Assault and Battery
Just checked out my portfolio and saw that:
My retirement:
401 plan return rate is Year To Date: -36.9%.
The main fund in my IRA is -32.02% since purchase.
A few of my non-retirement investments:
Fidelity China Region is -36.75% since purchase.
Visa is -23.54% since purchase.
It still hasn’t hit me yet. Maybe sometime on Sunday I will have a nervous breakdown. Beerorkid Dude you can have my kitchen knives.
The Comments
Dave K says My 401k is down 48% October 11, 2008 at 11:51am
My 401k is down 48% YTD. I’m scared to check my non-retirement accounts.
Fletch says Unless you are in your October 11, 2008 at 7:37pm
Unless you are in your 60’s, don’t panic.
I believe there have been 10 or 11 corrections of around 40% in the stock market over the years. In every case, a year later, it’s back close to, or ahead of, where it was before the correction.
This too shall pass.
This is one of those times that I am glad I started investing in my early 20’s. I would call the toll-free number (pre-internet) every day to see if my mutual funds were up or down that day. I lived and died by those ups and downs. I soon learned how to stomach it, and now it doesn’t phase me.
Once I hit my mid-50’s, I will slowly change from agressive stock positions to less risky investments. By the time I am in my mid-60’s, I will be a chicken and invest in treasuries, etc. LOL
I really think the market can’t get a lot lower. If you have extra cash, this would be a good time to buy, not sell. There are certainly deals to be had, and some great price-to-earnings ratios.
Mr. T says RE: Unless you are in your October 12, 2008 at 8:51am
Capitalizing on the current situation as a buying opportunity is the only way to get some good out of this situation. I believe that the biggest stock market gain in history was the year following the outbreak of the great depression.
Still, its sad to see nearly a third of your investments evaporate. I’m not so much worried about retirement, but gain from my non-retirement investments was what I use for more investing.
Anyway, sounds like you’ve got a solid strategy there. I can’t believe all the people who are stomaching their stock losses now and moving into fixed income investments.