HELP! My name is April and I am newly/unexpectedly retired!

[April2021]

Thank you EVERYONE for your thoughtful advice/opinion and extensive reading list! I appreciate you all and will take my time making a decision. I do think I could do it myself I just need a bit more confidence. I think my reading assignments and the great advice given in this forum can help me formulate a winning long term plan for sure!

By the way- I am loving my retirement. Just not enjoying the decisions required as a result of retirement as much.

 

[Optionality]

by the way- i am loving my retirement. Just not enjoying the decisions required as a result of retirement as much.

I hear you, and it is a bit of a bummer that you have to read up on it. I also imagine the fact you were "pushed" into retirement before you had time to research matters was a bit of a surprise as well.


About the specific advice given, I personally have my 401(k) with Fidelity, and they are fine, but I've heard Vanguard and Schwab are also fine, you invest in very low cost mutual funds with close to zero overhead (My personal "benchmark" is that I want my costs under 0.1% of my assets, ideally under 0.05%). The advice of a simple, lazy 2 or 3-fund portfolio with say a 70% stock/30% bond allocation is a good one, and while it is perhaps not the very best you can do, it is close enough to optimal that further refinement is, in my opinion, more of a hobby than something that one should really expect to make money.


Regarding advice, I will mention one thing that I learned when I took my securities exam: if an advisor is a fiduciary, he or she has to have your best interest at heart, above their own. A regular advisor just needs to have investments that are "appropriate", which is a pretty low bar overall. You can't recommend widows and orphans to invest heavily in some super-risky venue or advise funds that are so ridiculously expensive there is no real hope they will ever outperform the index, but it really doesn't have to be optimal for the client. In other words, assume that the "free" advisors work to make Fidelity/Schwab rich, not you.

 

[Walt34]

By the way- I am loving my retirement. Just not enjoying the decisions required as a result of retirement as much.

This is perfectly normal. Retirement is a huge life change decision and usually irreversible. Like many, my wife and I left lots of money on the table when we retired and we wondered if that was the right choice.

About six months after we'd retired and moved to WV from the DC suburbs we went to visit my sister in northern VA. The first thing she said when she saw us was "You two look more relaxed than I've seen you in years."

That made it very clear that we'd made the correct choice for us.

The decisions do get easier as you grow more accustomed to your new life.

 

[dadu007]

Just stay with Schwab. I use and like them.
Switch from the Intelligent portfolio to a three index fund portfolio with the Schwab equivalents of Vanguard Funds. (Laid out it that "other" well-known forum that starts with "Bogl....."). Very minimal fees and up to you how much cash to keep on hand.
Done and done.

 

[athena53]

By the way- I am loving my retirement. Just not enjoying the decisions required as a result of retirement as much.

I totally agree. I retired rather quickly (one week elapsed between calling my husband and saying "I think I'm going to quit my job on Monday" and my last day in the office) but I'd been over the numbers MANY times. Health insurance was the scariest part and I'd been a property-casualty actuary so it shouldn't have been totally alien- but get DH signed up for Medicare, get COBRA for myself (which they outsourced to a place that didn't send the papers right away and I had a triathlon in the meantime and prayed I wouldn't get injured). It does calm down after that first flurry of changes.

 

[Retired Expat]

I use UBS and PM me if you want a referral to my FA and his team. I pay a flat .5% in fees and no fees on transactions. My portfolio with them started about where you are but is now much more. Have divided my money there into multiple accounts, bond funds, bond ladders, dividend producers, IRA etc

I diversified into rental real estate which generally produces the income I need to live on.

My team at UBS have been incredibly helpful in steering me in the right direction and to many other financial professionals who have saved me and my family millions in taxes and financial headaches

 

[viking111]

Welcome, and congrats on your ER! Here's what I would do:

1. Invest with either Vanguard or Fidelity. Initiate a rollover for your 401(k) from either Vanguard or Fidelity.
2. Look up the Boglehead's 3-fund portfolio. Choose equivalent ETFs: VTI, VSUX, and BNDX. Set your asset allocation (60/40, 70/30, etc.), and buy the funds. Very low expense ratios, DIY, set and forget (mostly), and you have complete control.

Enjoy your ER! Cheers!

I second this. I would add if you want investment advice from that point on you can come in here or BH or hire a per hour advisor to help. Usually a 200 -400 per hour. That is expensive but much cheaper than 1.25% of your entire portfolio.
People in here are much nicer than the BH site.

 

[April2021]

I use UBS and PM me if you want a referral to my FA and his team. I pay a flat .5% in fees and no fees on transactions. My portfolio with them started about where you are but is now much more. Have divided my money there into multiple accounts, bond funds, bond ladders, dividend producers, IRA etc

I diversified into rental real estate which generally produces the income I need to live on.

My team at UBS have been incredibly helpful in steering me in the right direction and to many other financial professionals who have saved me and my family millions in taxes and financial headaches

Thank you Retired Expat for the information. Will surely keep that in mind. Still in my thinking and research stage. Based on the fees I have been quoted, this is more reasonable and if you have been happy with the service and performance that is a plus. The advice in this forum has been awesome overall!!!

 

[April2021]

Just stay with Schwab. I use and like them.
Switch from the Intelligent portfolio to a three index fund portfolio with the Schwab equivalents of Vanguard Funds. (Laid out it that "other" well-known forum that starts with "Bogl....."). Very minimal fees and up to you how much cash to keep on hand.
Done and done.

I like Schwab as well and what you suggested is exactly what I have been thinking if I decide to do it myself. I just know the cash portion MANDATE of the IP is my least favorite thing about the IP but it is probably the only thing that keeps it "free". Thank you.

 

[target2019]

I like Schwab as well and what you suggested is exactly what I have been thinking if I decide to do it myself. I just know the cash portion MANDATE of the IP is my least favorite thing about the IP but it is probably the only thing that keeps it "free". Thank you.

You can also use the Vanquard ETFs at Schwab for no additional cost.

 

[OldShooter]

... I just know the cash portion MANDATE of the IP is my least favorite thing about the IP ...

Really nothing to worry about and nothing urgent here. As you learn how simple investing really is, you will soon have the self-confidence to take over running this money. In the mean time it can sit in the IP and the cash drag is really not that much.