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I am not exactly a permabear, I post equally when bullish or bearish. However, I think it's prudent not to look at the markets with rose colored glasses and ignore the bearish risks.
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The problem is not ignoring the bearish risks ...it is the fact if you give your brain any reason to think about losing money it will start pounding you to react poorly .......
Your brain can’t rationalize well when really money is on the line .....
I would venture a guess the majority of people who post on these threads are actually long term investors (or at least intending to be if they're just starting out). Posting "OMG watch out, random DimwitAnalyst from craptasticCableTV said there could be bad earnings next week leading to possible big drops for the next couple months and starting the next big bear!!11!" is unhelpful for anyone who focuses on being in the markets on a long-term basis.
"Watch out" is nonspecific. Is the advice long term investors should sell? What should they sell and how much should they sell? When exactly should they repurchase? If these important questions do not have specific answers then what value is being offered in sounding an alarm, once again?
The best advice is what I was told right after the '87 crash when I had just opened an IRA a couple weeks before. "Ignore It! Don't panic and don't even look at that account. An IRA is to be used for retirement someday, so keep going, keep contributing and it will work out." And 32 years later...that was then and still remains good advice.
I have stated why it is meaningless over and over ....means is variable , it changes frequently....what really counts is the ratio of discretionary vs non discretionary spending you have ......everything can fit under your income but if it is all non discretionary and your situation changes you have no where to adjust when things are all non discretionary.....
How to spend and how to decide how much to allocate to what has very little information out there and most people have no clue as to how much should be devoted to non discretionary, spending vs discretionary spending vs how much goes to savings , how much for retirement, etc..
That term really means nothing when you get down to it ....
"Live within your means" is very actionable and has simple arithmetic as its basis.
- If your pay is $5,000/month then certainly don't spend over $5,000/month for everything (housing, food, transportation, entertainment, savings, etc)
- Put a specific % of your $5,000 away in savings/retirement each month, let it grow and don't touch it.
- Don't run up credit cards that cannot be paid off in such time so that no interest is ever incurred.
In contrast, "watch out" could mean any number of things, which have nothing at all to do with money or investing and have nothing specific to do other than "watching."
We will disagree once again because without a certain minimum amount of non discretionary spending built in the fact you are under budget with no where to cut back if need be would not be a good situation....
Just being under can mean little when means changes and everything in budget is non negotiable.
That is why we never moved to Manhattan ... budgets would be identical to now , both under our means ...but mostly all of that budget would be fixed with little discretionary income as a buffer ... so just spending less may leave you in a bad way..
That ratio of discretionary to non discretionary spending is what counts not just the fact the bills are less then you take in
I have stated why it is meaningless over and over ....means is variable , it changes frequently....what really counts is the ratio of discretionary vs non discretionary spending you have ......everything can fit under your income but if it is all non discretionary and your situation changes you have no where to adjust when things are all non discretionary.....
How to spend and how to decide how much to allocate to what has very little information out there and most people have no clue as to how much should be devoted to non discretionary, spending vs discretionary spending vs how much goes to savings , how much for retirement, etc..
That term really means nothing when you get down to it ....
I don't know what that means, I'll boil it down to the simple
Spend less (or better yet, much less) than you bring in. Invest the rest of it, and get a decent return.
Retire early.
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by #302, lottamoxie
I would venture a guess the majority of people who post on these threads are actually long term investors (or at least intending to be if they're just starting out). ...snip...
We are fairly short and conservative in our discretionary accounts. I figure we may have maybe 5 years of good mobility. This year to date, we were barely able to walk 4 blocks, level ground (too much farm work). And other health issues. Our mobility is improving with physical therapy. We have always eat healthy and good BMI numbers. Current Age 69/72. A big fear of mine is a greatly diminished discretionary and not being able to do the things we want to do.
If someone is paid $5K/month and that's all the income they have, their means is $5K/month ($60K for the year). It will be that until it changes. That's regardless of how they choose to spend their money each month. It is what it is.
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