"Anxiety is just a YouTube video away" -- this is so wise. I deleted FB and Instagram off my phone earlier this week because I realized they were both giving me a lot of anxiety/FOMO, and had I never looked at them, I wouldn't be feeling so awful. The algorithms feed off our insecurities and grief.
The markets have been incredibly kind over the past 15+ years. Let’s revisit these 10 learnings after a real crash that lasts more than a few months. Watching your new-worth drop 30%+ for a year or more is not something we’ve experienced in a recent memory. And yes, there are ways to protect your lifestyle and portfolio to help navigate though tough times. But mentally… that’s what I worry about! Most of us have not been truly tested in such an extreme situation , but it’s bound to happen at some point. Then we’ll learn even more about ourselves.
“ Optimization loses its appeal.” I’m agreeing with most this article, but I’m not signing on to this observation. Having retired recently at 59, I have been diving headlong into optimization to the point where it’s become a hobby. Capturing cash back rewards and sign up bonuses that won’t change my standard of living is fun and interesting to me.
More importantly, I’ve become aware of many optimization levers to pull that do have a consequential impact. A year ago, I didn’t know what a TIPS bond was. Last month, I purchased a 20 year TIPS ladder, and it has dramatically improved my sense of financial well being.
ACA subsidy optimization is an activity that offers substantial rewards.
I also discovered that an alternative to ACA healthcare in Indiana is access student health insurance with minimal commitment to taking a single course per semester at Indiana University. If I wasn’t on the lookout for optimization opportunities, the IU option would never have made itself known to me.
Roth conversion analysis is a sticky wicket but it can’t be ignored because the costs of not doing it when it makes sense or doing it when it doesn’t make sense can be substantial.
I figured out that some medium term money would likely do better earning 6% for three years in a MYGA than it would have if I had lazily plunked that money into a bond fund.
I picked up the Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing and learned that my 401k provider had appropriately allocated my investments throughout my career and protected me from my own ignorance. I also came to understand that I had fortunately benefited from the tailwind of the impressive bull run in recent years, and I figured out how to protect the gains I’ve enjoyed from sequence of returns risk.
These are just examples of ways you can improve your early retirement situation if take the position that optimization is a worthwhile way to spend some time and energy now that you’re free from the distractions of working life.
Of course, for those who’ve always been highly financially literate, a lot of this is second nature for you, and you may feel
like you’re already on autopilot. But if you’re like me, the decision to retire can be the impetus to build a whole new knowledge base and to discover ways to strengthen the financial freedom you’ve worked so hard to achieve.
"Anxiety is just a YouTube video away" -- this is so wise. I deleted FB and Instagram off my phone earlier this week because I realized they were both giving me a lot of anxiety/FOMO, and had I never looked at them, I wouldn't be feeling so awful. The algorithms feed off our insecurities and grief.
4000 for AC, you clearly don't live in Florida :)
The markets have been incredibly kind over the past 15+ years. Let’s revisit these 10 learnings after a real crash that lasts more than a few months. Watching your new-worth drop 30%+ for a year or more is not something we’ve experienced in a recent memory. And yes, there are ways to protect your lifestyle and portfolio to help navigate though tough times. But mentally… that’s what I worry about! Most of us have not been truly tested in such an extreme situation , but it’s bound to happen at some point. Then we’ll learn even more about ourselves.
“ Optimization loses its appeal.” I’m agreeing with most this article, but I’m not signing on to this observation. Having retired recently at 59, I have been diving headlong into optimization to the point where it’s become a hobby. Capturing cash back rewards and sign up bonuses that won’t change my standard of living is fun and interesting to me.
More importantly, I’ve become aware of many optimization levers to pull that do have a consequential impact. A year ago, I didn’t know what a TIPS bond was. Last month, I purchased a 20 year TIPS ladder, and it has dramatically improved my sense of financial well being.
ACA subsidy optimization is an activity that offers substantial rewards.
I also discovered that an alternative to ACA healthcare in Indiana is access student health insurance with minimal commitment to taking a single course per semester at Indiana University. If I wasn’t on the lookout for optimization opportunities, the IU option would never have made itself known to me.
Roth conversion analysis is a sticky wicket but it can’t be ignored because the costs of not doing it when it makes sense or doing it when it doesn’t make sense can be substantial.
I figured out that some medium term money would likely do better earning 6% for three years in a MYGA than it would have if I had lazily plunked that money into a bond fund.
I picked up the Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing and learned that my 401k provider had appropriately allocated my investments throughout my career and protected me from my own ignorance. I also came to understand that I had fortunately benefited from the tailwind of the impressive bull run in recent years, and I figured out how to protect the gains I’ve enjoyed from sequence of returns risk.
These are just examples of ways you can improve your early retirement situation if take the position that optimization is a worthwhile way to spend some time and energy now that you’re free from the distractions of working life.
Of course, for those who’ve always been highly financially literate, a lot of this is second nature for you, and you may feel
like you’re already on autopilot. But if you’re like me, the decision to retire can be the impetus to build a whole new knowledge base and to discover ways to strengthen the financial freedom you’ve worked so hard to achieve.