IndependentlyPoor
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
VTSMX fell 2.47% yesterday (Vanguard total stock market index fund for the non-Bogleheads). VBFMX (Vanguard total bond market fund) was up 0.29%. That means that a 50/50 portfolio fell by 1.09%. For retirees living on 4% SWR, that is 3 months living expenses in one day. It is not at all uncommon to have your new worth change by more than a month's living expenses before lunch.
In the 2420 trading days since Jan. 1, 2000, the value of a 50/50 VTSMX/VBMFX portfolio would have changed by more than a month's living expenses (4%/12) about half the time. It would have changed by more than 3 month's expenses about a tenth of the time, or twice a month.
One of the hard things for me to get accustomed to in retirement is the frequent and large swings in net worth. It is very different from when you were young, had a salary, and your portfolio was small. Somebody once said that a man who know how much he has doesn' t have much (or something like that), and it is true.
In the 2420 trading days since Jan. 1, 2000, the value of a 50/50 VTSMX/VBMFX portfolio would have changed by more than a month's living expenses (4%/12) about half the time. It would have changed by more than 3 month's expenses about a tenth of the time, or twice a month.
One of the hard things for me to get accustomed to in retirement is the frequent and large swings in net worth. It is very different from when you were young, had a salary, and your portfolio was small. Somebody once said that a man who know how much he has doesn' t have much (or something like that), and it is true.