ShortSkirt
Confused about dryer sheets
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2022
- Messages
- 2
Stopped working in '2011. My partner did so in '2018.
He's the "financial guru" in our union (and very savvy and experienced in this), while I've been shying away from most things related to finance management.
I'm finally taking to heart his multiple prudent suggestions to make myself fluent in investing, taxation and financial matters - while I still have the ability to learn.
We have always lived below our means, managed to send 2 kids to private college and fully launch them, to save, to invest and to live comfortably. Both of us are very thrifty shoppers.
Our non-discretionary expenses in retirement are covered by my partner's (non-COLA, although very secure) private pension, the portfolio is used for the discretionary ones, which we keep relatively low (they never exceed 1x essential expenses, and some years are about $10k just to pay income tax for Roth conversions).
The post-retirement travel is not much, and mostly domestic, given that we have lived in Europe for decades, and still occasionally visit a few properties we have left there.
We are about to get ripe for SS benefits in 2029 (@ ages 70 and 67), at which point we won't need a penny from the portfolio (bar unforeseen catastrophic expenses).
We both seem pretty level-headed regarding equities. Moved to the US in '97, started investing in '99, survived frothy markets in 2001-02, 2007-09, 2020, never sold, kept buying as much as possible during the downturns. I can not foresee our temperament changing for the worse under any circumstances. It appears my partner is sort of a Boglehead, I seem to be a follower as well.
My understanding is that our portfolio maintains a flexible AA, where the volume of the fixed income portion is calculated to cover any foreseeable expenses until 2029 so we would not need to sell any depreciating equities in a downmarket scenario. This volume is currently about 29% of the portfolio, and is reduced each year to keep the remainder still sufficient for said needs. It is aimed to reach 20% in 2029. The rest is in index funds (Mutual and ETF) - a mix of US and international equities. I do understand the reasoning behind this setup, and fully embrace it.
I am not seeking any advice here regarding our AA, just posting it here to clarify our status and intentions.
I'm pretty experienced with online forums and know how to ask for a suggestion - if and when I do need one.
A few weeks ago I did my first Roth conversion, today's lesson was to do a dividends withdrawal from a taxable brokerage account, and then sell a few shares of a mutual fund in my Roth IRA to replenish our checking account, all under close supervision. All done online, pretty easy, but I did not learn much from this - I'd rather develop my thinking a bit further, which the mechanics should then follow.
So, here I am, saying hello to all of you, hoping to make myself a bit more comfortable with financial decisions and directions, and with the lingo, the more I read this forum and your postings.
He's the "financial guru" in our union (and very savvy and experienced in this), while I've been shying away from most things related to finance management.
I'm finally taking to heart his multiple prudent suggestions to make myself fluent in investing, taxation and financial matters - while I still have the ability to learn.
We have always lived below our means, managed to send 2 kids to private college and fully launch them, to save, to invest and to live comfortably. Both of us are very thrifty shoppers.
Our non-discretionary expenses in retirement are covered by my partner's (non-COLA, although very secure) private pension, the portfolio is used for the discretionary ones, which we keep relatively low (they never exceed 1x essential expenses, and some years are about $10k just to pay income tax for Roth conversions).
The post-retirement travel is not much, and mostly domestic, given that we have lived in Europe for decades, and still occasionally visit a few properties we have left there.
We are about to get ripe for SS benefits in 2029 (@ ages 70 and 67), at which point we won't need a penny from the portfolio (bar unforeseen catastrophic expenses).
We both seem pretty level-headed regarding equities. Moved to the US in '97, started investing in '99, survived frothy markets in 2001-02, 2007-09, 2020, never sold, kept buying as much as possible during the downturns. I can not foresee our temperament changing for the worse under any circumstances. It appears my partner is sort of a Boglehead, I seem to be a follower as well.
My understanding is that our portfolio maintains a flexible AA, where the volume of the fixed income portion is calculated to cover any foreseeable expenses until 2029 so we would not need to sell any depreciating equities in a downmarket scenario. This volume is currently about 29% of the portfolio, and is reduced each year to keep the remainder still sufficient for said needs. It is aimed to reach 20% in 2029. The rest is in index funds (Mutual and ETF) - a mix of US and international equities. I do understand the reasoning behind this setup, and fully embrace it.
I am not seeking any advice here regarding our AA, just posting it here to clarify our status and intentions.
I'm pretty experienced with online forums and know how to ask for a suggestion - if and when I do need one.
A few weeks ago I did my first Roth conversion, today's lesson was to do a dividends withdrawal from a taxable brokerage account, and then sell a few shares of a mutual fund in my Roth IRA to replenish our checking account, all under close supervision. All done online, pretty easy, but I did not learn much from this - I'd rather develop my thinking a bit further, which the mechanics should then follow.
So, here I am, saying hello to all of you, hoping to make myself a bit more comfortable with financial decisions and directions, and with the lingo, the more I read this forum and your postings.
