The Investment Thread

[Ashburn Dave]

My advice is to find a good financial advisor with a large firm like an Ameriprise or UBS.

 

[RedWolf]

Still holding 30 years of gold and silver purchases... I've been through this before

 

[Chris]

I have recently gone through the process of meeting with a trust attorney. He is very pro trust (surprise, surprise). I capitulated against my inner voice and had him start the drafting of a revocable living trust, a pour-over will, a durable power of attorney, a health care surrogate, a living will, and a warranty deed for the house. The trust would require me to ‘fund’ it with my real estate, brokerage accounts, bank accounts, etc by transferring all into the trust. All a pain in the ass and, in my opinion, completely unnecessary for my situation.

My two largest assets are my investment accounts and the house. My chosen distribution percentages to my inheritors are explicitly defined by me inside of my investment company. That trumps all other estate planning; will, trust, etc and can be changed by me at any time without the need of (or payment to) an attorney.

I will add my wife to the house deed and to the vehicle titles, so that is easy peasy for her. (She is already a co-owner of all banking accounts.)

So a Final Will and Testament along with the power of attorney, health care surrogate, and living will more than suffice and make my ‘transition’ simple and painless for those I leave behind.

(As someone who never contemplated death as a possibility 😎, I have strangely found comfort in having this overdue process being finalized.)

 

[Ashburn Dave]

Don't forget a DNR (do not resuscitate) if you desire that.

The other thing that I did was document all account numbers and passwords to give my wife back when I had a cancer scare.

Trusts are the way to go if you want to apply some conditions to your will like grandkids can't receive full amount until a certain age, college is paid for them as long as they make certain grades, etc.

The final thing I did was to scope out some retirement communities with the wife in case I depart first. Now that I'm retired, we're getting ready to buy our retirement home somewhere on the water. The worry there is that something happens to me after we move which would leave my wife alone in a new town. The plan for us, is if something like that happens, then the survivor sells the new house and moves into the retirement community. Now, if she or I want to stay in the new house and forge ahead, then nothing wrong with that either but at least I'll feel better knowing she has a plan.

 

[Chris]

Don't forget a DNR (do not resuscitate) if you desire that.

The other thing that I did was document all account numbers and passwords to give my wife back when I had a cancer scare.

Trusts are the way to go if you want to apply some conditions to your will like grandkids can't receive full amount until a certain age, college is paid for them as long as they make certain grades, etc.

The final thing I did was to scope out some retirement communities with the wife in case I depart first. Now that I'm retired, we're getting ready to buy our retirement home somewhere on the water. The worry there is that something happens to me after we move which would leave my wife alone in a new town. The plan for us, is if something like that happens, then the survivor sells the new house and moves into the retirement community. Now, if she or I want to stay in the new house and forge ahead, then nothing wrong with that either but at least I'll feel better knowing she has a plan.

I’m not sure that I want a DNR as I’m unsure about the parameters. Just because my heart stops seems like a bridge too far, but I will investigate further.

I do have a DECLARATION UNDER FLORIDA LIFE PROLONGING PROCEDURE ACT which will allow life preserving efforts to be discontinued if two MDs agree that there, in a terminal condition, is no medical probability of recovery. It directs my family and the attending physicians to honor it as the final expression of my legal right to refuse medical or surgical treatment and accept the consequences for such refusal.

 

[Ashburn Dave]

I’m not sure that I want a DNR as I’m unsure about the parameters. Just because my heart stops seems like a bridge too far, but I will investigate further.

I do have a DECLARATION UNDER FLORIDA LIFE PROLONGING PROCEDURE ACT which will allow life preserving efforts to be discontinued if two MDs agree that there, in a terminal condition, is no medical probability of recovery. It directs my family and the attending physicians to honor it as the final expression of my legal right to refuse medical or surgical treatment and accept the consequences for such refusal.

I won't fill out a DNR until later when I'm in my 80's and things start failing. Too early now.

It sounds like you're covered and have everything planned.

Buying the grave sites might be something to consider.

 

[Chris]

I won't fill out a DNR until later when I'm in my 80's and things start failing. Too early now.

It sounds like you're covered and have everything planned.

Buying the grave sites might be something to consider.

I’m also nearly done with my ‘book’. Just have streaming services info remaining. Mortgage, electric, water, etc are on autopay so my wife won’t have to fret any of that. As far as my remains…they can be released to the wind, I would highly recommend downwind though. 😉

 

[Ashburn Dave]

This is not an investment tip, but it could impact your finances.

Never file an auto claim for hail damage.

FYI that hail claims go on your carfax report as a 'salvage' which is the kiss of death when trying to sell that car. I found this out the hard way when selling the wife's car a couple of years ago. She had hail damage soon after buying her that car so naturally I filed a claim since her car was new to us (3 year old car). The work done was only $1-2K total and with a $500 deductible it sounded like the right choice.

We sold that car years later and it was the most difficult sell I've had. I had to drop the asking price thousands before getting a bite and the only reason the last seller took it was because he didn't bother with a carfax report. Comparable cars were selling for $12k but I didn't get a bite until lowering the price to $8k.

Next time I'll pay for the repairs myself.

 

[Chris]

I executed my first Roth Conversion from my TIRA today. The plan is to completely convert the entire TIRA account prior to RMDs kicking in and to do so while minimizing the tax consequences.

 

[Chris]

I have recently gone through the process of meeting with a trust attorney. He is very pro trust (surprise, surprise). I capitulated against my inner voice and had him start the drafting of a revocable living trust, a pour-over will, a durable power of attorney, a health care surrogate, a living will, and a warranty deed for the house. The trust would require me to ‘fund’ it with my real estate, brokerage accounts, bank accounts, etc by transferring all into the trust. All a pain in the ass and, in my opinion, completely unnecessary for my situation.

My two largest assets are my investment accounts and the house. My chosen distribution percentages to my inheritors are explicitly defined by me inside of my investment company. That trumps all other estate planning; will, trust, etc and can be changed by me at any time without the need of (or payment to) an attorney.

I will add my wife to the house deed and to the vehicle titles, so that is easy peasy for her. (She is already a co-owner of all banking accounts.)

So a Final Will and Testament along with the power of attorney, health care surrogate, and living will more than suffice and make my ‘transition’ simple and painless for those I leave behind.

(As someone who never contemplated death as a possibility 😎, I have strangely found comfort in having this overdue process being finalized.)

Done and done today. Everything signed and the Warranty Deed filed. Vehicle title changes were completed last week. I am now literally good to go. 🙃

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I am entering Year 3 of drawing from my retirement account and accessing Social Security. I am relieved that the money appears to be holding out, something we all worry about when we are working. I pay myself and my bills weekly because I was always paid weekly. Today was payday and after paying the weekly utilities and credit card I have an additional $33. This is typical, I have just enough money at the end of the week almost every week and that's good enough for me. As my weekly budget includes a TON of carryout I know if things get tight I can easily trim the budget.

We had a lot of health care issues these past 2 years, insurance and Medicare paid what was owed. The secret to retirement for me is to have no debt. When you don't owe anyone on the first of the month it just doesn't take a lot of money to keep the lights on. Included in the budge is $75/week put into a special account for auto and home repairs or other unexpected expenses. I found a $300 car repair is pretty painless, I simply pay from that account and don't worry about it as that's what that money is for and the funds will be replaced in a month.

As this is an investment thread my investment strategy was to fire my advisor and invest myself. I am comfortable with a 60/40 stock bond mix after being more aggressive until recently. Mostly index funds with a few low fee managed funds such as Van Guard Wellington. Concerned that we have been riding a bull market for far too long I decided to take out a year of income and put it in cash to access should the market tank. But I also realize even if I take 4% when the market is way down I still have 96% of my portfolio still in the market ready to ride the wave back up.

I never try to time the market. I buy and hold.

 

[Ashburn Dave]

I have yet to start Social Security collecting. My advisor wants me to wait until I'm 70 which is another 3 years. I've always wondered if I'm making the right decision there. People are living longer nowadays so it sounds good to wait but there are other factors like did you smoke, drink, and get overweight which I did all three so hopefully, I'm making the right decision.

Agree to having no debt is key.

 

[Chris]

I filed for SS at 62 due to forced ‘retirement’ and because it made no sense to me to live fully on my investments while waiting for a larger monthly benefit years down the road. My income is SS and quarterly portfolio dividends that provide all that I need and want.

I have two years of expenses set aside in MM accounts and have thusly remained on the aggressive side of the investment spectrum. Bonds have been poor performers for many years and unless you are using TIPS or buying individual bonds they are just not very good insurance against market turndowns. Despite the GFC, Covid, tariff fear, etc…I have reaped the benefit of buying and holding equity funds. I have more than enough to weather market turmoil that is always at risk of occuring.

The only debt I carry is a small, low interest mortgage. I could pay that off but don’t because I see no benefit in using money that makes a better return than the mortgage costs in order to be debt free.

 

[Ashburn Dave]

My wife is still working so I haven't needed SS yet otherwise I probably would have already started it.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

There is no right answer for when to file for SS because we never know when we will die. I didn't want to take it early and didn't want to wait, my math showed I would be 83 when I broke even by delaying to 67 and I saw no reason to do that so I filled at 65 to time it with Medicare.

Yes bonds have sucked for several years. But it also provides a buffer to stocks and does not drop nearly as much in a bear market. But they did well in 2025 and with interest rates poised to go down it's a good time to be in bonds for my needs. They had a good run for a lot of years before rates spiked.

 

[Chris]

My math told me the same about the breakeven point, made no sense to me to wait and eat into my investments.

My point about bonds is that many invest specifically in bond funds thinking that they will act as insurance during market downturns.

The Vanguard Total Bond Index Fund (BND) as an example has returns of -9% over 10 years, -15% over 5 years, +2% over 2 years, and +3% over 1 year. Investing in TIPS or individual bond offerings provide fixed returns that can help people sleep at night. Many believe bond funds do also but in reality they don’t.

 

[Boone]

I filed for SS at 62 due to forced ‘retirement’ and because it made no sense to me to live fully on my investments while waiting for a larger monthly benefit years down the road. My income is SS and quarterly portfolio dividends that provide all that I need and want.

I have two years of expenses set aside in MM accounts and have thusly remained on the aggressive side of the investment spectrum. Bonds have been poor performers for many years and unless you are using TIPS or buying individual bonds they are just not very good insurance against market turndowns. Despite the GFC, Covid, tariff fear, etc…I have reaped the benefit of buying and holding equity funds. I have more than enough to weather market turmoil that is always at risk of occuring.

The only debt I carry is a small, low interest mortgage. I could pay that off but don’t because I see no benefit in using money that makes a better return than the mortgage costs in order to be debt free.

I am fed up with my work situation. As the Health System I have been with since 1994 has gotten gobbled up 3 or 4 times by larger entities, each 'gobbling' bringing with it massive change (and imho, worse patient care and staff experience), I have just run out of mental flexibility. This week, on a call our physician was on, they let it slip that they planned to close our rehab unit - which is highly profitable and provides a critical need to our community. It's never been discussed with any of us - some executive just decided it was a good idea. That's how this org operates now.

Anyway, although I love the people I work with, I'm about done. I am meeting with my financial advisor next week and assuming I come out of there with a viable plan, I will hang it up in a couple of months when I turn 64. As far as SSA goes, I don't feel a few hundred more per month for each additional year worked is worth it. I have poured a ton on money into my retirement account, own my house, and have some other investments. I think we will be fine especially since we don't live an extravagant lifestyle. I may have to dial back my grocery purchases though (I know that will be a relief to RedWolf, lol...).

 

[Chris]

Some people love to work and were born for it.

I was born for retirement. 🤣

 

[Boone]

I may be hitting you retired guys up with questions at some point

 

[Ashburn Dave]

I am fed up with my work situation. As the Health System I have been with since 1994 has gotten gobbled up 3 or 4 times by larger entities, each 'gobbling' bringing with it massive change (and imho, worse patient care and staff experience), I have just run out of mental flexibility. This week, on a call our physician was on, they let it slip that they planned to close our rehab unit - which is highly profitable and provides a critical need to our community. It's never been discussed with any of us - some executive just decided it was a good idea. That's how this org operates now.

Anyway, although I love the people I work with, I'm about done. I am meeting with my financial advisor next week and assuming I come out of there with a viable plan, I will hang it up in a couple of months when I turn 64. As far as SSA goes, I don't feel a few hundred more per month for each additional year worked is worth it. I have poured a ton on money into my retirement account, own my house, and have some other investments. I think we will be fine especially since we don't live an extravagant lifestyle. I may have to dial back my grocery purchases though (I know that will be a relief to RedWolf, lol...).

I'm so glad I retired and don't have to deal with Corp America anymore. It was good to me over the years financially, but it was a fight and struggle most of the way. I lost one job during all the Bank mergers back in the late 80's. I lost another one when my company outsourced all our code to India. But the biggest kick in the nuts was with a financial company in the 90's that bought a competitor located out in Indiana. The company gathered us all together for a party to celebrate with cake and all. Life was good until they announced 3 months later that they determined that cost of operations for IT was cheaper out in Indy than here. Our only option was to relocate to Indy or take a package.