closer to retirement, 4 years to go

[Scarfinger]

I am gettig closer to retirment and I was planning on running 5% G, 5% F, 42% C, 12% S, 36% I. Even though my numbers all check out, using Boldin. I am a little nervous so I am changing to 15% G, 5% F, 42% C, 10% S, 28% I. Going from 90% equities to 80% equities. Running a more balanced portfolio into retirement. balance for more of a set it and forget it besides rebalancing.

That gives me 6.5 years of safe money now and probably closer to 8.3 years of safe money at retirement in 4 years.

Best of luck to all!

[ProduceMan]

Congrats Scarfinger! When you say rebalance, do you simply IFT to the 15-5-42-10-28, also how often?

[Scarfinger]

The plan is just rebalance once a year to the 15-5-42-10-28.

I did do a small in-plan Roth conversion of a $1,000 dollars to see how that works. I also plan on doing a Roth direct rollover to my Fidility account when I turn 59 1/2.

[Bubba]

The plan is just rebalance once a year to the 15-5-42-10-28.

I did do a small in-plan Roth conversion of a $1,000 dollars to see how that works. I also plan on doing a Roth direct rollover to my Fidility account when I turn 59 1/2.

The rollover is my plan too. I'll likely leave something in the G Fund like many others, but it would be a very small portion of the actual amount. The TSP doesn't provide the lowest expense ratio anymore and the returns are great, but I have so many more options in a brokerage account. We'll see what we find in a few years. I hope that one day we'll be allowed to trade ETFs in a brokerage fund.

[Jimmyk65]

The bucket strategy has been mentioned before (https://tspcenter.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=18835). Basically, leaving a portion of money in the G fund (as an income source) and transferring the rest out to a brokerage for the growth aspect and convenience. Chris Barfield has put together a barbell strategy (same concept) and has a nice in-depth summary following it for the past 8 years. Worth a look if you are considering this option.
https://www.barfieldfinancial.com/new-b ... 26-edition

[PhilJohn]

I retire in 11 months at 53 years old. I will start withdrawing from TSP when I reach 62. (just going to let it grow for a bit and keep converting to Roth) I dont see any reason or advantage to leave TSP until I start withdrawing. I thought about dividens but I honestly dont know enough about them to feel confident.

I attended a work retirement seminar recently and it seemed like just a bunch of financial advisors trying to get contracts. Felt like cattle being herded to a meat plant truck.

Still going to invest aggressively. I will also start investing in physical silver and gold. It might not be the most technical plan but its mine.

[Scarfinger]

Agreed on the retirement seminar feelings. I use Boldin to run projections.

[evilanne]

CONGRATS Scarfinger & Phil John on approaching retirement! Glad you are both looking at Roth conversions or rollover...the sooner you start, the better. With portfolio gains, tax brackets, and taxes it is challenging. Since 2019 I've converted about $25K per year on average and I've only increased Roth balance to about 1/3 of my retirement. Luckily I have until age 75 to do conversions before hitting RMD but more focused on drawing down traditional balance either through conversions or withdrawals. TSP is much better now on handling withdrawals.

[jimcasada]

I've been rolling over about $50k/yr to my Schwab ROTH account since I retired 3 years ago. I've been trying to roll over as much as I can while these kids are still in college, and we can still claim them as dependents. I came really close to rolling over too much last year. If I had rolled over a few dollars more, I would have lost our Maryland State dependent exemptions, costing us a couple thousand more in State taxes. So, about $50k/yr is a reasonable limit for us right now.

[Bubba]

I've been rolling over about $50k/yr to my Schwab ROTH account since I retired 3 years ago. I've been trying to roll over as much as I can while these kids are still in college, and we can still claim them as dependents. I came really close to rolling over too much last year. If I had rolled over a few dollars more, I would have lost our Maryland State dependent exemptions, costing us a couple thousand more in State taxes. So, about $50k/yr is a reasonable limit for us right now.

Nice! I'm currently playing with bringing my retirement estimate down from almost 20 to almost 10. I'm starting to wonder with all the upheaval why remaining would make sense. Plus, it seems like there is continual discussion about removing/lowering federal benefits. I am hoping to lock all of that in before those things are gone.