“A Meeting Place for Financial Planners Looking for an Alternative to Passive Investing”

An earlier blog entry described the background of my recent correspondence with Michael Kitces on safe withdrawal rates (SWRs). Set forth below is the text of an e-mail that I sent to Michael on November 24:

Michael:

I hope things are going well with you.

I posted a Podcast today summarizing in audio form our e-mail correspondence. I don’t believe that there is anything shockingly new in it, but, since it includes your name in the title, I thought that I should let you know. Please let me know if you have any concerns, or if there are any points that you would like to add.

http://www.passionsaving.com/personal-finance-podcasts-page-five.html

Also, I am seeking to send William Bengen an e-mail asking him for his take re the issues that you and I discussed in our last e-mails (his views on the analytical validity or lack thereof of the Old School SWR studies, his criteria for knowing when to lower stock allocations, his thoughts on short-term timing, any
concerns he is feeling re the Passive Investing model). I was not able to find an e-mail address for him through use of a Google search, only a telephone number. I will try to reach him later today by telephone. But if you have an e-mail address handy, I would be grateful if you would be willing to share it.

Finally, I wanted to briefly repeat the message of my last e-mail. I am very interested in making my site a meeting place for financial planners who are looking for an alternative to the Passive Investing model and the Old School SWR studies. My sense is that you are not ready to participate in any active way at this time and I of course understand. However, it may be that interest in this idea (both on your part and on the part of others) will grow over time. I hope you will keep me in mind in days to come. I believe that we could do a lot of good and important work together to get things back on the right track in all sorts of ways.

Take care,

Rob