Did anyone else look at your retirement lately

vlagrl29 · August 2015

I just did and lost $10k since the stock market went down - sniff

guess I should have sold my profits before it tanked. Oh well I guess now would be a good time to buy stocks since they are "on sale" now.

CuriousKiddosMama · August 2015

I get quarterly statements, but sometimes I don't even look at them, I just toss them. I know my husband looks a couple times a year.
Just remember, long term you will be ahead of the game just by leaving your retirement alone so long as you made good choices. The market goes up and down all year, but over a 5-10-20 year stretch it goes up. Look at the 5-10 year track record of the funds you invested in, if you like what you see that is way more important than what they did last month.

bmo88 · August 2015

It looks like I lost $600 in my ROTH (balance is only $7,000) and I can't check my 401k at the moment since there is "scheduled maintenance" on the company site. I know we have time to make it up, but I hope my account didn't take too hard of a hit!

Xstatic3333 · August 2015

Yup, lost a few hundred. Trying to tell myself to just ignore it, stay the course, and keep contributing!

JoanE2012 · August 2015

I'm not worried - we're properly diversified and have time on our side. In fact, we'll probably be investing more to take advantage of the downturn! As we get closer to retirement we'll take a more conservative approach to protect our nest egg, but now is not the time if we want to ensure we can retire!

brij2006 · August 2015

I'm not concerned about it.

The market has a 17 year up, 16 year down/stall trend. This year is year 17 of it going up, so it's time for it to go down and stall out.

We have $100k to dump into the market, and we're waiting for it to fall a bit more before putting the money in. Buy low, right?

hoffse · August 2015

brij2006 said:

I'm not concerned about it.

The market has a 17 year up, 16 year down/stall trend. This year is year 17 of it going up, so it's time for it to go down and stall out.

We have $100k to dump into the market, and we're waiting for it to fall a bit more before putting the money in. Buy low, right?

Yep. We are holding onto our 2015 Roth contributions a little longer than planned just to let the market slide a bit further. Obviously there's no perfect answer about when to invest, but it looks like September is going to be a downward spiral.

cbee817 · August 2015

I'm going to try hard not to pay any attention to it. My 401K has never bothered me (hit an all time low in 2008), but our Roth IRA accounts do.. maybe because it's after tax $ and it's transferred from our savings account.. not really sure why it feels different, but it does. The girls' 529 plans are still set for monthly withdrawls and we haven't made any other changes.. just need to ride out the storm.

vlagrl29 · August 2015

DH said in the next week we should go in and buy some more while it's low. He reads about this stuff more than I do. I told him next time he hears about the stock market being at an all-time high let me know and I will sell some of my profits out and put it in the cash side to reinvest later.

orangehills · August 2015

It always goes up and down. My mom sold out last time and actually lost a ton because she didn't stay in when it went back up. It's hard, but sometimes waiting it out is the best!

brij2006 · August 2015

hoffse said:

brij2006 said:

I'm not concerned about it.

The market has a 17 year up, 16 year down/stall trend. This year is year 17 of it going up, so it's time for it to go down and stall out.

We have $100k to dump into the market, and we're waiting for it to fall a bit more before putting the money in. Buy low, right?

Yep. We are holding onto our 2015 Roth contributions a little longer than planned just to let the market slide a bit further. Obviously there's no perfect answer about when to invest, but it looks like September is going to be a downward spiral.

Same here. We have our 2015 Roths to max out along with the investment, and $20k into our DD's college fund. We're waiting a bit longer to see what it does. If it goes down after we invest, we don't care. But we still want to be mindful about when we put it in.

bmo88 · August 2015

While I would love to wait and sit on my ROTH contributions to take advantage of low cost shares, I automate my contribution monthly. If I don't do that, I would honestly probably forget to contribute. I may purchase extra if I notice it's low, but I am in it for the long haul and prepared to ride out the highs and lows.

strickland8052 · August 2015

I keep a little bit un-invested in my ROTH so that I can buy more during low times. Just bought some more this morning to take advantage of the low.

brij2006 · August 2015

bmo88 said:

While I would love to wait and sit on my ROTH contributions to take advantage of low cost shares, I automate my contribution monthly. If I don't do that, I would honestly probably forget to contribute. I may purchase extra if I notice it's low, but I am in it for the long haul and prepared to ride out the highs and lows.

That's what we will do after out 2015 is fully funded (within the next month or 2). From there on out, it will be EFT out of our account each month. So it will be put in during both high and low times for that year.

hoffse · August 2015

bmo88 said:

While I would love to wait and sit on my ROTH contributions to take advantage of low cost shares, I automate my contribution monthly. If I don't do that, I would honestly probably forget to contribute. I may purchase extra if I notice it's low, but I am in it for the long haul and prepared to ride out the highs and lows.

We have to do a conversion this year, so I'm going to do it as a single lump-sum contribution to avoid multiple transactions. I have a savings account where I hold the money out in cash though. That's on auto draft to move to that account.

MommyLiberty5013 · August 2015

I actually put my Vanguard IRA into a Vanguard money market on 8/12, so I haven't lost anything. I'm not sure yet where I want to park it. I do plan on buying low. I think the market will slide more than it already has already well into September.

I agree that the market does do ups and downs and we need to wait them out. But, my decision to pull it on 8/12 was based on reading I did about Warren Buffet and George Soros holding a lot of cash right now and having pulled their money out of consumer-spending based stocks, which are exceptionally over inflated. My money was in a few different mutual funds of mid- and large-cap.

I'm looking at commodities right now - specifically coal and others. I posted about this before on here. People hate coal right now because Obama hates coal right now and therefore, it's dirt cheap. The thing is, a huge portion of the world uses coal and the USA has a TON of it. There are currently companies out there researching and implementing clean coal technology. It's coming! As part of a recent environmental legislation, (2009, I think), Obama supported putting a few billion dollars into clean coal technology research.

I am by no means a day trader, but I think part of investing is sometimes going against the common trends and pulling out of things that are over-valued AKA selling high. And, then taking that money and putting it into things that are underappreciated AKA buying low.

A few months ago, I had $130 bucks to play with and I bought some stock in a VERY undervalued up and coming company in the coal industry. I got 1,800 shares (yes it was that cheap) today the stock value has increased so that my value is over $500. The stock isn't even worth more than $1.00 per share. But, imagine if the stock even increased to $10 a share! Pretty good for a $130 outlay. And, if I lose it - then I've lost $130 bucks.

I think the market is in for more than a correction. The largest 5 financial institutions in the USA are heavily into derivatives (basically gambling on the market). We're talking trillions of dollars into derivatives when their actual profits are only in the billions (source of info is the Office of the Comptroller of the US). Most stocks are very over-valued. We have the problem of the Quantitative Easing to Infinity the Fed did - printed a ton more money and floated it into the US economy. Then, we have the national debt. Realistically, we're walking on borrowed time with the stock market.

I think it's going to lose a significant portion of its value. The losses we saw last week and today are just the beginning.

vlagrl29 · August 2015

MommyLiberty5013 said:

I actually put my Vanguard IRA into a Vanguard money market on 8/12, so I haven't lost anything. I'm not sure yet where I want to park it. I do plan on buying low. I think the market will slide more than it already has already well into September.
I agree that the market does do ups and downs and we need to wait them out. But, my decision to pull it on 8/12 was based on reading I did about Warren Buffet and George Soros holding a lot of cash right now and having pulled their money out of consumer-spending based stocks, which are exceptionally over inflated. My money was in a few different mutual funds of mid- and large-cap.
I'm looking at commodities right now - specifically coal and others. I posted about this before on here. People hate coal right now because Obama hates coal right now and therefore, it's dirt cheap. The thing is, a huge portion of the world uses coal and the USA has a TON of it. There are currently companies out there researching and implementing clean coal technology. It's coming! As part of a recent environmental legislation, (2009, I think), Obama supported putting a few billion dollars into clean coal technology research.
I am by no means a day trader, but I think part of investing is sometimes going against the common trends and pulling out of things that are over-valued AKA selling high. And, then taking that money and putting it into things that are underappreciated AKA buying low.
A few months ago, I had $130 bucks to play with and I bought some stock in a VERY undervalued up and coming company in the coal industry. I got 1,800 shares (yes it was that cheap) today the stock value has increased so that my value is over $500. The stock isn't even worth more than $1.00 per share. But, imagine if the stock even increased to $10 a share! Pretty good for a $130 outlay. And, if I lose it - then I've lost $130 bucks.
I think the market is in for more than a correction. The largest 5 financial institutions in the USA are heavily into derivatives (basically gambling on the market). We're talking trillions of dollars into derivatives when their actual profits are only in the billions (source of info is the Office of the Comptroller of the US). Most stocks are very over-valued. We have the problem of the Quantitative Easing to Infinity the Fed did - printed a ton more money and floated it into the US economy. Then, we have the national debt. Realistically, we're walking on borrowed time with the stock market.
I think it's going to lose a significant portion of its value. The losses we saw last week and today are just the beginning.

what's your interest on the money market account? You do bring up some valid points. I moved everything I had in retirement into a safe Fidelity bond right before the economy tanked in 2008. It took me 4 years to feel ok to put some money back into the market. IDK- what do you do.

MommyLiberty5013 · August 2015

vlagrl29 said:

MommyLiberty5013 said:

I actually put my Vanguard IRA into a Vanguard money market on 8/12, so I haven't lost anything. I'm not sure yet where I want to park it. I do plan on buying low. I think the market will slide more than it already has already well into September.
I agree that the market does do ups and downs and we need to wait them out. But, my decision to pull it on 8/12 was based on reading I did about Warren Buffet and George Soros holding a lot of cash right now and having pulled their money out of consumer-spending based stocks, which are exceptionally over inflated. My money was in a few different mutual funds of mid- and large-cap.
I'm looking at commodities right now - specifically coal and others. I posted about this before on here. People hate coal right now because Obama hates coal right now and therefore, it's dirt cheap. The thing is, a huge portion of the world uses coal and the USA has a TON of it. There are currently companies out there researching and implementing clean coal technology. It's coming! As part of a recent environmental legislation, (2009, I think), Obama supported putting a few billion dollars into clean coal technology research.
I am by no means a day trader, but I think part of investing is sometimes going against the common trends and pulling out of things that are over-valued AKA selling high. And, then taking that money and putting it into things that are underappreciated AKA buying low.
A few months ago, I had $130 bucks to play with and I bought some stock in a VERY undervalued up and coming company in the coal industry. I got 1,800 shares (yes it was that cheap) today the stock value has increased so that my value is over $500. The stock isn't even worth more than $1.00 per share. But, imagine if the stock even increased to $10 a share! Pretty good for a $130 outlay. And, if I lose it - then I've lost $130 bucks.
I think the market is in for more than a correction. The largest 5 financial institutions in the USA are heavily into derivatives (basically gambling on the market). We're talking trillions of dollars into derivatives when their actual profits are only in the billions (source of info is the Office of the Comptroller of the US). Most stocks are very over-valued. We have the problem of the Quantitative Easing to Infinity the Fed did - printed a ton more money and floated it into the US economy. Then, we have the national debt. Realistically, we're walking on borrowed time with the stock market.
I think it's going to lose a significant portion of its value. The losses we saw last week and today are just the beginning.

what's your interest on the money market account? You do bring up some valid points. I moved everything I had in retirement into a safe Fidelity bond right before the economy tanked in 2008. It took me 4 years to feel ok to put some money back into the market. IDK- what do you do.

That's a good question about the interest. I don't know. I wasn't too concerned with it. I plan on it being in there for a short while. Like maybe another week or two. It's actually the money market settlement account linked with my brokerage account. It's just a holding pen for the money right now.

I don't listen to the "conventional" retirement planning types. I think they either don't see or are blatantly ignoring the glaring economic problems our nation faces.

The market has always operated in cycles - ups and downs. I agree with this statement. The issue here, though, which is very unique and never before a part of the economy are the issues of the bubbles: national debt, quantitative easing, which would affect inflation, the value of the dollar, over-valuation of stocks, consumer debt run amok, etc.. There are massive bubbles in our economy and at some point they will pop. The "bubble factor" is like the elephant in the room or the man behind the curtain that few want to admit to or address.

Everybody just says "market cycles." But, the problem is, while this is true, it's only a portion of the overall picture. These cycles are happening in a giant bubble-based economy. It cannot last forever. Either something in the USA will happen to cause the bubbles to deflate and pop or something in the world will occur to cause this to happen or a combination of both could happen too.

I just looked. China's market is down another 4.33% on Tuesday with nearly 3 hours to go until close. What will that mean for Tuesday AM in NYC??????????

hoffse · August 2015

I don't know if this really is anything more than a correction. We'll see how low it goes, but there are usually other indicators when a true recession hits such as high unemployment.

I think this is mostly a reverb from China. Their market was seriously overvalued, due in large part to the government artificially propping up prices by buying and selling through shadow trading - they were literally employing people to buy, buy, buy on behalf of the government to keep prices high. That and most of your investors in China aren't particularly educated and fell for the notion that you can "get rich quick" by investing, without going through any due diligence. Many of the funds in Shanghai, etc. have lost over 40% since June. American markets - by contrast - just entered into correction territory this past week by dipping below 10%. That's a pretty big difference. We don't even call it a bear market until we're down by 20% or more.

As the second largest world economy, a major economic downturn for China will pull down the rest of the world's markets too. But we won't know if the US is seeing anything more than a correction (or even just a ripple effect from China) for some time still. We haven't had a correction in over 3 years. It was long overdue.

It does look like the Fed is going to hold back on hiking interest rates next month. H and I have been talking about refinancing now that our kitchen is complete, but we're going to sit on it a bit to see how this all shakes out.

vlagrl29 · August 2015

DH said a dead cat bounce happened today so the market is up a bit. I'm really hating to log into my account lately but overall I'm still up 24% since I started reinvesting 2 years ago and my profits as a whole are still in the green so I just need to remind myself of that.

hoffse · August 2015

Yeah it's been up about 2% all morning.

We'll see where it settles out - there's bound to be more movement throughout the week.

Just have to ride it out!

jtmh2012 · August 2015

I lost $20k this week since I looked. Still have everything in and trying to see where the smart places are to maybe put some more stuff in while things are down.

hoffse · August 2015

jtmh2012 said:

I lost $20k this week since I looked. Still have everything in and trying to see where the smart places are to maybe put some more stuff in while things are down.

You should check again this morning - yesterday the market gained back most of what it lost on Monday.

Opened up again today.

This has been a crazy week.

vlagrl29 · August 2015

I ended up selling a few profits on Tuesday before it dropped again later that afternoon. We decided to keep an eye on the rises and falls of the market and adjust accordingly.

jtmh2012 · August 2015

hoffse said:

jtmh2012 said:

I lost $20k this week since I looked. Still have everything in and trying to see where the smart places are to maybe put some more stuff in while things are down.

You should check again this morning - yesterday the market gained back most of what it lost on Monday.

Opened up again today.

This has been a crazy week.

Won't be able to check this morning, but I'll do another update when I get home tonight. I'm not panicked though.

vlagrl29 · August 2015

Mine went up 2k since Tues morning

hoffse · August 2015

Yeah it's been wild to watch. The Dow has had one of its worst days and best days on record this week.

It's still up today around 2%. Hoping to ride that into closing.

lbonga1 · August 2015

I think things will be pretty rocky for the next few months then start to stabilize. I haven't checked mine...I think if I did it'd give me unnecessary anxiety. I know it'll eventually go back up, and I'm only 25. Lots of years of saving ahead of me.

bridejl · August 2015

lbonga1 said:

I think things will be pretty rocky for the next few months then start to stabilize. I haven't checked mine...I think if I did it'd give me unnecessary anxiety. I know it'll eventually go back up, and I'm only 25. Lots of years of saving ahead of me.

Same here - I haven't checked ours. H and I are 26 so I'm not terribly worried at this point. We are going to review our financials after our trip, and look into non-retirement investing, so I almost hope the prices of stock stay somewhat low until then. Selfish

jtmh2012 · August 2015

hoffse said:

Yeah it's been wild to watch. The Dow has had one of its worst days and best days on record this week.

It's still up today around 2%. Hoping to ride that into closing.

I checked this morning. Still down ~$10k from where I was.

Did anyone else look at your retirement lately

Re: Did anyone else look at your retirement lately

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