Who wanted to retire anyway

[Traveling on cc points]

We are 4 years out. I may come back to this thread in a month and have a completely different attitude but today, we are doing our best not to panic.

This scare might have been the kiss in the *** that some of us needed. once everything (hopefully) bounces back, we will definitely be moving some money into safer choices.

 

[WEDWDW]

Not yet.

Depends on the stock.

 

[mnrose]

Checked mine yesterday just for kicks. Down an average of less than 4%. My financial advisor does a good job of balancing to weather these storms. I was very impressed. Now, I also noticed that CD rates have absolutely gone in the toilet (and I've got a fair amount invested there too). That concerns me more. But, I've still got about a decade before I touch any of it. Long enough to ride it out. Don't panic and sell. That's the worst. But, if you are close to retirement, you ought to make sure your funds are balanced for that strategy (more bonds, less stock).

 

[JimMIA]

Depends on the stock.

It depends much more on whether you are trading or investing. Is it possible to make some short-term gains on certain trades? Sure, but you better know what you are doing.

I suspect about 98% of us are really bad at trying to time the overall broad market, but IMHO we have a ways to go before the overall market bottoms.

 

[Brianstl]

If you were within a few years of taking retirement, you should have limited your exposure to equities before now. If you are further out on the horizon this downturn will be long recovered from by then.

 

[WEDWDW]

It depends much more on whether you are trading or investing.

We do both.

 

[LSUmiss]

It's not just the virus. It's about gas price war, our huge deficit, trade war. It's all finally catching up to us. The stock market was high lately because big corporations took their huge tax cuts and bought back their own stocks to inflate the price. It was all fragile to begin with.

Yep ppl have predicting that the bubble would burst soon.

 

[barkley]

Now, I also noticed that CD rates have absolutely gone in the toilet (and I've got a fair amount invested there too).

i've been watching them too i ladder mine and have a few that end this month, i've never been so glad that i opened multiple 5 year cd's about a year and a half ago when for a heartbeat they were at 3% so i've something to rollover the funds into b/c the alternative is

 

[Micca]

I'm still retiring at the end of the year even if I have to eat ramen noodles a few times a week

Me too, but no more Top Ramen for me, I'm going to have to downgrade to middle or even bottom Ramen.

 

[DisneyOma]

You need to look long term. Any money invested has been making unbelievable gains for the last decade. And so long as you're still investing, you are buying at lower prices at the moment. The market will rebound. It's been due for a correction for a couple of years, I just didn't figure it would be Covid-19 that would trigger it.

And if you're almost at retirement, I hope you have had someone advising you to have your money in more conservative investments.

The ban on politics makes this a topic that people can't rebut. We've been watching for this for a few years though. It did put off my retirement by a few years though, as husband is retiring in a few months, and this hit makes it impossible for me to retire at the same time.

Man, I make a decent income and I like Ramen noodles. My wife is too embarrassed to buy them for me and I always get that look when I come home with them from the supermarket.

You don't have to worry about retirement though - the ramen will kill you before that!

 

[robinb]

If you are retired or close to retirement, very little of your portfolio should be in stocks! Adjust to more conservative investments as you get closer to actually needing the money, since you don't have time to wait for the full recovery of any large dips.

True. The market was down 7% yesterday and I lost less than 1%. Today was in the green .

 

[erc]

True. The market was down 7% yesterday and I lost less than 1%. Today was in the green .

Funny, I had my money on the sidelines (bond index, value preservation funds) because I thought the market was going to crash last fall. I felt so smart after the first big drop when I was actually up for the day, and then proceeded to move my money back into stocks, and then watched it drop further. I'm no Warren Buffett.

 

[robinb]

Funny, I had my money on the sidelines (bond index, value preservation funds) because I thought the market was going to crash last fall. I felt so smart after the first big drop when I was actually up for the day, and then proceeded to move my money back into stocks, and then watched it drop further. I'm no Warren Buffett.

I made the same mistake . I had a required distribution from a 401K I "invested" at the end of last month. D'oh. At least I only invested half of it.

 

[SgtTibbs]

That's the beauty of a target date retirement fund. As I get closer to retirement it moves money out of stocks into more stable investments so I don't have to pooh my pants over market swings.

 

[cvjw]

I lost 28k in February. I hate to think about March.

We lost 10 x that amount this week, in 1 brokerage account. You have to think of the long game in investing. The worst thing people can do is panic and sell at the bottom. If you panic and sell, you have locked in your losses. We will rebound, it just might take a while

 

[peabody58]

Been there, done that, have several T-Shirts. Key is to 'Don't Panic and Carry a Towel'.

In 2009 my 401k 'lost' over $200,000. I just left it all in the aggressive stock funds and up'd my contribution.
Retired in 2015 at 58 yo with all funds recovered, plus a whole lot more.

All retirement funds are now in an IRA 60/40 Stock/Bond mix which lets me sleep well at night. Won't need to access funds until age 72. No need to change anything as my projection spreadsheet still shows my kids will get a lot of money when I die.

My Vanguard Taxable Funds (all stocks) are taking a beating, but I mainly use them for the Capital Gains/Div (which are Fed Tax free for me) to supplement our pensions/SS, not the principal; so no big deal. I've managed to cash out several of my Vanguard Funds for major projects/vacations since 2015 at peak market times (like this Jan right before the big drops).

I also manage my MIL funds as she is in Assisted Living. Most of her funds are in Bonds, and they are up right now, so all is good there too.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

The stock market is a scam. It's all just made up. Value is perceived.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Been there, done that, have several T-Shirts. Key is to 'Don't Panic and Carry a Towel'.

Sure Arthur was fine but doesn't the earth along with his house get destroyed.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

The stock market is a scam. It's all just made up. Value is perceived.

Value of anything is what people will pay for it. The stock market is no different. Value is not based on actual worth. If it was we would pay our teachers and engineers millions of dollars and celebrities would live in poverty.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

DOW now down 20% over the last month. Does that now make this an official bear market?