How many people lost today? (mutual funds, 401k, invest, stocks)

[DebbieF]

How many other people lost a good sum of money today. I am still feeling sick about losing over $6000 in the market today. My financial advisor tells me to sit tight and not to worry. Ok but this is my money.

[Donn2390]

Your advisor is correct. I don't look at my accounts when times are bad. The economy will return, and our losses will be made up.
Somewhat different story if you are already depending on your 401k, but otherwise, don't worry aqbout it...

[DebbieF]

Thanks I'll try to stay calm, and not look. I don't need it now but would like it there in about 10 years.

[ndfmnlf]

You lost money on paper only, unless you actually sold your shares. If you are invested in stocks and these kinds of losses rattle you, then your asset allocation is too aggressive for your risk tolerance. Before buying stocks, you need to ask yourself whether you can stomach days like today. If you don't think you can tolerate it, then you need to scale down your stock exposure.

My rule of thumb is not to make moves (buying or selling) when volatility is very high. These are times when emotions will get the better of you, and you'll make ill-considered decisions.

[DebbieF]

Actually it wasn't alot compared to what I have in there, so not really aggressive, but still hate to even lose that much. And your right it is only on paper, so thats how I have to remember that. I guess I am just going to wait this out. Ok I am breathing again ;-)

[rcarrillo]

I try to look at my retirement fund only every quarter so I don't freak out over short term adjustments.

I started switching from stocks to mutual funds in 2000 just for this reason... reduced stress. Played the market and when things got crazy started cashing out. It ended up being good timing since I was mostly out by 2001, the few tech stocks I had left were just brutal after that.

Now I do the low cost mutual funds and allocate my portfolio based on my goals. I only need to look at it to balance it out, not going to question a good or bad day and stress about when to pull the trigger.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by DebbieF

How many other people lost a good sum of money today. I am still feeling sick about losing over $6000 in the market today. My financial advisor tells me to sit tight and not to worry. Ok but this is my money.

Don't worry about it. By week's end, it will be back and maybe even higher than it was at yesterday!

[jfkIII]

When the market hit 12114 in March of 2007, I felt that I didn't want to get greedy and shifted everything over to fixed. I missed the ride form 12114 up to 14000, but now I'm happy I did what I did. Besides, I was still getting fixed rate at 5% return. My +3.7% YTD rate looks great compared to all the other funds negative (and red double-digit) YTD returns.

[SandyCo]

I happened to invest in a global tech fund at precisely the wrong moment - August of 2000! That fund lost 90% of its value over the next year or two, and then came back to "only" 50% down. That's when I sold it. Luckily I was well diversified, so it wasn't a huge loss. Never put all of your eggs in one basket - or in this case, in any one sector or product.

My 401(k) is down a lot this year, too. I'm trying not think about it. I figure I have another 25 years to work, God willing and my health holds out, so I should be okay.

[sinsativ]

The stocks are a patient game, if you cant wait, then you shouldnt put your money in them.