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Old 02-25-2015, 07:57 PM
 
948 posts, read 911,508 times
Reputation: 1850

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How old is he? How much longer does he expect to live?
How much does he usually spend per year? What is his income from social security?
Does he really need to continue investing?

If he already has enough saved up to last him, combined with his social security income, perhaps he could think about converting some of his investments back to cash, or to safer but less profitable investments. Does he have enough that he could live comfortably on what he has? Does he really need more?

I once read an article about how people with plenty of money and investments worry too much about losing it, because they get obsessed with the idea of having it, even if they have more than they need. If your father is worrying about it to the point that it causes him stress, maybe he should stop to consider if he really needs more, or if it might be time to just relax and start enjoying what he does have.

My dad used to worry about his money too, and complained about how little money he had. He died at age 62, with assets worth over $30 million. What was he worried about? He had more than anybody needs, and didn't even use most of it. He worried about something he didn't need to worry about.

If your father is over 70 and owns the home he lives in, he can probably stop investing, or switch to safer investments, without hurting his standard of living. If investing is stressful for him, he might want to consider cutting down on it.
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Old 02-25-2015, 08:05 PM
 
948 posts, read 911,508 times
Reputation: 1850
I just did a quick calculation. If he is 70, and expects to live to 90, that would be 20 years. $1,000,000 over 20 years would come out to $50,000 per year. Add that to his social security income. Does he spend more than that? Or would he need more?

On the other hand, he might want to continue investing so he has more to leave his family after his passing. Do you think that's the case? Maybe he is just worrying about how much he can leave for you?
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Old 02-26-2015, 12:08 AM
 
Location: Southwest Washington State
30,585 posts, read 24,950,474 times
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During the first year or two of retirement, DH's mood depended on how the market was doing. He admitted that this was nuts, but he couldn't seem to just roll with it. When the bottom fell out in 2008 it was really a test. But like others, our holdings bounced back, and even though the terrible economy slowed the sale of our house by years, we came out OK. He follows the market still, and he spends hours almost every day on our investments, but he has told me this is his hobby. He doesn't seem as stressed as much as did, and I think he couldn't stand it if he didn't control the investments personally.

Time may be the greatest teacher here. Over time, this anxious man will learn to live with the fact that there is no safe and productive investment. With investment comes risk. But you balance the risk. (At least that is what DH tells me.)
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Old 02-26-2015, 12:35 AM
 
11,181 posts, read 10,477,001 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Loudmouth View Post
My father is retired and is living off dividends and withdrawals from his million dollars in investments, plus Social Security. Retirement was suppose to be the most pleasant years in his life but he is always worrying about what the stock and bond market is going to do and what impact that will have on the standard of living during the rest of his retirement.
I know a dozen guys like your dad, including my brother-in-law. For whatever reason, they get their rewards and satisfaction from dwelling on this stuff.
There's no investment (or tax, I'm surprised you didn't mention that) strategy that will make them happy. They claim to worry about "standard of living" but they see it as a game they're winning or losing.
Read your own words: his worries aren't about what the market is actually doing at the moment, he's all about what the market might or might not do. He gets off on worrying if he's winning or losing.

There's no problem here to be solved, your father is living the life he chooses and wants and he's enjoying the process. Like a poker player who worries about the next draw but wouldn't dream of folding and leaving the game.
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Old 02-26-2015, 01:16 AM
 
6,438 posts, read 6,873,283 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tlarnla View Post
My dad used to worry about his money too, and complained about how little money he had. He died at age 62, with assets worth over $30 million. What was he worried about? He had more than anybody needs, and didn't even use most of it. He worried about something he didn't need to worry about.
That's kind of crazy, but with $1 million anyone might worry. It's enough to generate a nice living when added to Social Security, but not if you use half or a third of it. So I would put:

70% in the DCDB strategy that I helped develop (laddered bonds and deferred annuities), see http://larrysiegeldotorg.files.wordp...on-promise.pdf

and 30% in the Vanguard total world equity index fund (ticker: VT).
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Old 02-26-2015, 01:55 AM
 
Location: PNW, CPSouth, JacksonHole, Southampton
3,730 posts, read 5,724,465 times
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Your father's problem is that he has his money in FUNDS, rather than in Stocks.
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Old 02-26-2015, 04:01 AM
 
105,824 posts, read 107,799,717 times
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Yeah , just what he needs , another level of risk. Not only does he hate market risk but adding individual company risk too would be just the thing not to do..
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Old 02-26-2015, 04:47 AM
 
105,824 posts, read 107,799,717 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by biscuitmom View Post
I know a dozen guys like your dad, including my brother-in-law. For whatever reason, they get their rewards and satisfaction from dwelling on this stuff.
There's no investment (or tax, I'm surprised you didn't mention that) strategy that will make them happy. They claim to worry about "standard of living" but they see it as a game they're winning or losing.
Read your own words: his worries aren't about what the market is actually doing at the moment, he's all about what the market might or might not do. He gets off on worrying if he's winning or losing.

There's no problem here to be solved, your father is living the life he chooses and wants and he's enjoying the process. Like a poker player who worries about the next draw but wouldn't dream of folding and leaving the game.
all very true . like markets love climbing a wall of worry many folks are like that.

they love to hate the markets.
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Old 02-26-2015, 07:03 AM
 
Location: UpstateNY
8,612 posts, read 10,702,744 times
Reputation: 7595
“If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him.”
Sir Francis Bacon

Did They Say That? Master of Money - Christian Finance Blog
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Old 02-26-2015, 07:48 AM
 
63 posts, read 80,774 times
Reputation: 118
He wants the million dollars to be there for his kids when he dies. Though the option below seems logical because with social security and $50K a year he could live stress free for the rest of this life. But after age 90 he would have nothing and the kids nothing. He talks about living partially on dividends from his million invested from stocks that have a twenty year record of increasing dividends.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tlarnla View Post
I just did a quick calculation. If he is 70, and expects to live to 90, that would be 20 years. $1,000,000 over 20 years would come out to $50,000 per year. Add that to his social security income. Does he spend more than that? Or would he need more?

On the other hand, he might want to continue investing so he has more to leave his family after his passing. Do you think that's the case? Maybe he is just worrying about how much he can leave for you?
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