If you can, invest in ashes and pain. I think we're buying our way into a lot of it.

Of course...I do too...but I was trying to move away from financial jargon...

Good stuff indeed.

 I used to be a little crazy and go chasing OEX futures, but the adrenaline was killing me.

   For now I'm just trying to stay nice and safe just in case a scenario arises with my Dad where I'm shelling out the kind of $$$ I did when my Mom went in to hospice care.

Good advice- I call your purchasing power inflation though. 

I'll follow this up then...

First, a fixed income portfolio, no matter how well constructed, is fixed. While not a threat in the recent past, inflation erodes your purchasing power substantially over a 20 year period. Consider what it cost you to buy a car 10 years ago, or how about 20? Fixed income investing doesn't have the opportunity to build any wealth to offset inflation.

For example...

You have $500,000 to invest and you invest it in CD's and other fixed income assets. The blended rate you receive is 5%. You, therefore have $25,000 of income.
Five years from now, you still are earning  that 5%. $25,000 income
What do things cost? More, right?

Congratulations. You've just experienced purchasing power risk. Most people don't consider it a risk, but  if you're in need of a car, and a new one cost $2,500 more than the one you bought five years ago, thats an actual loss to you. Your portfolio didn't go down in value, but it might just as well have.

My advice (and FYI...my clients pay me for this) is to build a multi asset class/multi style/multi manager porfolio consisting of at least 65% equities (Large, med and small cap) along with a healthy dose of international equities and REITS, and then take withdraw a % of the portfolio each year. A 4-5% withdrawal rate would be a prudent draw down rate. Dividends and capital gains over the long term in a portfolio constructed like this will allow you to withstand purchasing power risk while still achieving your living need goal.

Thats my .02.

I'll follow this up then. . .
Thats my . 02.

That's a lot more than $.02's worth. Good stuff here. Thanks!

My advice (and FYI...my clients pay me for this) is to build a multi asset class/multi style/multi manager porfolio consisting of at least 65% equities (Large, med and small cap) along with a healthy dose of international equities and REITS, and then take withdraw a % of the portfolio each year. A 4-5% withdrawal rate would be a prudent draw down rate. Dividends and capital gains over the long term in a portfolio constructed like this will allow you to withstand purchasing power risk while still achieving your living need goal.

Thats my .02.

1&2-I don't have an exact breakdown handy,it's an in house fund at MSSB.
3-I don't want to go any further out than that.I'm hoping for higher interest rates.As soon as I see 3% I'm in.
4-Ideally it will generate enough interest to pay my property tax and insurance while I fuck off, go fishing a lot and chill travel whenever the opportunity arises.

Wow, this topic is so old all the posts must have been from the pre- last server crash era.

 I had a bond mature today and I was just going to flip it into an 18 month CD until I saw the rates.Less than half a point?No thanks.

 Anyone got any ideas for a relatively safe annual return of 3-5%?

 My broker is pushing for cellphone stocks, I guess they bought a big chunk at a discount and are splitting it up among their customers for the brokers fees.

Mutuals? What are the underlying investments in?

Whats with the 18 month time frame? Is this money for something in particular?

I finally got off the phone with an adviser from USAA. Sheesh that took forever. But they're gonna set up a whole bunch of stuff for me. Thank you for the generous offer, you're a peach!

I've got it!!!!!

 I go to a liquor store and pay cash for 100,000 $1 lottery tickets,one of which has to be the winner.

She ain't just a pretty face.

In fact we got lots o' smart folks around here. Appearances notwithstanding.

I'm already at 23% in mutuals and 12% in stocks.51% CD's(therein lies the problem,they ain't payin' squat) and the other 14% is liquid in a money market account at 2/10ths of a point.

    I guess all I can do is go to Bangkok and swallow a bunch of balloons of heroin before the flight back.

I'm already at 23% in mutuals and 12% in stocks.51% CD's(therein lies the problem,they ain't payin' squat) and the other 14% is liquid in a money market account at 2/10ths of a point.

    I guess all I can do is go to Bangkok and swallow a bunch of balloons of heroin before the flight back.

This is probably the wisest post in this forum.   Searching for a "relatively safe", possible 3-5% return, & with an 18 month window until cashing out during a bull market that is already over one year old can start to be challenging.   See this article on average duration of a bull market.   You may have noticed that many investments are trading at or very near their 52 week highs right now - one day they won't.   My best advice. . . if you have to have access to these funds 18 months from now, just make sure you are investing and not speculating and be very cautious with "investment or stock tips".   Speculating with money you must have access to a short time later will likely cause many sleepless nights.

Now, if you want an idea to explore further, ahem, as in this is not a "tip". . . If I had to invest in stocks or mutual funds in any sector right now under your guidelines, I would consider energy & utilities.   I realize that the recent turmoil in oil producing regions has likely pushed some related stocks to some pretty high values.   However, even though we are coming out of the cold season right now, your 18 month window includes 1-1/2 periods of summer heat, 1-1/2 traditional vacation times (where we tend to need fuel for travel), and in between would be propped up by 1 more cold season & holiday travel.   Notice that your 18 month window ends in the heart of summer, which hopefully would help yield one last push up in the price.   I would still diversify within this. . . Schlabby's mention of natural gas being profitable right now is a good start (& he personally showed me the building in OKC he mentioned. . . it's very impressive, esp. if they really did pay for it up front, which he told me was mentioned in the local newspaper, if I recall correctly).   Then I'd look for any utility with a significant hydro and/or wind component in an area with steady populations and hopefully either a strong industrial component to the economy or a service sector which is mostly physically visited by customers.   I'd be looking to find a utility that could at least somewhat weather any steep rise in oil prices.   Utilities are generally considered safe investments. . . you likely won't get rich off of them, but you tend to not lose your shorts either.   Energy companies are a little more risky, but as a result can yield stronger returns than utilities.   I would definitely invest in a combination of the two, not just one or the other.   Far less work tracking down these investments could be done by looking at mutual funds specializing in these sectors.

Trust your gut about what you will be comfortable with and good luck with whatever you decide.