The Intersection of FIRE and Disney

[disfanforlife]

Ah, I see. We are no longer making contributions. I did sell a couple of things when stocks went up last week, just not comfortable with the volatility right now.

I opened a couple of CD's in March when interest rates were around 2%, looking today it's much less.

I did too, wish I opened more considering what the rates are now.

 

[platamama]

Last year I posted about opening a Roth IRA for DD15, and have finally done it! We talked about dollar cost averaging and index funds, and decided to DCA her funds over the next five months. We talked about how the market will go up and down but over time it tends to go up. We went with total stock market index funds 70% domestic 30% international. Since she's a teenager she has a lot of time for it to grow. It's not a lot of money but the sooner the better, and I wanted to plant the seed of saving for retirement. She also filed her first 1040 and is looking forward to her refund lol.

 

[WVMomof3]

Last year I posted about opening a Roth IRA for DD15, and have finally done it! We talked about dollar cost averaging and index funds, and decided to DCA her funds over the next five months. We talked about how the market will go up and down but over time it tends to go up. We went with total stock market index funds 70% domestic 30% international. Since she's a teenager she has a lot of time for it to grow. It's not a lot of money but the sooner the better, and I wanted to plant the seed of saving for retirement. She also filed her first 1040 and is looking forward to her refund lol.

DD19 was just asking about starting one today. Need to figure out what she needs to do. I am really worried things are going to tank soon and I don't want her to get a bad taste with investing from a bad start though.

 

[RamblingMad]

DD19 was just asking about starting one today. Need to figure out what she needs to do. I am really worried things are going to tank soon and I don't want her to get a bad taste with investing from a bad start though.

She can open one at Schwab pretty easily. A lot of kids these days trade on Robinhood. It's really personal preference. But no matter what you do, she'll lose money at some point. It's one thing to read about it in books. It's another to experience it in person with your own money. It hurts, but that's kinda the point. I have no clue what the market is going to do day to day. I have an exit strategy to avoid taking too large of a loss, and I have a entry strategy to keep me in the market more often than not.

 

[platamama]

DD19 was just asking about starting one today. Need to figure out what she needs to do. I am really worried things are going to tank soon and I don't want her to get a bad taste with investing from a bad start though.

Yeah, I expect things to tank soon too. I might tend more to being a market timer, but that's not what I want to be teaching her. I am hoping that with a 45+ year horizon it will be fine by the time she needs the funds. If it isn't then we have some bigger problems.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Yeah, I expect things to tank soon too. I might tend more to being a market timer, but that's not what I want to be teaching her. I am hoping that with a 45+ year horizon it will be fine by the time she needs the funds. If it isn't then we have some bigger problems.

Hopefully less than 45 years if she's investing this early.

It's impossible to anticipate how you'll feel if/when your account drops by 30-40% but it's likely to happen at some point. Important thing is to have a plan in place and stick to it. Only reassess the strategy when you exit the storm and are back in calm waters as it will a much less emotional decision.

 

[QueenIsabella]

We encourage our kids to check occasionally, but not obsess. We only have one who tracks stocks daily--and he's 14, doesn't even own any individual stocks. He's just interested in them. Which isn't a bad thing.We do talk stocks with him--for example, I worked at GE in the '80's and '90's, when the stock was a license to print money. Now, not so much--but his uncle works for them, so we talk about Uncle's approach to the stock now, versus back then. DS will also have a small inheritance (low 4 figures) coming to him soon--we've told him we can buy some Apple stock (one he's obsessed with). Normally, I stay the heck away from individual stocks for kids, except in small doses, but this kid follows the market, so it'll be a good learning experience for him.

 

[AmyAnne]

DD19 was just asking about starting one today. Need to figure out what she needs to do. I am really worried things are going to tank soon and I don't want her to get a bad taste with investing from a bad start though.

Vanguard is also very easy, and the connection to John Bogle got my kids interested in his approach to investing (index funs rather than individual stocks). One even read a few books he wrote.

 

[bernina]

Is anyone thinking of reducing their stock exposure as we approach the election and the longer term impacts of the virus start to show across several industries? I've never been a market timer and am normally on set it and forget it mode. Retirement is potentially 10 years out for us (more likely 10-15) but it just feels like a storm is coming. I know all signs point to long term steady growth when averaged across the years, just have this little voice on my shoulder saying play it safe. Probably should ignore it since we won't be touching that money even in 10 years, we'll draw from our pensions first and only use that to supplement. Just curious to hear what others are thinking. We're about 75/25 stocks/bonds last I checked.

 

[Frwinkley]

Thinking the very same thing. We're retiring in 2-4 years (2 for DH and 4 for me). We also will not be touching the money until we're required to by law (we'll use pensions and cash savings first), but would like to be just a bit more secure. We're investing pretty cautiously anyway since we are so close to retiring.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Is anyone thinking of reducing their stock exposure as we approach the election and the longer term impacts of the virus start to show across several industries? I've never been a market timer and am normally on set it and forget it mode. Retirement is potentially 10 years out for us (more likely 10-15) but it just feels like a storm is coming. I know all signs point to long term steady growth when averaged across the years, just have this little voice on my shoulder saying play it safe. Probably should ignore it since we won't be touching that money even in 10 years, we'll draw from our pensions first and only use that to supplement. Just curious to hear what others are thinking. We're about 75/25 stocks/bonds last I checked.

Every time I think this the market does the opposite so I'm not touching anything. We created our plan in the calmer times and are working off of that plan now.

We're also in our mid-30s (~10 years from FI) so plenty of time to recover if we're wrong. We might be more conservative if we had a more rigid time horizon.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Every time I think this the market does the opposite so I'm not touching anything. We created our plan in the calmer times and are working off of that plan now.

We're also in our mid-30s (~10 years from FI) so plenty of time to recover if we're wrong. We might be more conservative if we had a more rigid time horizon.

100% agree with this. The foundation of my beliefs about the market is that I will not successfully be able to time the market. I need to stick with this no matter what the “conditions” seem to suggest.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Well, we stuck through with our investments during the 1999-2000 correction, the 2008 recession, and various other dips and twists, so we're staying the course now. As South Fayette Fan said, I don't presume to know enough to time the market, so better off just hanging on.

On the good side, we're spending less, and our investments have done well the past few months. We do have to think about college tuition for next fall--here's hoping DD17 makes the smart choice and goes for the local State U (which is highly ranked and one of the top 30 bargain colleges).

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Is anyone thinking of reducing their stock exposure as we approach the election and the longer term impacts of the virus start to show across several industries? I've never been a market timer and am normally on set it and forget it mode. Retirement is potentially 10 years out for us (more likely 10-15) but it just feels like a storm is coming. I know all signs point to long term steady growth when averaged across the years, just have this little voice on my shoulder saying play it safe. Probably should ignore it since we won't be touching that money even in 10 years, we'll draw from our pensions first and only use that to supplement. Just curious to hear what others are thinking. We're about 75/25 stocks/bonds last I checked.

10 years out.............maybe 12/15...............don't do a thing.

If, however, your cash safety cushion is a little thin, beef that up a little and then continue with your normal plan.

75/25 is a reasonable mix for 10/15 years out.

You did not say if the money is in a retirement account or an everyday usage account.

When you get to "single digits" away from your actual retirement date, you should slowly migrate the 75/25 to less aggressive ratios.

Yes, some industries are hurting, but there is also a lot of stimulus out there now.............and more coming in the future.

 

[georgina]

Is anyone thinking of reducing their stock exposure as we approach the election and the longer term impacts of the virus start to show across several industries? I've never been a market timer and am normally on set it and forget it mode. Retirement is potentially 10 years out for us (more likely 10-15) but it just feels like a storm is coming. I know all signs point to long term steady growth when averaged across the years, just have this little voice on my shoulder saying play it safe. Probably should ignore it since we won't be touching that money even in 10 years, we'll draw from our pensions first and only use that to supplement. Just curious to hear what others are thinking. We're about 75/25 stocks/bonds last I checked.

Everyone is in a different place. We are retired. DH has a pension and is delying taking SS until 70. Until recently were about 80% stocks/mutual funds and 20% indexed annuities. Pulled our bond money our a few years ago. The annuities have tax deferred income which we like, and no losses. I did sell a few things lately as we are planning to move, and housing costs will be 2.5-3 times as much as our current house, so now our cash level has gone up. One thing I will add is that one of my favorite mutual funds, Vanguard Wellington, is 2/3 stocks and 1/3 bonds, so more stable price-wise, and I have my IRA money in that one.

 

[runwad]

@bernina I've been selling winners the past month on market up days. We are 5 to 7 years from retirement. I feel more comfortable with our allocation being 60/40 at this stage in the game. I still have all my new contributions going into the market, but felt it was wise to sell some winners at this time.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

@bernina I've been selling winners the past month on market up days. We are 5 to 7 years from retirement. I feel more comfortable with our allocation being 60/40 at this stage in the game. I still have all my new contributions going into the market, but felt it was wise to sell some winners at this time.

My Vanguard STAR fund has been at all time highs several times over the past week or so.
I have been selling very small amounts in order to take some profits.
We have retired in our late 50's and need to coast until we hit 62.......we are not waiting until 67 to claim SS.

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

Is anyone here an ex-pat? Recent events have made me consider moving out of the US when I hit my FIRE number. Wondering anyone has tips or tricks.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

A few Random thoughts...

1) Do I get to celebrate that my 600k milestone again... I posted here before about that on Nov 9th... but if we have another good day in the market, perhaps I celebrate again??? LOL!
2) Since it bounces around so much, do I celebrate EVERY time it goes above that number?? LOL!

3) On a more serious note... I know that my savings efforts in the first 3.5 months of this year have had a huge impact on this BUT my NW is currently only off of my 2019 year end number by $27k. And I'm $107k over my 2018 number. For some reason it just makes me happy to see that kind of stuff.

And today is the day folks... I get to celebrate the milestone again!! And with all the crazy ups and downs... I might get to celebrate it 10 more times this month!! HAHA!!

I hope everybody is hanging in there with the volatility. As the primary audience in this thread is those chasing FIRE, we fully expected this to happen at some point. Stay the course...keep investing what you can...and you'll come out on the other side in great shape here!

Well, somehow I'm celebrating again this year. I honestly didn't see this one coming back in March when things plummeted but we have hit a milestone again and this time we have hit it for the first time --- 700k! And perhaps an even more important milestone was reached a few weeks ago when my total invest-able assets reached 500k. What a wild year 2020 has been, but all it has done is further confirm that seeking FIRE is the right plan for us.

It's amazing what happens as this snowball keeps rolling down the hill. God has blessed us in so many ways!

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Well, somehow I'm celebrating again this year. I honestly didn't see this one coming back in March when things plummeted but we have hit a milestone again and this time we have hit it for the first time --- 700k! And perhaps an even more important milestone was reached a few weeks ago when my total invest-able assets reached 500k. What a wild year 2020 has been, but all it has done is further confirm that seeking FIRE is the right plan for us.

It's amazing what happens as this snowball keeps rolling down the hill. God has blessed us in so many ways!

For clarity I will repeat that we are retired and have a bit more time before all our pensions kick in.....so we pull out money from time to time to keep our safety cushion proper after incurring certain expenses (like a dental crown, for example!!)

We were selling off small portions of holdings ( a couple hundred here and there) up until late Feb.

Once the market turned down we did nothing until about late July.

The past 2 weeks we have been skimming off a bit since we are at or above our previous highs that were achieved in Feb.

Side note- We were able to encourage our DD to throw in some extra cash towards her Roth back in March.

She has already been handsomely rewarded.