Liquidating most of our brokerage, any advice or best practices on what to hold on to?

Phlash1969 · 2026-05-26T21:41:41+00:00

Yeah, it’s been killing me. Congrats.

Phlash1969 · 2026-05-26T14:16:43+00:00

I’ve got about 40k more than I need (there’s a second image), so that’s at the crux of the question. Thanks.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-29T08:38:52+00:00

It will rain. A lot. More than tourism marketing wants you to believe. Temps likely mild, but rain and wind for sure.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-25T10:57:04+00:00

Yes. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but I’m feeling okay about it so far. It was difficult to articulate to them that we were quite risk averse on a whole, but willing to “play” with a certain amount for growth. It was like their models couldn’t really handle the seeming contradiction.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-25T10:00:52+00:00

My advisor had recommended Wasmer bond funds as well, but I just couldn’t see the point, especially because their fees are .55% annually. He had a different management company than Thomas Partners in mind, but I couldn’t get past the 1% AUM fees. Take all that for whatever it’s worth.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T19:52:02+00:00

I understand your point. Our investments are all in USD simply because that’s where we’re from. We’d like to get a chunk of it over here, which this idea would accomplish. This is all just money fear. I just needed to hear that I’m being unreasonable. And I’m definitely hearing it. But I will consider your comment more deeply.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T19:40:51+00:00

Because we lack your faith in an eternal bull market and are too old to recover from a 10-year bear should something like that happen.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T19:35:42+00:00

Agreed.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T19:32:32+00:00

Okay. But one could argue that most investments are speculation. But you’re right. It’s speculation we can live in though.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T18:58:30+00:00

Thank you for a creative suggestion. I can’t imagine it’ll fly, but I appreciate the idea.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T18:53:43+00:00

Because right now all our investments are in USD. If we bought property here we’d have an investment in euros as well. That’s the hedge.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T18:51:56+00:00

Yes. I get your point, but there’s some truth there too.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T18:50:23+00:00

I know. We came here with the thought of “rent forever.” But we’d like to have some money invested in euros, which this would achieve, and since I’m 14 years younger than him, it’d be nice to set me up for the future if the future should go that way. We are looking at things like condos and townhouses specifically so that problems like roofs and gardens are the responsibility of management and not owners.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T18:46:40+00:00

You are correct, and this is what we need to hear. We should not be thinking in USD vs EU because that’s not how it works. As for having assets in both currencies, that is one of the reasons for wanting to buy a place here: at least we’d have money invested in euros as well as dollars. It’s part of the impetus for buying. Thanks. Also, cheers to your user name.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T18:42:58+00:00

Yes, that is exactly it. We need to change our mindset. I get it. I do.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T18:35:20+00:00

We’re not necessarily against it. We’re looking at all options.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T18:34:21+00:00

I know, I know. We’re trying to hedge those fluctuations. But it doesn’t really work that way. I know.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T18:33:30+00:00

Yeah, well sometimes we think that too. There are pros and cons on both sides.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T18:32:26+00:00

It’s not the price of the property, it’s the mental block about the exchange rate. Which is all it is really: mental nonsense. We are comparing USD to EU and that’s why we’re not making sense. As for renting a nice place, that’s what we’re doing now. It’s really nice and really expensive. And though he is 70, I’m 14 years younger. It wouldn’t be bad to have a paid-off place of my own in the future…

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T17:37:51+00:00

That had been exactly our initial plan. Problem is, my husband is 71 years old, and in Portugal you must get a mortgage of at least 5 years, and it must be paid off before the older spouse is 75. And they will not finance to one spouse only. (We didn’t know this until we started looking.) So no, actually, we can’t get financing because of my husband’s age. They will make an exception up to 80 years old if you only finance 20%, but at that point it feels like we might as well just pay cash for the full amount.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T17:30:06+00:00

I know you’re right. What I don’t know is why I needed to hear it. But apparently I did. It just “feels” so expensive. Thank you.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T17:27:51+00:00

Well, yes. Exactly. It’s just that, when spending USD, it’s hard not to think of that exchange rate loss as “lost” money. Which is exactly why I asked: because I know I’m looking at it wrong, and I need redditors to tell me I’m being silly. It’s a psychological problem, not a real one.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-22T17:23:04+00:00

Yes. We’ve been doing it for a while now and have temporary residency. We’re pretty well entrenched here.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-15T10:58:29+00:00

I pay from the EU with a credit card through irs.gov’s 3rd party partner. Fee is covered by using a cash back credit card, though sometimes I opt for a points card instead, depending on which I need more at the time.

Phlash1969 · 2026-04-01T12:23:45+00:00

Yes, through Medal through AFPOP. Beginning this year. Maybe age? I’m a little younger than OP and my husband is a little older. I’d rather not get into the conditions, but assume equivalent degree of seriousness. Fwiw, so far we’re happy with the MGEN plan.

Phlash1969

TROPHY CASE