Late Bloomer Wealth

Passive Investment Strategy

Steve’s LAUSD’s 457(b) “Modest Proposal” Update!

  My Latest Good News on My “Modest Proposal.” By Steve Schullo Member-at-Large, LAUSD Retirement Investment Advisory Committee (RIAC) If you read my previous post just published the other day, you read my thinking, analyses, and my purpose for undertaking a major revamping. Let me be clear, the current plan is a great plan. While …

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Open Letter to LAUSD’s 457(b) Advisory Committee: “A Modest Proposal”

  Hi LAUSD Colleagues. Welcome back to my blog. Exciting News! Below is my open letter to my colleagues on the Retirement Investment Advisory Committee (RIAC). But before I get to my letter, I want to introduce why I wrote the letter. I am so excited because our advisory committee (Retirement Investment Advisory Committee, RIAC) …

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First in a Series: Passive Strategy Proposal for LAUSD 457(b) plan

Los Angeles Unified School District’s Headquarters in downtown Los Angeles   The word “passive” is hardly ever been a positive word in our aggressive, capitalistic, and materialistic-minded culture. We value and reward assertiveness and aggressiveness. We see the hero, always a lone wolf, played out in the media, movies, TV shows, the stories we tell …

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Quarterly Report Q1 2021

    Steve’s Bio Stephen A. Schullo, Ph.D. (UCLA ’96) taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) for 24 years and UCLA Extension teaching educational technology to student teachers. Steve wrote investment articles for the United Teacher-Los Angeles (UTLA) union newspaper for 13 years. He has been featured and quoted in many mainstream …

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Steve’s 2018 Mid-Year (Quarter 2) Portfolio Report and Ballroom Dancing Competition

If you are an investor who is worn-out looking for investing excitements, you have found the right place to start over because my website and my portfolio are extremely boring. If you are looking for sustainable growth without taking over the top risks, you are most welcome to check out this mid-year 2018 report on my 7-figure portfolio. And if you are looking for an exciting activity that is social, fun and healthy check out my latest gig.

Steve’s 2nd Quarter 2017 Portfolio Report

Hi Readers,
I am sorry that I have not been writing many blog posts. As many of you know I am still grieving the loss of my husband, co-author, companion and the kindest, insightful and funniest person ever–Dan. But the good news is that I am making progress. After 1 year and 9 months, I am beginning to enjoy this club I never planned on joining–the single club. I have nobody to be accountable for and I can do whatever I want. It still hurts sometimes, but that is to be expected. Like most of us who lost a close friend or relative, we will never forget them. And that’s good.

Life has a way of throwing both small petty stuff that interferes with our routine, and huge blows occasionally. One can never avoid the pain or the discomfort but to anticipate by thinking and planning for the future is always a good idea, whether it’s a personal loss or personal finance. Through my bereavement group participation, seeing a counselor, writing in a journal and maintain a connection with family and friends, and making new friends have helped a great deal.

Similarly, disruptions, volatility and market crashes also must be planned. Like my grieving experience, I have also sought help for modifying my portfolio. I rebalanced and took some distributions from my portfolio with the assistance of Vanguard’s inhouse Certified Financial Planner. I took out money to fund my retirement such as helping my niece and my sister financially, buying a new wardrobe, new eyewear, throwing a party for friends and relatives, making donations to Palm Springs Writer’s Guild and the Dharmachakra Buddhist Center and Gilda’s Cancer Center for their support of the bereavement group I attend, and planning on a return trip to Vietnam in 2018. The Vanguard financial planner made some excellent suggestions for rebalancing my portfolio and carefully making distributions to keep my capital gains taxes at a minimum.

Look at my portfolio and how I constructed it for low costs, diversification, stock bond split, and best of all SIMPLICITY.

September 30 3rdQ, 2016 Portfolio YTD Returns

The Stock and Bond Markets are up again in the third quarter of 2016. Read how my portfolio has returned 6.7% after nine months. It’s really not complicated because my portfolio is straightforward. It’s constructed to gain when the core asset classes increase and loses value when the market goes down.
Losing is an important part of investing process, if not the most important part. The majority of people don’t understand it because they sell when their investment declines. Never sell, unless it is part of your plan, not because of bear market conditions. Have a plan and stick with it during ups and downs.

Bond Warnings? Have a Diversification Plan and Ignore the Pundits! ALL OF THEM! I mean it.

Many financial planning professionals are trying to scare people into “doing something” with your bonds. Ignore the warnings from the pundits on the financial news mania that you should now buy gold or precious metals. Even my favorite radio political pundit, former Senator Tom Harkin, warns people to buy gold. With all due respect, the former good Senator doesn’t know what he is talking about by telling people in his commercials to put all of their money in gold, because he has been predicting a stock market crash for over a year. That is despicable advice and he should stick to what he does best, discuss progressive ideas.
Be mindful that these articles and the pundits have an agenda. The articles are written by authors who usually work for a firm that happens to sell “what you need” and the reporters or radio hosts want views or website clicks. Scare tactics work every time, but not to readers here. Have a balanced plan with stocks and bonds approximately equal to your age. The post discusses in more detail why I have half of my portfolio in one bond fund, Vanguard’s Total Bond Market Index. I will NEVER buy gold!

Rebalancing My Life and My Portfolio

Is been over eight months since Dan died and while the hours and days are getting easier, I miss Dan every day. The single life remains an unfamiliar challenge. I am still thinking and feeling as a part of a couple—similar to losing a limb, the phantom pain is real. I am functioning just fine and carrying on with life as if nothing happened. But my grief is alive and painful just below the surface, 24/7. I am slowly “rebalancing” back to a single life, a life that I have not experienced since my 20s.

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