When I was managing my now-dead parents' Schwab account (they both had dementia) - which was mostly stocks - I got sick and tired of the monthly swings - up $4000 one month, down $7000 the next - that I put it all into Schwab's cash accounts...just a month or two before the meltdown.....not only did I begin sleeping better, but I probably saved the estate two or three hundred thousand bucks.
The Mineral Portfolio of funds and shares has been doing very well the past three to four years. The only cash has been in the local bank account. It takes a measure of emotional detachment to tolerate the wild swings that happen, but as long as things on the whole are moving in the right direction I can stomach it.
On the other hand, Senior Mineral absolutely cannot tolerate the idea of a decline in value. Therefore he sticks with CDs and complains about the microscopic returns. Maternal Mineral is the same way. I tell them to junk the CDs, but they will not listen.
We’ve been “all cash” for years now....inflation eats into the value quite a bit more than the 1/2% we earn, but it beats the sh*t out of the potential huge losses.
When I was managing my now-dead parents’ Schwab account (they both had dementia) - which was mostly stocks - I got sick and tired of the monthly swings - up $4000 one month, down $7000 the next - that I put it all into Schwab’s cash accounts...just a month or two before the meltdown.....not only did I begin sleeping better, but I probably saved the estate two or three hundred thousand bucks.
Good deal. I need to get off the roller coaster.