What to do with a pension

jafink63

I don’t post here much, but I do follow the website each day.
So, in turn we are both turning 60 this year. I am military retired and work part time. My spouse works full-time for an insurance broker doing accounting procedures. I have been doing my own investing over the years and mine is at Fidelity and hers at T Rowe Price. I started hers at TRP when she was a green card holder and is now a dual citizen and has been this way for 20+ years.

We are both in generally good health. I have my aches and pains left from the military though which are covered by the VA. Our medical insurance is through Tricare and the other insurances (dental, eyes, car & house) comes through her work at discounted price. We purchased long term care insurance a few years ago for a cheap price for $4k a month if we ever need it.

Our current medical insurance is through Tricare (Humana Military). When we turn 65 will have to get Medicare as primary payer and Tricare for Life becomes secondary payer. We will continue to get our drugs through Medicare/Tricare

So, my wife has suggested to me that I get an advisor to manage what we have so it lasts throughout our lives and have a good time traveling seeing friends and family. Not so quick, wifey, I think I’ve done a good job of investing and saving.
Even took money out of Roth IRA and paid off the house, and this still leaves us over $1/2m to have a good time with.

My military retired check covers all the bills including the insurance coverages, plus some left over. Her pay and my pay collect in savings accounts for vacations, household repairs etc.

So, the odd question everyone has about their portfolio is what to do with it. Where do I put it? I had posted a thread under What is Pension worth: Old_Joe had mentioned to create a new thread in other investing in what to do with your portfolio now. We don’t have anyone to leave our money too, so now it’s time to spend it. But where do we put it.
So here I am:
Her’s
PRWCX – Capital Appreciation
PRHSX – Health Science
PRFDX – Equity Income
TREMX – Emerging Europe, bought it when price tanked 2.60 share
PRSVX – Small Cap Value

His
VWENX – Wellington
FSMEX – Medical Tech & Devices
TRMCX – Mid Cap Value
FIEUX – Europe Fund
FSCOX – Small Cap Foreign
FXAIX – S&P 500 Fund

yogibearbull

Your other post was on pension valuation which is a controversial concept. You don't need to do that at all.

Instead, do an income-gap analysis. Add up all of your estimated annual expenses; subtract your VA pension, Social Security (if any; you didn't mention it), and any other steady income stream(s). The difference is the income-gap that has to be covered by your portfolio. Incidental expenses would be extra.

I think you can handle $500K portfolio DIY. It may cost 1.0-1.50% on top of fund fees etc to use an advisor.

jafink63

Now that I understand it all better, we will be fine. No need to worry. Just go out and have fun which we’ve started. Y’all have a great day

hank

jafink63 said:

Now that I understand it all better, we will be fine. No need to worry. Just go out and have fun which we’ve started. Y’all have a great day

“But at my back I always hear
Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.”

From “To His Coy Mistress” - Andrew Marvell

Old_Joe

Looks pretty good from this end. You've got a nice spread of investments, and your income/expense ratio looks very good. In fact, your general situation, with respect to Income/expenses/insurance looks very similar to ours.

Have fun!!

Anna

@jafink63
I don't know if you have run into Doug Nordman in your pursuit. He knows a lot about retiring military questions. His website is Military Financial Independence

jafink63

Hey @Old_Joe after digging in more this morning, I’m realizing we are in much better shape than I originally thought. The wife is so happy that she’s gonna drop a day from work starting next year. Off to Cayman Islands to celebrate my 60th.

Old_Joe

@jafink63- Well sir, you did all of the right stuff on your way to retirement. Obviously you paid attention to your expenses, and saved adequately as you were able. Likely some degree of luck was also involved... it certainly was with us.

With respect to how you choose to place your investments, I'd say that since you're still quite young in your sixties, your current scheme seems quite reasonable to me. Even if the next few years are turbulent, you still have plenty of time to recover. We, in our eighties, are looking at a much more conservative approach, thus the choice of income instruments.

Carry on!