The Investor’s Survival Guide

How much of your income should go to student loans?

Warren Buffett's business partner, Charlie Munger, made headlines the other day saying it's better to own a handful of high-conviction stocks than it is to hold 100 different securities. A billionaire in his own right, the 97-year-old Munger said that complexity is often mistaken for sophistication. (He was talking about investing, but that holds true in many aspects of life.) Keep it in mind if you're flirting with Bitcoin or other buzzy investments. Dabble if you must — just don't think it makes you any smarter than the steady Eddie who buys and holds low-cost index funds. In today's edition, we answer nine questions to help investors navigate today's wild markets. Best wishes, Elizabeth P.S. If you got this newsletter from a friend, sign up here for email delivery to make sure you don't miss the next issue. TIMELY RETIREMENT NEWS, INSIGHTS, AND ADVICE The Investor's Survival Guide: How to Make Money (and Stay Sane!) in Today's Wild Markets Here are nine questions investors should ask themselves A Third of Americans Plan to Raid Their Retirement Savings to Make Ends Meet A new Money poll shows the devastating fallout of the pandemic. Here's How Much of Your Income Should Go Toward Student Loans Each Month Consider the 50/30/20 rule. RETIRE WITH MONEY COMMUNITY NEWS I'd like to extend a warm welcome to Eric Sedensky, 57, our Reader of the Week! Tell us a bit about yourself. I've lived and worked all over the world, including 10 years in Tokyo, four years in London, and one year in New York. For the last 21 years, I've made my home in Madison, Alabama, where I work as a manager of an automotive parts manufacturer. What are your retirement plans? I'm expecting (or hoping) to retire by age 60, if not sooner, so I'm fine tuning my investments and trying to travel more and pick up some new hobbies to help me transition into retirement. COVID has obviously impacted the travel, but my wife and I still make it a point to take a decent (four or five night) road trip every couple of months. Nice! What kind of portfolio moves are you making? My first was about eight years ago, when I moved my 401(k) allocation to about 70% bonds and 30% stocks. At the time, the 401(k) was about 95% invested in stocks, and at about 40% of my total portfolio, it made my overall allocation too stock heavy for a guy looking to retire in 10 years. I figured I could afford to limit the risk and suffer a smaller return for more steady (but slow) growth while upping my bond weighting. That worked like a charm and my 401 (k) is now about 50-50 stock bonds and is stable. And at still about 30% of my total portfolio, that amount works pretty well, and will continue to grow in the bond area for the foreseeable (still working) future. What are you most looking forward to about retirement? I play jazz piano in my spare time [but] I find at the end of a long day, it's difficult to sit at the piano and be creative. Once I retire, I'll be able to use all my energy on my own endeavors, travel and music, and that should make them both more meaningful and productive. I may even find some time to revive my jazz blog. RETIREMENT NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB It's 'Absolute Insanity' to Think Owning 100 Stocks Instead of Five Makes You a Better Investor Charlie Munger speaks out. YAHOO FINANCE Why Stock Investors Are Starting to Really Worry About Rising Bond Yields Fears of inflation are rising, CNBC How To Sign Up For A COVID-19 Vaccine In Your State Use this tool to find out when it's your turn. NPR How Naps Can Keep You Happy and Healthy Done right, naps can help make up for lost nighttime sleep. NEXT AVENUE Elizabeth O'Brien is deputy editor at Money. She has covered retirement and health care for nearly a decade. A Brooklyn resident and mom of two boys, she navigates the alphabet soup of Medicare and the New York City subway system with equal ease. You can email her at elizabeth.obrien@money.com and follow her on Twitter at @elizobrien. This newsletter is free because Money earns a commission when you click or make purchases from the links in this email and on our site. We also receive compensation for some of the products and services featured in this message. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Learn more about how we make money. Privacy Policy • Advertise With Us • We're Hiring! To stop receiving these emails, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences. Copyright ©2021 Ad Practitioners, LLC. All rights reserved. Metro Office Park Calle 1, Building 7 Suite 204, Guaynabo, 00968 Puerto Rico, USA