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I made comments in an earlier thread that my belated retirement was going to trigger a market correction. Well, here we are beginning my second week and we've given back all of 2015 gains (really just February's since January wasn't much). I couldn't take advantage of this event since it would...

Anyone in The Woodlands area care to meet a Goose Acres for lunch on 2 March? Either reply to this message or send me a personal message. If another day would be better, let me know that too.

There was a thread recently (something about a derivative exchange) where I made a disparaging comment on being classified an "accredited investor" is nothing more than an invitation to attempt to scam you. You need that distinction to invest in hedge funds which receive lots of hype. Many...

Our upstream division is on hard times and laying people off. I heard a rumor today that people are being told to come in for their exit interviews on Monday when being RIF'd on Friday. I haven't check but I'm not sure it isn't a labor law violation. If it isn't, it comes across as tacky...

DW asked me last night what would make me not retire. I had to think about that just a few minutes. Massive amounts of money might but a "big" raise wouldn't. No sane person would pay me what it would take to have me stay. The company has offices all over the world and sometimes people get...

I am soon to finally retire and end my reign as OMY champion (I think). This means losing the employer health insurance subsidy and going onto COBRA at about $12k/yr. This is about the same cost as an individual plan for me and DW. The big difference is the $3k family deductible vs an...

The high on the S&P was set at 2019.26 on 19 September. The 10% correction will be officially achieved at 1817.33. So far, the days low as of this post is 1820.66. We may not hold above this into the close but this is close enough for me to say we've now corrected 10%. My Vanguard CFP...

I would usually be putting together European trip plans now and getting DW to buy in. Spain had been on the list this year. With it becoming obvious, ebola will move into Europe to some extent, is anyone besides me delaying decision making until the situation becomes more clear? I think our...

As part of my preparations to actually and finally retire, I thought I'd take advantage of my free financial plan available through Vanguard. I was looking for a professional second opinion of what I think was pretty much covered. I also have used it to hopefully calm DW who has recently started...

I've made several comments in other posts about my intention to finally retire in January 2015. I will say that once I had firmly made this decision it's getting harder to get up in the morning and come in. Unfortunately, I feel I have a financial issue that makes it worth waiting. I'll also...

I find myself about to receive a windfall that will be taxed as ordinary income. This will push my tax rate up and most of the windfall will be taxed at the 28 or 33% rate. Not wishing to give this to the tax man, I am considering ways to avoid the taxable income. A charitable trust through...

I have just received a lump sum offer for a vested pension with a former employer. I have not started this pension yet so the actual payment will increase by approximately 5% every year I delay. I am solidly in the "one year more" group. I've been FI since 2003 but I continue to soldier on...

It's now possible to get an online version of the social security statement we used to get in the mail every year. https://www.socialsecurity.gov/ They've added a section where you can see the total social security and medicare payments you and your employer made. Since a good half of my...

Hopefully, the link to his article will get posted without any problems. Sometimes I have had problems. Reverse Mortgages: Their Time Has Come - Registered Investment Advisor In this he links to a JPF article touting how retirees can boost their SWR up above 6% with a reverse mortgage. I...

I have not heard one TV or radio pundit sound like a bull. The best I've heard is vague comments like "it will turn around eventually but I don't know when." I've heard numerous people say the "buy and hold is dead and anyone still in the market is a dumbsh*t." Looking at the credit and...

About 18 months ago when rebalancing I decided not to go to an (almost) all ETF portfolio. My reasons were relatively low volume and wide bid-ask spreads on some of the ETFs. Things seem to have changed so I might do a flip-flop. The ETFs of interest are VTI (all market), VB (US small cap)...

I read Scott Burns' latest article and my initial reaction was to shout BS. As I thought about the details, it seems to make sense. It also addresses many of the threads that bemoan there seriously reduced SWR. Here's the link.... Sometimes, Down Is Up - Registered Investment Advisor It...

Well, not really. I sold my IWD and SPY that were in my taxable account. I immediately bought approximately the same dollar amount of VTI. I may or may not undo this in late December. My tax deferred accounts are untouched. I am now the proud owner of 20 years of $3,000 deductions for Sch D...

I am just about ready to hire a professional hit man. The problem is I don't quite know who to direct the "hit" at. As those that follow my periodic annuity rants know, my father opened an annuity in 1995 with the insurance money (whole life policy) from his wife/my mother. The annuity was...

Have you heard? We're going into a recession. That brilliant thought seemed to have started the mess in Asia and what we'll get blasted with later today. Have we capitulated recently? Or is that copulated? I keep getting confused. :p I'm ready for the volatility to stop. Well, I'm at...

I'm getting tired of all this crapola. I remember when a 1% market move was a big deal either up or down. Now, a 1% market move is considered a "flat" day. I'm tired of hearing after the 800th time about "we're entering a recession." If I never hear about "deleveraging" again it will be too...

My 2000 computer is showing signs of problems plus it's way out of date. My FIL's computer is about a 2004 version and works much better. I'm going to move everything over but I've got a problem. Does anyone know how to run two different Quicken data sets on one version of Quicken? The...

I just thought I'd start a new "ain't it awful" tread about the stock market. It really sucks. At least that's my opinion.

There was a recent thread (I won't resurrect) that discussed a recent article claiming that the PE10 during the initial phase of retirement determines the actual 95% SWR. The premise was low PE's at retirement allow a higher SWR than high PE's. John Greaney reviewed this data and has an...

Someone met with a fee-only FA last night and was told "that since his wife had taken out a lump sum from the Texas Teacher Retirement System several years ago she would not be able to collect the spousal SS benefit." He thinks that is BS and I agree but the FA might be right. He called the...