I’ve been almost completely stock for a long long time, it served me well. Yeah it hurt in the downturns but more than made up for it on the upswings. And I knew it would be decades before I needed the $$ anyway.
Now that retirement is inching closer, I’ve started listening the 401k mgt nags saying I’m being too risky, so I moved 10% to stable/bonds and then another 10%.
Still for the year i’m up about 20% last I checked so I’m doing good…not as good as I would have been 100% stock. 🙁
My theory is that the only time I would really need the money is if two things happened: (1) I lost my job, and (2) because I’m now in my 50s I had a hard time finding another.
And that definitely could happen. If it did, I’d hate to be all stock with the stock market down, which is why I stashed 20% stable/bonds – to hold me through any need while the market is down.
I’m now wishing I had went with 10-15% as that would have been wiser. That could last me few years until the market recovered. So on the next downswing, I’ll probably move from 20 to 10-15% stable/bonds and hope I can get that lost money (in my mind) back. That’s the plan anyway.
I stay heavy US stocks and light international. My 401k system complains at me about that, but every time – every time! – I’ve had a significant amount in international I’ve got burned. Even waiting years for it to come back, I’ve still been burned. Tired of that.
I’m on track for meeting the amount of $$ I want at retirement so I’m doing good. I’ve recently wished I had set a higher target (no good reason for that, just the way my mind works) but then it dawned on me that when I set the original goal I had factored in a 4% yearly inflation rate which we haven’t hit in quite a long time…so looking at it from that perspective I really am above my target!
