been this cash heavy since 2008. 15% pure cash. Think savings account.

Why are you so cash heavy now? What happened to make this outcome?

Quote:

I keep thinking I should put it into something but what? How do I get unstuck? How do you?

It would invest it per my asset allocation plan.

Quote:

I took 1% out last year in preparation for a horrific year, survived that, not taking anything out of my IRA this year.

Where did you take this 1% from? Why not just put it back into an equivalent account if you think it's no longer needed?

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gayl I think that's it.

There's something about writing it down that was very helpful for me. It's like a commitment from me to myself.

[street]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Just follow your planned, written asset allocation for stocks, bonds, and cash. If your present cash allocation is a greater percentage than your plan specifies, then spend the excess on stocks and bonds until you get to your planned, written allocation for each of those three categories. If you do not have a planned, written asset allocation, maybe it's time to put one in place.

Great advice here. IMO

I'm considered heavy cash portfolio also, with about 16% in CD's. Why so much, is because I'm heavy in stock markets funds and it is a good security blanket for me. If I lost everything in the markets I could live on what I have secured in CD's. In a nut shell, I can play the markets with a high % of equity funds and not have to worry about it. With a larger cash fund I can risk more with less worry. Just my 2 ¢.

[gayl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeea Why are you so cash heavy now? What happened to make this outcome? It would invest it per my asset allocation plan. Where did you take this 1% from? Why not just put it back into an equivalent account if you think it's no longer needed?

LONG STORY:
My son was going thru the divorce from he!!. When it happened to me we just figured out how neither would be financially hurt (married 17 yrs). When my dtr went thru it due to his MH issues, it was on paper only. But Son was married 3 yrs & eventually had to cough up 165k cash (he entered marriage with a townhouse / they sold it / she raided account spent it). He did not have 165k only 30k. So I took all dividends in cash during 2018 thinking that might happen & sold out of SCHB in my IRA (still have it in my brokerage acct). Eventually I just needed a little from the IRA + $$s from brokerage. So 1% from IRA. Because it came from the IRA over 60 days ago it cannot go back there.

That's how I get to 15% liquid

Need an asset allocation plan

[gayl]

I've now met with 3 of Schwab's private advisor network players and a newbie at the Walnut Creek office. More confused than ever. But I heard once that when completely confused "do nothing." I've got 1 more mtg on the 22nd after I get back from Cabo and I'll see if that firm is more closely aligned with my gut. The newbie did run Monte Carlo and I have a 100% probability of meeting my goals AS-IS to 100 yrs old so I guess I don't have to do anything right now

[gayl]

Seems as good a place as any to ask this. Met with all of them and decided to stay independent but branch out a little

I currently don't have any foreign exposure so I'm thinking of rotating some out of cash into 1000 shares of SCHF. Poor timing?

FWIW: I have a DBP with a max 4% COLA built in (anticipate only 1.6% this year) that covers my necessary & most of the discretionary spending (just not 'catastrophic' outlay)

[dvalley]

Quote:

Son was married 3 yrs & eventually had to cough up 165k cash (he entered marriage with a townhouse / they sold it / she raided account spent it). He did not have 165k only 30k.

Sorry to hear about your son's situation and I hope it's all water under the bridge now. However, this is just so common that each time I read something like this I can't help but wonder how the courts can allow this still in 2020

[gayl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvalley Sorry to hear about your son's situation and I hope it's all water under the bridge now. However, this is just so common that each time I read something like this I can't help but wonder how the courts can allow this still in 2020

Thanks.

[HFWR]

I’m at about 11% cash, slightly above my 10% allocation. Not doing much, but I try to remember that it’s my buffer from market downturns, and dry powder for the zombie apocalypse. [emoji6]