05-19-2017, 09:54 PM
I can't comment on the tax issue as I'm not familiar with your taxation rules. However, seeing as retirement is looming I'd skip the pure growth, especially at today's market.
Muni's... at what interest rates? You could always buy and hold until maturity but I can't imagine you getting much income this way.
So with those two eliminated... then I see 5 good options left.
1. A bit more cash reserves is not a bad thing, we might be seeing some good buying opportunities later on. I wouldn't put everything here but a part sounds good.
2. Dividend payers. Why not?
3. Mortgage. I certainly would like to retire without a mortgage but I don't know if that's doable for you. But paying down debt is never a bad option in my opinion, it gives you so much flexibility.
4. Spend. You're not going to live forever. Sad to say say it but at your age you never know how many healthy years you've got left. Now you are still in a position where you can travel, do sports, spend time the way you want. Take advantage of it.
5. If you've got extra money.. give it to your kids / grandchildren. Again I don't know much about your situation but from what I've seen is people holding onto their money until they die. Then the children get their inheritance when they are around 40 or 50... when they have a stable job, most of their mortgage paid, their own kids probably out of the nest already. This is not the point when they actually need the money, they need it when they are in their 20's or early 30's when they are getting their family started. Again maybe not such a pleasant thing to think about but none of us lives forever.
The last is simply my own opinion of how things usually go in this corner of the world. Thankfully here a lot of people do prefer to "skip a generation" when doing the inheritance, so everything goes to the grandchildren (who will be 20-30 years) instead of people close to retirement.
Muni's... at what interest rates? You could always buy and hold until maturity but I can't imagine you getting much income this way.
So with those two eliminated... then I see 5 good options left.
1. A bit more cash reserves is not a bad thing, we might be seeing some good buying opportunities later on. I wouldn't put everything here but a part sounds good.
2. Dividend payers. Why not?
3. Mortgage. I certainly would like to retire without a mortgage but I don't know if that's doable for you. But paying down debt is never a bad option in my opinion, it gives you so much flexibility.
4. Spend. You're not going to live forever. Sad to say say it but at your age you never know how many healthy years you've got left. Now you are still in a position where you can travel, do sports, spend time the way you want. Take advantage of it.
5. If you've got extra money.. give it to your kids / grandchildren. Again I don't know much about your situation but from what I've seen is people holding onto their money until they die. Then the children get their inheritance when they are around 40 or 50... when they have a stable job, most of their mortgage paid, their own kids probably out of the nest already. This is not the point when they actually need the money, they need it when they are in their 20's or early 30's when they are getting their family started. Again maybe not such a pleasant thing to think about but none of us lives forever.
The last is simply my own opinion of how things usually go in this corner of the world. Thankfully here a lot of people do prefer to "skip a generation" when doing the inheritance, so everything goes to the grandchildren (who will be 20-30 years) instead of people close to retirement.