"People spend too much money," Bernstein states in the book. You need to be honest with yourself, especially if you give up a lucrative job that you enjoy. As such, this may be a good time to start reducing the risk in your portfolio. well, have for > 15 years been keeping a bank/credit union cd ladder. 3 When you have enough, use your time the way you want too. Prior to 2008, he had money saved in I bonds, CDs(6%), and savings with some annuities. Not sure about the condo value, but sounds like you could lose your job. ", Will people stop entrusting their savings to pricey advisers, dodgy funds and hot stocks rather than to a diversified basket of index funds? When I met Bernstein for dinner at a Lebanese restaurant, the mystery only deepened. As others have discussed, Ive won the game already in terms of achieving FI so now it is a matter of not blowing it. As an index investor the goal was never to win the investment game- you were just average. And Im pretty sure a zero percent withdrawal rate is safe no matter how I invest! In all these hours of talk, Bernstein had never said a word about that. You dont need any more, you simply need to protect what you have. Known for his website on asset allocation and portfolio theory, Efficient Frontier, Bill is also a co-principal in the money management firm Efficient Frontier Advisors. Sell In May And Go Away, But What About November? He was also written many extremely famous books. I like my job, but there are times when its very stressful. As someone who went through it in 2000 and 2008-09, I think many investors are grossly overestimating their risk tolerance. "Do you actually know what the returns on small-cap growth stocks are?" Once I complete the story mode of a game (which often takes 50-100 hours of playing time), Im done with the game. currently have cds at: Achieva CU roth 4.2 % 8-2023 So now I need to abandon them? But your risk tolerance should be moving down. Now I am too old to take much risk. How can I? I hope to do the same someday, and have done a little of that already. In fact, the articles seemed to deal with everything except the mystery I wanted to solve: How did a doctor in the backwoods of Oregon, with no formal training in finance, turn himself into such a provocative investment thinker? But I really value family time and time outdoors, so itll be nice to be able to add in more balance, which will include more of those things. "Better a hundred bin Ladens than one Adolf Hitler. I agree spending $10k to fly first class is a slippery slope best avoided. And most people I have come in to contact with who are personal finance nerds absolutely love the next challenge. I am not sure if that will ever stop. All rights reserved. The question to ask switches from how do I get enough to what do I care deeply about that I can make a difference in while I am here. Maybe in 5-10 years! Disclaimer. rates are better recently. He thinks that if you've accumulated enough to reach FI you should not continue taking the investment risks to grow your nest egg. He watches the market and his holdings daily, and the reality is that he can afford to lose 50-75% of it given his spending. 1. ",