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You don't know me from a cake of soap. I am over 60, and we have plenty of money saved up for retirement. However, I don't claim to have the holy grail as you do (And I'm in a very specialized technical field, and you know where I make most of my money? Tech stocks. I almost have to *try* to lose money picking those. Stick with what you know, they always say.), and there was a period of time, with kids in college, that we weren't saving much.
I worked with a whole bunch of guys in tech who thought they could pick good companies and products and invested and lost their shirts.
I do think they entered the market before studying well. Many had egos that are similar to some represented here.
I ended up retiring with a nice little nest egg, but at the end with only a few individual stocks, some mutual funds, and muni bonds. Thank God that I knew enough to get triple insured and not callable. Some municipalities got downgraded before the bonds came due. My company's retirement plan seemed based on just a four percent return, so I took that and invested it.
The market DOES have to do with timing - our own lifespan. There comes a specific point at which we will need our investments no matter what the market is doing then.
It is similar to the real estate market. How many people thought of their homes as a major investment and thought they would just downsize upon retirement? Now the house has lost value and probably they have to stay put or just rent it out in the hopes that the market will recover.
The market DOES have to do with timing - our own lifespan. There comes a specific point at which we will need our investments no matter what the market is doing then.
It is similar to the real estate market. How many people thought of their homes as a major investment and thought they would just downsize upon retirement? Now the house has lost value and probably they have to stay put or just rent it out in the hopes that the market will recover.
I also follow some commodities and their trends.
This guy tracks farm commodities and has some good articles. I ignore his gold ones though. Ned W. Schmidt | Safehaven.com
And I also follow government crisis for that quick buck.
Baxter was a winner when the flu pandemic hit and the government bought all those vaccines
OSI Systems is the naked scanner maker who is also a buddy of Obama (only this company had solid earnings).
I told a couple of folks at work what I was doing ("never let a good crisis go to waste") and they just laughed at me then
I'm still in OSI because now they are going global with their naked scanners.
We aren't all in a position to invest at the exact right time!
huh???
what exact right time??
most companies (to include mccdonalds) offer 401k's and/or profit sharing
most companies will match up to a certain percentage (usually 5% or 10%)
let's say you make 40k
you contribute 10% to you 401k weekly....thats only 76 a week..the price of going out to Red Lobster
a recession hits (the stock market falls from 14k to 6k)...you INCREASE your contibution by BUYing more at 6k...which will have an increased value once the stockmarket goes back to 13k
its not rocket science...its not luck..its common sense
It is similar to the real estate market. How many people thought of their homes as a major investment and thought they would just downsize upon retirement? Now the house has lost value and probably they have to stay put or just rent it out in the hopes that the market will recover.
it depends...most investments are LONG term
for example
I bought my house in 1995 for 150k...could have easily sold it in 05 for 450k (triple in ten years)...market value is now down to 320-340k (still double in 17 years)
its there a loss...not at all........had I bought in 05 and wanted to sell now........yes there would be a loss....but most people dont sell their primary residence in less than 7 years
I bought my house in 1995 for 150k...could have easily sold it in 05 for 450k (triple in ten years)...market value is now down to 320-340k (still double in 17 years)
its there a loss...not at all........had I bought in 05 and wanted to sell now........yes there would be a loss....but most people dont sell their primary residence in less than 7 years
Buying your home (at most times in most markets) can make the difference between being able to retire with wealth and never being able to retire at all.
I consider the real divide to be between those who own their homes and those who were never able to buy a home. While home appreciation is nice, I consider the primary benefit of owning your home is locking in the P & I payment and thereby reducing over time the proportion of your income going to housing thereby facilitating greater saving and investment.
If you are that close to retirement you should not be heavily invested in equities, not in this market.
Those that were were either greedy (need higher return) or lazy (can't be bothered rebalancing) or ignorant (oh, some brokerage firm named Lehman closed).
While they might have "worked hard" they left their money on auto-pilot and bought into the mantra that everything just goes up and up and up and never down.
If you have any money invested on Wall Street then you have to pay attention to what goes on around you and around the world.
No one should be TOO afraid of stocks, though, Tex.
I'm within eight months of retirement, and I need a good 20-30 years of income AND growth. There's no way to realize sufficient amounts of both without some equities. A good chunk of stock and stock index funds are definitely in my plans.
My wife and I plan on seeing a lot more of this crazy old world and good old America. We also want to leave our kids and grandkids more than my library and her recipe for paella.
But boy are you ever right about keeping your head up and paying attention!
Buying your home (at most times in most markets) can make the difference between being able to retire with wealth and never being able to retire at all.
I consider the real divide to be between those who own their homes and those who were never able to buy a home. While home appreciation is nice, I consider the primary benefit of owning your home is locking in the P & I payment and thereby reducing over time the proportion of your income going to housing thereby facilitating greater saving and investment.
Good post. I might further suggest to people who are reluctant to get heavily into investing to consider the alternative, which is paying down their mortgage or other indebtedness at an accelerated rate.
The savings on interest, not to mention the positive effect on your peace of mind, can be substantial. When the market hit the skids in 2008, I cut down on my IRA contributions and paid off my house in the U.S. 12 years early. My mortgage interest rate was 4.5%, so paying off the house early was like paying myself 4.5% for twelve years on the balance owed.
Of course, it goes without saying that no one in their right mind should be carrying a credit card nut for more than a month at a time.
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