Thanks for commenting @Observant1 - I appreciate links so much more when folks add a personal comment. Generally, the only time I’ll watch a linked video is if the poster has commented on it.
Benz’s “Buckets” conjure up an image of somebody in a Bonanza - like western walking to and from the well. Prefer “allocation model” myself, although the label doesn’t matter much. In both personal and financial affairs I’m usually better off having a disciplined approach. So I’d be lost without my allocation model written down and securely stored among the digital archives. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on viewpoint) mine is a whole lot more complex than Benz’s. It’s evolved over nearly 25 years in retirement as my knowledge base has grown, opportunities available have multiplied and age has advanced. I’d hate being still crammed into the same “bucket(s)” today as a quarter-century ago.
Benz is no Einstein, but she appears generally well versed on the fund landscape as one would expect from Morningstar. I think 25-30 years back when I was in the process of ditching the Templeton assigned “advisor” (commanding a 4%+ front load) and developing my own self directed investment approach Benz’s advice would have been both stimulating and helpful. Today, not much. I think she’s appealing mainly to inexperienced investors.
Some pertinent thoughts / observations:
- Benz leads off characterizing bonds as a portfolio-wrecking “torpedo” in 2022. An interesting analogy, though I might have said “weighty anchor”. Equities could have have sunk your investment sloop even faster and driven it deeper than bonds last year, depending, of course, on which ones.
- Benz suggests holding 1-2 years worth of cash reserve to “ride out” rough stretches of the market. Surely this is optimistic. While not one to hold a lot of cash myself, in reading others’ posts over the years it appears that her suggested 1-2 years worth of cash reserve is on the low end. Some well-versed investors here who subscribe to the “rainy day” approach have been known to hold anywhere from 3 to 5 years’ supply of cash to draw on in event of a prolonged bear market - a more realistic time frame. (Either you have religion or you don’t.)
- Just 3 buckets seems rather basic - actually pretty simplistic.
- The contents of Benz’s buckets appear to slosh around a bit. She mentions international funds “might be” an asset to include today. OK. Probably good advice. But a staunch “bucketeer” might well adhere to static allocations, periodically rebalancing. Adding / deleting components would appear tantamount to going off the reservation. She suggests some precious metals (now that they’ve appreciated significantly). Consider that there have been periods as brief as 2 or 3 years over which precious metals funds have fallen 50% or more. How many novice investors (to whom she seems to be appealing) would have the staying power to hold on to to an asset like that near the bottom?
- She’s fond of index funds. If one has a 10-25 year time horizon that’s probably great advice. Over longer periods lower fees should translate into better outcomes. But it’s not that simple. First, today’s investors generally have shorter time horizons / are prone to hold funds for shorter periods than a generation ago. Timing decisions might well impact returns more than fees. Secondly, the advice to invest in indexes ignores the extent to which some of those may have become distorted / overpriced after decades of outperformance. For example, the cap-weighted S&P 500 might not be the best place to invest today. Some knowledgeable investors actually maintain small short positions on it, wagering, in effect, that other market areas will outperform.

T Rowe Price/TROW has bought the retirement income software firm Retiree Inc. This Software can take into account a variety of household accounts to come up with retirement solutions to meet various goals (optimize income, bequest value, etc). BTW, several firms offer retirement income calculator that may have limited capabilities.
News: https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2023/03/30/t-rowe-price-to-buy-income-planning-software-maker/
Websites
https://www.retireeincome.com/
https://incomestrategy.com/
Founders: https://incomestrategy.com/about-us-2/
Initial Source: Kitces at TwitterLink

Christine Benz discusses six retirement "blind spots" in this weeks episode:
Retirement Date Risk
Sequence-of-Return Risk
Low-Yield Risk
Inflation Risk
Health Care, Long-Term Care Risk
Longevity Risk
Video

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1511699/000089418923002492/aquixsupplement-liquidation.htm
(I can see the one liners with this one)
97 1 aquixsupplement-liquidation.htm 497
Ecofin Sustainable Water Fund
Supplement dated April 6, 2023 to the Fund’s
Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”),
each dated March 31, 2023, as amended
Based upon a recommendation by Tortoise Capital Advisors, L.L.C. (the “Adviser”), the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Managed Portfolio Series (the “Trust”) has approved a plan of liquidation for the Ecofin Sustainable Water Fund (the “Fund”), a series of the Trust, pursuant to which the Fund will be liquidated on or around April 21, 2023 (the “Liquidation” or the “Liquidation Date”). The Adviser has determined that the Fund has limited prospects for meaningful growth. As a result, the Adviser and the Board believe that the Liquidation of the Fund is in the best interests of its shareholders.
In anticipation of the Liquidation, effective as of the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“close of business”) on April 11, 2023, the Fund is closed to new investments. In addition, effective immediately, the Adviser may begin an orderly transition of the Fund’s portfolio securities to cash and cash equivalents and the Fund will cease investing its assets in accordance with its investment objective and policies.
Shareholders may voluntarily redeem shares of the Fund, as described in the Fund’s Prospectus, before the Liquidation Date. Shareholders remaining in the Fund until the Liquidation Date may bear increased transaction fees in connection with the disposition of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If the Fund has not received your redemption request or other instruction prior to the close of business on April 21, 2023, your shares will be automatically redeemed on the Liquidation Date.
Prior to the Liquidation Date, the Fund may declare one or more dividends to all holders of record as of a date or dates to be determined consisting of any undistributed income and capital gains (net of available capital loss carryovers) of the Fund.
Prior notice of any such dividends will be posted to the following website: https://etp.ecofininvest.com.
If you take no action prior to the Liquidation Date, your shares will be automatically redeemed on the Liquidation Date. Remaining shareholders as of the Liquidation Date will receive a liquidating distribution in an amount equal to the net asset value of their Fund shares, less any required withholding. For shareholders that hold their shares in a taxable account, the redemption of Fund shares will generally be treated as any other redemption of shares (i.e., a sale that may result in a gain or loss for federal income tax purposes).
If you hold your shares in an individual retirement account (an “IRA”), you have 60 days from the date you receive your proceeds to reinvest or “rollover” your proceeds into another IRA and maintain their tax-deferred status. You must notify the Fund’s transfer agent at 855-TCA-FUND (855-822-3863) prior to April 21, 2023 of your intent to rollover your IRA account to avoid withholding deductions from your proceeds.
If the redeemed shares are held in a qualified retirement account such as an IRA, the redemption proceeds may not be subject to current income taxation. You should consult with your tax advisor on the consequences of this redemption to you. Liquidation proceeds will be issued to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on the Liquidation Date.
Please retain this supplement for future reference.

@Crash If you only lost your shirt , you'd be one up on me & my shorts !

Giggle. Ya, it's not been pretty. But it's the only game in town. I'm investing for heirs, anyhow, at this point. The day to day stuff is interesting to track. Retirement is fabulous to me.

Thanks for the update/correction, @sma3.
I'm still not jealous. Or tired. Or proud. (As Arlo would say.) Retirement is entirely too nice. :)
Looking for a job was always the worst thing I could think of to have to be doing.

My old ( 30 years) retirement account at VOYA has ITCSX ( TPR Capital Appreciation Pt SVC) open and available at least to existing accounts.
I don't have a lot of money in this account, but might add to ITCSX at next market swoon.
Still law of big numbers makes his previous outperformance harder to continue

Good point - PRWCX is closed to most new investors.
The fund is closed to new accounts other than investors whose accounts meet any of the following criteria:
• Participants in an employer-sponsored retirement plan where the fund already serves as an investment option;
• Direct rollovers from an employer-sponsored retirement plan to a new T. Rowe Price IRA;
• Accounts held directly with T. Rowe Price that qualify through participation in certain T. Rowe Price programs;
• T. Rowe Price multi-asset products (such as funds-of-funds);
• Discretionary accounts managed by T. Rowe Price or one of its affiliates;
• Wrap, asset allocation, and other advisory programs, if permitted by T. Rowe Price.
T. Rowe Price submitted an SEC filing (dated 03/22/2023) for Capital Appreciation Equity ETF.
David Giroux will be the portfolio manager.
The new ETF will normally invest at least 80% of its net asset in equity securities.
PRWCX normally invests at least 50% of its total assets in stocks while the remaining assets
are generally invested in corporate/government debt and bank loans.
Consequently, this ETF will not be a clone of PRWCX.
MFO Link

March 31, '23.
Christine Benz is a longtime Morningstar personality. She's back with her bucket approach for retirement portfolio construction. It's never been a strategy I could ever hope to actually employ. And if I had the wherewithal, I find it to be just plain too complicated, anyhow. But have a listen, if you'd like:
https://wealthtrack.com/build-a-better-more-resilient-retirement-portfolio-with-morningstars-christine-benz/

Christine Benz has long recommended bucketing strategies for retirees.
She often credits Harold Evensky for developing this strategy.
Mr. Evensky's implementation utilizes 2 buckets while Ms. Benz uses 3 buckets.
Certain investors may find bucketing to be a helpful mental construct
which allows them to stay the course during market disruptions.
For those investors, bucketing can be immensely beneficial.
This strategy is unnecessary if an investor has a properly constructed portfolio
and a well-balanced temperament.
.

I don't think the buckets are really a dead horse, but she has been beating that drum for a long time.
As I remember, despite focusing on retirement, she doesn't mention RMDs and how to factor those into your bucket

March 31, '23.
Christine Benz is a longtime Morningstar personality. She's back with her bucket approach for retirement portfolio construction. It's never been a strategy I could ever hope to actually employ. And if I had the wherewithal, I find it to be just plain too complicated, anyhow. But have a listen, if you'd like:
https://wealthtrack.com/build-a-better-more-resilient-retirement-portfolio-with-morningstars-christine-benz/

I thought I knew what stable value funds in a 401k were. I used them for years, but what you show looks to me more like an annuity.
Stable value fund is available in my 401(K) plan. It is an insurance product that invest in short term treasurys but has the liquidity like money market fund.
There's a lot of subtlety in attributes of these products that results in a fair amount of confusion. In a broad sense everything people have mentioned here is a stable value fund. In practical terms, the distinctions don't matter much.

stable value funds and their close cousins, guaranteed investment contracts, together accounted for 21.3 percent of the assets in such plans in September [2006]
...
The stable value funds in 401(k) plans are generally a pool of short-term bonds or other debt-market investments protected by an insurance contract known as a wrapper.... The underlying investments are generally corporate bonds, which yield more than government bonds but are also at a greater risk for loss of principal. He said Treasury bonds were a more secure long-term choice than stable value funds, which may be subject “to the law of unintended consequences."
...
Like other stable value funds in 401(k) plans, [the Trust Advisors Stable Value Plus fund] was not a mutual fund but a collective trust.

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/business/mutfund/08stable.html
"Stable value" can refer to even more varied investment structures. Historically, or "traditionally", these were insurance products - guaranteed insurance contracts like TIAA Traditional issued directly by an insurance company.

TIAA Traditional is a guaranteed insurance contract and not an investment for federal securities law purposes.

https://www.tiaa.org/public/learn/retirement-planning-and-beyond/how-do-traditional-annuities-work
"Stable value" evolved into a much broader range of investment structures. The common thread is the use of insurance to provide investment value stability.

Stable value investment options may be offered by investment managers, trust companies, or insurance companies in various structures, such as separately managed accounts, commingled funds or guaranteed insurance accounts. Sometimes a stable value investment option will be managed by a plan sponsor. While stable value investment options may be managed or structured in a variety of ways, the important similarity is the use of stable value investment contracts, issued by banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions, which convey to the investment option the ability to carry certain assets at book value.

https://www.stablevalue.org/stable-value/ (Links in original)
For a brief shining(?) moment, stable value funds were offered in retail IRAs. But SEC concerns about pricing led to their demise:

[Stable value as an] investing option has disappeared for individuals [in 2005] because of questions raised by the Securities and Exchange Commission about how to value the funds, although no formal ruling against them has been made.
...
Stable value funds have been available for many years, and remain available today-although on a much more limited basis-in some 401(k) plans and defined benefit pension plans maintained by employers. These investments come under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Labor, which has strict, but somewhat different regulations, from the SEC. The SEC's questions affect investments by individuals in IRAs ...
Scudder launched the first stable value IRA fund in 1997, offering the funds as Scudder Preservation Plus Income and Scudder Preservation Plus. Others were offered by PBGH, Gartmore Morley, Oppenheimer and other mutual fund managers.
But the SEC began raising questions about how to determine the daily valuation of funds with insurance wrappers, which managers had been pricing at book value. The wrapper agreement, which is what made the stable value fund what it was, was also the part that was raising questions at the SEC. The SEC, which initially approved the funds, will not comment on the situation other than to say that there are no stable value funds now registered with the SEC, although there are some nonregistered ones in existence, says John Nester, an SEC spokesman.

https://www.fa-mag.com/news/article-1120.html?issue=56

TIAA Traditional (Accumulation) Rates
No changes.
Restricted RC 6.25%, RA 6.00%
Flexible RCP 5.50%, SRA 5.25%, Newer IRAs 3.45%
TSP G Fund hasn't updated yet (previous monthly rate was 4.125%).
Options outside of workplace retirement plans include m-mkt funds, bank m-mkt accounts (FDIC insured), T-Bills, short-term brokered CDs.
#401k #403b #StableValue #TIAA #TSP
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/thread/142/stable-value-sv-rates-monthly?page=2&scrollTo=995

At least at Fidelity, QCD is not as seamless as a DAF. There is no online method to transfer the funds.
https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/personal-finance/retirement/qcds-the-basics
Click on "Make a QCD". The pop-up that appears reads:
How do you want to submit your QCD?
Online          By mail using our form (PDF)

I like the 'In-Kind" strategy:
8-strategies-for-optimizing-rmds-from-iras

Note, @bee linked article above from Forbes is out of date and incorrectly states when RMD's must be started. SECURE 2.0 Act is now law. Owners of retirement accounts must start taking RMDs at age 73.

These are the key attributes that attracted me to PKSAX. It is the only equity fund that I have found that has the combination of Great owl, consistent strong long term performance (3 year -- 15.9%, 5 year -- 13.9%, 10 year -- 14.9%), what I consider to be reasonable Max drawdowns in both March 2020 of 18.3% and 2022 of 17.7%, and managers who have been in place for a long time (since 2008). It has consistently beaten both its index and its category and does so with a non-traditional approach to sector selection. It has heavy concentrations in both industrials and financials which are quite different from its index. I was able to purchase it through the Thrift Savings plan which is the government's retirement program. I wonder if it might also be available in some other 401k programs. You are right its unfortunately not available at Schwab and Fidelity. Lewis is correct in that it is fairly concentrated, but it has managed that risk to date quite well. I would be very interested if anyone has identified any funds with similar attributes. I think they are rare...

Will you receive a pension when you retire ? Of the $700 K , is any in equities ? Have you ran any simulation to project income to out going bill payments ? Any thoughts of down sizing after retirement ? How much income from SS? More questions than answers, & hopefully they will lead you as to how much to have in "safe" investments.

Don’t know about your finance situation and risk tolerance. So here it goes for your questions on CDs:
1. As of today the only CDs that yield 5% are those with shorter duration ones, 9-12 month. Creating a CD ladder is necessary in order to maintain cash flow (income) as you desired. For example, a one-year ladder consisting of 4 CDs with each maturing every 3 months would provide income every 3 months. So it boils down to how much extra income you want from your CDs. Don’t forget that the interest accrued from CDs is taxed as ordinary income with both federal and state tax applies. Treasury bills/notes are federal tax-exempt but state tax is still applied.
2. CDs are safe (FDIC insured) but they are not liquid during the investment period. Some bank CDs pay interest monthly, but they pay at lower yield. Brokered CDs at your brokerages pay higher yield, but majority of them pay at maturity, not monthly. Treasury bills (1 -12 months), on the other hand, are highly liquid and one can sell them on secondary market if necessary. Creating T bills ladders will provide periodic income just as CD ladders.
3. At current inflation rate (CPI as of Feb 2023 is at 6.2% y-o-y), you are losing future buying power each year by investing in CDs alone. Thus, other investment vehicles such as stocks, bonds, and others are required as part of the “growth” component of your retirement income.
Within this MFO discussion forum, you are getting opinions from other investors. The best answer should come from your financial planner. At least you have something to consider as a starting point. Best wishes.

"Sweep account" is essentially a marketing term that is used differently by T. Rowe Price and by Fidelity.
A "settlement account" (what Fidelity calls a "core" account) is where the cash comes from to settle all your brokerage transactions (including cash withdrawals). One can think of this as one's checking account.
T. Rowe Price brokerage lets you pick a money market fund to hold your settlement account money. It refers to this fund as a sweep account and provides this description of how the sweep mechanism works.

Price requires all new accounts to select a T. Rowe Price money market fund as a sweep option. ...On the settlement date, Price may debit my designated money market sweep fund ... for payment of securities purchased by me. I will earn dividends up to, but not including, the settlement date. My Account will be credited with the proceeds from the sale of securities, and I will begin earning dividends the next business day after the settlement date.

https://www.troweprice.com/content/dam/iinvestor/Forms/accountAgreement.pdf
In contrast, Fidelity uses "sweep" somewhat differently. For nonretirement accounts (except CMA accounts), Fidelity lets you keep your cash in SPAXX (yielding 4.28%) or FZFXX (yielding 4.22%). These operate the same way as T. Rowe Price described above, but Fidelity does not call these "sweep" accounts.
Rather, Fidelity reserves that term for settlement accounts where the money is "swept" into an FDIC-insured bank account (2.32% posted rate; the APY is 2.34%). This is an option for retirement accounts and is mandatory for CMA accounts at Fidelity.
https://www.fidelity.com/trading/faqs-about-account#faq_about2
https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/fidelity-cash-management-account/overview
At Fidelity, you have the option of having your money FDIC-insured by using a CMA account. But you pay for that insurance in the form of reduced interest. FDIC insurance is not an option at TRP.
Features of CMA accounts Fidelity are slightly different from Fidelity's "regular" brokerage accounts. The most significant CMA advantage that I'm aware of is that Fidelity rebates all ATM fees. In a regular account you need to have a certain level of assets before Fidelity provides unlimited rebates.
FWIW, I use a "regular" Fidelity brokerage account for almost everything and have a CMA account with a few hundred bucks for ATM withdrawals only.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/890540/000139834423006578/fp0082730-1_497.htm
497 1 fp0082730-1_497.htm
THE ADVISORS’ INNER CIRCLE FUND II
(the “Trust”)
Kopernik Global All-Cap Fund
(the “Fund”)
Supplement dated March 24, 2023
to the Fund’s Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”), each
dated March 1, 2023
This supplement provides new and additional information beyond that contained in the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI, and should be read in conjunction with the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI.
Effective as of the close of business on June 1, 2023 (the “Effective Date”), the Fund will be closed to certain new investments because Kopernik Global Investors, LLC (the “Adviser”), the Fund’s investment adviser, believes that carefully managing the Fund’s capacity provides the opportunity to continue to invest in the most attractively priced companies it can find and maintain the ability to take advantage of investments across different markets, countries, industry/sectors, and across the market capitalization spectrum.
While any existing shareholder may continue to reinvest Fund dividends and distributions, other new investments in the Fund may only be made by those investors within the following categories:
•Direct shareholders of the Fund as of the Effective Date and the date of the new investment;
•Participants in qualified retirement plans that offer shares of the Fund as an investment option as of the Effective Date; and
•Trustees and officers of the Trust, employees of the Adviser, and their immediate family members.
The Fund reserves the right to modify the above criteria, suspend all sales of new shares or reject any specific purchase order for any reason.
PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE
KGI-SK-009-0200