<p>Busdriver: So as not to hijack the thread, I sent a PM. Would love your input!</p>
<p>We were out with some friends that have been retired a while. They seem to do a good job on financial research etc. One thing they suggested was that if intereted in annuities, try to do it by age 55. Most good ones they found need 10 year startup. </p>
<p>After the stock market dropped down today Iâm so glad I took the annuity vs the lump sump. My friend texted me that she might have to delay retirement for one year. I was thinking of my sister, I told her to move money to cash on the part she might need for her new house but I a not sure she listened to me.
Anyone feels the pain? Mad money guy said more pain will be coming next week.</p>
<p>Talked to a friend today who is ready to retire next year, he converted all his deferred comp portfolio from mutual funds to fixed assets (guaranteed rate of return) last week before the market took a big hit this week. He may slowly get back into the mutual funds/stock market when the market turns around.</p>
<p>For me, I am kicking myself not having done that, now I may have to watch my deferred comp balance keep going down and probably have to wait for a long time before it gets back to the level before this market drop. I do not need any of that money to live off at the moment, still got more than 10 years before RMD.</p>
<p>For all you experts out there, is parking the deferred comp at fixed asset a better strategy? Major reason is for security, but then there wonât be any real chance of appreciation when market takes off.</p>
<p>What is your opinion? </p>
<p>I would not describe myself as an expert and no one knows where the market is going. I would only observe that if you think this is a big drop in the market you havenât been watching very long. It is not even as big as 2011 yet, let alone 2000-02 or 2008.</p>
<p>I love it when people tell me, after the fact, that they made a financial move just before the market spiked or tanked. It lets me know they are liars and I shouldnât believe anything else they say, either. No need to argue with them or express doubts - just smile, not, and make a note.</p>
<p>MomofJandL,
My H really did do that before the 2008 crash. He heard something on talk radio that concerned him and took most of his stocks and put them into bonds. It saved us a lot of misery. Why would someone lie about that?</p>
<p>@MomofJandLâ , on the Boglehead forum, thereâs the occasional âgenius in retrospectâ who is asked to say prospectively what they intend to do, and then the forum will follow up. </p>
<p>I didnât see anything coming, with one exception, but Iâm proudest of doing nothing, just staying the course, during the routs of the past decade or so. When I invest new money, I have a choice of going into bonds, stocks, or a balanced fund. Whichever one has done poorly recently, thatâs what I buy more of. </p>
<p>The one exception was when I noticed that my secretary, who didnât know anything about financial markets, was day trading along with her friends. I was not allowed to short anything, my job didnât allow it, but I avoided a lot of bloodshed during the dot com debacle. </p>
<p>EPTR, why do people lie about anything? Iâm not saying itâs never true, but I have noticed a very high correlation between people who brag of making timely financial moves and people who turn out to be not trustworthy in other respects. And Iâm not doubting your husbandâs move, just saying that not everyone who claims to have gotten out (or in) just in time really did.</p>
<p>When I was on a frading floor there was this trader that liked to show me his trades. Just certain trades. He would walk over and show me a trading confirmation and say, âI bought the bottomâ. </p>
<p>I guess the other trading confirmations sitting in his pockets werenât that good. ;)</p>
<p>FWIW, this is an interesting thread and all, but when disability and illness rear their ugly heads, have a plan in place.</p>
<p>A very dear friend of mine passed away last week, after complications from a 3-year battle with cancer most of which was spent working full-time and relatively âhealthyâ. Eligible for retirement 15 years ago, but wanted to âmax outâ. As recently as six months ago and several times before that, I told them to retire and start relaxing and they didnât, they wanted to get âthe right amount in the retirement accountâ. Their spouse now has all their accrued sick time and the life insurance payment and the pension.</p>
<p>Donât overthink what you are doing based on what others do. And consider - maybe changing jobs will work out better than retiring and not working at all, if you think youâll have a shortfall.</p>
<p>Somebody died at my work place recently too. Very sad. I too spend my time trying to tell people to retire. My secretary had tongue cancer but was removed and now ok. Last week I helped her look up her retirement benefit so she knows she can retire.</p>
<p>In 2000 the stocks that I bought and sold lost me the most money. The day trading made me money. So yeah it does work reverse for some people.
I too was in cash in 2008 and 2009 due to luck because my husband transferred job and hadnât got his paperwork ready yet. But we also missed the bounce back due to Mad money guy.</p>
<p>âI love it when people tell me, after the fact, that they made a financial move just before the market spiked or tanked. It lets me know they are liars and I shouldnât believe anything else they say, either. No need to argue with them or express doubts - just smile, not, and make a noteâ</p>
<p>That is a rather oddly extreme generalization. Every now and then people are fortunate enough to hit the bottom or the top of the market, and thatâs the move they are happy about. Itâs just like gambling. We remember and talk about our big wins, but donât remember or discuss the multitude of losses. Telling someone that you made a timely move in the market doesnât make you a liar about everything else.</p>
<p>My parents were thrilled they took everything out of the market when the Dow was about 13K (I think), right before it tanked down to 6500. Took some advice from a friend, which was excellent advice. But then they havenât put it back in, so Iâd say they are far worse off than they would have been if theyâd just have left it. So because they told me about that first smart move, I guess they must be liars about everything else. Iâll just smile and nod.</p>
<p>Barrons told everybody in the investment thread he sold out a while now if you pay attention. I guess people donât pay attention. For some accounts I never touched it if I have the right asset allocation. For the gambling account, I tend to take advantage of the small swings. </p>
<p>Busdriver, thatâs what we did and it was difficult to get back in the game but we did eventually move the money back in. I think we should have done it a bit earlier but hindsight is always 20/20. </p>
<p>Our concern at the moment, in regard to retiring, is getting term life insurance to bridge the financial gap if something happens to H or I before retirement age. I would not get his pension and wonât ever get his SS because I am in the teacherâs retirement system. If he were to die in the next six years, I would be under a financial strain. We just applied for term life policies and I had my physical yesterday. I am healthy and take care of myself, go to dr. appts. etc. My H, not so much. He has type 2 diabetes that he pretty much ignores and now heâs trying to âcramâ for his physical by watching what he eats and exercising. Years of nagging him to take care of himself, for the sake of his family, have not moved him. Money is a powerful motivator, I guess.
I just know that his blood work is going to cost us a lot in premiums.</p>
<p>EPTR, I finally convinced my husband to move back around 10,000+ but he was nervous. Then I moved out at 13,000 when I thought it was top but moved back soon after I realized I was wrong. Of course hindsight is always 20/20 so now I focus on assets allocation to avoid move back and forth.</p>
<p>I can understand not getting SS benefits since you have a state pension, but why wouldnât you be eligible for survivor benefits from your Hâs pension? </p>
<p>I have the same term insurance for my husband and myself when my second child was born. I still save the same blood works and compare to the recent one for my husband. Itâs technically the same. But I never increase the amount because I didnât want to drop it for paying too much insurance, kind of like over insure.
It doesnât cost much because I took out the insurance from IEEE and Iâm the younger spouse. Had it been the opposite, we would have to pay more. Iâm sure when I get to 60 the premium will go up.</p>