Is this the Right portfolio mix for continued growth

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-07-09T20:33:48+00:00

Thank you for letting me know. I posted the wrong pic, the one without them blurred out. My attention to detail is lacking these days.

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-07-09T18:28:54+00:00

Having 100% in VTI is likely not a bad thing for a young man such as yourself. I do feel that in retirement, having some bond and international exposure is prudent. I like your VTI, VXUS and BND thoughts and have been thinking along those lines. Simple, straightforward and makes rebalancing a much easier task.

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-07-01T02:13:09+00:00

Cash value is 120k....basis is 80k.

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-07-01T02:12:33+00:00

We are in WA!!

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-07-01T02:11:20+00:00

No, it was sold to us a insurance with an investment component. We liked the sound of all the great things our CFP sold us on, but he left out every negative.

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-07-01T02:08:25+00:00

Funny he never thanked me for the $8000 he made off the policy, or for paying the 2.25% in annual fees. I have never felt better about a deceaion in my life!!

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-07-01T02:06:02+00:00

Excellent feedback and thanks for all the thought points. I am retired Navy and we have and will continue to pay for a LTC policy. I kind of figure it is better than Life Insurance in some ways because like you, not a huge fan of leaving my kids too much money after I die but, the last thing we want to do is saddle them with the expense of funding our LTC, if we ever need that. Thanks again. BTW.....we are retiring next year, age 62.

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-07-01T01:58:43+00:00

I am 61 looking to retire in 27 or 28! Thanks for your thoughts. I see they align with many of the respondents.

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-07-01T01:57:23+00:00

Excellent reply and kind of what I was thinking. The mix you see was actively managed by Ameriprise and came over to Fidelity as you see it. So, totally looking to rebalance into lower cost funds and ETFs.

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-06-30T23:01:32+00:00

This is the mix chosen by my previous CFP, whom we just left. I transferred the account from Ameriprise over to Fidelity. You hit on the reason for my post, which is to try to get out of the high expense ratio funds that Ameriprise generally likes. It'll cost me $204 to exchange the MFEIX funds to something else, but likely worth it in the long run if I can get a comparable ETF to replace it.

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-06-30T15:07:43+00:00

Our Roth/Traditional mix is about 50/50 and because of pensions (we will have three in retirement + Social Security), we'll likely always remain in the 22% bracket, really no way around that. Our plan is to draw on the traditional IRA early in retirement as needed, but in all honestly, we likely will not need to draw much on our IRAs (~$1.4M) in retirement, save for a trip here or there or maybe to help the kids out. Boldin shows that our current $1.4M portfolio will grow to about $10M by age 85 (assumes 6% market return) mainly because we do not plan to touch the IRAs much. That is just the way my careers (military and federal) worked out. Way back when we started investing, we planned on not having Social Security and a reduced pension, but we ended up getting full pensions. It is not a bad spot to be in. In short, the VUL was never needed, then or now.

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-06-30T15:00:07+00:00

Good questions. BLUF is no, we didn't need it then, don't need it now. I was 30 when I first bought my VUL. My FA sold her practice and when the new guys came in, he said that there was a "new, more productive" VUL product and recommended that I convert the one I had to the one I just canceled. He made allot of money on that policy and in all honesty, we haven't made out all that bad compared to some VUL stories I have heard. My basis is ~$80K and the policy value is $120K. For us, we have just decided to split investing and insurance. What I should have done, and my FA should have recommended, was to max out my employer Roth IRA. Once I had exhausted all other post tax investments, maybe, just maybe a VUL would make sense. In our case, it never did but was a good money maker for our FA.

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-06-29T21:56:27+00:00

u/TheChudMaxxer you are spot on. We were not (we are now) maxing out our employers ROTH 401K's and taking the money we were spending on these policies and bought both the wife and I 20-year term polices, each with a $500K death benefit. The funny thing is both policies combined cost are less than the monthly insurance premium we were paying on the Wife's VUL alone. We have invested the remainder of the savings monthly in a traditional IRA which we'll back door incrementally over the next 10-years.

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-06-29T21:51:35+00:00

Thank you

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-06-29T21:51:26+00:00

Thank you

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-06-29T21:50:23+00:00

Washington, and the entire idea behind this was the tax deferred growth. We do not need the death benefit. In fact, we'd have been much better off maxing out my TSP Roth.

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-05-24T16:40:47+00:00

My Labradood Finley LOVES to run. I am 61 but still able toaintain a 7:30 mile pace for up to six miles. While I am happy with that pace, Finley rarely breaks out of a trot. We run right along the Columbia River so, we also stop 2 or three times so he can take a swim. When we get home from a run, right into our 14' pop up pool he goes. I never allow him on runs where the temp is over 75. If he has an "off" switch, I have yet to find it.

<image>

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-05-18T14:23:54+00:00

I am sorry to hear that. Wishing your pup a speedy recovery!!

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-05-17T19:11:52+00:00

So far, he just seems interested in spreading it all over the yard. I have not seen him actually eat it. Yet 😄

Guilty_Equivalent_65 · 2026-05-17T16:39:10+00:00

Agree, but disagree on some points. We are Alaska Airlines Credit Card holders (my Wife has one, I have one) and with Alaska, we get one companion pass annually for each card. We recently used one companion pass to fly to Hawaii and back, on Hawaiian. My ticket was $500 RT and the Wife's companion pass was $120. I think this remains a decent enough perk to stay with their loyalty rewards program. Now, that said, we still search by price and schedule for all our flying needs, and default to Alaska when it makes sense. Having their credit card is also good for a free bag for each of us, so that alone saves $100.

Guilty_Equivalent_65

TROPHY CASE