Makes me wonder how many trillion in "potential assets at retirement" are lost due to the billions (trillions?) that aren't invested in the first place. It puzzled me how many people I worked with did not save to the match much less saving more to the max.

"In the 10 years ending Dec. 31, 2018, retirement plans lost approximately $2.5 trillion in potential assets at retirement due to $86 billion worth of defaults." - Christopher Robbins, Time Traveler.

FYI: Over the next decade, defaults from 401(k) loans could account for $2 trillion lost in potential future account balances, according to a report from Deloitte.
The average defaulting plan participant stands to lose approximately $300,000 in potential retirement account balance, according to “Loan Leakage: How can we keep loan defaults from draining $2 trillion from America’s 401(k) accounts?”
Regards,
Ted
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/deloitte--401-k--loan-defaults-are-a--2-trillion-retirement-problem-41303.html?print

err...have the timber prices timbered so much these guys cannot retire? Wierd to consider it as a retirement plan. Why not just put the money in stock market for 30 years? That's supposed to work out right?
Let's not tout capitalism and then complain later. Mortals don't get bailouts. Good think Christmas celebration is not necessarily related to religion (while fox news might tell you otherwise) else some day even planting christmas trees may not be a good strategy.
New federal program offered farmers money....I'm done.

FYI: Over the past hundred years, the George family’s farm has been sharecropped, grazed by cattle and planted with cotton. By the late 1980s, Clayton George was growing soybeans and struggling to make ends meet.
A new federal program offered farmers money to reforest depleted land. Pine trees appealed to Mr. George. He bought loblolly seedlings and pulled his pickup into a parking lot where hands-for-hire congregated.
“We figured we’d plant trees and come back and harvest it in 30 years and in the meantime go into town to make a living doing something else,” he said.
Three decades later the trees are ready to cut, and Mr. George is learning how many other Southerners had the same idea.
A glut of timber has piled up in the Southeast. There are far more ready-to-cut trees than the region’s mills can saw or pulp. The surfeit has crushed timber prices in Mississippi, Alabama and several other states.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.wsj.com/articles/thousands-of-southerners-planted-trees-for-retirement-it-didnt-work-1539095250

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/915802/000139834418014621/fp0036295_497.htm
1 fp0036295_497.htm
FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST
ALPS/METIS GLOBAL MICRO CAP VALUE FUND
Supplement dated October 9, 2018
to the
Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, each dated February 28, 2018,
for the ALPS/Metis Global Micro Cap Value Fund,
a series of Financial Investors Trust (the “Trust”)
On October 8, 2018, the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of the Trust, based upon the recommendation of ALPS Advisors, Inc. (the “Adviser”), the investment adviser to the ALPS/Metis Global Micro Cap Value Fund (the “Fund”), a series of the Trust, has determined to close and liquidate the Fund. The Board concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders that the Fund be closed and liquidated as a series of the Trust, with an effective date on or about October 30, 2018 (the “Liquidation Date”).
The Board approved a Plan of Termination, Dissolution, and Liquidation (the “Plan”) that determines the manner in which the Fund will be liquidated. Pursuant to the Plan and in anticipation of the Fund’s liquidation, the Fund will be closed to new purchases effective as of the close of business on October 8, 2018. However, any distributions declared to shareholders of the Fund after October 8, 2018, and until the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on the Liquidation Date will be automatically reinvested in additional shares of the Fund unless a shareholder specifically requests that such distributions be paid in cash. Although the Fund will be closed to new purchases as of October 8, 2018, you may continue to redeem your shares of the Fund after October 8, 2018, as provided in the Prospectus. Please note, however, that the Fund will be liquidating its assets between October 9, 2018 and the Liquidation Date.
Pursuant to the Plan, if the Fund has not received your redemption request or other instruction prior to the close of business on the Liquidation Date, your shares will be redeemed, and you will receive proceeds representing your proportionate interest in the net assets of the Fund as of the Liquidation Date, subject to any required withholdings. As is the case with any redemption of fund shares, these liquidation proceeds will generally be subject to federal and, as applicable, state and local income taxes if the redeemed shares are held in a taxable account and the liquidation proceeds exceed your adjusted basis in the shares redeemed. If the redeemed shares are held in a qualified retirement account such as an IRA, the liquidation proceeds may not be subject to current income taxation under certain conditions. You should consult with your tax adviser for further information regarding the federal, state and/or local income tax consequences of this liquidation that are relevant to your specific situation.
All expenses incurred in connection with the transactions contemplated by the Plan, other than the brokerage commissions associated with the sale of portfolio securities, will be paid by the Adviser.
Please retain this supplement with your Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and
Statement of Additional Information.

FYI: One of Andrew's friends recently cashed in a variable annuity. He bought it years ago, before he realized it was a high-cost rip-off. “I want to invest the proceeds,” he said. “What do you recommend?” He already owned one of Vanguard’s Target Retirement funds. These are complete portfolios of indexes rolled into a single fund. They’re diversified. They charge low fees, and they get rebalanced once a year.
Regards,
Ted
https://assetbuilder.com/knowledge-center/articles/why-value-stocks-are-now-priced-to-dust-growth

I could be wrong, but I believe Uncle Sam requires RMDs in order to collect on the deferred taxes. You don't have to spend your RMDs but you do have to pay the taxes.

IMHO that's a significant reason, but not the only reason. IRAs are intended for use in retirement, not as a permanent tax shelter or shelter from creditors.
That's why someone other than a spouse who inherits an IRA is subject to RMDs even if the IRA is a Roth. Allowing the beneficiary to spread the withdrawals over time via RMDs can be viewed as a form of income averaging which has appeared in the tax code in various forms in the past. (You spread you income over several years, or average it as though it were spread, so that you don't get kicked into a higher bracket simply because you received a pile of money at one time.)
A SC ruling a couple of years ago said that inherited IRAs don't get the bankruptcy protection that "regular" IRAs get. The court said that the protection is for retirement accounts, and inherited IRAs (unless inherited by spouse) are not retirement accounts.
I don't have time now to look closely into VPW but that sounds more like a withdrawal strategy (a la 4%) as opposed to an RMD strategy. I believe, however, that if you annuitize your IRA, the annuity payments (which can be based on balance and life expectancy for a VA, similar to VPW) will satisfy RMD requirements. Haven't checked this either.

March 2009 was a great time to convert a sizable chunk to Roth, pay taxes on rediculously low NAVs and stir the pot. The gift that keeps giving. Lemonade out of lemons. :) That kind of good fortune helps make up for a lot of other investing mistakes over the years. (I'm not recommending that now that markets are so bubbly.)
To the point here, if you have more than 50% of your retirement funds in a tax paid Roth, the tax hit from RMD is a lot easier to swallow. I suppose one might have so much saved up that the RMD (From traditional IRA) still more than meets their expenditures - so no need to withdraw any Roth money. Not the case here. And I'd somewhat question why anyone over 70 wouldn't be pulling more out and enjoying the money while they can.

I could be wrong, but I believe Uncle Sam requires RMDs in order to collect on the deferred taxes. You don't have to spend your RMDs but you do have to pay the taxes.
59.5 & 70.5...what's up with these ".5''s?

"What I'd really like to at least do is get rid of the '.5,'" he says. "The 70 1/2 age causes a lot of confusion, especially for people born in June or July. We should just make it the year that you turn a certain age."

The Boglehead's Wiki has an interesting approach to retirement withdrawals called, "Variable Percentage Withdrawal (VPW)".

Variable percentage withdrawal (VPW) is a withdrawal method that adapts to the retiree's retirement horizon, asset allocation, and portfolio returns during retirement. It combines the best ideas of the constant-dollar, constant-percentage, and 1/N withdrawal methods to allow the retiree to spend most of his portfolio using return-adjusted withdrawals. By adapting withdrawals to market returns, VPW will never prematurely deplete the portfolio.
The VPW method uses a variable (increasing) percentage to determine withdrawals from a portfolio during retirement. Each year, the withdrawal is determined by multiplying that year's percentage by the current portfolio balance at the time of withdrawal.
The VPW method and spreadsheet were collaboratively developed and improved by a group of Bogleheads®

https://bogleheads.org/wiki/Variable_percentage_withdrawal

FYI: Tax-deferred retirement saving isn't forever. At age 70 1/2, you must start withdrawing funds from 401(k) and IRA accounts. Yet many retirees find the required minimum distribution rules burdensome, and surprisingly large numbers would prefer not to draw down funds at all.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.morningstar.com/articles/884105/should-rmd-rules-be-reformed.html

Hi @AndyJ: Thanks for stopping by and for making comment. Many of us on the board are in or near retirement. For myself, being in retirement, I have been reducing my equity allocation over the past five years, or so, from upwards towards 70% now down to the low 50% range. I am also in the process of raising my fixed income allocation (currently around 27%) up towards 30% or better over the next year or so. I plan to do this at a pace of about 1% per quarter until I reach an allocation I feel comfortable with. Even in retirement I thinking I need a good bit of equity exposure so my five year asset allocation target is to be somewhere around 40% fixed, 40% equity and 20% cash and cd's by then.
Since, you feel a good number of the threads are geared more towards equities (over income) why not become more active and start posting what you are seeing on the fixed income side of investing? Interestingly, on my buy list my 1 week and 1 month leaders, that I follow, I'm finding a good number are fixed income funds. Since, the US 10 Yr is now paying 3 percent, or better, I'm beginning to see most of my funds found in my fixed income sleeve starting to make an upward move. I'd think that now that interest rates are rising their nav's would be going the other way. Interesting? Yes.
Any way FWIW ... I'm thinking you'd draw a good following.
Thanks again for stopping by and for making comment.
Old_Skeet

Lightening up on FI CEFs, concentrating now on Pimco multisectors with significant non-agency mortgage stakes (PCI, PDI, PKO), and adding to FI credit OEFs that are working (loans, mortgages), mainly IOFIX, SEMPX, and EAFAX. Modest equity exposure now, most of it in JENSX, and barely any rate-sensitive fare.
P.S. Of the funds in John's earlier post, be aware that the mortgage fund PMRAX is almost entirely agency mortgages, which are rate sensitive - with little in the still-excellent non-agencies.
P.P.S. Don't tend to post as much at MFO now, given that the retirement-investing style I generally prefer these days -- lots of FI, mostly credit, overall with some equity correlation but lower than equity risk, combined with low equity exposure -- is a pretty rare bird here, so there's not much discussion around it. I just don't spend very much time researching stocks/stock funds -- at least for now.

@Simon- Sounds like a very decent fairly aggressive approach for someone your age. You have plenty of time to recover from the inevitable downturns which will occur before retirement. Using your own observation re the "future of the human race", my only suggestion would be to also include a broad spectrum Health Care ETF, unless you already have that included under the general heading of "technology".

Interesting to read the comments about PRGTX. I'm a long term holder in an IRA (10 years) and probably won't ever sell it even after I retire because technology in the broadest sense is the only future of the human race. Most of my funds are overweight in tech, even small company funds like BCSIX. I did sell the under-performing but competent BPAVX this month (gain of about 55% over 3 years) to raise cash to sit on the sidelines for the inevitable correction. I'm looking at WSMNX in particular. I'm also very overweight in small-mid company funds. 20 years to retirement.

https://money.usnews.com/investing/dividends/slideshows/8-dividend-stocks-to-buy-for-a-monthly-paycheck?src=usn_invested_nl
Receiving dividends more often is attractive to investors near or at retirement.
By Jeff Reeves, Contributor
Credit
Greater dividend frequency can help income investors.
When it comes to income opportunities, many investors look for reliability. That's particularly true for those at or near retirement and are looking for stocks that can provide a regular paycheck to offset living expenses. While income investors are accustomed to quarterly dividends, there are stocks that pay once a month. Not only do monthly distributions help with a budget, they also speak to a well-run company that can manage its cash flows in 30-day increments – in good times and bad. Here are eight companies with the stability and to pay dividends once a month.

I am no lover of target date funds for attentive investors, but I think they can serve some investors well. I posted an extended comment to this effect on the page. (There's a second comment there as well making a similar point.)
Herein is my comment:
While there's merit in some of the issues raised, methinks thou doth protest too much.
Target date funds are designed for those who don't want to think about their investments, who don't want to monitor them. (And if they do, all they have to do is check the glide path in the prospectus.)
They are best used as "all in" investments. If one mixes and matches target date funds with other investments, the point of using them is lost. Admittedly there are some assets that can't be rolled in, like SS and other lifetime income streams (annuities, pensions). So when one initially selects a glide path, one takes these into consideration. A one-time-only task, as opposed to continual monitoring. Again, for those disinclined to manage their investments.
There is something to be said for separating stocks and bonds for tax purposes. Though the same argument can be made for all allocation funds, including traditional, statically allocated balanced funds, such as Vanguard Wellington.
Arguing that because there are a few bad apples (that add a second layer of fees) one should avoid the category altogether is specious. It is like saying that because some index funds carry loads or come with high fees, one should avoid index funds entirely.
Finally, nearly half of households with investment accounts own only retirement accounts (33% hold taxable accounts, 29% retirement only, the remainder no investments). For them, tax issues are moot. They are also less likely to be financially literate and thus more likely to benefit from a target date fund. For them, target date funds are not too simple.
Data in the preceding paragraph comes from FINRA (2015):
https://www.finrafoundation.org/files/snapshot-investor-households-america

I probably be in 55%45% distribution if retirement in 6-12minths

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/315774/000143510918000538/lmcg497.htm
497 1 lmcg497.htm
LMCG GLOBAL MARKET NEUTRAL FUND (the "Fund")
Supplement dated September 18, 2018 to the Prospectus dated August 1, 2018
On September 14, 2018, the Board of Trustees ("Board") of Forum Funds (the "Trust") approved a Plan of Liquidation and Dissolution (the "Plan") pursuant to which the assets of the Fund will be liquidated and the proceeds remaining after payment of or provision for liabilities and obligations of the Fund will be distributed to shareholders. The Fund's investment adviser (the "Adviser") has recommended that the Board approve the Plan based on market conditions and economic factors adversely affecting the Fund and the Board concluded that it is in the best interest of the Fund's shareholders to liquidate the Fund pursuant to the Plan.
In anticipation of the liquidation, the Fund will stop accepting purchases into the Fund on September 18, 2018. Thereafter, the Fund will begin its process of winding up and liquidating its portfolio assets as soon as reasonably practicable. As a result, the Fund will not be pursuing its investment objective after September 18, 2018. Reinvestment of dividends on existing shares in accounts which have selected that option will continue until the liquidation.
The Fund anticipates that it will complete the liquidation on or around the close of business on or about October 31, 2018 (the "Liquidation Date"). On the Liquidation Date, the Fund will make liquidating distributions to each remaining shareholder, equal to the shareholder's proportionate interest in the net assets of the Fund, in complete redemption and cancellation of the Fund's shares held by the shareholder, and thereafter the Fund will be terminated and dissolved.
If you own Fund shares in a tax deferred account, such as an individual retirement account, 401(k) or 403(b) account, you should consult your tax adviser to discuss the Fund's liquidation and determine its tax consequences.
* * *
For more information, please contact a Fund customer service representative toll free at
(877) 591-4667.
PLEASE RETAIN FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.
LMCG GLOBAL MARKET NEUTRAL FUND (the "Fund")
Supplement dated September 18, 2018 to the Statement of Additional Information ("SAI") dated August 1, 2018
On September 14, 2018, the Board of Trustees ("Board") of Forum Funds (the "Trust") approved a Plan of Liquidation and Dissolution (the "Plan") pursuant to which the assets of the Fund will be liquidated and the proceeds remaining after payment of or provision for liabilities and obligations of the Fund will be distributed to shareholders. The Fund's investment adviser (the "Adviser") has recommended that the Board approve the Plan based on market conditions and economic factors adversely affecting the Fund and the Board concluded that it is in the best interest of the Fund's shareholders to liquidate the Fund pursuant to the Plan.
In anticipation of the liquidation, the Fund will stop accepting purchases into the Fund on September 18, 2018. Thereafter, the Fund will begin its process of winding up and liquidating its portfolio assets as soon as reasonably practicable. As a result, the Fund will not be pursuing its investment objective after September 18, 2018. Reinvestment of dividends on existing shares in accounts which have selected that option will continue until the liquidation.
The Fund anticipates that it will complete the liquidation on or around the close of business on or about October 31, 2018 (the "Liquidation Date"). On the Liquidation Date, the Fund will make liquidating distributions to each remaining shareholder, equal to the shareholder's proportionate interest in the net assets of the Fund, in complete redemption and cancellation of the Fund's shares held by the shareholder, and thereafter the Fund will be terminated and dissolved.
If you own Fund shares in a tax deferred account, such as an individual retirement account, 401(k) or 403(b) account, you should consult your tax adviser to discuss the Fund's liquidation and determine its tax consequences.
* * *
For more information, please contact a Fund customer service representative toll free at
(877) 591-4667.
PLEASE RETAIN FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.

FYI: New data released this week from the Internal Revenue Service on Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) most notably includes who contributed to IRAs and how much for tax year 2015. Taxpayers contributed nearly $40 billion to IRAs in 2015, indicating that tax-neutral savings accounts will continue to be an important source of capital income. Expanding and simplifying their structure would broadly benefit many Americans.
Regards,
Ted
https://taxfoundation.org/new-irs-data-shows-ira-contributions-made-middle-class-taxpayers/