8-10% rate of return in the last 18 months

[geekette]

I called Nationwide, the company that has this money, though it’s thru State Teachers Retirement. I asked about the rate of return and right now it is at 16.3. She said that doesn’t mean much enlight of what we lost. The previous years the ROR was 5-7%. So I turned it over to them to manage. Our Edward Jones guy wanted it, but until my husband starts his SS, I’m afraid to move it. So, I hope with the professionals my account will begin to look better. After your comments and calling them, I decided I didn’t know enough about investing to continue on my own. I can change it back anytime I want so we will see how they do compared to me moving the money around.

So the 16.3 is 2019 YTD? Reasonable. Don't forget, market goes up, market goes down, so your end of year 2019 is unlikely to be 16.3. It seems that October usually has some bruising. I recently was looking at my year to date div haul and noticed some big price gains in some of my holdings, so being into double digit returns makes sense to me.

Do not beat yourself up, you made the best choice you could at the time, it is not a screw up. A screw up would be a full grown adult with 0 for retirement and zero concerns about it. It is better that you sit tight vs attempt heroics you don't feel comfortable attempting. Perhaps at a time in the future you can spend some time looking at the different funds available to you and what is in them. It could be that you do actually own slivers of a lot of companies that you recognize, possibly the same companies you would want to own if you struck out on your own. Lots of people own mutual funds and ETFs, it is completely normal. It's not clear if that is how your money is invested, I am making an assumption that your funds were deployed across a few or several ETFs.

When you get your next statement, spend some quality time with it so you can understand where the money is being made or what isn't keeping up. Knowing what's going on is just as good as having decided it all for yourself. It doesn't all move in lockstep, so an SP500 fund may blow away a "target" fund and bond funds.

Note that rollovers have nothing to do with account value, except from the standpoint that most transfers require all holdings sold in order that only cash transfers to next broker. I am supportive of your being comfortable staying put. It is important to be comfortable, it helps keep anxiety down.

 

[geekette]

I believe all married couples only get half of the second SS benefit. I looked this up for my husband and I and the first retiree gets 100% but the second only gets 50%. This is a good reminder actually for me to research a bit more and see who should collect first.

Not necessarily. A married couple where both parties worked full careers should both be able to claim on their own records, 100%.

 

[geekette]

This 401B is my only hope of having the monthly $$$$ I earned and just screwed up my pension by splitting it.

Not necessarily. You could potentially grow the 403b to generate much more than the pension half, because you can invest it however you want, while it seems to me that pension managers stick closer to conservative investments.

How close to needing the money are you? You should be able to leave the 403b alone until age 70.5, letting it further fatten.

 

[TravelTime]

Not necessarily. A married couple where both parties worked full careers should both be able to claim on their own records, 100%.

I will need to double check on that, When I last did the SS thing online, they said I would get half if my husband got full SS. I was pretty annoyed. I have worked full time my entire life.

This is what I was referring to. https://www.kiplinger.com/article/r...-security-strategies-for-married-couples.html

Eventually we will figure this out!

 

[DancingWaters]

I think as a spouse you would get whichever one is higher. So you would get yours or half of your husbands social security.

 

[DancingWaters]

G

Not necessarily. You could potentially grow the 403b to generate much more than the pension half, because you can invest it however you want, while it seems to me that pension managers stick closer to conservative investments.

How close to needing the money are you? You should be able to leave the 403b alone until age 70.5, letting it further fatten.

Geekette,
Thanks for the encouragement, but with such a small pension, it makes me feel like all my hard work wasn’t worth much. My pension would pass to my husband, so I guess only time will tell which method was the best in terms of dollar to dollar. I don’t need the money, but boy, it certainly would be nice!
I’ve had to watch what I spend, where when I was teaching I never did——loss of fun and security. I knew every 2 weeks a got a decent check! In 18 months my husbands social security will kick in and I will have more spendable cash——. I turn 65 next month and medical benefits aren’t free for me anymore. More money out of my small pension—-less spending money. Other than this error, we do have a good size nest egg, my husband has a nice pension, 6 rentals and I did invest personally in Disney stock which puts a magical smile on my face. Something that shows I worked hard. I am thankful I turned it over to the financial guys..... Thanks for your input

 

[VacationForever]

I believe all married couples only get half of the second SS benefit. I looked this up for my husband and I and the first retiree gets 100% but the second only gets 50%. This is a good reminder actually for me to research a bit more and see who should collect first.

Incorrect. Each can claim against their own SS benefits. Only when one PIA is less than the other's PIA, then it makes sense to claim against the spousal's SS benefits.

 

[jimf41]

A spouse gets their own benefit or 37.5% of what the other spouses benefit would have been if collected at FRA. It makes no difference at what age the other spouse actually starts collecting.

 

[VacationForever]

A spouse gets their own benefit or 37.5% of what the other spouses benefit would have been if collected at FRA. It makes no difference at what age the other spouse actually starts collecting.

50% of spouse's PIA at FRA if collected at his or her own FRA.

 

[TravelTime]

50% of spouse's PIA at FRA if collected at his or her own FRA.

I am super confused by all the acronyms. Also confused by the SSA’s language. So are you saying my husband and I would both each get the max SS monthly payment allowable for each of us? We have both worked about the same. So I could collect the max and he could collect the max and neither one of us would be affected?

This is what is confusing me:
Generally, a spouse retiring at full retirement age can receive half of the amount that the primary recipient would receive at their full retirement age. If the spouse claims early, then the amount they receive is reduced.

Is the above true only if the spouse did not work enough in his/her lifetime to qualify for a larger benefit? (Maybe that is what has confused me)

 

[rapmarks]

You most certainly will get your full benefit, but if it happened to be smaller than half your spouse then you would get bumped up to half

 

[VacationForever]

I am super confused by all the acronyms. Also confused by the SSA’s language. So are you saying my husband and I would both each get the max SS monthly payment allowable for each of us? We have both worked about the same. So I could collect the max and he could collect the max and neither one of us would be affected?

This is what is confusing me:
Generally, a spouse retiring at full retirement age can receive half of the amount that the primary recipient would receive at their full retirement age. If the spouse claims early, then the amount they receive is reduced.

Is the above true only if the spouse did not work enough in his/her lifetime to qualify for a larger benefit? (Maybe that is what has confused me)

Yes you both will collect based on your own contributions, which is the full amount.

Only when one spouse hardly works or has low pay, the spouse is better off collecting 50% of spouse's amount, using spouse's contribution amount.

I contributed at maximum amount for 18 years since I moved to the US and even then, my PIA is much more than 50% of my husband's PIA. I get more claiming using my contributions than using 50% of my husband's PIA.

 

[bluehende]

If you have questions I would say go to the SS office near you. We are in the situation of wife will be better off with half of mine. She started collecting at 62. When I hit my full retirement age we will go back in and I will start collecting and she on half of mine. It is reduced slightly due to her collecting early. They actually ran the number and her reduction was not that high. I ran my numbers real quick and the break even point for her not collecting at 62 was around 80. Adding in personal numbers of tax implications (our taxes will be higher after full retirement age) and potential earnings over the years it would be almost impossible to not be ahead. Your mileage may differ so a trip to ss will help. I hear a lot of bad mouthing but our experience was quite professional and knowledgeable.

 

[rboesl]

This thread has morphed from investing to SS benefits. I only want to address the investing portion of it.

A long time ago I was having similar discussions with some friends. Lot's of "I heard..." and "My buddy says...". You get the idea. But it got me thinking and I did some research. If you truly want to understand how the stock market and mutual funds work you need to get involved. But, if you do it on your own you take all the risk yourself. Mutual funds look like the way to reduce the risk, but really they are not. So the question was how do I learn at reduced risk?

I found the answer. I ran across an entity called National Association of Investor Corporation (NAIC). Their charter was to help beginning investors learn how the stock market works by doing so in a structured way with a well defined strategy. Including how to decide what stock is a good investment and what isn't. So I invited 15-20 people to meet about forming an investment club. We ended up with 15 people agreeing to form a club. We started by meeting monthly with everyone contributing $30 each.

Long story short, 32+ years later we have a portfolio worth over $250,000 after having distributed twice that much over the years. We now have 10 members, 3 original, still meet monthly and contribute $30 each. Our portfolio has 15 stocks, all on the plus side, with a current annual rate of return of 16%.

By the way the NAIC still exists today, their teachings are still applicable, and still work today. http://www.betterinvesting.org/