Hi Readers,
Sorry for the late post. It is already over a month old since the first quarter stock and bond markets returns. Still, I have a great report for you to look over so you get a first-hand look at how passively managed low-cost investments which are diversified and balanced between stock and bonds work.
Enjoy,
Steve Schullo
Retired Los Angeles Teacher
Happy Belated New Year!
There are hundreds of articles and blog posts from young people who either want to retire in their 30s or 40s, or have already quit their day job. They are not shy about sharing what they do: travel, live abroad, created blog posts and share how to cut spending to be financially independent at a much younger age than my older Boomer Generation. This youthful community is growing rapidly and call themselves (Financially Independence, FI and Financial Independence/Retire Early, FIRE). The love of my life Georgiana and I attended a FI conference. I love what they do so much that I donated $10,000 to be an Associate Producer of a documentary called “Playing with FIRE.”
However, it is rare for seniors who have retired in their traditional senior years to report what we do.
LOOK NO MORE! This report is from a 71-year-old retired elementary teacher. What exactly does a retired senior do after celebrating ten years after the classroom, and how do I fund my support of good causes, traveling and my free books? LOOK NO MORE. I also share my financial portfolio and how it performed in 2018.
This post is long because I have a ton of pictures. Instead of just reporting how my portfolio performed in 2018, I posted my annual holiday letter which I write every year to my family in Wisconsin. The end of the year is a time for reflection, connection and sharing pictures. What fun!
Three developments happened in 2018. The best of all, the love of my life, Georgiana, and I have been dating for all of 2018, this is the first year since 2008 that my portfolio declined in value, and for the first time I had to take money out of my tax-deferred accounts, known as the Required Minimum Distributions (RMD). Hope you enjoy it and be inspired to live a full and happy retirement life.
Happy New Year!
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.
As you can read from the title I have a lot more to share besides the Late Bloomer Wealth Quarter 1 report. Can you believe it is spring already? Even here in the warm climate of the California desert, the cool “winter” climate is warming up to our springtime normal temperatures of the 80s. The birds and my heart are singing, and the desert flora is blooming. Who doesn’t like spring in all of its forms? Why is my heart singing? Find out in this very lengthy and pithy blog post. It’s also that time of the year to compare my Late Bloomer Wealth (LBW) portfolio to the major market averages. Despite the volatility, my portfolio performed as expected.
Happy 2018 New Year! And what a 2017 year for the stock market! Hi Readers! Last June I wrote in my second quarter 2017 portfolio report that I would be “very happy if my current year-to-date (Y.T.D.) would be 4.5% return.” My end of the year 2017 return was: 9.0%! I not only found new love …
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.
Yep, you read the title of this blog correctly. But first I apologize, as it’s been a long time since my last post.
Since the beginning of the year, my portfolio and my personal life are growing and changing. As you know, I have experienced the worst personal loss of my life for the last 1.5 years. Because of my work with a grief group, 1 X 1 with a life coach, and maintaining connections with family and friends, being single again sucks sometimes, but I have begun the impossible, dating! I had never planned to be single so soon in my retirement and in the most shocking way. So what am I doing differently? I put my personal profile on a couple of dating sites, and I have actually gone out on coffee, hiking and dinner dates for the first time in 40+ years! I am beginning to appreciate being free and single again. I can do anything I want, and I have the financial resources to do just that.
Besides my personal life going in a positive direction, this stock market continues to grow, and so does my portfolio. Take a look at how my investments performed, my asset allocation and my costs. It’s only one click away.
Constructing a broadly diversified, low-cost portfolio is straight forward. But human beings continue to struggle to wrap their heads around this idea of the nonmechanical aspect of investing–what’s between our ears. The financial media is of NO HELP what-so-ever! First off, the well-known financial pundits imply that you can beat the averages by constructing an “exciting” portfolio. On the other side of the argument based on Jack Bogle and his author followers including this writer is to construct a “boring” portfolio. A boring portfolio is defined as a broadly diversified plan that performs close to the market averages, not too high (speculative) and not too low (managers making bad choices and charging the investor too much). My portfolio is boring because it neither exceeds or falls below the averages. It’s just right. That’s what I call genuine excitement. This excitement is the reasonable and sane returns I earned this past year. Nothing wrong with my 5.9% return for a conservatively constructed portfolio and the fun I have spending it supporting my values.
I have updated my data to include the 2016 returns of my portfolio. You can see for yourself. The enclosed graph shows an exciting portfolio during the 1990s and a boring portfolio since 2003. My graph will help you answer the question: Do you want to construct an exciting or a boring portfolio?
Lots to discuss. Pictures of my latest travel adventure to Cuba, dissecting and evaluating my 5.9% portfolio return for the calendar year 2016, and explaining the power of simplicity.