Your Allocation Mix? Making Changes/Sitting Tight? (bonds, IRAs, fund)

[selhars]

I'm 52...and could be described as too conservative for my age.
My 401K is: 55 percent cash.....40 percent stocks....5 percent bonds.
That's my mix now, all new money going in is a stocks/bond mix.

My IRA is a a major index fund.

I've been a little nervous and thinking about taking the stock money off the table moving it to cash, and continue to have the NEW money going in....going into stocks. But I probably will sit tight. I'm VERY slow to make changes.

What's you mix and strategy going forward?

[mathjak107]

there is no such thing as to conservative or aggressive for your age. its all about your stomach for risk and the time frame of when that money will be spent.

even a 65 year old has money they wont be spending to eat for 30 years. thats still long term money.

you can be 25 years old and 80-100% in equities but if you panic every big drop and lose money thats no good.

you can be 65 and take the money you arent spending for the next 15-30 years and have that aggressively invested in a diversified portfolio.

folks worry about what to do in such small time frames in the overall scheme of things .

[selhars]

Aaah, yes, but there's the rub...for a person (like me, I guess) with a 15 year time horizon...techincally there's no reason we shouldn't be in the market, and heavily in stocks. REGARDLESS of a person's risk tolerance -- history shows for a time horizon that long....major ups and down in the short term...can be ridden out...

So a person can be risk averse....with no REAL good reason....other than being a 'fraidy cat'..which isn't logical and makes no sense really.

there is no such thing as to conservative or aggressive for your age. its all about your stomach for risk and the time frame of when that money will be spent.

[mathjak107]

it depends how risk averse you are. 15 years has been a 100% success rate of never having to sell at a loss. shorter time frames increase the odds you may have to sell into a down market. 1 or 2 years is a coin toss.

there is no guarantee 15 years will always hold true going forward but even if its 90% its close enough for a retirement plan to function.

shorter time frames just increase the risk thats all.

[selhars]

Yes. You are making my point...technically it doesn't make sense to be risk averse with a 15 year time horizon....with that long a time there's practically no risk.

it depends how risk averse you are. 15 years has been a 100% success rate of never having to sell at a loss. .....

there is no guarantee 15 years will always hold true going forward but even if its 90% its close enough for a retirement plan to function.

[mathjak107]

if your too conservative and you dont want to be then get more aggressive, its fine. just realize that equities arent the only game in town.

most of your return will be based on how your allocated. if equities lag there are other asset classes that shoulds be covered too.

commodities , gold ,reits , long term treasuries,tips are all asset classes that are important to balance things out in my opinion.

know one knows when the next flight to safety will come and odds are you will never time it . a good plan flies fighter cover all the time . know one really knows whats in a bubble and whats not. from 1987 to 2003 for 17 years equities averaged almost 14% a year. there were those screaming bubble by 1989 ..

[selhars]

I'm not asking for AMOUNTS just percentages of allocation, and thoughts on risk and the market.
I was hoping for more responses.

[Oildog]

Building cash right now.

[mathjak107]

Not sure of the answer your looklng for. Without a crystal ball no one can even guess whats next.

Long term there is no more risk of being down 15 years or more out, a fair amount of risk 7-15 years out and lots of risk if your trying to base it on the news.

Age isnt a factor just your own pucker factor.


Give us a hint what kind of answer you were hoping to get.

Its never the stuff we all see on the radar that influences the way the markets end up
Playing out.

Its always the stuff not even on the radar that gets us good or bad

[selhars]

Give us a hint what kind of answer you were hoping to get.

I'm not being snarky at you, but I thought it was clear what I was asking but I guess not (maybe it was only clear to me because I'm the one who wrote it).….…you know…. people’s allocations re their 401Ks, savings plans, IRAs etc -- and their thoughts about their choices… I even said I wasn't asking for dollar amounts just percentages of allocation, so people didn't feel too uncomfortable....maybe no one just wanted to answer.

I expected comments like.....

-- “15 percent cash, 50 percent stocks (international and small cap), 25 percent bonds – I like that mix for now and may look to make changes in a few years”
-- “100 percent stock: split evenly large cap, small cap merging markets and other international….I’’m going more aggressive for a least a while”
-- “I got out of the market six months ago and will stay in cash through at least after the election or the end of the year.”
-- “I’m retired and all in munis..and I like dividends”
-- “I’m young, at least 20 years from retirement so I’m whole hog in stocks: mid and small cap. I can afford to be aggressive”
-- “I’m in my 50s and in a “target” fund - -which right now is 80/20 stocks to bonds but will re-allocate its self as I get closer to retirement”
-- “I don’t like the market. I think it’s basically gambling – but know I need to be in it, so I just go with index funds”

....whatever...like I said maybe no one wanted to answer....

So what are you in right now? and what do you think about the market going forward, short (this year), mid (2-6 years) and long term (15 years)