Our financial system is crumbling this week.

[IMADreamer]

I don't need the stock market to keep those returns going perpetually. Just another 25-30 years and I'll be dead.

[Michael]

I'm just saying you all are way down in the details regarding how to invest with an eye toward the golden years with the assumption that the stock market is going to continue to produce whatever % returns it has.

I'm very sorry about your laptop/job, AWvsCBsteeeerike3. I hope you're moving on to greener pastures.

My overall point and investment strategy is I, and everyone else, doesn't know what's going to happen in the market so you want to be fully diversified in the market with low costs and, if possible, be tax efficient because those few extra % in performance matter over the long term. At no point in this thread have I advocated a specific expected return in the future. I do believe my strategies will beat most fund managers over long haul and there's mounds of research to back that up.

I guess you can say I'm betting over the next 30-50 years the market will be better than cash and that's action I'm willing to take.

I also wouldn't be so quick to give up control of my cash.

Many tax deferred strategies have ways to get your money early for various reasons.

Regardless, everyone has to decide how much risk vs reward they are willing to take. It's a intensely personal decision and no one will come to the same conclusions.

[Swirls]

Perhaps I should wait until I have access to a computer. I got fired the other day after giving 2 weeks notice and they took my lappy. So it's difficult to post images and what not.

Didn't you just buy a part-ownership stake into that company? Did they just buy you out or something?

[lukethedrifter]

Are you suggesting hoarding gold?

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Perhaps I should wait until I have access to a computer. I got fired the other day after giving 2 weeks notice and they took my lappy. So it's difficult to post images and what not.

Didn't you just buy a part-ownership stake into that company? Did they just buy you out or something?

Yeah. Luckily, they bought back the shares and I moved on to another company.

[Michael]

Vanguard is killing it:

Investors flock to Vanguard funds, dump Goldman, Wells Fargo, and others

In the world of asset management, it increasingly seems like there’s Vanguard, and then there’s everyone else.

The investment management giant has taken in more than $177.3 billion in inflows across its products thus far in 2017, according to Morningstar data. That’s about as much as its 10 closest competitors—combined.

Vanguard’s dominance is a byproduct of investors moving en masse to passive products, which simply track an index like the S&P 500 SPX, -0.08% as opposed to actively managed products, which aim to outperform such indexes through portfolio managers selecting the securities held. Data have repeatedly shown that passive funds perform better than active ones, particularly over the long term. Just as importantly, passive funds typically have much lower fees than their active counterparts. Vanguard funds, which are among the cheapest in the industry, can be had for as little as 4 basis points, or $4 for every $10,000 invested.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

So it's gonna be a while before I get a laptop and I don't want to wait any longe to talk about this stud. So I'll post it from a new phone. iPhone. First one I've ever had.

Ad and Michael make great points. Personally I just rolled over a 401k into a fidelity ira that has an era of 0.04. Fees on trades. But there won't be many as it's going to be an index fund.

That said. I wouldn't rely on that as a means for retirement, solely.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

I find it hard to believe that someone can be truly diversified in the stock market alone.

Now this my seem stickish but to me truly diversified is a field full of wheat, a closet full of food; a portfolio full of money; a hole full of gold, and a brain full of knowledge.

Total market funds may provide protection against secular downturns but they're still reliant on the general health of America.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

So if you want my advice it would be to figure out how much is needed for retirement. Assume you get like 25% from ss and whatever else.

Take the average age of death and use that.

Calculate how much you need for retirement based on your current paycheck. Account for inflation and calf how much you'll spend bw 62 ish and 78ish.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Then provide 3 different ways to get there.

Path 1. Iras, 401ks; etc.

Path2. Housing. In other words find somewhere somehow to buy the home you pay for and enjoy the small benefits.

Path 3. Self controlled investments. Invest in silver, Tessa, amazon, Facebook or klondex. I would argue it doesn't matter who so long as you know them well. Use your own after tax money.