Well that was interesting to read through. Good for you OP! Bottom line is whatever is best for you. What someone does with their stash of cash is a conglomerate of so many different studies, "rules", probabilities, behavioral tendencies, history, personal preferences, etc... Right or wrong doesn't exist. All I know is my sole goal is to do what I think is best for my wife and me to be able to choose the life we want to live. For us in our early sixties, return of capital is far more important than return on capital. 20/80 mix of equity income fund, intermediate investment grade bonds. We've won the game and enjoying life; experiencing anxiety producing huge swings of our net worth are not part of that enjoyment.