... I want to hear from people who leave their asset allocation on “extra strength” after the FIRE number is reached. ie maintaining high % equity allocation in the portfolio long after the FIRE number has been attained.
Who has set, or plans to set, their portfolio on accumulation mode after hitting their FIRE number?
Well, I guess we qualify. 73YO, portfolio until recently was 75/25, now reduced to 70/30 after liquidating some equities to build up cash for a real estate purchase.
We have far more than we will ever need, so the equity tranche is really for heirs and charity. And, as you speculated, "It's fun" to watch it grow. On a moral level, I could argue that it's bad stewardship to metaphorically bury one's excess money in a hole versus investing it productively.
I think one factor in people's thinking IMO is the fallacy that volatility is risk. Risk is Enron, Montgomery Wards, General Electric, Sears Holdings, Worldcom, etc. Stocks that go down and never come back. Dips in the markets have, for around 100 years of data history, always come back. Same as riding an actual roller coaster -- no significant risk there either. Hang on and enjoy the ride. Risk from volatility does appear when SORR is considered, but that is what a carefully considered AA is for.
I just did an analysis for a nonprofit investment committee arguing that endowment funds should be almost 100% invested in equities. History as a guide tells us that over time and through the inevitable blips, equities have returned 100x what bonds have returned. For a long-term investor like an endowment fund, blips are don't-cares. As individuals we do not have the infinite time horizon of an endowment fund, but we can still take a pretty long view when the investments are destined to be held by the next generation or by a charity, which also has a long view.
