Good catch. I went back and realized I gave the birth stats. Not the current population stats. My bad.
Though births may foretell the future.
Honolulu is sprawled.
Honolulu is densely populated, to be sure, but not so much sprawled. I can (and do!) walk from Waikiki to deserted mountain trails that run through the forest and past waterfalls. I routinely bike from “town” to some of the most awe-inspiring spots on earth. Most of the island is wilderness, and the windward side is stunningly beautiful. People visit Waikiki with maybe a quick trip into Chinatown and think they know Oahu.
Even Waikiki, where I live for half the year, has its charms. I hang out at places that people spend thousands of dollars to visit for a few days in their lives. Live music under the stars for the price of a beer, every night. I’m out in the ocean at least four days out of every week when I’m there. The view from my outrigger canoe of Waikiki with the mountains behind it and a rainbow overhead never gets old.
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Boulder City Nv has a cap on growth also.
http://bouldercitycommunityalliance.com/growth-ordinance/
But yes the whole Colorado system is in jeopardy. They really need to build a water pipe from the Mississippi to the Colorado river and this would alleviate floods on the Mississippi and put more water in the Colorado. This could be accomplished by building a catch basin lake and pumping the water out but only during flooding season.
Andy
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There is always something positive about a place if you choose to look.
You’ve never been to Mississippi, I take it.
I've been to Mississippi numerous times, and I have found at least one thing that I really enjoy doing every time I go there. And that would be packing my bags and leaving.
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Outlawing grass. LOL. That only kicks the can down the road. If they actually want to solve the problem, they would outlaw population growth. Cancelling grass will be offset by population growth in a month, a year, not sure when but it certainly will before too long. After that what do you cancel?
Believe it or not, domestic indoor water in Las Vegas is treated and pumped back into Lake Meade. Domestic outdoor water is the single biggest consumer of water in Las Vegas, so it makes sense to target that first.
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I did part of this with some MYGAs to cover the first 4-5 years.
I would point out that an alternative to MYGAs that also covers a several year period by providing specific amounts in each year would be to buy target date corporate bond ETFs, like IBDN - 2022; IBDO - 2023; IBDP - 2024; etc. iShares also has target date ETFs for muni bonds, Treasuries, and high yield corporate bonds, so you can get most any flavor you want. All of the bonds in the ETF are set to mature in the target year, and when all of the bonds have matured, the principal is disbursed to the shareholders. As long as you don’t pay above par, and you hold to maturity, you will basically get your principal back (minus any defaults, which are likely going to be mostly in the high yield ETF). In the mean time, you will get cash flow from the interest the bonds pay. Average YTM for the corporate funds varies from 2.14% for the 2022 fund to 4.51% for the 2031 fund, and the expense ratio is 0.10% a year.
If you need to sell before maturity, it’s quite easy to sell these - just like any other ETF. Yes, if the rates have gone up, you will probably suffer some principal loss vs. holding to maturity. But if you had to sell MYGAs early, I suspect that the surrender fees would just as bad, if not worse.
AJ
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How have you been preparing to retire? How long has that process been? It sounds like you have not taken the leap yet.
I have been looking into it for a few years have had the idea that I should do it by mid-decade. In the past few years, my stock investments have done well and extremely well the past 2 years or so I thought. A big chunk of the gain from these past 2 years have evaporated. I had some thoughts in early 2021 of changing the composition of my portfolio moving to more income producing and ‘stable’ stocks from a portfolio that has been mostly growth oriented. Those went up fast but went down even faster over the past 6 months.
I did that but not to any large extent so I still have a portfolio biased towards high growth.
I am wondering how I would manage and react if I were retired in these past 2 years. I suffered a now 50% drop from the Nov 2021 highs, and I don’t know how much more drop there will be.
How are you handling such a drop?
How are the retirees handle such a drop?
We don’t want to miss the come back but that could happen this year? next year? the year after? and meanwhile it is still dropping.
I have bought a bit but I have very limited funds and I cannot keep on buying. The problem is I think there is a lot of money on the sideline but it is not moving in a this time.
Sure this should be a short time problem. But it could be quite long 1,2 or 3 years?
tj
I had some thoughts in early 2021 of changing the composition of my portfolio moving to more income producing and ‘stable’ stocks…
Income is good in that it allows you to ignore down markets, assuming you have enough income to provide for your day to day expenses. However, depending on when you take SS and pensions, early retirement can be a golden time to realize capital gains. We are retired and recently sold a rental property that was taxed at a seriously low capital gains rate. A lack of ordinary income can be wonderful for realizing profits with low taxation. This website allows you to play with the ordinary/CG income to visualize how you get taxed on it. Not all dividends from stocks are taxed as CG.
https://engaging-data.com/tax-brackets/
There can be real tax freedom in avoiding income producing stocks.
IP
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I get what you are saying. I maybe should have realized some of my extreme capital gains in the fall of 2021.I was very reluctant to take capital gain due to the fact that I am still earning a salary and I don’t really need that money, and a big chunk of my portfolio is in a taxable account. That is something I have to deal…wished that most of it were in a non-taxable or tax deferred account. I am quite limited by the amount I can put in these latter type of accounts. Any suggestion in that regard? I am already looking into to convert my IRA into Roth. Most moneys are actually in a 401K.
At any rate that capital gain has mostly evaporated. I may have been better off taking the capital gain tax hit or some of it. Thanks for that tool.
I pitched into income generating stocks a bit in early 2021 to prepare my portfolio for retirement and reduce its beta.
Another Retirement thought. I noticed something while my wife was watching Dr Phil the other day. This guy and his wife were trying to decide if they should sell their house, buy an RV and travel. Dr Phil rolled out a long 30ft strip with numbers from 0 at one end and 90 at the other. He then asked the guy to go stand on his age (seems like he was 72±). Dr Phil’s comment was that the average death age for women is 86yo and men 83yo. Now look back, then ahead of you. What do you think you should do?
We have been doing lots of things and traveling on and off ourselves with usual annual tours since retirement. We are in good health, but it really hit me & I’m surely reviewing our bucket list and undoubtedly will be re-prioritizing.
Russ
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“This guy and his wife were trying to decide if they should sell their house, buy an RV and travel. Dr Phil rolled out a long 30ft strip with numbers from 0 at one end and 90 at the other. He then asked the guy to go stand on his age (seems like he was 72±). Dr Phil’s comment was that the average death age for women is 86yo and men 83yo. Now look back, then ahead of you. What do you think you should do?”
Keep the house, rent it out if need be, and travel. Go where an RV can’t go. If you want the “camping” experience rent a cabin.
That’s what I’m going to do.
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Retirement thoughts…
Ours are not about travel much at all. Wife and I have travelled the world for our jobs and vacations already. The thought of getting on a plane does NOTHING for me at all.
We do have a couple of places that we would like to go that we have never been, but getting on a plane right now, or in the near future is not something that we see as enjoyable. So, we’ll probably wait a bit to hit those spots.
In the meantime, we LOVE our place and staycations are OK with us. We live south of Boston and can hit many beautiful tourist spots within 1-2 hours drive. Our home is very relaxed, homey, and we love being here.
DW and I want to chill, enjoy our less stressful life, and look forward to grandkids 
Cheers,
'38Packard
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Ours are not about travel much at all. Wife and I have travelled the world for our jobs and vacations already. The thought of getting on a plane does NOTHING for me at all.
Happily, the nature of travel can change when you are no longer limited to vacations. Though I have never been a fan of getting on planes, I am looking forward to spending a few months here, a few there to become part of the culture for a brief period of time. I like exploring in depth.
One of our best vacations was a 10 minute drive from home. We were living in St. Croix at the time and not looking forward to getting on a plane with two little kids we got a vacation rental a short drive away. Had a pool and ocean view, with our favorite beach restaurant down the street. Sure beat our refinery view at home. It was a last minute rental and I was able to get it for about what our planes would have cost us to the mainland. Nice upgrade for family that flew in to visit us.
Staycations, or this hybrid version, are wonderful.
IP,
who has gotten stuck at the airport too many times to like flying
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Most folks who sell a house, buy an RV…wind up doing full time travel for 18 months to a year, then winding up buying a ‘home base’. It gets old to be on the road 12 months a year. Either that, or they spend six months south, six months north in the same places to meet and socialize with people each year.
I bought my house while working here in TX. My mom was alive and lived with me for six months a year - and insisted on ‘one story house’. Good for her - she was in her 70s and had bad arthritis and hated steps…especially after my 3 story townhouse in Arlington VA…up/down/up down all the time. Still have it 32 years later.
My taxes are frozen at the age 65 level. Now I’m going on age 76.
tax $4000/yr. Insurance $1700/yr. No state income tax in TX.
Didn’t have much of a mortgage when I moved here in 1990 so it was quickly paid off.
Dallas is decent area - and I haven’t found any place I’d rather be YEAR ROUND. Oh, I like being up north in summer to escape the 100 deg days here. Winters are mild…if you snooze too late you’ll miss the inch of snow…six weeks of winter…4 months of summer.
Was good place to hop a plane anywhere in the world. Now, seen enough and no plans to be traveling by air any time soon. Good doctors, hospitals…which become more important as you get older.
Now being single I managed to stash a bunch of cash…diversified a bit… about 70% stocks overall now. Half of holdings in index funds.
First 20 years of retirement lots of travel - Europe, Asia, central America…Caribbean. All over the US by car…everywhere…every county. Now slowing down.
Someday maybe I’ll move into a retirement community … but that is ‘far off’ I hope.
Get my grass cut. The cleaning lady comes every two weeks. Pool service takes care of the pool. Life is good.
t.
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The DFW news every morning is weather and the latest killing.
Sounds like the Houston Chronicle. Drive by shootings, road rage, drunks driving the wrong way, etc. Amazing what happens between 10 pm and 3 am. Good time to be home sleeping.
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Collin County - ‘school taxes’ frozen at age 65 - and that is 90% of the tax bill.
Denton County school taxes are not frozen. Also they are not 90% of the tax bill; closer to 60%.
RE tax laws in Texas are written very vague to give the counties the leeway to do what they want (per Tx Controller office).
When I lived in Round Rock - Williamson County, 65 exemption went with the house. When I moved up here (Prosper) part Collin part Denton county, 65 exemption went with the person, not the house. Since I bought that house with my daughter, only half of the house got the 65 exemption. I am now in Little Elm - Denton and sole owner, but as I mentioned, over 65 not frozen.
(not so) funny story about the Prosper house. We got 4 tax bills, (1) Collin with 65 exemption, (2) Collin no 65 exemption, (3) Denton with 65 exemption, (4) Denton no 65 exemption. Since they continued to make mistakes with this and the house valuation, they were issued 3 separate times, thus getting a total of 12 tax bills before paying!!!
This is so OT that I’m not going to comment about the politics. This is “retirement investing”. However, who knows how many lurkers we have here. Or what their political persuasion may or may not be. And it really doesn’t matter, so long as we focus on the subject of this board.
JMHO.
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This is so OT that I’m not going to comment about the politics. This is “retirement investing”. However, who knows how many lurkers we have here. Or what their political persuasion may or may not be. And it really doesn’t matter, so long as we focus on the subject of this board.
JMHO. - 1pg
Exactly, I agree with you.
That is why I called out Alphawolfs post, not so much for his words which I had seen earlier, but I was surprised by the 19 recs it had received when I checked in on the board again. Many here apparently like what he posted on this ostensibly investing board.
It had twenty recs by the time it was pulled down. BTW, I didn’t FA, I don’t FA anything)
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That is why I called out Alphawolfs post, not so much for his words which I had seen earlier, but I was surprised by the 19 recs it had received when I checked in on the board again. Many here apparently like what he posted on this ostensibly investing board.
Didn’t see your call out, Mike. Otherwise I would have responded (nicely, of course).
My post was in response to another poster’s political dig. It appears both our posts were pulled. Fair enough.
If it wasn’t for me, think of all the MF censors who wouldn’t have a job, and therefore, no retirement savings.
How’s that for bringing it back home? 
AW
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Rich, I’m a little late to the discussion, so at the risk of being somewhat redundant, as other people have mentioned aspects of this:
Your allocation of investments between stocks, bonds, and other things is indeed something to consider. And I won’t get into whether a 60-40% stocks vs bonds, or whatever, is the optimal ratio. I aim for 70% stocks, myself but that’s just me. And which accounts hold which assets can make a difference tax-wise, whether in IRA, 401(k) and other pre-tax retirement accounts, or in taxable investment accounts, or Roths, can make a difference too.
However your target allocation breaks down, don’t wait until the year you retire to get there, and have to diversify and reallocate and sell things you have to sell when the market is bad. Especially if you’ve got a retirement plan full of your employer company’s stock. That’s something to plan around and diversify to a reasonable level. If bad events happen to your company, that’s a double threat to your job and your investment portfolio.
I specifically worked and made adjustments to make my portfolio look the way I wanted it to look in retirement, 2-5 years ahead of time, doing it gradually. Prior to that time I was more heavily invested in stocks.
This also allows you to have a realistic view of how much current income your portfolio will produce, and how that will affect your retirement budget. Also keep in mind that current income from dividends and interest let you sit through market dips and dives without having to sell when you don’t want to.
In any case, good luck. I retired at 62, took Social Security at that time, and have made other decisions that smart people here disagree with, with very few regrets. It has worked out well. Bull markets have a way of paving over imperfections in the path you take.
Bill
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