Bogleheads

[retired at 48]

For three years I have hesitated on making this initial nontraditional post, for fear of violating my parent’s rule of never seeming to boast of one’s accomplishments. However, I’ve concluded fellow diehards want to hear the lessons learned from battle-tested investors who actually used the diehard techniques over many years, and had positive outcomes. That stated, please forgive any braggadocio, as none is intended, regarding the following three career highlights needed for background:

1. I was a modest-salaried family man who put three daughters through college, and retired at age 48.
2. My wife and I lived comfortably to age 59 ½ on rollover and regular IRA withdrawals of 7.8% annually (admittedly aggressive).
3. This same IRA, which had a real probability of declining in value to $250K, actually increased to over $1M by age 62.

I am a 1966 engineering graduate who worked at GE, becoming a QA Manager, with a moderate final 1993 salary of about $75,000. My wife was employed for only about two of the forty years. (I am grateful for how she raised our three daughters). My savings vehicles included 401.k’s, IRA’s and funding IRA’s for my three daughters (starting at age 12).

In hindsight, by 1970 I began implementing many of the current diehard/Boglehead philosophies and techniques, albeit there was no diehard forum or other communication methods to share or enable learning. It was difficult to convince my spouse in 1993 that retirement was doable, since we still had two daughters in college. Income was to come primarily from rolling over GE’s 401.k into my regular IRA, withdrawing an “annuitized” sum of $48,000 annually until the required age 60, when a vested GE Pension would begin. Last year, at age 62, the statements for the regular IRA’s showed assets exceeding $1M. Whew, let the party begin, it can be done!

So, my life is a laboratory of someone who has actually followed the diehard financial strategies for decades, with a reasonable outcome. Here’s some shared wisdom learned:



•During my first year at GE, a fellow employee, retiring at age 56, was emphatic that young GE engineers should be financially independent by age 48. As a novice at age 22, I made investing a personal “hobby.”

•The GE 401.k was: contribute 7% of salary, 50% company match and additional 10% savings allowed. I thus saved 20.5% of pay, for 27 straight years, without withdrawing any monies!

•GE complemented Vanguard, providing employees with one no-load, very low expense ratio, Large Cap Mutual Fund (Blended) managed by GE. This was my workhorse.

•My rebalancing was mostly by retargeting both payroll deductions and annual IRA contributions to bond funds or equity funds. I rarely sold or reduced equity positions. I never missed an IRA contribution.

•My first few years of investing savings consisted of buying individual stocks, suffering as many losses as gains; the portfolio was going nowhere. Few no load funds existed. One, however, American Investors Fund, allowed present day purchases by phone at previous day closing NAV prices! The SEC subsequently issued regulations prohibiting this “gift pricing”. By 1970, I decided never to buy individual stocks or bonds, only no load mutual funds. Old timers will remember this was quite contrarian then, as a deluge of anti no-load fund information was disseminated by financial institutions of all kinds. I never wavered from this theme.

•A similar disinformation deluge existed, and still exists, against index funds. I was slow to embrace index funds until the data emerged in their favor.

•Until Vanguards highly successful index funds, one used Fidelity, TR Price or others for equity funds (they simply performed better) and Vanguard for bond allocations. Vanguard’s sector funds were, however, good. All of my current new equity investments are with Exchange Traded Funds via Vanguard brokerage.

•At no time was I ever out of the market. The least exposure would have been 55% equities, my current allocation.

•During much of my investing career, there were no computers, no Fama-French, no Morningstar, no efficient market theories/frontiers, limited style boxes, no forums, no Roths, no index funds, and most financial guru’s were strongly against the diehard theories. I did have Vanguard & Bogle views! No complaints, but financial information available today is impressive.

•While I generally acknowledge the “small, value equity premium”, it is rather academic looking backwards as no small, value funds existed. One would have had to buy individual small company stocks, a very risky proposition.

•Annuitizing my IRA avoided the 10% early withdrawal penalty. I chose an aggressive 7.8% initial withdrawal rate (about $48,000 yearly), until age 59 ½. Seems high? Remember that in 1993 thirty year bond yields were far above today’s returns. My insurance policy to running out of money was I could always go back to work.

•Ability to retire meant adopting a paradigm shift of drawing down one’s assets to live on. Except for a GE pension and SS, which I recently started taking at age 62, my initial worse case was my wife and I would be out of money at age 85. This later became age 105…now I don’t calculate it as my stock allocation could go to zero and we could still stay retired.

•I never had an “emergency fund”; rather, I felt I could selectively tap either bond or stock funds, if needed. Does anyone know anyone who ever paid a large amount of money, in an emergency?

•I invested using an investment technique I describe as “pyramiding upward”. That is, I would initially buy 10% of a target allocation of Fund X; if it went down I never bought more. If (and until) it went up I subsequently bought more percentages until the full allocation was met.

•My son-in-law suggested I describe some investment failures. If one defines failure as losing money, I researched my history and, to my surprise, except for one fund, I never had a realized loss. Think about it…if one pyramid’s up, reinvests dividends and interest, and holds for long periods of time, few mutual funds lose ground. When stock averages hit new highs, “staying the course” has no losers. My one losing fund had a 94% decline from my initial purchase; I kept it in my portfolio forever to remind me my loss was relatively very small, because I did not average down by buying more than the initial 10%. (The fund did not survive!)

•I tried to buy the no load fund which was the “fastest moving upward” in the asset class. I considered large sectors like energy and healthcare to be asset classes. This meant making weekly manual fund performance calculations and comparisons from newspapers (oh, I wish we had personal computers then). No, it was not market timing as I was never out, but momentum investing…perhaps I plead guilty. Switching, usually in February, but not often, to the fastest moving funds worked for me. Switching within an IRA avoided cap gains taxes. I also plead guilty to using 200 day moving averages as a key technical indicator, although they are becoming too fashionable now.

•Regarding this style of momentum investing, in Jan 2007 I segregated some monies into a separate “alpha” IRA demonstration account to uniquely test the above methods, longer term, as an ongoing investment strategy. By Dec 31 the gain per Vanguard was 47% (mostly funds involving EM, China, and India), with limited trading. I plan a separate posting someday on this.

•I had very satisfying decades- long results with junk bond fund Fidelity Capital and Income Fund, dollar cost averaging reinvested dividends. I generally agree with Swedroe’s advice to avoid this sector, and last summer I sold completely out of Fidelity and Vanguard junk bond funds (whew!). However, I think a compelling case can be made that about every 10 to 15 years a great opportunity emerges to invest in junk bond funds, especially when yields exceed 14%, which they have. For example, FAGIX went from $5.39 NAV (July 02) to $9.17 (May 07) and from $6.23 (Dec 90) to $10.10 (Jan 94) while yielding very high dividends. I plan a separate post in this regard.

•I declared babysitting money, and started separate IRA’s for my three daughters, each when about age 12. Today, the three IRA’s total about $350,000. The understanding with my daughters is this is my money if I ever need it (unlikely); take it now and you will be written out of the will! These IRA’s are very concentrated, as I treated each as part of MY ASSET ALLOCATION. For example, one daughter is 100% international.

•Two years ago, in lieu of a pension, I opted for a lump sum from GE, rolling it into another separate IRA, with a goal of leaving an increased legacy.

•Between age 60 and 70, I am converting some regular IRA assets to Roth IRA’s, through at least the 15% bracket, as I do have large future RMD’s projected. Amazingly, compound interest calculations show two $100,000 Roth IRA’s, targeted to two recent young grandchildren as beneficiaries, growing to many, many millions each when they retire.
(Government probably won’t allow such huge wealth accumulations).
•Current portfolio allocations are: Bonds…45%, primarily money market accounts, the rest short term funds with no duration over 3 years. No junk bonds. Equity side at 55% is very over weighted to energy sector, due to not fully reallocating gains, and a feeling that oil is my hedge against a falling dollar; about 45% is international per M* Xrays; sold all REIT’s; was very concerned during 2007 that almost everything I owned was hitting all-time highs! Nowhere to run. I’m currently cautious about TIP’s and long term bonds.

•I own homes in upstate NY, Florida and another which I rented for 28 years to my parents. The rental property status enabled me to deduct vacation trips to Florida. I did not consider homes in any asset allocations.

•Annually, I prepared a summary report detailing all financial holdings, allocation percentages, money borrowed and house values. I did not calculate annual portfolio returns as the commingling with new money made this difficult, and few benchmarks existed anyway. Of interest, in only three of 38 years did total holdings decline in value.

•I feel the next alpha adding innovation (with no added risk) will involve rebalancing within asset classes. For example, if financials are a major portion of an S&P500 asset class, and financials drop by 40% or more, why not rebalance by directing money into financials, decreasing money in other sectors. Benefits follow from reversions to the mean, value themes and low valuation levels. Recent investment tools (vast computer information) and investment vehicles (ETF’s) now exist to make the opportunities identifiable and doable, at very low expense costs. Experienced diehards seem resistant to these possibilities.

•What did I do in early retirement? My wife and I made a list of the top 100 things we wanted to do in our remaining lifetimes. We have completed 47 of these.

•In 1993 my wife put a sign on our bedroom door that reads “Nothing is worse than outliving your money”. Four months ago she took down that sign!

Thanks for your attention on this nontraditional type posting. I’ll expand on any aspects above, if requested in response posts. I’m glad to join the forum

[manuvns]

nice and wow pretty long post .i guess you did a lot of home work with your nest egg. how did the “pyramiding upward” technique works ? any related article on that ?

[Ted Valentine]

[retired at 48]

To Manuvns .

Thanks for being my first ever responder! “Pyramiding upward” has an underlying theme that investors (me) make horrible decisions when in loss positions. One can minimize the extent of losses, and thus not lose sleep, by employing the following scheme. If one desires to buy mutual fund or ETF X, make your initial purchase of about 10% of overall money targeted to the fund. One then never makes the next purchase unless he is in positive territory…then further purchases are made. If the fund ever starts seriously declining, then one is at least in a gain position to make decisions. If the initial purchase declines, then either never buy more, or set a loss of about 10% as a time to get out. 10% of a 10% initial buy is only a 1% loss. Thus one doesn’t lose much sleep over this amount. If, in this losing position, time (months) goes on and it is clear that a bear market caused the decline (eg everything went down), I would consider injecting the next 10% of monies, but only if the NAV went through the 200 day moving average on the upside! This forces patience, so one doesn’t catch “falling knives.” Then the pyramiding upward could begin in earnest if the fund held and was trending upward. Computers (like Yahoo) now graph 200 day moving (or dynamic) averages . Checkout past funds with 15 year histories to see such charts.

My next pyramiding up buying will likely be a bank ETF, namely KBE or KRE and I feel my entry point may be within days. I don’t trade, but plan to hold 3-5 years. I don’t know of written material to reference this approach, but probably it exists.

To Ted Valentine,

who replied “Wow, what a great post.” Thanks, you have made my day. Sorry to hear of your emergency…the question is not having the emergency, but if one is asset allocated (with negative correlated assets) would one not feel comfortable tapping a selected asset if needed, versus money sitting in a savings account waiting the emergency?

[Jim R]

Let me also be one of the first to welcome you and say Thank You for your contributions (current and future) to the forum.

...much info to ponder.

Jim R

ps: just curious, what were the first and last things to be crossed off of your "100" list???

[mikenz]

Thanks for taking the time to post your experiences.

[baw703916]

Hi retired at 48,

Welcome to the forum. And a great big thanks for sharing your years of experience with us! It's very impressive that you figured out all of those key points of investing before anyone had even heard of John Bogle, let alone Bogleheads. A lot of good lessons there for anyone, of any age, to take away.

Hope you will have the opportunity to do most, if not all, of the remaining 53 items on your list!

Best wishes,
Brad

P.S. I was probably raised like you were and am often concerned about sounding like I am bragging. I don't see your post that way at all--sharing actual real world experience about saving, investing, and managing one's life and finances is every bit as important as any discussion on asset allocation, the value premium, etc. etc.
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I don't foresee any Black Swans appearing in the future

[DaleMaley]

Nice story

[tommy_gunn]

Excellent post! Sounds similar to my parents, except they retired early on pensions rather than 401ks and such. You certainly accumulated a lot in the span of your career, and on one paycheck.

Congrats, and a pat on the back to what you will be leaving your daughters and grand children!

I look forward to more of your posts
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"I love competition. And I want to win." R. Murdoch

[dave.d]

Obviously OP has done very well, so all questions preceeded by a tip o' the hat... but I'd be concerned about the daughters' IRA's not being diversified, as the default will be for each to inherit their own as it is. They could have widely varying amounts if, e.g., one in stock, one in bonds. If the 3 accounts total $350k, each one is quite large enough to have a balanced multi-asset class allocation.

[DaleMaley]

Your story reminds me of the story I read about the McIntyres......by David Bach......the Automatic Millionaire book guy.
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Dale
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Most investors, both institutional and individual, will find that the best way to own common stocks is through an index fund that charges minimal fees. – Warren Buffett

[retired at 48]

To Jim R

Glad to see some interest in the top 100 things to do yet in lifetime…First on the list is play the Augusta National Golf Course (undone); first done was to live briefly with “monks”. I experienced this with the Benedictine monks (known as the singing monks) in the hills of Weston, Vermont. The silence was golden! The last to be done was a recent tour with my wife of The Alamo in Texas. Almost bought a coonskin Davey Crocket hat I wore as a youth.


To mikenz

Thanks for your support. I’m guessing here, but SEPP


To mikenz

Thanks for your support. I’m guessing here, but SEPP pertains to earned income, doesn’t it? I’m retired.

Glad you may share same feeling re junk bond funds. I will post sometime with more detail and actual experiences.

Retired at 48

[NetNet]

This is a pretty standard momentum trading(IBD/William O'Neil) strategy...and I believe it is called the same as well.

Thanks for sharing! Its good to hear success stories stemming from high and consistent equities exposure when the bad news bears are at bat.

[retired at 48]

To baw703916 and

Dale Maley and

Tommy-Gunn

Thanks for your very supportive responses!

[retired at 48]

To Dave.D

No, the inhereted IRA's are not taxable. Briefly, to my knowledge, the grandchildren must begin taking withdrawals (RMD) using a special table of their life expectancy. It is a very small number at e.g. age 3. The divisor number is then increased by one each year, until about age 83 when all is exhausted. Much has been written on this...see Ed Slott IRA books (3). If this answer is too short, I'll provide more info.

retired at 48.

[retired at 48]

To Dale Maley

Thanks. I read your article on the MCINTIRES! Yes, much like me; but I was perhaps a little more fortunate to work for GE who gave an excelent opportunity to save. And with all 3 daughters going to Penn State it saved me some money.

BTW...I'm getting hundreds of hits, and very encouraging responses. Thanks to all.

retired at 48.

[retired at 48]

To Dave.d who writes

Obviously OP has done very well, so all questions preceeded by a tip o' the hat... but I'd be concerned about the daughters' IRA's not being diversified, as the default will be for each to inherit their own as it is. They could have widely varying amounts if, e.g., one in stock, one in bonds. If the 3 accounts total $350k, each one is quite large enough to have a balanced multi-asset class allocation.


Point is well taken, but here's how it is being managed. 1. When they are free to use these IRA's, they can fully reallocate, balancing it into their own asset allocation plan, without paying any taxes.. 2.) The daughters, now in their thirties, and husbands, are becoming very good learning investors. For one of the three, I just "released" it fully to my son-in-law and daughter to manage. They just reallocated. 3) I have a provision in my will that the oldest daughter executor is to first provide from other assets a "rebalancing sum" so that the IRA plus rebalance money is equal, and 4) BTW each son in law signed a prenup that the IRA's were fully and solely my daughter's!

retired at 48

[Dale_G]

Help me out retired at 48:

[retired at 48]

Dale-G writes:

Help me out retired at 48:

Quote:
•The GE 401.k was: contribute 7% of salary, 50% company match and additional 10% savings allowed. I thus saved 20.5% of pay, for 27 straight years, without withdrawing any monies!

(Dale)
The first 401(k)s started in 1982 - and you retired in 1992. I make that 10 or 11 years. How did you mange to stuff all of that money into tax deferred?

Dale...I am 99% sure of this answer because it is partly based on memory. Indeed, you are right, the designator "401.k" was taken from the new tax code, an enhanced IRS version of earlier corporate savings plans. That is, the tax laws expanded and made it easier, and encouraged more companies to allow employees to save , in (I'll defer to your knowledge as to date) the 1980's. However, there were earlier corp plans such that if you followed certain rules, it was a tax sheltered environment. For example, at GE in the early 1070's it was called Savings and Security Program, had only one each no-load stock and bond fund, and one had to keep money to "vest" eg three or five years, and other rules, to be nontaxable. I used the 401.k as a generic term because most are now familiar with that name. In the 1970's it had different names.

PS: very observant comment, though. It's comforting when diehards are paying attention to detail. Hope the above answer is satisfactory.

retired at 48

[Dale_G]

Thanks retired at 48. I am also a retired Engineer, so I pay attention to (some) details.

Your Plan was probably a CODA “cash or deferred arrangements,” which allowed some compensation (and resulting tax liability) to be deferred. These plans were funded by the employer through bonuses or other cash payments and not from salary. CODAs predate 401(k) plans by several decades and are viewed as their precursors.

You were indeed fortunate to have such a plan available when many were often not even eligible for the then low levels of contributions to IRAs.

Maximum IRA contribution 1975-1981 = $1,500
Maximum IRA contribution 1982-1996 = $2,000

Dale
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first we crawl, then we walk, then we run, later we use any available transportation

[Adrian Nenu]

Hi "retired at 48",

My warmest wishes and welcome to the Bogleheads forum. Your story is truly inspirational and educational to all of us which are still working. Coincidentally, I too will be retiring from my current job with a nice pension at age 48. However I plan to go back to work on my second career for which I am studying now. Stick around, contribute and enjoy our forum. Thanks for a great first post.

Adrian
anenu@tampabay.rr.com

[bolivia]

Agree with Adrian - Congrats and welcome.

It's nice to hear someone's story, especially covering a long period of time. We always seem to discuss what strategy, do-this-don't-do-that mentality; it's refreshing to hear your experiences, the good and the bad. I get more out of these types of postings than from lots of other info.

Bolivia

[hansp]

Retired,

How did you handle health insurance in early retirement? Did you have something from GE or fund it entirely yourself? I know this has become a major expense and consideration in early retirement.

Hans

[DaleMaley]

My company also had a plan.....as least as early as the 1970's.....where you contributed 1,2,3,4,5, or 6% of pay and company matched 50 cents on the dollar. Investment selection was company stock and a small list of mutual funds including Fidelity Magellan. There was also a brokerage option.....which was painful to use in the age before the Internet......but this is where I invested in the Vanguard 500 fund.

Once 401K's came out......the employee investment plan was eliminated and investments in it were folded into the 401K plan.
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Dale
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Most investors, both institutional and individual, will find that the best way to own common stocks is through an index fund that charges minimal fees. – Warren Buffett

[Bruce]

Congrats "retired at 48" for an outstanding achievement and an excellent first post.

Curious for more info about two things.

You wrote "During my first year at GE, a fellow employee, retiring at age 56, was emphatic that young GE engineers should be financially independent by age 48."

That must have been an even more unique accomplishment at the time!

I work with some young college grads as well, any thoughts on the best way to offer the same advice to them with all the internet info available today?

Second ?, could you comment on how much of your success do you feel was due to investment growth and aggressive saving, versus the imposed lifestyle reduction habits of adjusting to that reduced income while raising three daughters.

(I also have three daughters!, but only one old enough to have started her Roth IRA)

I love your idea of a list with your wife of the 100 things you want to do. I look forward to having many conversations about the same with my wife.

Best regards,
Bruce
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Bruce

"Simplicity is the master key to financial success."

[retired at 48]

To: Adrian Nenu and Bolivia


This can't be the same A. Nenu who predicted the NY Giants would beat the NE Patriots, is it??!! Great call. I live in Fla near Stuart (east coast) and wanted to attend your central fl meeting but have a schedule conflict. We will meet sometime.

Bolivia...thanks for the positive comments.

retired at 48

[retired at 48]

To: hansp

Good observation. I was lucky. My whole career at GE involved Navy Nuclear Powered Submarines. With the cold war slowdown, GE sold my small division to Westinghouse. Since I had above 25 years service, I got one, (and only one) benefit if I left the Co , as I did not qualify for any "early retirement." That was, health care at 50% of GE's cost. That said, these costs have still grown to a good size today.

To: Dale Mabry

Your comment on your pre 401.k company savings plans parallels mine, and helps clarify this to a previous responders question. Thanks. (The bottom line is that during the 1970's some large companies did have plans like the later 401.k plans.)

[retired at 48]

To BRUCE:

You wrote. Congrats "retired at 48" for an outstanding achievement and an excellent first post.

Curious for more info about two things.

You wrote "During my first year at GE, a fellow employee, retiring at age 56, was emphatic that young GE engineers should be financially independent by age 48."

That must have been an even more unique accomplishment at the time!

I work with some young college grads as well, any thoughts on the best way to offer the same advice to them with all the internet info available today?

Reply: Yes, when the general retirement age was 65, encountering a fellow employee retiring at age 56 was a novelty. He did it by lifestyle adjusting to the (almost extreme) of frugal…drove one old car, few clothes . But he was a 4 children family man! Subconsiously age 48 stuck in my mind.

Throughout my career at GE I advised many younger people re finances. (Mentoring at GE was a tradition in all regards). By making it known that you, for example, have an interest in, and study, investing, younger people will gravitate to you seeking guidance. Then, pour your heart out! At one point in GE, I conducted a quarterly roundtable lunch session with about 20 secretaries, leading discussions of how to select employee benefits, including what funds to select, and other financial topics of their choosing. I still mentor, and am in touch with younger people,, via the internet. I often copy info from these forums, sending it to myself on Email so I can enlarge the type, and save…I cc several others at this time. They seem to appreciate it. It is especially fun now that two son’s in law are active and interested in investing!

Bruce, thanks for your interest. I’ll reply to second equally great question in separate response..OK.

Retired at 48

[livesoft]

Have you participated in the early retirement forum: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/ ?

Lots of stories over there similar to yours. You might enjoy hanging out there, but you may be a little old nowadays for those folks

[retired at 48]

To: Livesoft

I visited the forum and am in process of registering. Thanks

[retired at 48]

To NetNet

Thanks. I'm sure others have written on similar "pyramidding upward" techniques, but I'm hesitant on the word "trading", as I gave up trading early in my career. Rather, I held for long periods. Switches were same day, thus never being out of the market. The momentum rides were attempts to maximize alpha within the already selected asset class.

[retired at 48]

BRUCE wrote:

[NoMoreInvestingExcitement]

[MP173]

Retired at 48:

A personal question...why did you retire at age 48?

ed

[retired at 48]

To: NoMoreInvestingExcitement, who wrote

[retired at 48]

MP 173 wrote:

[NoMoreInvestingExcitement]

[NoMoreInvestingExcitement]

[retired at 48]

To: NoMoreInvestingExcitement

It's a small world. My GE location was in the old Two Guys building renovated to keep us a "secret" operation. It's just up from the main gate entrance off Union Street side. I walked Union college a lot at lunchtime.

Re emergency fund, you in essence have a need to minimize taxes , and thus your approach is understandable. Have you ever considered having a standing home equity line of credit, monies available to tap if needed in an emergency...freeing up your other funds for investment? This may seem strange to you, but I now have a large home equity loan I am living off (taking no IRA income) while I use the tax space in the next few years to convert monies from regular to Roth IRA's!

Retired at 48...BTW Thanks for your posts.

[actuaryinvestor]

[retired at 48]

To: actuaryinvestor, who wrote:

[Jay]

retired at 48,

As someone who has achieved something that I very much aspire to, I have several questions I would like to ask you.

What was the value of your portfolio when you retired in 1993?

You mentioned a 7.8% initial withdrawal rate. Was this 7.8% of the initial value (and perhaps inflation adjusted), or was it 7.8% of whatever your portfolio rose/fell to?

Out of the 7.8% withdrawal, how much of this money was used for fixed expenses versus discretionary expenditures? In other words, if things got really tough, what could you have cut back to without a significant/permanent lifestyle change (selling your home and moving into a less expensive one for example).

I'm sorry if this has already been asked/answered, but I'm very interested and can't seem to find that information.

- Jay

[NoMoreInvestingExcitement]

[retired at 48]

To: NoMore InvestingExcitement, who wrote:

[NoMoreInvestingExcitement]

[retired at 48]

To Jay, who wrote:

[Random Musings]

[retired at 48]

To: Random Musings, who writes:

[whitemiata]

retired@48 congratulations!!!

Your story is inspirational. My wife and I are looking at a potential retirement when I'm 49 (she's not currently working, if she went back to work she'd also be able to retire at the same time at age 43).

I have a question about your piramid thing.

I read it and re-read it, but no matter how I tried to picture it it sounded to me like a recipe for buying higher than necessary.

Maybe you think it's successful on a behavioural level. It might be financially somewhat inferior to buying again even if the value drops, but if you get to sleep at night and don't freak out and sell at the wrong time the *loss* is money well spent.

Is that it?

Alessandro

P.S. Count me in among those interested in seeing your 100 things to do list.

[Kurmudjon]

Call me crazy but this sounds like a "fantasy" on the part of the OP. Take one part reality and mix in some 'numbers'. The OP is way more interested in replies than someone who had actually done what he espouses. He seems to be most interested in encouraging responses, etc. Maybe a financial writer trying to put an article together? If not, a thousand pardons.
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I warm so easy so dance me loose - it shines so bright the moon.