Re: Retirement Investments
I'm aiming to retire at 45 by living below my means and using an asset allocation similar to Merriman's "Ultimate Buy & Hold", but modified to fit my 401k options available and according to some suggestions from the Bogleheads.org forums.
Once we have all of our student loans and cars paid off (in 6 or less months), this is what our investments & asset allocation will look like:
25% Bonds
75% Equities
Rebalanced every 16 months
401k (Through Fidelity)
PTTRX (Intermediate-term Bonds)
VBSSX (Short-term Bonds)
All my bonds will initially be in my 401k, as that makes the most sense for tax reasons. Some bonds will begin to show up outside my 401k as I re-balance and begin making more money, thus saving more money, thus increasing the amount outside my 401k.
Roth IRA & Taxable (Vanguard)
VTI (Total Stock Market)
VSS (International Small/Mid)
VXUS (Total International)
VBR (Small Value)
BND (Total Bond Market) - Only if needed for rebalancing
VCSH (Short-term Bond) - Only if needed for rebalancing
The first $5000 I invest each year will go into the Roth, and then everything else goes into my "taxable" Vanguard account.
Other Stuff
So, there's a few things that will be happening elsewhere, outside of my asset allocation strategy (and maybe eventually part of it).
Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)
- By maxing out my contribution into the ESPP, then selling as soon as I can, I can get $200-$300 in profit (after taxes) every 3 months. It'll limit my cashflow, but I can afford that, and I think it's worth it.
Employee Stock Awards
- I get stock bonuses sometimes and will likely hold onto them until my employer's stock hits a certain number, then I'll sell them off and put them into my asset allocation (see above).
Sharebuilder
- Right now I have some investments in various stocks here, which I'll eventually sell off. Investing in individual stocks is just too much about luck. I made 65% on Weightwatchers and Ethan Allen, but lost 95% on Alseres Pharmaceuticals. I also had invested in Sun Microsystems, S&P 500, Costco, etc. In the future, this will probably be a place for me to play around with Dividend Growth Stocks. I love Sharebuilder's $4 trades.
So anyway, that's my detailed strategy, now you know all about me. Let me know if you have questions, I'll try to check in periodically.
I'm aiming to retire at 45 by living below my means and using an asset allocation similar to Merriman's "Ultimate Buy & Hold", but modified to fit my 401k options available and according to some suggestions from the Bogleheads.org forums.
Once we have all of our student loans and cars paid off (in 6 or less months), this is what our investments & asset allocation will look like:
25% Bonds
75% Equities
Rebalanced every 16 months
401k (Through Fidelity)
PTTRX (Intermediate-term Bonds)
VBSSX (Short-term Bonds)
All my bonds will initially be in my 401k, as that makes the most sense for tax reasons. Some bonds will begin to show up outside my 401k as I re-balance and begin making more money, thus saving more money, thus increasing the amount outside my 401k.
Roth IRA & Taxable (Vanguard)
VTI (Total Stock Market)
VSS (International Small/Mid)
VXUS (Total International)
VBR (Small Value)
BND (Total Bond Market) - Only if needed for rebalancing
VCSH (Short-term Bond) - Only if needed for rebalancing
The first $5000 I invest each year will go into the Roth, and then everything else goes into my "taxable" Vanguard account.
Other Stuff
So, there's a few things that will be happening elsewhere, outside of my asset allocation strategy (and maybe eventually part of it).
Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)
- By maxing out my contribution into the ESPP, then selling as soon as I can, I can get $200-$300 in profit (after taxes) every 3 months. It'll limit my cashflow, but I can afford that, and I think it's worth it.
Employee Stock Awards
- I get stock bonuses sometimes and will likely hold onto them until my employer's stock hits a certain number, then I'll sell them off and put them into my asset allocation (see above).
Sharebuilder
- Right now I have some investments in various stocks here, which I'll eventually sell off. Investing in individual stocks is just too much about luck. I made 65% on Weightwatchers and Ethan Allen, but lost 95% on Alseres Pharmaceuticals. I also had invested in Sun Microsystems, S&P 500, Costco, etc. In the future, this will probably be a place for me to play around with Dividend Growth Stocks. I love Sharebuilder's $4 trades.
So anyway, that's my detailed strategy, now you know all about me. Let me know if you have questions, I'll try to check in periodically.
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