Here is my problem. I am almost 77 and have some concern about how my 2 kids are going to manage their investments when I am gone. They have seen me be unsuccessful at day trading in retirement and are convinced that it is impossible and they are probably correct. (Except for the few Elite on ET that have a true edge and are able to psychologically manage it) In retrospect this may have been a good thing as I don't have to worry about them blowing it all away in futility trying to day trade. However, they have seen the huge rise of the S&P 500 since 2012 and are convinced that all they have to do is put a million in the S&P and draw out 100K a year and still have their funds grow. I point out that in the first decade of this century the S&P 500 had a negative return but they think interest rates are at zero for ever, and they only place to put money is the stock market and it will just go up and up and we will never have another bear market. We all (on ET) know there will be another bear market in stocks and it may be severe if the proposed tax increases and economic disincentives create an economic contraction. So it would be a shockwave to my kids who are convinced that it is going to be easy to take money out of the stock market. Here is my thinking. My attention is drawn to the S&P 100 that has all the big names in the S&P and is very sector diverse from Tech, Pharma, Energy, Financial, Retail, etc. I have been looking at their charts using a 2-day and a 3-day time bar and there are definite trends at different times both up and down that last from a couple of weeks to a few months. So, here comes the pipe dream. Wouldn't it be nice to have trend following strategy that: 1. Goes long or short. 2. Divides the Account into 15 to 25 positions. 3. Uses zero margin. 4. Evaluate once every day or two for exits and new positions. 5. Has only the 100 stocks in the S&P 100 for eligible investment. 6. Produces a positive return every year. 7. Is a simple system, maybe using just a moving average of some type so that my kids could easily do this. 8. Produces a return from 10% to 25% per year. I would be interested if you think the pipe dream is crazy or if it has a chance. I will spend some more time developing my strategy and maybe experiment with a Live Trade Journal on ET showing all my trades, positions and spreadsheet results. If I get something that looks promising I might start out with a small account and allocate 1K per position. I shared my idea with my boys and they definitely think I am crazy. They say nobody can beat the Index Funds, least of all me. Ahhhh a little redemption would by nice on the homefront.
It's crazy and it's a pipe dream. Let go, seriously. 1st generation builds, 2nd generation manages, 3rd generation is so detached from the creation process that it blows all on hookers and booze.
You are better off finding a good "robo adviser" that has a decent algo for rebalancing the account. Forget the idea that you are going to create a system that your kids are going to execute as it will likely cause more problems than it solves.
Or you could just buy S&P 500 ETF (Not much difference from S&P100) and move in and out of the market on a trend line break. Weinstein used a 30 week ma. Long when above and in cash when below. You get the odd whipsaw but it keeps you out of the big drops. I use something similar with individual stocks and it kept me out of the 2008 and 2020 drops.
It's a bad idea to ever offer investing/trading advice to family members, even your own children. Or, put another way, you'll never be a hero in your own back yard.