Who wanted to retire anyway

[Cogswel_Cogs]

me

 

[Christine]

Well, instead of retiring in 5-6 years, I may have to push another 8 years to make up for these losses!!

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I’m trying not to look, and am holding out hope that it will eventually recover.

 

[rangerxenos]

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.

 

[L&Lfan]

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

 

[kimblebee]

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

Yikes, that sucks.

 

[Brett Wyman]

If you can ride it out, and your investments are allocated well, you'll be just fine. 401ks recovered from 2009.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

me

So sorry to hear that. The stock market beating could have the same impact as the one in 2008 - a lot of delayed retirements, which will hurt the young people coming out of college looking for work.

 

[marthachick]

My sister just retired in December and she is taking a beating right now.

 

[JimMIA]

You don't lose a penny until you sell.

The market is VERY frothy right now. There is a volatility index called VIX. The VIX is usually between 10-15 and if it goes above 17, the market is volatile. It's at 50.46.

So don't pay any attention to either good days or bad days for the next few months. The market always over-reacts -- up and down.

 

[ISUamanda]

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.

 

[okeydokey]

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.

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.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

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.

If you are close to retirement or just retired, your money has to make money for another 20 years or perhaps even more. The idea that you should take all your money out of stocks was based upon a flawed assumption regarding human life expectancy. The average life expectancy is 72 So the theory was at retirement, you'll need to be using it and to take it out. But that's wrong. The average expectancy for all those conceived is 72 years. But once you're 65, you've made it past the dangers of child birth. You've made it past the high risk behaviors of youth. You've made it past the driving to work every day years. You've made it past many of the things that reduce average life expectancy quite a bit. So once you make it to 65, your expectancy isn't 72 on average. It's much higher. Some money does need to be transferred out of stocks. The money you intend to use within the next 5 years. Obviously, once a year passes, you replenish that 5 years back up to 5 years worth, etc. Also, many of those conservative investments suggested by the theory either weren't really as conservative as they seemed and/or had such a bad return they weren't worth any risk at all.

 

[JimMIA]

If you are close to retirement or just retired, your money has to make money for another 20 years or perhaps even more. The idea that you should take all your money out of stocks was based upon a flawed assumption regarding human life expectancy. The average life expectancy is 72 So the theory was at retirement, you'll need to be using it and to take it out. But that's wrong. The average expectancy for all those conceived is 72 years. But once you're 65, you've made it past the dangers of child birth. You've made it past the high risk behaviors of youth. You've made it past the driving to work every day years. You've made it past many of the things that reduce average life expectancy quite a bit. So once you make it to 65, your expectancy isn't 72 on average. It's much higher. Some money does need to be transferred out of stocks. The money you intend to use within the next 5 years. Obviously, once a year passes, you replenish that 5 years back up to 5 years worth, etc. Also, many of those conservative investments suggested by the theory either weren't really as conservative as they seemed and/or had such a bad return they weren't worth any risk at all.

True. You have to consider more than one simple factoid. For example, I retired at 55. My wife will retire this year at 58.

Current figures are hard to find, but 2017 estimates I saw said that a 65 year old male was expected live to about 83-84 and a female should live a couple of years longer -- on average. And longevity has trended up, so today's numbers may even be slightly better.

Of course, none of us is average, so YMMV.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

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

 

[piccolopat]

As someone who retired 18 months ago, I strongly recommend that before entering retirement that you have at least 2-3 years of your money in cash equivalents. I still have a large part of my investments in stocks and have taken a beating but I can go to my cash for any needs I have whenever the market turns like it has these past couple of weeks. I can ride out the storm and wait until the market recovers before I have to tap my equity funds. I also have a good amount of discretionary items in my budget (like travel - no Italy for us this year!) that I can simply put on hold to reduce expenses in times like these. Don't panic and good luck everyone!

 

[erc]

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

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.

 

[WEDWDW]

Great time to BUY BUY BUY!!!!

 

[JimMIA]

Great time to BUY BUY BUY!!!!

Not yet.

 

[Dan Murphy]

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

Just remember, if you have not cashed out while at a down, you have lost nothing. You are just down. If you cash out while down, then you have lost.


(Not to be taken as financial advice)