re: New to Forum but NOT investing

[HappilyRetired]

HI everyone, I am coming over from the FID Community. I'd like to see what your community offers and if I can answer any questions OR get many questions answered....Always learning... Been retired two times, 2nd time was after my son asked me to come work for his high tech company, I told him I'd help for one year (as I was sooooo enjoying retirement in my early 50's) and ended up staying for close to 8 years... So retired a second time in 2016, been fully retired now for close to 9 years. Having a wonderful time with kids, grands, traveling, reading, friendships etc. Today was a WILD day in the Market, and I was loving every minute of it. I have been waiting to add to my BDC and CEFs, in my ROTH, as one of our goals is to live off the dividends tax free in the ROTH. If you are reading this and still employed, do everything you can to set up a ROTH account. It is the most powerful retirement tool available to US citizens. If you don't qualify and earn too much income, at least set it up (go to Fidelity, easiest interface and dashboards) and just establish it. You dont' have to fund it, just get the Roth account number for now.

Looking forward to meeting everyone, and hope you had a great day .....

 

[Flyfish1]

Welcome aboard! Wild day indeed. I was just looking at my holdings and very few gains but MO was up 1.35%. Interesting.
Good group of people here and certainly not limited to investing. Lots of chat about , well pretty much everything - so join in where you can.

 

[HappilyRetired]

Thanks so much Flyfish1.....I am assuming you enjoy fly fishing...haha.
I am ForeverRetired at FID, and now HAPPILYretired here at e-r.org
Yes MO and BTI and T, and VZ were all up today because all of a sudden investors are looking for higher yields......So much was down today, so picked up some C, AVGO, JPM, PDO, PDI, CSWC, ARCC, HTGC, etc.

 

[Diogenes]

Mostly a passive investor here, where "passive" means ostrich head in the sand. I've not looked at the market in weeks, and prefer to dwell in the halcyon recent past of February (or whenever it was) highs.

Unlike seemingly everyone else here, my lifelong aim is to never withdraw from my portfolio... I mean literally never. It is purely theoretical, except at tax-time, when the taxable account dividend distributions really really hurt. The upshot is that larger portfolio --> more dividends --> higher taxes --> LESS money in one's pocket. Is that irrational? "Don't judge me". Perhaps severe market declines, and companies curtailing their dividends, will "solve" the tax problem.

Any other fellow ostriches here?

 

[TickTock]

I have been waiting to add to my BDC and CEFs, in my ROTH, as one of our goals is to live off the dividends tax free in the ROTH.

Welcome!

If you get to the point where you do live off of the dividends in your Roth, that leaves room for capital-gains harvesting in a taxable account at the 0% bracket, withdrawals from tax-deferred accounts, and Roth conversions in the lower income brackets. The idea is to manage taxes over your lifetime to have the most left for you / your legacy.

 

[Koolau]

Welcome. You've come to the right place.

 

[HappilyRetired]

Mostly a passive investor here, where "passive" means ostrich head in the sand. I've not looked at the market in weeks, and prefer to dwell in the halcyon recent past of February (or whenever it was) highs.

Unlike seemingly everyone else here, my lifelong aim is to never withdraw from my portfolio... I mean literally never. It is purely theoretical, except at tax-time, when the taxable account dividend distributions really really hurt. The upshot is that larger portfolio --> more dividends --> higher taxes --> LESS money in one's pocket. Is that irrational? "Don't judge me". Perhaps severe market declines, and companies curtailing their dividends, will "solve" the tax problem.

Any other fellow ostriches here?

Hi Diogenes,
There is a guy on Seeking Alpha, called BuyAndHold 2012, and he and his mother have NEVER SOLD A SINGLE SHARE, EVER. And he is very successful....and after I look back over my 45+ years of investing, equities that I sold that I regret are about 75% of my portfolio, and those that I'm glad I sold are 25%. So according to those percentages, I'd say you keep doing what you are doing, invest in good solid dividend companies and keep reaping the rewards...... All dividends from my ROTH are of course tax free so that is why I am buy ETFS and BDCs, as well as equities like BTI, BP, XOM, etc... Good Luck!

 

[HappilyRetired]

Welcome!

If you get to the point where you do live off of the dividends in your Roth, that leaves room for capital-gains harvesting in a taxable account at the 0% bracket, withdrawals from tax-deferred accounts, and Roth conversions in the lower income brackets. The idea is to manage taxes over your lifetime to have the most left for you / your legacy.

That's the goal.....I can't touch Any sales in my brokerage accounts now because of the huge capital gains. Can't wait to have more in my ROTH!

 

[MarieIG]

Welcome to the forum! I am also a fan of the Roth. We look forward to having you aboard.