Poll: % Cash in Portfolio- Read first

[bizlady]

I am curious what percentage of cash most keep in their portfolios.
Please EXCLUDE any cash you may have that supports expenditures for the current year.

For purposes of this poll, cash is defined as money in checking, savings, money market, CD's, plain old cash, either IN or OUT of tax deferred plans.

 

[Earl E Retyre]

FWIW, here is a similar poll done last November.

http://www.early-retirement.org/for...-your-cash-invested-assets-in-cash-84288.html

 

[Senator]

In my 401K, IRA, Roth, and HSA, I have very minimal. Less than .1%.

In my after tax, bank accounts, safe etc, It's a bit higher percentage, but about 2% of the total.

 

[braumeister]

Normally around 2%. It has been as high as 10%, but rarely over 5%.

I'm very flexible about this.

 

[LiveBelowMeans]

The poll groupings do not go high enough. need 25%

 

[lwp2017]

About 3%
1% in 12 month CD at 1.3%, 1% in checking that earns 2.25%, 1% in physical cash.

I have a farm business and cash is used for purchases such as equipment, hay, & livestock . So I have more readily available than is typical

 

[Lsbcal]

I am curious what percentage of cash most keep in their portfolios.
Please EXCLUDE any cash you may have that supports expenditures for the current year.

For purposes of this poll, cash is defined as money in checking, savings, money market, CD's, plain old cash, either IN or OUT of tax deferred plans.

My spending for 2018 (next year?) is basically in VFSUX short term investment grade. So should I say zero % cash?

My logic is that money is moved from the stock/bond portfolio towards cash as it is needed. The steps might be intermediate bonds -> short term bonds -> checking. CD's are not cash IMO, especially longer dated CD's.

 

[Koogie]

A surging market, accumulating dividends and a cheap attitude has resulted in my cash pile growing to big. Currently sitting at 12% I hope (sorta) for some bargains to purchase in the New Year. Of course, it isn't actually in cash but sitting in a money market fund at 1.0% but on an after tax basis that might as well be cash... (

 

[foxfirev5]

The poll groupings do not go high enough. need 25%

+1. Since I use a CD ladder to replace a total bond or treasury fund my cash allocation by the poll criteria is skewed.

 

[Midpack]

My cash target is 3%, but I’ve let cash drift up to 7% as other non-equity asset classes aren’t very attractive now either. I already have almost 40% in bonds.

 

[ace8]

Not ER yet, also need a selection > 20. Just had a business payout this year.

 

[kcowan]

15%
Waiting for a market correction!
Love buying things on sale!
Whatever happened to the Trump slump?

 

[calmloki]

We've now had two property loans payoff in the last two weeks. That puts us at 19.8% cash (which includes gold but not cars or other stuff) as a percentage of our total net worth (which includes home and properties true cash value per the tax man but not cars or stuff). If I include the amount held in California double tax free bonds we are at 25.5% cash. oops.

 

[Henry Lili]

"Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful"
Thus, a larger cash position works for me. Plus, studies on portfolio construction and longevity do show some rational for keeping higher percentages in cash (CDs, MM, and ST treasuries). Worked real well in 2008 and 2009. Rewarded me and enabled me to ER. Wish I totally backed up the truck but did enough to pull the plug much earlier then planned.

 

[W2R]

The cash portion of my AA is 5.5%.

However, at the moment the cash I actually have is 6.56%. I have not sold anything but got some nice dividends last month, which I take in cash. I won't spend my dividends until I withdraw on January 1st for my 2018 spending money.

Not only that, but due to this thread I checked, and I really should rebalance because my equity percentage is high enough to have met my rebalancing triggers. I'll wait few days before doing this, to see if it remains "over the line". Thanks for the thread, which caused me to check this.

 

[jazz4cash]

I am curious what percentage of cash most keep in their portfolios.

Please EXCLUDE any cash you may have that supports expenditures for the current year.



For purposes of this poll, cash is defined as money in checking, savings, money market, CD's, plain old cash, either IN or OUT of tax deferred plans.

I have a feeling your intent was to measure desired cash allocation but several responses indicate temporary conditions that have caused members to have higher than normal percentage in cash. Ten% for me but I am down around 7.

 

[Koogie]

A surging market, accumulating dividends and a cheap attitude has resulted in my cash pile growing to big. Currently sitting at 12% I hope (sorta) for some bargains to purchase in the New Year. Of course, it isn't actually in cash but sitting in a money market fund at 1.0% but on an after tax basis that might as well be cash... (

Damnit... you said read the conditions and I did and I still missed CDs (GICs) as being a criteria..

90% of my fixed income is in CDs. And fixed income is 60% of my portfolio !

Therefore I need a poll option for over 65% cash !!

 

[Car-Guy]

The poll groupings do not go high enough. need 25%

Need a LOT higher than that. At least for one of us. For the last few weeks I've been at 100%

 

[Ready]

Please EXCLUDE any cash you may have that supports expenditures for the current year.

I wasn't sure if you intended to mean only expenses through 12/31, or if you meant to say one year's worth of living expenses. I responded by deducting the one year of living expenses and came up with 14%.

 

[Nemo2]

The poll groupings do not go high enough. need 25%

That's our amount.

 

[Rambler]

We don't take out and separate our yearly living expenses in January (or any other month). Our portfolio typically generates more than enough each month for that month's expenses plus enough to save up for the big tickets like prop tax and insurances. So far, even, we've generated enough cash income without selling and buying, i.e. Just divvies and interest, to be able to save and invest. So I don't keep a boatload of cash. For the poll, I chose 3-5%, although it creeps up from time to time. If push came to shove and there were no more income from dividends and interest, we'd push a lot of discretionary expense way down, and still be able to ride out about 2.5-3 years...maybe more. Of course, if it got that bad (say a North Korea/nuclear scenario), really, all bets are off, and I'd be bartering .22lr rounds for stuff I need...as would everyone else, as stocks, bonds and cash would be meaningless.

 

[FIREd]

Since a large portion of my fixed income allocation is in CDs and I-bonds (if CDs qualify as cash, savings bonds should too IMO), then I have over 25% of my portfolio in cash.

 

[rodi]

I counted CDs and I-bonds... the other cash is for current spending.... so it doesn't count.
I have about 7% in cd's and I-bonds... Overall I have close to 40% bonds - but most of it is in bond funds... the i-bonds are kind of a cash slush fund.

 

[RobLJ]

15%--I've been skimming gains into cash and bonds for the last 18 months and before that in 2015. Keeping the stock allocation at the bottom of the range; this year's gains are 4 years of minimum expenses; 3 years of regular expenses. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, but I'd prefer to keep those gains.

 

[jollystomper]

18% - I am keeping it high as to not be forced to sell equities during market downturns to cover our target SWR before I reach full SS retirement in about 7 years. Of course, this will be adjusted based upon my portfolio levels and if I decide to take SS early. I am going to have to withdraw money from retirement accounts to avoid massive RMDs down the road, so that will impact things as well.