Advice on whether I should diversify.

[TexasHusker]

You were invested too aggressively. No one to blame but yourself.

If you're not prepared for a massive swing then you shouldnt be swimming in the deep end.

A lot of people make this mistake. Everything is fine and dandy until the market crashes/corrects...then you see real panic. Those people were out of their element from the get go and didnt even realize it.

Yep. As Warren Buffet once said, "You aren't for sure who has their swimming trunks on until the tide goes out." Or some variant of that.

I've always swung for the fences, and I've struck out a bunch. Thankfully I've scored a homer here and there to keep me coming back to the plate.

[Rocco1235]

Long term lurker, first time poster.

So, am looking for advice here on what to do.

Am 48, wife is 51. Combined income is around 150K, but a lot of that is OT which can be stopped at any time. I'm on a salary of approx 85 k, wife works part time, her salary is around 40k.


So, my question is, where do I invest?. Our house will be fully paid off by the end of the year, and we're sitting on retirement funds ( 401 k, IRA, ESPP) of around 700 k. Once the mortgage is cleared we'll have no debt, outside of everyday living expenses like utilities and food. We have about 40 k in cash. I max out 401 k and IRA, my wife can only contribute a max of 30% of her salary to her 401 k, which she does, and she does max out her IRA. We have one son who is grown up and living out of state.

With no mortgage payment starting next year, ( current mortgage payment is $1535 a month), should I continue to invest in stocks, or should I diversify into other income streams like property? Is there anything else I should consider besides property?

My concern is that although our retirement funds are spread out between indexed funds, some self selected stocks and target retirement IRA funds, if the stock market takes a nose dive, we'll be hit hard.

Both my wife and I hope to retire when we each hit 62, so if I need to diversify I'm thinking it'll need to be done soon.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

A good way to diversify and hedge against market instability is investing in PMs. I have been doing that with my wife and so far we are very satisfied with the unrealized gains. We plan on holding until we are about to retire plus or minus 5 years depending on the market conditions. I have been buying a mix of gold/silver bars and coins. [spam removed]

[Nutria]

A good way to diversify and hedge against market instability is investing in PMs.

Prime Ministers? Post Meridians? Private Messages?

[disneysteve]

Prime Ministers? Post Meridians? Private Messages?

Took me a minute but obviously he means precious metals, not that I have ever seen anyone abbreviate it as PM.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Stupid question here, why not stop working? Why don't you either cut back on overtime, or quit? Retire earlier than 62? Why are you working? What's your magic number?

[Rocco1235]

Prime Ministers? Post Meridians? Private Messages?

Sorry for the confusion lol but yes I did mean Precious Metals! Definitely not investing in Prime Ministers or Private Messages