Serious Investing for Ages 100 and Up

• Investment policy statement: At 100 and over the policy statement is nearly all administration. Common mistake: Selling appreciated holdings in a taxable account to simplify the portfolio without weighing that the step-up in basis at death could remove the embedded gain for heirs.
• Research sleeve: At 100 and over, the realistic question is not how large a research sleeve should be but whether one belongs in the plan at all. Common mistake: Holding illiquid or hard-to-value sleeve positions that an agent or executor cannot easily sell, price or divide, which delays settlement and leaves heirs with decisions the owner never explained.
• Concentration management: For people at 100 and over, concentration is almost entirely a question of who will act. Common mistake: Leaving the executor to sort out one large concentrated position with no instructions, while beneficiary designations on the accounts are decades out of date.
• Tax location: At 100 and over, the annual RMD still applies to traditional accounts, and the 25% penalty does not soften with age, so someone with authority must make sure it is taken. Common mistake: Assuming a required distribution no longer applies because of the owner's age, or because the beneficiary will inherit anyway, and letting the annual withdrawal lapse.
• Rebalancing: For anyone at 100 or over, rebalancing is largely a question of whether to trade at all. Common mistake: Selling appreciated taxable holdings to restore a target mix without comparing the tax bill with the small risk reduction, when the gain could disappear at death through the basis step-up.
• Scenario testing: At 100 and over, scenario testing is closer to contingency planning than projection. Common mistake: Treating a market stress test as sufficient while keeping account lists and instructions in one person's head, so a sudden event leaves agents unable to act.
• Security research: At 100 and over, security research is mostly stewardship. Common mistake: Selling long-held, low-basis shares for the sake of simplicity without recognizing that heirs would generally receive a stepped-up basis, creating a tax cost that did not need to arise.
• Exit rules: For ages 100 and over, an exit rule is a continuity document. Common mistake: Keeping a sell rule written decades ago, with a stale trigger or a named agent who has died, so no one with current authority can act on it.

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