Congrats! Screw the outside, bus. B-) 
Quiet bunch. Busy getting ready for the holidays? Or scrambling on year end financial planning.
We are still looking at setup for DAF (Donor Advisor Fund - ours would be Shwab
https://www.schwabcharitable.org/public/charitable/home). Coincidentally after I asked the church treasurer about it his financial planner suggested similar idea due to changes in tax laws.
Wishing the market would stop going downā¦
I have most of our ROTHS in stocks - but I donāt think we will be pulling anything out for 10 years, so we are just holdingā¦
Our little horde of biotechs is hanging onā¦ it never spiked with the market in the first place, and we are in for the long ride. To cancer cure and beyond! Now I probably jinxed it! 
Holding onto our mutual funds, too. Mr. sold his āairplanesā and ācarsā againā¦ his trading account was doing OK but this latest downspiral probably got even him.
Weāve recently consulted with two different professional financial advisers with two different answers to the question of what to do with the retirement portfolio, which has been 100% in diversified stock, for my wife whoās retiring earlier than anticipated. One pretty much said she should change the portfolio to 60% in stock and 40% in bonds. The other said keep everything the way it is except to have enough in cash reserve to ride out the possible recession. Two different advises with significant implications.
Iām an outlier, with relatively little in the stock market. Iāve been buying developable land at discounted prices.
Smart, @sherpa. Land is what is not being made anymore (unless it is on the Big Island ;). ). We are too busy to do land dealsā¦ so whatever land we sit on plus the stocks we own is it for us.
It really depends on age, how much you have and what your annual spend is. If you have say, $10M, and you only spend $40k per year, 100% equities is probably no risk. In contract, if you/she only has $1M in the portfolio, then 100% equities is s huge risk. That amount can spin off $40k per year now, but it cannot if the market drops 40% like it did in '08/'09.
Age is also a factor: is she 55 or 65?
Personally, I ascribe to the U-shaped theory. ~40/50% bonds at age ~60, but increasing equities after 70 when SS can kick in.
My wifeās 54 and her own retirement savings will not be touched until well past 60. Sheāll be retiring in a couple months and weāll be living off from the combination of my SS (Iām 62), my retirement savings and her company stock dividend income. During her 25 years as a pharmacist, sheās maximized her retirement contributions, so she has a sizable retirement asset. Weāve also systematically purchased her company stocks since early '90s and also maximized employee stock grants as well as discount purchases and regular automatic purchases through her paycheck. We will not touch that and hopefully weāll be in a position to hand them over to our kids. Her sizable company stock ownership is probably the most risky strategy on our part, but we still feel pretty confident in the company, so weāre not diversifying that part of our asset portfolio. When my wife retires, she still plans on being a PRN pharmacist, so she can maintain her flexible schedule by only choosing to work when she wants to. How often she works as a PRN will depend on our financial circumstances and, of course, whether the PRN shifts are available or not.
āHer sizable company stock ownership is probably the most risky strategy on our part, but we still feel pretty confident in the company, so weāre not diversifying that part of our asset portfolio.ā
Imho, she will be leaving too many eggs in one basket. All it takes is the company to be investigated and āboomā- down the drain it all goes.
Iād advise selling most of her companies stock upon her retirement and diversify the holdings.
Concur. The only caveat is to try to manage the tax burden, such as selling in a low income year.
How many people thought GE, Sears, Deutsche Bank were solid, not to mention Lehman?
Diversify. You are taking uncompensated risk.
ETA: taxes schmaxes. LTCG is not the
Bogeyman. Donāt let the tax tail wag the retirement dog.
Youāre of course right in your recommendation. Iām not unaware of other once āgreatā companies that went under, either. This part is where I know Iām āgambling,ā so Iām wrestling with the dilemma. Walgreens (WBA) is a great company stock with decades of consecutive dividend raises and currently positioning itself globally. It used to be even a greater company to work for when it used to be under Walgreens family control. Weāre fortunate that my wifeās able to get out after two decades that the Walgreens family took good care of their employees. Itās been miserable since. For now Iām going to stay put and continue to keep a close eye on the directions that the company is taking its share holders. But my stance can change at any point, so weāll see.
beside the risk of WBA having severe financial difficulties, you also have the risk of under-performance relative to the market. What happens to retailers income (and stock price), for example, if the feds start allowing/requiring more OTC and/or lowering drug prices, such as they have in Mexico and Canada?
Yup, all such concerns are real and something thatās been on my mind for the past few years. For Walgreens and its archrival, CVS, their greatest threat right now, along with all the other concerns, is Amazon. For this reason, Walgreens just announced yesterday that theyāve partnered with FedEx for next-day delivery of prescription drugs. Theyāve most recently partnered, too, with Kroger to sell some grocery items at selected Walgreen stores in response to the threat that Amazon Whole Foods poses for them. Iām watching it all with a great deal of interest, of course.
all of the retailers are in turmoil. Our Walgreens is walking distance, but weāve given up using them for Rx after problem after problem. I thought is was just me until I read their Yelp reviews ā worst that I have ever seen. Problems I encounter have been experienced for years ā canāt believe that management can read those reviews themselves and do something about it.
Dispite the walkability, weāve moved onto a competitor.
When Walgreens used to be controlled by the family, the top corporate managers were pharmacists themselves and they understood how the phamacy should be run. With the new CEO, Stefano Pessina, he replaced them with his own managers with no training or knowledge in the pharmacy. The last few years that this transition has taken place, my wifeās work life has been miserable. Itās great that my wife is going out at the right time. CVS has started coming into my area in the last few years, building their stores just right across from Walgreens. Speaking of competition!
@BunsenBurner , you just made my dhās day. Now we just need to hope the rules wonāt change before heās 70.5.