Last fall DD had a school fundraiser that involved selling magazine subscriptions. I chose to buy a subscription to "Money". I have found it interesting to thumb through. This morning I picked up the most current issue to finish looking at.

The feature article/theme was about retirement. While most of the article was moderately interesting the section that made me go "Hmmm.." was titled Protecting Your Critical First Decade.

It describes a newer theory called "sequence risk". Basically the idea is that if you make your allocations too conservative in retirement it could negatively impact your nest egg in the long run.
The idea is that maybe you should own more % stock as you age, but timing is everything.

Obviously we all know timing is everything! And I think we understand that it is difficult to overcome losses.

This graph in the article (I didn't see it online) shows how a loss of value in the early years of retirement are much more damaging than if the same percent of loss happened later.




"The idea is that if you can get through the early years with your portfolio intact, you can still handle owning stocks later."

"In tests of thousands of simulated markets, Kitces and Pfau found that portfolios starting with as little as 20% in stocks and increasing to 60% had a better chance of lasting 30 years than portfolios that began high in stocks and gradually decreased. The portfolios also had less severe shortfalls when they failed."

Unfortunately the online version of this section is a bit condensed vs. the printed version, but I think the main points are still explained.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/26/retirement/retirement-stocks...

What I came away with is that shifting allocation should maybe look more like a curved graph where you start with higher risk, gradually moving to lower risk, and then gradually moving back up to higher risk (thus possible reward). Verses the traditional straight line graph of steadily reducing risk. And to be even more protective of our capital than traditionally recommended as we close in and enter the early years of retirement. Additionally it might be very worthwhile to increase investing in stocks into retirement - as long as you are capable of paying attention to what is going on with the market. Lastly, not rely on retirement funds in "auto-pilot", low yield investments to provide for you.

Sure, I feel the ideal position is have enough principle that you only withdraw the interest and/or dividends that the lump sum provides. But I imagine that most folks won't have that luxury and are going to have to slowly dip into the principle.

Makes this newest plan food for thought...

DH is coming home this evening. I am planning to make the hash brown quiche that everyone loves so much. I'll add either a fruit or green salad on the side.

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I paid DD her new higher allowance today. $20/two weeks and $5 for mowing the front and back yard.

I also set DD up with her own email address. She was thrilled.

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I went to the grocery store this morning. $157. I bought five boxes of cereal because they were $2 each and I had a $2 off 5 boxes coupon. I like cereal, it's good for breakfast, snacks and sometimes dinner. I don't plan to go shopping again for two weeks.
Going to get that grocery spending down this month.

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My BFF had her baby girl this morning!

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The weather has been fabulous here the past week. Mild. I haven't had to use heat or AC. I love that!
Right now it is 80F and just beautiful.

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I checked my $1k that I invested in my ROTH a few weeks back and it is up $14.

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Getting excited about all our favorite shows as the new season starts up. I so enjoy curling up on the couch on cool fall nights and watching TV.

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Had some corn from our garden two nights ago. It was not quite ready, but still very good. I've also been getting lots of green beans and I need to pick more today. Getting plenty of zucchini and summer squash. Enough for us and anyone we know. DD's pumpkins are thriving. I bought more spinach seeds so I can replant that area. I've had several lemon cucumbers and a bell pepper. The tomatoes are really taking their sweet time getting red. I've picked one red one and the puppy pulled one off and the chickens ate two almost red ones. There are *tons* of green ones.

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The Amazon seller that we ordered DH's book from offered to refund my shipping *IF* I change my feedback (3 stars). The shipping was $7. I don't know if I want to change the rating; they should do a better job. Still, $7 back in my pocket.....

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Off to watch the second half of the 49er game. When it ends it'll be time to switch to the SF Giants game.

Tomorrow is DD's first day back to school. I can hardly believe the summer went by that fast! DH started his twice weekly EMT class tonight, so he's back to school too.

DD went to the dentist this morning for her regular check up. Everything was fine and the visit was 100% covered, so there was no OOP. I also found out we have a $88 credit there from an insurance adjustment. I am sure it'll be used. She'll need sealants on her new molars maybe next visit.

Our next stop this morning was JCPenney's for their free haircut. (Thanks CCFree!) We gave the stylist a $4 tip.

DD and I did a bit of clothes shopping while we were at the mall. DD scored on a pair of clearance jeans at Penney's for $6! I bought a plain tshirt at Old Navy on clearance for $3. A few days ago I bought a clearance shirt at Target for $3.
Can't beat those clearance racks!

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Tried to look up the bonds that the kids were given and I couldn't get them pulled up. I have an email into my cousin to see what I need to do. Very frustrating to spend over an hour messing around with a very user UN-friendly site. Blah!

I did use my $1k to buy into a new mutual fund for my ROTH. I wanted to split it between mine and DH's, but the minimum initial purchase for this fund I wanted was $1k. Meh, DH won't much care, he doesn't keep tabs on the ROTH's. I guess that is the "What he doesn't know won't hurt him??" Theory.

My grandmother, who recently passed, gave each great-grandchild a $500 savings bond. I am wondering if I should just leave it as is or would there be a better place to put that money for the kids?

I also received a check last week from my grandpa for $1k as a last gift from grandma. After thinking it over I am putting that into our ROTH IRAs. That is the best place for it to grow.
But between you and me, I was seriously tempted to go to Disneyland with it!

As you might remember my car was backed into two weeks ago. Well today I had it checked out at the mechanic's shop because I've been smelling gas. The time/cost to diagnose the problem will be 2hrs/$235. To fix it? As of now, unknown. Tomorrow I am going to call the elderly lady and see how she wants to pay for all this. To top it off the car's registration is due this month and I think it's due for a smog. But, I haven't gotten a notice from DMV yet and I'm not even going to try for a smog until this gas odor is dealt with. I heard that California is not sending the renewal notices out with as much notice as in the past. 'Course I'm sure you can't pay any later than usual!
Ugh!!!
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My paycheck on July 5th didn't have my raise on it. The raise was effective starting June 1st. I had it on the last paycheck. What the heck bookkeeper?! I told the boss and he sent the bookkeeper an email, but when will I see the money?
Really thinking that I will set the raise money aside for my ROTH. That would be about $50-$60/mo.
Should I split it with DH's ROTH?
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Giants had a few wins so I added $6 to the EF.
New balance is $3795.

But in a moment I will transfer $1k to the cc to cover DH's dental bill from this afternoon.
Newest EF balance $2795.

I guess -
Easy come. Easy go.
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McDonalds has a promo going until next week for their new smoothie flavor, Pineapple and Mango, 12oz(a small) for $1. The smoothie is very tasty, I tried one Monday.

I stopped by there today to pick two up and they were out. I asked it they would sell another flavor for the same price? They said "No", so I said thanks anyway and drove off thru the drive thru. Too bad for them because I was thinking of also getting nuggets and fries. Good for me because they saved me money. I came home and made a smoothie and ate food I already had.

I have increased both DH's and my ROTH monthly auto withdrawal to $75 each. (It feels embarrassing to type that scrawny amount..)
But really I do feel good that we are making small steps in the right direction. DH and I discussed making small increases thru out the year in order to eventually max out. No way we could afford to max contribute right now. With small increases we hope to not notice the "missing money".

Our ROTH accounts are with T. Rowe Price. I really like being able to make small and regular contributions. Their website is user friendly and their funds are very good. DH has a target retirement fund (2035) and I have Growth. DH was finally able to remember his log on info (yay!) and now I know what it is so I can check in more regularly. He was excited to see his account had been earning money and he has picked out another fund he wants to start buying when we can. It was cool to see him get excited about the ROTH accounts and funds. He was reading the information and the Morningstar ratings. This is a man who barely reads instructions!!! lol! Who am I kidding?? NEVER reads instructions - that's my 'job'. Looking at his account is good for him too because he needs to think 'Future', he is very much 'Here and Now' (uh.. motorcycle..). I still love him though **sigh**

Both ROTHs made very nice gains this past year - almost 13%. I think that's excellent, but I am not an expert investor, so what do I know???

Arrg.. the website logged me off/kicked me out. Made me lose most of this post so now I've re-typed. I MUST remember to highlight and copy before I click the publish button!

Our water bill came yesterday. Our city is now billing once monthly instead of every other month. The good thing is they finally adjusted our sewer usage down to "Winter Average". That saves because the sewer charges are $7.04 per hundred cubic feet (hcf=748 gallons). Tier one water charges are $2.83 per hcf and go up from there. Then you have base service charges on both water and sewer.
Our bill $74. I am going to start having this bill automatically charged to the cc each month.
In regards to the water bill it seems that our new washer is saving lots of water and that means it's saving me lots of money both in and out (sewer). I'll post once I calculate. But even if it uses one hcf less per month that saves $10.
Recent payments:
Payment to Sears card $75. Much less than I had budgeted for, but spent in other areas. I'll do a second payment if I have a little extra at the end of the month.
PG&E $143.
Home phone/cell phones/DSL $156.
Cable $85.
Garbage/Recycle/Yard Waste $44 (three months)

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My ROTH is down $14. Not bad with the market jumping around right now. I need to check DH's, but he has forgotten his username and will need to call.