Sold out of the market last Aug.

[Koolau]

I've become very conservative; retiring next year (age60) but earning 0%. Any thoughts on investing at this point.

ShustS6512, you don't give us much to go on. Not prying, but without a few details, it's difficult to offer many suggestions. For instance, if your yearly need for cash is $50K and your total stash (at 0% return) is $100MM, I wouldn't sweat the conservative bent to your "plan". If, however, you need a 4% withdrawal rate to meet your yearly cash-flow needs, 0% return will mean you will run out of money long before your estimated life-span runs out.

I consider myself very conservative as well. I made up for this by waiting a while to retire until I had a stash which does not require a 4% withdrawal rate to meet my needs. My philosophy is not to maximize my retirement income, but to have adequate income for as long as I may need it. If that means taking only a 2% withdrawal, I'm okay with that. I realize, I'm probably living on less than I could if I were more aggressive, but I am happy with my cash-burn rate and it is NOT 4% of my stash. Therefore, I'm happy with less than the more typical 60/40 stock/bond split on which most of the 4% SWR is based.

I too am impressed (along with clifp) with Running Man's approach. However, I'm too lazy to do the research and worry about all of the tax nuances of using individual stocks. So, most of my stash is in mutual funds within IRA/401(k) vehicles (makes taxes much easier that way). Otherwise, I'm attempting to move as much as possible (within the bounds of tax efficiency) to ROTH IRAs. Once your stash is in ROTHs, the taxes get VERY simple, heh, heh.

My back-up to my conservative approach is not to consider becoming more aggressive in the future, but rather to be in a position to lower my spend rate. I have several options along these lines, so I sleep well at night. I only occasionally envy the folks here who show 20% gains from time to time. If I can eek out 3 to 6% returns on a routine basis (and almost NEVER show a loss) I am extremely happy. Full disclosure: I do have a modest pension and DW collects a small SS on her own. I'm waiting until 70 for SS which will be a significant boost in spendable income for us. THAT is how I cover longevity risk. YMMV

 

[teejayevans]

I wouldn't feel too bad, I listen to a lot of financial porn, and ALL the experts on the radio were saying to get out last August, and those same experts were saying to get back in Jan. and then were saying to get back out in May around the time of the low. Apparently going with the buy high, sell low strategy
TJ

 

[FinanceDude]

OP has not really shared their idea of risk. If I were him, I would take a chunk and buy blue chips like PG, XO, etc, and just let the divedends reinvest, or take them as cash if he wants.........