Crash, technology isn't perfect, but the old ways isn't either. Technology has presented us with a lot more choices. Choices = a lot more development and interactions between systems.
I used to pay $1.5 per minute calling abroad, I have used WhatsApp for years paying nothing. Sure, sometimes it's not clear but it's FREE.
Google Maps gives you driving, walking, and public transportation for FREE. Yes, I know Google also gets the info they need to make money, but you have a choice. 40 years ago, you had no choices.
I like choices. Maybe you prefer to drive downtown to city hall, use gas, pay for parking, and pay your bill with cash, and spend 1-2 hours. I prefer paying online in one minute.
Sure, I don't like state/gov bureaucracy, I would fire tomorrow at least 20% of them.
A city near us did just that. They hired private companies to do a lot of stuff and that saved them a lot of money.

Missed my point entirely. You must have tried very hard.

Suppose you have 1 million in Fidelity SP500 (FXAIX) and you want $4K monthly. You can create a sell monthly trade on a specific date to run for years to do it...and you are done.

Only if you have the stomach for it. If you had $1M on Jan 1, 2022, and set up that trade you would be down $283,000 come October with zero guarantee that things were about to improve, and most likely torturing yourself thinking about what a terrible mistake you made.

It's a very old argument that higher distributions are better than lower ones (or none)...and it's a bogus one.
Until the 70s blue chip big companies paid div to prove they are healthier. Then the technology revolution took off and these new companies have been paying nothing to lower distributions which did not hurt their stock TR...but this notion of higher distributions has not gone away and cost these investors a lot of performance and money.
Many retirees fall into it too thinking they must have these higher distributions to survive. No, they don't, the following is an easy example how you can generate monthly distribution.
Suppose you have 1 million in Fidelity SP500 (FXAIX) and you want $4K monthly. You can create a sell monthly trade on a specific date to run for years to do it...and you are done.

Crash, technology isn't perfect, but the old ways isn't either. Technology has presented us with a lot more choices. Choices = a lot more development and interactions between systems.
I used to pay $1.5 per minute calling abroad, I have used WhatsApp for years paying nothing. Sure, sometimes it's not clear but it's FREE.
Google Maps gives you driving, walking, and public transportation for FREE. Yes, I know Google also gets the info they need to make money, but you have a choice. 40 years ago, you had no choices.
I like choices. Maybe you prefer to drive downtown to city hall, use gas, pay for parking, and pay your bill with cash, and spend 1-2 hours. I prefer paying online in one minute.
Sure, I don't like state/gov bureaucracy, I would fire tomorrow at least 20% of them.
A city near us did just that. They hired private companies to do a lot of stuff and that saved them a lot of money.

”I'm not sure what benefit anyone could derive from that …”
Oh, every bit helps. :)
Thanks for commenting. When I switched from investing at just a few fund houses to a full service brokerage 4 or 5 years ago it was as if a dark curtain had been lifted, uncovering not only a more extensive field of traditional OEFs, but also the ability to own individual stocks, ETFs, CEFs - a whole new universe of investments. My initial reaction was to broaden out into ETFs and even buy a few stocks. But now, a few years later, I find myself largely invested in a handful of good timeworn OEFs. I guess I like the manager having some additional latitude and not having to match every buy or sale of his investors tit-for-tat. The OEFs also tend to have a longer more extensive track record to research, having been around longer. And I have a sense that those in OEFs tend to be a slightly more stable bunch, less likely to be spooked (and sell) during market downdrafts - although that will vary by fund. I do understand that OEFs are more expensive, So fees are a good reason to move to ETFs or to own equities outright. One additional thing I’ve learned is that I tend to monkey around less with OEFs. There may be a psychological advantage to once-a-day pricing. But, of course, that depends on one’s own psyche.
So I wanted to double-check my current heavy use of traditional mutual funds (80% of portfolio) against how different members of the community invest. The biggest surprise has been how diverse the approaches are, ranging from some managing extensive portfolios of individual stocks to others zeroing in on just 3-5 broader investments. And, some like @racqueteer, appear to be active traders. Also a surprise is the extent to which some are predominately invested in cash. But it’s hard to quarrel with them taking advantage of 5%+ short term rates. All good. Thanks for sharing.

Defined-benefit (DB) pensions have gone away except for some federal & state employees.
But many people have found defined-contribution (DC) plans to be problematic too.
Industry response is the new guaranteed-income or lifetime-income features within 401k. Such features have existed for 403b for years.
Old name for these is annuities but that tainted term is now avoided.
Let's see what Blackrock marketing can do that TIAA & others couldn't.

I'm a bit confused by all the complaints.
1) I never used debit cards, a few showed up many years ago and I just cut them up immediately. CC have better protection = end of story.
2) I got/replaced/opened several CC, including this week, none is made out of metal because I just cut one of the new ones I got. They sent me 2 by mistake.
I don't own frequent flyer/travel/foodie cards and never will.
3) I never signed any CC because no merchant ever denied them.
4) Sure, I get chip malfunction rarely, but after one try I swipe and it passes. Lately tapping works in more places. Wait, lately, I have used Wallet (replaced Google Pay).
5) In Europe, in several countries in the last 2-3 years, Google Pay works everywhere, I don't need to show my CC. Even when I couldn't use Google Pay, tapping can be used everywhere. I don't like to give my CC to anyone, as they do in the US. I prefer the merchant to use a small machine and bring it to me for tapping.
In 2022-3 we were in several countries in the UK and I never used my CC even once, even the public transportation in London accepted Google Pay, what a pleasure.
6) I have been using my CC everywhere, even to charge $1, I hate coins + I get cash back.
7) I use ATM, the worldwide Schwab one. Schwab pays me back all the fees by the end of each month, but I hardly take out cash anymore.
Yes, I know, that technology is a a challenge for some. I made mistakes too but try to learn quickly. It took me several times to get the tapping placement thing right because the placement wasn't the same.
OK, what bothers you next?...maybe your new TV setup?...mmm...technology again.
I play Bridge with people in their 80-90s. The ones that hate technology and refuse to learn, keep suffering and complaining. The ones that learn it are happier.
You can't run away from it. The old way is dying quickly, in most cases, you pay much more.

My own "beef" runs deeper than merely learning to deal with newfangled junk. My point is that systems don't work. Technology works until it doesn't. So many "time-saving" technological "improvements" are far from fail-safe and are in fact unreliable. Underneath it all is the fact that people don't care, just go with the flow; no one takes responsibility to make sure systems and procedures are responsive to people's needs. There is no accountability--- whether you talk about government or private enterprise. What happens to people doesn't matter. The only priority is to worship Mammon. Gov't is supposed to serve the public? Forget it. Government has divested itself of its own responsibilities. Few are to blame, but all are responsible. And no one will stop and say: "yes, it's my fault, and I'll get it fixed."
Call it The Human Condition? Original Sin? No matter; a rose by any other name... And no one in a position to get things back on track (CEOs, elected officials, etc.) will admit that things don't have to be this way, either. This ethical element is just never, ever spoken about.

I'm a bit confused by all the complaints.
1) I never used debit cards, a few showed up many years ago and I just cut them up immediately. CC have better protection = end of story.
2) I got/replaced/opened several CC, including this week, none is made out of metal because I just cut one of the new ones I got. They sent me 2 by mistake.
I don't own frequent flyer/travel/foodie cards and never will.
3) I never signed any CC because no merchant ever denied them.
4) Sure, I get chip malfunction rarely, but after one try I swipe and it passes. Lately tapping works in more places. Wait, lately, I have used Wallet (replaced Google Pay).
5) In Europe, in several countries in the last 2-3 years, Google Pay works everywhere, I don't need to show my CC. Even when I couldn't use Google Pay, tapping can be used everywhere. I don't like to give my CC to anyone, as they do in the US. I prefer the merchant to use a small machine and bring it to me for tapping.
In 2022-3 we were in several countries in the UK and I never used my CC even once, even the public transportation in London accepted Google Pay, what a pleasure.
6) I have been using my CC everywhere, even to charge $1, I hate coins + I get cash back.
7) I use ATM, the worldwide Schwab one. Schwab pays me back all the fees by the end of each month, but I hardly take out cash anymore.
Yes, I know, that technology is a a challenge for some. I made mistakes too but try to learn quickly. It took me several times to get the tapping placement thing right because the placement wasn't the same.
OK, what bothers you next?...maybe your new TV setup?...mmm...technology again.
I play Bridge with people in their 80-90s. The ones that hate technology and refuse to learn, keep suffering and complaining. The ones that learn it are happier.
You can't run away from it. The old way is dying quickly, in most cases, you pay much more.

About this allocation: 55% Moneymarket, 45% Fixed Income: 51% Treasury, 49% CDs
Note that while we have outrageously conservative investments at this time, I'm now 85. Our situation is almost identical to Tarwheel, and when we were at his point our investment spectrum was very much like his. It's only in the last couple of years that we've pulled in our horns. Why mess with a good situation?
There have been a number of threads/comments lately regarding investment simplification driven by a partner's lack of interest in financial affairs, and consequent inability to navigate within a brokerage website. My wife has always been interested in our financial situation, but has never really been comfortable with complex internet sites.
As a radio tech for SF 911 I was the "documenter" for our group. So I told myself that I needed to use that skill set to print a step-by-step for navigating the Schwab website.
I am both proud and happy to report that, armed with her new guide, my wife is now reasonably comfortable there and can now perform all of the basic operations. And she is eager to continue learning some of the more complex operations such as finding and purchasing CDs and Treasuries. That's next.

My wife and I have been retired about 8 years. We both have pensions and are receiving Social Security, so we are investing more aggressively than many people our age (70). We haven’t had to tap our IRAs since retiring, but required distributions will start in a couple of years.
Currently, we are invested as such:
- 45% in domestic stocks, virtually all in mutual funds
- 11% in foreign stock funds
- 32% in bond funds (including balanced and allocation)
- 10% cash in CDs, Treasuries and money markets
- 4% other options in mutual funds, such as REITs and convertibles
We own many funds, and I’m too embarrassed to count them up, generally at least 5% of total assets in each account. We have five separate accounts— two traditional IRAs, two Roth IRAs and a taxable brokerage account. I have no compulsion to simplify matters because I have no trouble keeping up with our accounts and I like each account to be well diversified. I don’t trust any fund or small collection of funds to invest most of our money in because I’ve seen many excellent funds falter or go through prolonged dry spells over the years.

Great contributions all. Thanks for the insights.
I didn’t state my allocation earlier. I’m currently at 40% equity, 30% bond, 20% short-term fixed income and 10% “other.” The equity stake usually fluctuates between 40% and 50%. Anywhere in that range is fine with me. Recently sold an equity heavy CEF and replaced it with a somewhat aggressive bond heavy CEF. So the percentages changed by 5% overnight.
All for simplifying / consolidating. A few years ago portfolio was at about 18 holdings. Down to 12 today plus cash.

There seems to be a lot of ink on this forum about short-term impressions of investing with Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, etc. I could care less. Long term is what matters to me. I first started investing about 1990 (outside my 401k). I wanted to invest with Vanguard but their minimums were too high for small investors like myself, so I chose T Rowe Price instead, as well as several boutique funds touted by M*. A few years later, tired of getting bombarded by statements and other paperwork, I consolidated all of my investments except for TRP funds with Fidelity. The funds network provided me access to a range of fund companies with greatly simplified paperwork.
What I’ve found investing with Fidelity over three decades is that it’s a well-run company with excellent customer service. Over the years, I’ve sold many of the boutique funds from other companies and reinvested the proceeds in Fidelity funds. Here is why. Fidelity has a deep bench of managers and analysts. If a fund underperforms at Fidelity, they generally fix the problem and assign new management. If a skilled manager retires, they generally replace them with little change in performance. On the few occasions when I’ve experienced problems, I spoke with a Fidelity representative and the problem was fixed immediately.
I handle all of my investments on-line, and Fidelity’s website in my opinion is excellent. I used to rely on M* for investment research, but Fidelity’s website now surpasses M* substantially in my view. I have found M*’s recommendations and star ratings to be next to useless. Using Fidelity’s on-line tools, I feel that I can make better choices about fund options than I could using M*. Fidelity also posts many articles about investing that are excellent. I have been so satisfied with Fidelity that I moved all of my TRP funds to Fidelity once they became available on their funds network. In my view, TRP’s customer service had declined and their funds network and website couldn’t compare with Fidelity. I still hold some TRP funds in my Fidelity account, but exchanged the under-performers for Fidelity funds or other funds available through their network.
Fidelity also makes it very easy to invest in CDs and Treasuries, with no additional fees and a wide range of offerings. Their money markets are competitive, and all cash is automatically invested in the MM fund of your choice. Fidelity has assigned me an advisor, who we meet with once a year at no cost. If I die before my wife, she will have someone she trusts to turn to. I don’t know if Fidelity will waive fees or minimum investment amounts for institutional classes of funds because I don’t ask for or expect special treatment not available to others.
My post is not intended to slight Schwab, Vanguard or other fund companies— but merely to describe why I am a satisfied customer after using Fidelity for about 35 years. I have no intentions of switching.

I spent years in what SS calls "non-covered" jobs. WTF is THAT? It means you did not pay in. That's junk. I've ALWAYS paid in. Finally, I was asked to come in, in person, with last 2 tax returns. My SS monthly jumped from $700+ to $1,200.00. That was pre-Medicare.
Retired early, pension started lower than it would otherwise. But it is very prudently managed. I'll get a raise of 4.5% in July along with everyone else. Active workers will be given a 4.5% bump-up in "pension credits." They do that mid-year, rather than January. Silly. But I'm glad for it.

Like almost everything else, it’s best not to generalize about pensions. My wife and I both have pensions with the state of North Carolina. It is very conservatively managed, although I’m sure it has some private equity. The pension is funded roughly half from employees paychecks and the rest from the state legislature. The state also has an optional 401k plan, but does not contribute to that except for state troopers. Unlike Social Security, the NC pension has no automatic inflation adjustments. I have been retired 7 years and my wife 9 years, and we have not received any inflation increases, although the legislature has awarded a few one-time bonuses some years. So, for those people whining about fat government pensions, that certainly isn’t true for NC. I would wager that most private workers with 401k plans have more generous retirement plans than NC government employees. The NC pension plan is essentially an annuity with no inflation adjustments. Fortunately, my wife and I both voluntarily contributed to the state 401k plan, which provides our inflation adjustment— again with no contributions from state taxpayers.

I've held a LOT of individual stocks. Name a major company (some little ones too) and I've probably held it at some point over the last 35+ years. I've also had many CEFS and many various mutual funds. Over all that time I've read a ton of articles about index funds and always said I should do that, but never did. Well,,, dang it, now I'm (almost) doing it. Going to see how the next 5 years turns out being simplified. So far it's pretty dang good and I'm wondering if I'll be kicking myself for not doing it years ago.

My wife worked 14 years for our county and upon reaching age 62 her monthly pension benefit will be $512...we're rich! And will be living a life of leisure on our super yacht!

I can't see the referenced chart, though I suspect it is a price chart and not a chart of total returns.

NO! The chart is a Morningstar Total Return graph for the past five years.
While it is obviously true that distributions dilute NAV on the day of posting, almost all high quality funds prices will revert to mean fairly quickly. PRWCX posted its last dividend on Dec 18, 2023 and NAV fell over 3.5% on the day, but price fully recovered in less than two months.

Thanks for posting. I have always thought that retired folks with pensions lived in another universe compared to the rest of us. I wonder if most pension recipients pay much attention to what is going on behind the scenes at their fund?

Me and the missus had a combined three Defined Benefit Pension plans but I guess I never thought we "lived in another universe!"
We rolled the lump sum of the biggest to an IRA, and we were able to roll about half of another to an IRA. So in force, that is, monthly pension payments, we effectively have about 1 1/2 of the original three, one private and one government.
Of those, yes, I (at minimum) annually review their Actuarial Reports. Kinda know my way around them a bit as I used to perform limited scope audits of my company's and some client's Actuarial Reports when working "in another universe!" Happy to say that in 12 years of collecting pension payments, funding of both has never been a concern, to me at least.

A lot of things don’t work as well “by committee.” Learned that the hard way some 40+ years ago when a helpful neighbor and I nearly dropped a large tree onto my home while cutting it down. We ignored simple precautions like securing it to something with a line first. Each of us assumed the other one knew what he was doing rather than giving the job the careful consideration it deserved. Suspect to some degree that applies to investing.

We have been retired 12 years with the anniversary date in June. We use what I refer to as 5-yr, Model Retirement Portfolios (MRP). We are thusly two years into our 3rd, 5-yr Model. Each has been significantly different in composition.
The FED started raising interest rates in June 2022 as we were creating our current 5-yr MRP for 06/2022-06/2027. We projected at that time that before long, CP CD interest rates would be over our 4% threshold for FI investments.
So we did two major structural changes starting around that time,
(1) split our total portfolio into two distinct portfolios and
(2) jettisoned ALL dedicated bond funds while significantly reducing bond holdings.
So currently we have a Market Portfolio (MP) and a 5-yr, CP CD Ladder Portfolio. Total port is 98 IRA/2 Txbl. We haven't paid any FIT/SIT since 2012 and don't plan to do so for about 5 more years. The two ports are similar in size, with the latter port designated as our LTC self-funding. It currently has an APY just over 5%.
The MP is about as basic and straight forward as they come:
12 OEFs with 10 Core and 2 Explore OEFs, and occasional trading of Blue Chip, individual stocks like NVDA and GOOGL.
The MP is:
Stocks/Bonds/Cash: 88/12/Nil
Domestic/Foreign: 90/10
Technology Allocation: 36
MAG 7 Allocation: 29
LC/MC/SC: 74/20/6
V/B/G: 16/34/50
The 12 OEFs are:
3 Domestic Stock Index
1 Domestic Sector
2 Domestic LCG
1 Domestic LC Value
1 Domestic SCG
1 Global LCG
1 Foreign LCG
2 Moderate Allocation (which provide our ONLY bond allocation)
2024 YTD TR of the MP is, well, um, never mind. That was not asked for by the OP and if given may very well be deemed bragging by my detractors.