Time to Move Forward- Life Story

[earlyretirement]

First of all, don't pick on my name. I had used it for my 401k and it just carried over to a couple of forums besides this one.

As a member of the ER community about 10 years, I haven't taken much advantage of it. My intent was to retire in my low 50"s (will hit FRA next September). Unfortunately life hit me square between the eyes with health issues, first with me at 49 1/2 and later with my better half. Just started treatment again after all this time which should give me a long stretch without having to worry about it. I will retire before the end of the year as long as my prognosis is good, problem is I have made a lot of poor decisions the last number of years, I have been WAY underinvested. I've still managed to have saved what seems like "enough".

Details-
-House is paid for and is worth approx. 350k. Plan to sell it and to move to warmer weather, the wife if miserable in the cold. Probably will spend about 150k more for the new house from what I can see.

-Assets are about 2.3mm total not including the house, 750k in cash account and the remainder in retirement accounts both taxable and ROTH. Presently much of the retirement money is sitting in cash.

-Aside from normal living expenses, the only bill I pay is for a 2021 Outback at 0 percent. I chose to go that route in case there were any problems with it, certainly I could have paid cash which is my normal way. Call it $850 month for 32 more months.

More Details-
-Getting hammered a few times in the market and the big hit I took on APPL options about the time I joined this forum has turned me into a chicken. I know buy and hold wins the race but I've been reluctant to buy back in for a while as it seems like a correction is getting closer.
-I went to a "free seminar" a while back, not the first time and was again told I have won the race and annuities were the way to go. I felt that getting a guaranteed 5% wouldn't be a bad thing (the last offer) but my son who works for an insurance company and was an underwriter says not to do it because he thinks insurance companies will be taken over by the government within 10 years and I could lose it. Probably bad advice but.

Help-
-Where do I go from here. Are my fears finally to the point where they may actually happen with the next crash and it waiting now the best course of action? Should I dump at least some of it into annuities and hope for the best? Bury gold in the back yard

-One last question, I have a Vanguard account and am thinking that I really don't like them, as a long time TD Ameritrade user I just don't like their website. Is Fidelity any better site wise? The last thing is that I like to dabble in options (yes, still after the drubbing I got in AAPL), is Fidelity better for that than Vanguard and do either of them allow options in retirement accounts, calls, puts, vertical spreads?

Any thoughts will be appreciated, thanks ahead of time-- ER

 

[Romer]

Reading through seems with SS coming up, at least the FRA and the amount of assets you have you likely are in good shape. The thing that is missing is annual expenses. Have you tracked your last few years expenses and know what to expect with contingency going forward? Do you have other expenses like kids college etc to worry about?

It does seem a contradiction that you are gun-shy about buying back into the market, but like Options trading.

I think which broker is best is a personal preference and how you use them. I like TD Ameritrade and it gives me everything I need. It fits my use of mostly hold, but also use of stock/fund screeners I augment with an Internet search. Its easy to buy, sell and transfer funds. But that fits my use.

 

[athena53]

I went to a "free seminar" a while back, not the first time and was again told I have won the race and annuities were the way to go. I felt that getting a guaranteed 5% wouldn't be a bad thing (the last offer) but my son who works for an insurance company and was an underwriter says not to do it because he thinks insurance companies will be taken over by the government within 10 years and I could lose it. Probably bad advice but.

There are plenty of threads here on annuities so I won't repeat all the points here, but I'm a retired property-casualty actuary and wouldn't touch them. Very lucrative fore the seller and the "advisor" but too many moving parts, and generally you reap very little from upsides in the market in return for the protection against downturns. About the only good thing I could say is that they'd tie up some of your money to keep you from losing it due to bad investing moves, but you can work on that yourself. Government takeover would NOT be one of my concerns.

 

[aja8888]

Watertown, CT.....I grew up in Oakville.

Welcome to the group!

 

[tmitchell]

Sorry to hear about your health woes. I just pulled the plug on work and I’m mid 50s. So far so good.

My intent is to die with zero. We don’t have kids and I plan to do my charitable giving while I’m around to enjoy it. I am more conservative than many here because I don’t feel the need to grow my wealth beyond what I need and want.

You know you’re losing to inflation so why not just take a conservative position in an index? 40% or so. This assumes your spending is in line with your NW.

I use vanguard and they are behind the times with their website but it’s functional and if you’re not on there every day trading who cares?

Good luck. Hope you enjoy your freedom soon.

 

[earlyretirement]

Reading through seems with SS coming up, at least the FRA and the amount of assets you have you likely are in good shape. The thing that is missing is annual expenses. Have you tracked your last few years expenses and know what to expect with contingency going forward? Do you have other expenses like kids college etc to worry about?

It does seem a contradiction that you are gun-shy about buying back into the market, but like Options trading.

I think which broker is best is a personal preference and how you use them. I like TD Ameritrade and it gives me everything I need. It fits my use of mostly hold, but also use of stock/fund screeners I augment with an Internet search. Its easy to buy, sell and transfer funds. But that fits my use.

Thank you for the reply, current annual expenses run 45k for the last couple of years but with the car loan and inflation, this year will be a bit higher. I guess you can call us frugal.

Kids are out on their own and haven't been coming back much with extended hands lately.

SS is coming at FRA at pretty much the max for me, one month before the wife hits 65. I'll have to crunch the numbers if it's a worthwhile wait for her but with health issues, may just take it sooner at about 7% less than half of mine.

My option trading is mostly calls and vertical spreads, mostly having the possibility in the spreads of losing 2500 to 3k for the full burn out. Don't have much going on at any particular time and I don't lose it all any of the time anymore, I do OK with it but am comfortable with the possible losses in the overall scheme of things.

 

[earlyretirement]

There are plenty of threads here on annuities so I won't repeat all the points here, but I'm a retired property-casualty actuary and wouldn't touch them. Very lucrative fore the seller and the "advisor" but too many moving parts, and generally you reap very little from upsides in the market in return for the protection against downturns. About the only good thing I could say is that they'd tie up some of your money to keep you from losing it due to bad investing moves, but you can work on that yourself. Government takeover would NOT be one of my concerns.

Just getting of thinking about it so much, maybe Mr. Malkiel is correct but I hate the thought of going full in before a crash

 

[earlyretirement]

Watertown, CT.....I grew up in Oakville.

Welcome to the group!

I am originally from Prospect, graduated HS in 74

 

[aja8888]

I am originally from Prospect, graduated HS in 74

I lived in Southbury back in the 1970's and worked for Anaconda (American Brass), then took a job with Big Oil in California, Now in Texas since 1992. I guess I am a native Texan now! I still have a sister and nephews in Waterbury and I try to visit once per year.

There is lots of good information to be had here, and the members are top shelf and always willing to help if you have questions.

 

[VanWinkle]

You seem to have enough, but are unable to leave well enough alone due to your emotions. That is where you need to spend time and educate yourself on how to invest in a way that calms your emotions. This should be boring, not exciting. If you want exciting, there are numerous ways to make bets.

I wish you good luck and hope you are able to find success in your investing.

VW

 

[RobbieB]

I did the options thing for a while. Lost 10 grand. I just hold equities now.

 

[VanWinkle]

I did the options thing for a while. Lost 10 grand. I just hold equities now.

Smart move RobbieB!!! It's like buying or selling Insurance, and the house always wins.

 

[chassis]

First of all, don't pick on my name. I had used it for my 401k and it just carried over to a couple of forums besides this one.

As a member of the ER community about 10 years, I haven't taken much advantage of it. My intent was to retire in my low 50"s (will hit FRA next September). Unfortunately life hit me square between the eyes with health issues, first with me at 49 1/2 and later with my better half. Just started treatment again after all this time which should give me a long stretch without having to worry about it. I will retire before the end of the year as long as my prognosis is good, problem is I have made a lot of poor decisions the last number of years, I have been WAY underinvested. I've still managed to have saved what seems like "enough".

Details-
-House is paid for and is worth approx. 350k. Plan to sell it and to move to warmer weather, the wife if miserable in the cold. Probably will spend about 150k more for the new house from what I can see.

-Assets are about 2.3mm total not including the house, 750k in cash account and the remainder in retirement accounts both taxable and ROTH. Presently much of the retirement money is sitting in cash.

-Aside from normal living expenses, the only bill I pay is for a 2021 Outback at 0 percent. I chose to go that route in case there were any problems with it, certainly I could have paid cash which is my normal way. Call it $850 month for 32 more months.

More Details-
-Getting hammered a few times in the market and the big hit I took on APPL options about the time I joined this forum has turned me into a chicken. I know buy and hold wins the race but I've been reluctant to buy back in for a while as it seems like a correction is getting closer.
-I went to a "free seminar" a while back, not the first time and was again told I have won the race and annuities were the way to go. I felt that getting a guaranteed 5% wouldn't be a bad thing (the last offer) but my son who works for an insurance company and was an underwriter says not to do it because he thinks insurance companies will be taken over by the government within 10 years and I could lose it. Probably bad advice but.

Help-
-Where do I go from here. Are my fears finally to the point where they may actually happen with the next crash and it waiting now the best course of action? Should I dump at least some of it into annuities and hope for the best? Bury gold in the back yard

-One last question, I have a Vanguard account and am thinking that I really don't like them, as a long time TD Ameritrade user I just don't like their website. Is Fidelity any better site wise? The last thing is that I like to dabble in options (yes, still after the drubbing I got in AAPL), is Fidelity better for that than Vanguard and do either of them allow options in retirement accounts, calls, puts, vertical spreads?

Any thoughts will be appreciated, thanks ahead of time-- ER

I am a satisfied Fidelity client. Yes, they allow options in IRA accounts.

 

[Bullwinkle]

Just getting of thinking about it so much, maybe Mr. Malkiel is correct but I hate the thought of going full in before a crash

If it helps, I went full in on equities (full market index) right before the 2008 crash. If I look at the investment returns graph now it's a tiny red blip at the foot of a mountain. Of course I was quite far from any thoughts of retirement at that time.

 

[Luvtoride]

but my son who works for an insurance company and was an underwriter says not to do it because he thinks insurance companies will be taken over by the government within 10 years and I could lose it. Probably bad advice but.

There may be plenty of reasons to NOT consider buying annuity products but this is NOT one of them. I don’t think I’d listen to your son with predictions like this!

Best of luck to you and be well.

 

[Romer]

SS is coming at FRA at pretty much the max for me, one month before the wife hits 65. I'll have to crunch the numbers if it's a worthwhile wait for her but with health issues, may just take it sooner at about 7% less than half of mine.

If your wife has earned less than half of what you have in SS payments, she can collect spousal payments while you are alive which is half of what you get.

The half caps out at 67 so you should research the rules and get an estimate on the Government SS site. You have to create an account to run estimates

 

[Finance Dave]

Sorry to hear about your health woes. I just pulled the plug on work and I’m mid 50s. So far so good.

My intent is to die with zero. We don’t have kids and I plan to do my charitable giving while I’m around to enjoy it. I am more conservative than many here because I don’t feel the need to grow my wealth beyond what I need and want.

You know you’re losing to inflation so why not just take a conservative position in an index? 40% or so. This assumes your spending is in line with your NW.

I use vanguard and they are behind the times with their website but it’s functional and if you’re not on there every day trading who cares?

Good luck. Hope you enjoy your freedom soon.

This is about what I would say. I was very aggressive with my asset allocation when I was young, but after FIRE I'm now a "chicken" like you and only have about 25% in equities. I have a large chunk in real estate, we have 5 paid-for rentals. The rest is in very safe investments. As my brother once said..."You only have to get rich once"...and I'm just not willing to lose it.

One thing that you may find helps you sleep better is to get into equities slowly...maybe 3-5% every quarter for a year or two. That will let you know how your brain feels as the market swings...and if you find that you have trouble sleeping you can stop or dial things back a bit.

Also, keep in mind that if you invest NOTHING in equities, you're also taking on significant risk...inflation risk and longevity risk!

Good luck, and I hope you continue on your healthy path.