DannyDuberstein said:

---

Yes, just a complete gut punch. The rest of your life you thought you had and were planning for is almost certainly gone. Just sick for him and his family.

---

one of my best friends has his brother in law with stage 4 pancreatic cancer right now.

did not even know he was sick until back pain on a plane flight and when he went to the hospital he had broken a bone due to the cancer spreading so much.

50 years old!

I am struggling with how much to move to cash now versus how much to keep piling into the equity markets.

around 1.3 million invested (401Ks, back door Roth, Fidelity brokerage)
$100K basically cash/CDs
$20K actual bonds

just turned 55

would like to work only 2.5 more years.

keep growing cash position?

or take advantage of AI/Quantum by piling in at the opening phases?

He Who Shall Be Unnamed said:

---

I am certainly not a financial advisor. And I probably lean way too aggressive in terms of my stock percentage for my age and number of expected working years. Those being said, you are likely to have 30 more years of life. Long term, there really isn't a better bet than stocks for being able to grow and sustain your retirement funds. And cash is a guaranteed 2-3% loser every year because of inflation, sometimes much more than that. It's never too late to get into the market.

---

Hmmm...

My risk-free money market rate is 3.76% at Schwab, and inflation is currently 3.0%.

I guess there are no guarantees in finance.

I agree overall with your "be in the market" premise, but don't share disinformation that could confuse people (or yourself).

What is your cash position now and what metric is it based on? 6 mo of spending? 1 year of spending? Etc.

Agree. I'm still getting over 4.0% at Goldman on cash which is part of my overall portfolio strategy. Staying out of cash ignores whether or not you have an actual diversified portfolio strategy, like I hope everyone on here has. We've kept 2 years of cash on hand for a few years now to buffer us through some big life changes - both left corporate with me retiring and her starting her own business and moved out of city to small town.

That cash balance kept us from having to do a bunch of complicated crap with rest of portfolio. We are now using it as our primary funding mechanism supplemented with any revenue my wife earns from her new business where, much to my surprise, she hit the year 2 revenue goal I had on the books in year 1. So, we will bleed off our cash account as long as we can before we ever touch our taxable investments. We do have cash being spun off of our muni bond ladder as well that we can take as cash, if I want to delay exhausting our cash savings.

Depending on market conditions and spending needs at the time, I either take that cash or just reinvest it.

By cash, I meant pure cash. I hold SWVXX and SNAAX at Schwab as well in a couple of accounts when I am waiting to push money into trades.

YouBet said:

---

What is your cash position now and what metric is it based on? 6 mo of spending? 1 year of spending? Etc.

---

they are in BOA / Merrill Lynch savings accounts where I could convert them to CDs/bonds but they were called every time I bought something so I think right now it is just sitting in cash.

about $82K

I am waiting until annual bonus in january to go back to BOA and try to set up some kind of rate better than miniscule interest in checking/saving account.

that is about 7-8 months of living expenses.

YouBet said:

---

Agree. I'm still getting over 4.0% at Goldman on cash which is part of my overall portfolio strategy. Staying out of cash ignores whether or not you have an actual diversified portfolio strategy, like I hope everyone on here has. We've kept 2 years of cash on hand for a few years now to buffer us through some big life changes - both left corporate with me retiring and her starting her own business and moved out of city to small town.

That cash balance kept us from having to do a bunch of complicated crap with rest of portfolio. We are now using it as our primary funding mechanism supplemented with any revenue my wife earns from her new business where, much to my surprise, she hit the year 2 revenue goal I had on the books in year 1. So, we will bleed off our cash account as long as we can before we ever touch our taxable investments. We do have cash being spun off of our muni bond ladder as well that we can take as cash, if I want to delay exhausting our cash savings.

Depending on market conditions and spending needs at the time, I either take that cash or just reinvest it.

---

this is an online account with Goldman Sachs? or you have a formal bank account with them?

there has to be a minimum balance of the portfolio right?

At a minimum, put the money in a high yield savings account. Those are running up to 4.2% right now.

YouBet said:

---

At a minimum, put the money in a high yield savings account. Those are running up to 4.2% right now.

---

That is on my list to discuss with BOA after I get the annual bonus in January

to move everything liquid to either CDs or HYSA

thanks!

LMCane said:

---

YouBet said:

---

Agree. I'm still getting over 4.0% at Goldman on cash which is part of my overall portfolio strategy. Staying out of cash ignores whether or not you have an actual diversified portfolio strategy, like I hope everyone on here has. We've kept 2 years of cash on hand for a few years now to buffer us through some big life changes - both left corporate with me retiring and her starting her own business and moved out of city to small town.

That cash balance kept us from having to do a bunch of complicated crap with rest of portfolio. We are now using it as our primary funding mechanism supplemented with any revenue my wife earns from her new business where, much to my surprise, she hit the year 2 revenue goal I had on the books in year 1. So, we will bleed off our cash account as long as we can before we ever touch our taxable investments. We do have cash being spun off of our muni bond ladder as well that we can take as cash, if I want to delay exhausting our cash savings.

Depending on market conditions and spending needs at the time, I either take that cash or just reinvest it.

---

this is an online account with Goldman Sachs? or you have a formal bank account with them?

there has to be a minimum balance of the portfolio right?

---

Our online savings account is with them. We are a client so we also have other investments there, however the vast majority of our money is still at Fidelity and Empower. The only thing I have them actively managing is our bond ladder because I'm not messing with the churn on something like that and I'm test driving some more exotic moderate risk plays that you can't find on open market.

There is not a minimum balance with them for advisement at least not with my FA. I had assumed this as well forever, but that is apparently a myth. Now, finding an FA with them and getting them to take you on as a client may effectively be that "minimum threshold" but my guy does not require a minimum balance.

I'm also not going to recommend him to anyone I don't know, no offense!!!

Ideally you want enough cash (liquid) to hold you over through a major market downturn (so you don't have to touch principal). The worst case downturns have lasted roughly 10 years. Obviously, covering 10 years would be difficult for most people to do. But something to think about.

PDEMDHC said:

---

My last day full time is 12/19! After discussions, I'll work part time (increased hourly rate and still get PTO/keep laptop) up to 10 hours a week. If I work the full allotted amount, It will pay for 80% daycare for the 3 little kids, which is our biggest expense next 5 years… so may do that for a few years.

Otherwise it's a little day/swing trading, focus on health and family and see where life takes me. My wife has been super supportive and even told me… just take 3 weeks before you start your side money projects. I can't remember the last time I did anything for myself.

---

Congrats! I'm 2.5 months into mine without starting any side money projects because the last time I retired I ended up getting myself hired full-time again for another 3 years. I'm going to try and not make that mistake again!

YouBet said:

---

Sounds like a great balance to me. If you can do work you love but it's on 3 days per month that's really nice.

---

I have always loved being a doc and never woke up not wanting to go to work. When I was in my 30's, I felt I could work 14 dys/month (full time) until I was 65. 40's came and dropped down to 7-8 dys/month. Late 40's and dropped down to 4-5 dys. This year, I decided to drop to 3 dys/month. I am now considering dropping to 1 or 2 dys.

I still love my job and my point is, once you start to work less it can become contagious. I am at the point right now where I would likely be happy just picking up some hours if a partner needs help.

Quote:

---

I still love my job and my point is, once you start to work less it can become contagious. I am at the point right now where I would likely be happy just picking up some hours if a partner needs help.

---

That's what I went through as well. I finally fully retired 10 months ago. Wished I'd done it sooner.

ToddyHill said:

---

Quote:

---

I still love my job and my point is, once you start to work less it can become contagious. I am at the point right now where I would likely be happy just picking up some hours if a partner needs help.

---

That's what I went through as well. I finally fully retired 10 months ago. Wished I'd done it sooner.

---

Could you expand upon that? I'm at the point to where I also need to start thinking about my exit. What's making you regret (if that's not too strong of a word) doing it sooner.

Quote:

---

Could you expand upon that? I'm at the point to where I also need to start thinking about my exit. What's making you regret (if that's not too strong of a word) doing it sooner.

---

I 'retired' from my job at age 66 years, 6 months. I could have, should have retired sooner. I only did so because my wife could not get COBRA from my work (she's five years younger than me), if I worked one day longer.

I knew I was valuable to the company, so I negotiated a 1099 contract job at $100 per hour for ten to fifteen hours per week. I stayed at home and did spreadsheets, Certificates of Analysis, Processing flows, etc., to support our International sales group. I did that until my 68th birthday.

Here's the issue. For one who saved, and squirreled away $$$, there comes a point where the 1099 income puts you in a higher income bracket, which means you're paying more taxes. Also, and I can't really point to its origin, but even as a kid, I had a fear of becoming destitute. My parents grew up in the depression, and so I suspect I'm a product of their own fears.

I'm fortunate in that I did save and invest, and I'm good in retirement. It was my fears that drove me to stay longer, and that's my 'regret.'

Thanks for your response. I don't think that fear of running out of money is really all that uncommon.

I know, realistically, I won't run out of money, but I also probably overestimate what I really need to live off of in retirement. This may be chauvinistic to say, but I don't care: especially as a man, I feel as if I need to provide for others, and that adds to the likelihood of an concern about what that amount of money realistically is. Thanks again.

I have both the fear of running out of money and the fear of a health issue suddenly making all of this planning pointless. My FA almost gets annoyed with me on the former because the numbers say we are fine. Every Monte Carlo we run comes out at 100% although I still question it. This is all due to my upbringing by an extremely frugal, CPA mother.

However, the latter won out because, ironically, I've had a non-stop parade of minor to medium health issues since I turned 45. Nothing critical but all neuro-muscular with some of them fairly debilitating, at least temporarily.

It spooked me enough that I didnt want to work to later in life and then suddenly have some kind of health issue that negates me really doing anything. I've already lived through that to some degree a few times now for several months at a pop.

So, I would like to hang out in my castle or travel as long as possible while I physically can before I leave this earth.

Was watching Youtube about American expats around the world.

anyone familiar with the tax treatment in Puerto Rico?

If I do some consulting work part time once I "semi-retire"

it would be nice to pay less taxes and live in a cheaper and more interesting locale for a bit.

this is why I am terrified of flying now.

even though driving is statistically more dangerous.

There was discussion on TA somewhere recently about this. I recall the outcome was that it's not as tax lucrative as it used to be. Lots of tradeoffs.