Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

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countofmc
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Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by countofmc »

I don't know exactly why, but over the last year I've just stopped being so proactive regarding my personal finances. I used to lurk and read this forum pretty compulsively, I don't even do that much anymore.

I'm just subscribing to KISS: I've built up an e-fund and try to invest 20-30% of our salaries, all in tax-advantaged accounts into a Vanguard Target Retirement fund. Other than that I'm really trying to just tune out the noise, pay no attention to the DOW to 30,000 or DOW to 5000 stories, and am also trying to ignore a lot of the political developments and wrangling as well.

Do you think this is generally wise, or am I risking not being proactive enough and missing something vital?
technovelist
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Re: Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by technovelist »

No, this is terrible! You must follow every thread in the forum and comment on most of them, or you are risking imminent catastrophe!!!

:mrgreen:
In theory, theory and practice are identical. In practice, they often differ.
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countofmc
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Re: Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by countofmc »

technovelist wrote:No, this is terrible! You must follow every thread in the forum and comment on most of them, or you are risking imminent catastrophe!!!

:mrgreen:
Haha, just to be clear, I'm not making any kind of negative comment about this forum, it's been an invaluable source of advice and collective wisdom. I'm talking about just financial news, stories, etc in general.
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FNK
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Re: Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by FNK »

Normal. You accumulated enough knowledge, so your mind moved on. Good for you.
gvsucavie03
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Re: Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by gvsucavie03 »

countofmc wrote:I don't know exactly why, but over the last year I've just stopped being so proactive regarding my personal finances. I used to lurk and read this forum pretty compulsively, I don't even do that much anymore.

I'm just subscribing to KISS: I've built up an e-fund and try to invest 20-30% of our salaries, all in tax-advantaged accounts into a Vanguard Target Retirement fund. Other than that I'm really trying to just tune out the noise, pay no attention to the DOW to 30,000 or DOW to 5000 stories, and am also trying to ignore a lot of the political developments and wrangling as well.

Do you think this is generally wise, or am I risking not being proactive enough and missing something vital?
You have the ultimate approach to this. Might be best just to look up and see what's going on each year in your retirement accounts (maybe for no more than fun and kicks). This, I think, is the essence of what Bogle is trying to teach us - know the principles laid out for sound investing, set up an auto-pilot method of investing, tune out the noise!
dickenjb
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Re: Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by dickenjb »

I think most people here would advise you to ignore the noise.
The Wizard
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Re: Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by The Wizard »

dickenjb wrote:I think most people here would advise you to ignore the noise.
It's not just ignoring the noise. There's a period of 6 months to a year after one converts from heretic to bogleheadism where certain corrections get made to establish a proper AA and move to low cost funds. And perhaps increasing savings rate a bit.
After that, it tends to come down to "don't just do something, stand there", except for rebalancing from time to time...
Attempted new signature...
staythecourse
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Re: Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by staythecourse »

The Wizard wrote:
dickenjb wrote:I think most people here would advise you to ignore the noise.
It's not just ignoring the noise. There's a period of 6 months to a year after one converts from heretic to bogleheadism where certain corrections get made to establish a proper AA and move to low cost funds. And perhaps increasing savings rate a bit.
After that, it tends to come down to "don't just do something, stand there", except for rebalancing from time to time...
Agree 100%. It seems after getting through 1 yr. to fine tune there isn't much to do. It is just a matter of keeping you ears open and closed at the same time. Open to new information that would influence your willingness, need, or ability to take risk and closed to all the noise.

Good luck.
"The stock market [fluctuation], therefore, is noise. A giant distraction from the business of investing.” | -Jack Bogle
Investing is boring
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Re: Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by Investing is boring »

The only thing I would say is to give back. I think it is fair that you teach for at least as much time as you have spent here learning.

And by the way... there are gem's every now and then even for the know-it-all's like me.
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countofmc
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Re: Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by countofmc »

Investing is boring wrote:The only thing I would say is to give back. I think it is fair that you teach for at least as much time as you have spent here learning.

And by the way... there are gem's every now and then even for the know-it-all's like me.
I usually have nothing intelligent to add compared to most of the folks here regarding investing, but I do try to chime in and offer personal experiences on things like the Personal Consumer forum.
hq38sq43
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Re: Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by hq38sq43 »

countofmc wrote:I don't know exactly why, but over the last year I've just stopped being so proactive regarding my personal finances. I used to lurk and read this forum pretty compulsively, I don't even do that much anymore.

I'm just subscribing to KISS: I've built up an e-fund and try to invest 20-30% of our salaries, all in tax-advantaged accounts into a Vanguard Target Retirement fund. Other than that I'm really trying to just tune out the noise, pay no attention to the DOW to 30,000 or DOW to 5000 stories, and am also trying to ignore a lot of the political developments and wrangling as well.

Do you think this is generally wise, or am I risking not being proactive enough and missing something vital?
Reading Jane Bryant Quinn's little book Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People might persuade you to relax, as you should, because you seem to be doing just the right things, except worrying unnecessarily.

Don't hurry. Don't Worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.

Best regards,
Harry at Bradenton
Fallible
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Re: Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by Fallible »

countofmc wrote:I don't know exactly why, but over the last year I've just stopped being so proactive regarding my personal finances. I used to lurk and read this forum pretty compulsively, I don't even do that much anymore.

I'm just subscribing to KISS: I've built up an e-fund and try to invest 20-30% of our salaries, all in tax-advantaged accounts into a Vanguard Target Retirement fund. Other than that I'm really trying to just tune out the noise, pay no attention to the DOW to 30,000 or DOW to 5000 stories, and am also trying to ignore a lot of the political developments and wrangling as well.

Do you think this is generally wise, or am I risking not being proactive enough and missing something vital?
You're OK, I'm OK...I think. I've been investing since the late '80s and gradually stopped frequently or constantly checking out the market, my finances, and the general "noise," except during big market events like the tech crash and financial crisis or preparing for a major life transition. It's all sort of committed to memory or internalized anyway, so constant checking is not necessary. I think you're lucky to be less interested since it means you have more time to spend with family and friends and pursue a variety of interests - that's the best part of the Bogleheads philosophy. :)
Last edited by Fallible on Mon Sep 23, 2013 8:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Yes, investing is simple. But it is not easy, for it requires discipline, patience, steadfastness, and that most uncommon of all gifts, common sense." ~Jack Bogle
heyyou
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Re: Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by heyyou »

I don't know exactly why, but over the last year I've just stopped being so proactive regarding my personal finances. I used to lurk and read this forum pretty compulsively, I don't even do that much anymore.
There are reasons why it is called passive investing.

I'm with you. At my age, I've stopped thinking for long periods.
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tom0153
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Re: Starting to tune out: Stupid or wise?

Post by tom0153 »

countofmc wrote:I don't know exactly why, but over the last year I've just stopped being so proactive regarding my personal finances. I used to lurk and read this forum pretty compulsively, I don't even do that much anymore.

I'm just subscribing to KISS: I've built up an e-fund and try to invest 20-30% of our salaries, all in tax-advantaged accounts into a Vanguard Target Retirement fund. Other than that I'm really trying to just tune out the noise, pay no attention to the DOW to 30,000 or DOW to 5000 stories, and am also trying to ignore a lot of the political developments and wrangling as well.

Do you think this is generally wise, or am I risking not being proactive enough and missing something vital?
I had to handle a chunk of change when my wife died, and I was really afraid of making a big mistake. I had slowly come to believe that indexing was the way to go, despite much of what I had seen and heard in a professional career that included money topics. So, I came here.

I did some of that stuff that folks suggest is the normal learning and tweaking. I started out in the Vanguard STAR fund for a part of the cash, since it was already balanced, much like you have done with the target retirement funds.

But, I soon learned that it was possible too, to lower the annual costs for the indexing further, if I selected some of the funds directly which are lower, like the S&P 500 fund at 0.05 per cent. So, eventually, I used my own asset allocation applied to individual investments.

I was locked in to another mutual fund with much higher costs at a bank. It took me a while to get to the point where I've gone ahead and sold those funds (now in A rather than B shares) and I'll buy in the next couple of days the VOO ETF which is the same S&P 500 fund. The cost for making the purchase is less than I expected from this bank, so I'll remain with them (the funds will also serve as a compensating balance for some of the bank services I obtain).

At some point, all of this tweaking will end, but I have another round of it, as I move into the phase of drawing on the funds. When I begin doing that, I want to worry more about my spending in retirement, and less about my investing.

I'm one of the lucky ones who can still say I rely on pensions to keep my retirement comfortable.
Best, Tom
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