RE: Ouch . . . just received my quarterly report for my 457 retirement account

[firefighterjake]

This one hurt a bit . . . OK, hurt a lot.

 

[jatoxico]

Co-worker just said the same thing to me today. What goes up...

 

[peakbagger]

Rule of thumb is if you need to take money out in less than five years it should be in cash equivalents/bonds. Yes its painful but over the long term it gains more than it loses. The worse thing to do is try to time the market.

 

[Knots]

The losses, or gains aren't real until I cash out. That said - it's tough to look at the ink. I've got about six years to go so I'm just not gonna look right now.

I remember the blood draining out of the faces of some of the older guys I worked with during 9/11. They still had too much in stocks and couldn't retire like they had planned.

I have my stuff in one of those funds that slowly slides it into a fixed-interest account. I reckon I could make more by actively managing it, but I've concluded that I don't spend enough time doing that and would rather go fishing...

 

[sportbikerider78]

If you aren't up over the last 2 years, you're invested in all the wrong stuff.
I have one 401k that I put 40k into 6 years ago...left it alone...and its now 128k.

I'm 40 yrs old..so it's all 1's and 0's till I retire.

I love my work...so i'm not sure I'll ever really want to stop working. Reduced hours...sure...but work keeps me sharp.

 

[PaulOinMA]

There's been a market correction. It goes up; it goes down.

Still have stock in a company I worked at in the 1990s. 2018 wasn't a great year for it. Had a high of almost 78 a year ago. Then dipped to 57 1/2. Now at 62 1/4. Pays a dividend, though.

Still a great time to buy a vacation home, if so inclined. That market still has good opportunities, as prices haven't fully recovered from the 2008 correction.

 

[webfish]

Jack Bogle just died yesterday. I loved his books and still go to bogelheads forum. No one cares about your money more than you.

 

[jerrieric]

Like others have said you don't lose any money when it's sitting there you only lose money if the Market's down and you have to take it out

 

[peakbagger]

I have used Vanguard for years and have read a few Bogle books over the years. The short version of Bogle is you cant beat the market so its best to just mirror it with index funds and leave it invested as the market ends up correcting itself in the long run. Vanguard offers individual portfolio management for anyone with 50K for 0.3 % a year. Hard to beat and unlike most brokers they don't charge any commissions buying or selling. I am switching over from my own management to having them handle it as I just don't want to spend the time reallocating my portfolio all the time to match my goals.

I have lived through a few down markets and usually end up doing Roth conversions when the markets are low so the taxes are lower. So many folks forget that 401s and IRAs are tax deferred not tax free. Assuming the government remains dysfunctional and keeps the tax rates low for the next seven years I am planning to swap over as much as I can to Roth's so I don't have to worry about RMDs when the government is going to have to raise rates after this tax law goes away.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

The losses, or gains aren't real until I cash out. That said - it's tough to look at the ink. I've got about six years to go so I'm just not gonna look right now.

I remember the blood draining out of the faces of some of the older guys I worked with during 9/11. They still had too much in stocks and couldn't retire like they had planned.

I have my stuff in one of those funds that slowly slides it into a fixed-interest account. I reckon I could make more by actively managing it, but I've concluded that I don't spend enough time doing that and would rather go fishing...

Dont kid yourself. You almost certainly would not earn more by "actively managing" it. Your time is much better spent doing what you are doing.

 

[Knots]

Dont kid yourself. You almost certainly would not earn more by "actively managing" it. Your time is much better spent doing what you are doing.

Well, mine is a plan with limited options, but you can transfer back-and-forth pretty often. There're guys at work who have big spreadsheets and watch the numbers every day. They've been doing better than me for the past couple of years. But hey - somebody's gotta do some actual work around the place!