Investing megathread extravaganza

[DaFace]

A place to talk about investing stuff.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by Coach

Currently, I am putting in about 18% (this is where the calculation of $310) of my salary into retirement. The plan is to increase it to 20+% if I get an promotion.

I just wasn't sure if I was putting a little too much/being a little too conservative on the F and G funds.

That's up to you. I run 90/10 but I am young and this makes more sense to me as I can handle some big swings being 3 decades out from retirement.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by Coach

I am in the late 30's, so hoping to retire by 67 or 70 (depending on my health and how my retirement is doing), to maximize the Social Security.

Downside was I didn't have much of a retirement in my 20's, so that's part of the reason why I'm being a little aggressive to make up for that lost time. At least I was not impacted by the great recession in the 2008.

And yeah, the international funds were shaky initially, but as long as I'm seeing positive returns annually, I'll be fine. But that one I tend to watch more closely than the C and S funds.

If you feel you are behind in your retirement savings and got started late, I would lean more heavily towards stocks than you currently are then.

[EPodolak]

Originally Posted by Coach

Currently, I am putting in about 18% (this is where the calculation of $310) of my salary into retirement. The plan is to increase it to 20+% if I get an promotion.

I just wasn't sure if I was putting a little too much/being a little too conservative on the F and G funds.

One rule of thumb out there is your bond allocation be 110 minus your age. Raise it or lower it a little based on your comfort with risk.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by lewdog

If you feel you are behind in your retirement savings and got started late, I would lean more heavily towards stocks than you currently are then.

That's what I was wondering if I was being a little conservative on the F and G funds. I was thinking of making it 5% for both and allocate the remaining 15% to the C fund or split it evenly to the C/S funds.

But the C/S/I funds returns have been OK so....

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by lewdog

That's up to you. I run 90/10 but I am young and this makes more sense to me as I can handle some big swings being 3 decades out from retirement.

Yeah, at Coach's age I'd think he shouldn't have more than 10 percent in F and G.

(Crossing my fingers that we don't have a recession and coach blames me for losing money.)

[eDave]

This is too diverse IMO. And 10% to F&G is not much of a hedge.

Invest aggressively, gain aggressively.

[rydogg58]

Originally Posted by eDave

This is too diverse IMO. And 10% to F&G is not much of a hedge.

Invest aggressively, gain aggressively.

I think it might be a little too diverse as well. The bulk of my contributions go into C/S and L 2040 fund. You seem to be younger, since you are looking at retiring in 30 years. I'm hoping to go in about 15 and I'm currenrly putting 25% in each pay period.

The C/S fund can be pretty volatile, but since you are far enough away you might be able to handle a few bad stretches since those 2 funds are fairly aggressive.

[rydogg58]

Originally Posted by Coach

For the experts, tell me if I am doing this right or wrong and what would be your suggestions.

Currently I have the following % allocated to the funds from my biweekly paycheck (roughly about $310 goes to my retirement pre-tax):

G Fund - 10%
F Fund - 15%
C Fund - 25%
S Fund - 25%
I Fund - 25%

And honestly, i would drop the G and F fund and put those combined contributions into an L 2040 or 2050 fund. The F fund tracked ok the last year or so if i remember right, but the L funds are a mixture of all the individual funds.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

You guys are doing it all wrong. Put your basis in real estate and use play money for the damn stock market.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Hog's Gone Fishin

You guys are doing it all wrong. Put your basis in real estate and use play money for the damn stock market.

I think this is the correct answer. But I figured it out too late in life.

I'm starting a little diversification into some real estate ventures now, but it's as a passive investor. I'm too close to retirement to really make the numbers work with my own property purchases. (Plus, passive investing works better for my current life.)

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by lewdog

That's up to you. I run 90/10 but I am young and this makes more sense to me as I can handle some big swings being 3 decades out from retirement.

I'm with Rain Man and Lewdog. If you're far from retirement, then bond funds just kinda suck and unless you can't stomach the risk, I'd go higher on stock and lower on bonds.

I'm serious about stomaching the risk though. Trying to chase a statistically-likely somewhat higher rate of return isn't worth it if you're not going to sleep at night if the market gets whacked by 20% or somewhat more. It's just not worth it.

[Nightfyre]

Originally Posted by Hog's Gone Fishin

You guys are doing it all wrong. Put your basis in real estate and use play money for the damn stock market.

Investing in real estate at 5 percent cap rates is a tough pill to swallow. Not that stocks aren't equally bloated in price. This is what ten years of hammering the long end of the yield curve looks like.

[Hammock Parties]

IQ up 13%

HERE WE GO

[lewdog]

I need some value stocks in this high market.

Help!!!

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by lewdog

I need some value stocks in this high market.

Help!!!

There's a lot of upside in RAD