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I agree w/ PhilipT. 401k plans give money our hard earned money to people and places we don't personally know. And one thing I've realized is when all these huge losses occur, it lines the pockets of the rich, meanwhile making the rest of us poorer. The amount we lose will never be recouped in our lifetime.
Ex. We lose 50% of a stock. It'll take 100% JUST to break even. How often do we get a 100% return? Never.
I agree w/ PhilipT. 401k plans give money our hard earned money to people and places we don't personally know. And one thing I've realized is when all these huge losses occur, it lines the pockets of the rich, meanwhile making the rest of us poorer. The amount we lose will never be recouped in our lifetime.
Ex. We lose 50% of a stock. It'll take 100% JUST to break even. How often do we get a 100% return? Never.
That's a victim's mentality. You can spend the time and energy to learn about the markets just like everyone else (not directing this at you personally). It's not fair to criticize the people who made money in the market because of their knowledge of what was going on.
If someone blindly throws money at "the market" and expects a good return, that's crazy. You might as well go to Vegas and blindly place your bets there. At least you'll get some free food and drinks while you lose your money in Vegas.
401K's were doled out to people to replace pension plans but not very much education was done.
Most people do not follow the market and do not rebalance and are not aware of their options.
Now, most people have lost a chunk of their retirement.
Your company put the onus on you to now save for your own retirement if you only have a 401K.
It is up to you to become educated in managing it or pay someone else to give you advice.
That's a victim's mentality. You can spend the time and energy to learn about the markets just like everyone else (not directing this at you personally). It's not fair to criticize the people who made money in the market because of their knowledge of what was going on.
If someone blindly throws money at "the market" and expects a good return, that's crazy. You might as well go to Vegas and blindly place your bets there. At least you'll get some free food and drinks while you lose your money in Vegas.
Yea I hear ya. It just seems like most people have no idea what to do or what's going on. Everyone keeps saying they lost 50% or more. I don't understand why people are blindly handing their money over and allowing the bleeding to continue?
My coworker started contributing to her 401k when we both started our new job back in March. She mentioned she just randomly picked funds! And throughout this whole crisis she never looked at her portfolio! A few weeks back I asked her about it and she's like oh yea I've been meaning to log in and look! I had to tell her the URL cuz she didn't know! AND she couldn't remember even her login userid.
I'm not sure if people are very confused about it and don't understand it. I have to say I recently started learning and am so glad I came across this forum, lots of smart people and awesome links.
But still even with this all that I'm reading, it's hard to figure it out. From navigating the actual website that you invest in to what to invest in. What the symbols mean, what mutual funds actually invest in, etc. And how to go about moving funds and where to move it to! I personally moved my 401k stuff into MMFs. I'm not losing anything, but I don't know what to do after the market turns around. Everyone says there's good buys, but what is a good buy?? No one actually tells you step by step how to do it and what to do. Even many of these books.
I still feel a large part of it is the poeple who created 401ks and all these investment strategies are taking advantage of us and a smaller part of it is, we've just become an unintelligent nation.
401K's were doled out to people to replace pension plans but not very much education was done.
Most people do not follow the market and do not rebalance and are not aware of their options.
Now, most people have lost a chunk of their retirement.
Your company put the onus on you to now save for your own retirement if you only have a 401K.
It is up to you to become educated in managing it or pay someone else to give you advice.
Pay someone for advice! The so called financial advisors are just as stupid. I was talking to this girl who was a broker and she was saying what a bad idea it was to put money into MMFs!! I don't know about anyone else, but my money is intact meanwhile everyone is losing their shirts. (Sure some MMFs broke the buck, but what it lost 3%, better than 50%). The people out there doling out the advice are sometimes just as stupid. How many 'experts' on tv keep saying hold on for the long haul and the long term!!! This is what makes it so difficult, who do you trust?
Even Suze Orman who I really like to watch and I feel has good advice, I didn't agree w/ her hold and keep dollar cost averaging into the stock market. But then again, we won't know till like 20 years later if she's right?
sheenie2000..you are in MMF and that is the safest place to be right now in a 401K.
There are no good buys right now..that may be coming from people who think we've hit bottom and will bounce right back to a 14,000 DOW.
Pay someone for advice! The so called financial advisors are just as stupid. I was talking to this girl who was a broker and she was saying what a bad idea it was to put money into MMFs!! I don't know about anyone else, but my money is intact meanwhile everyone is losing their shirts. (Sure some MMFs broke the buck, but what it lost 3%, better than 50%). The people out there doling out the advice are sometimes just as stupid. How many 'experts' on tv keep saying hold on for the long haul and the long term!!! This is what makes it so difficult, who do you trust?
Even Suze Orman who I really like to watch and I feel has good advice, I didn't agree w/ her hold and keep dollar cost averaging into the stock market. But then again, we won't know till like 20 years later if she's right?
Yeah..it does take a while to find the right person to advise you.
You sound like you understand what's going on and are taking a stand NOT to jump back in. That is the first major step as you do understand.
My coworker started contributing to her 401k when we both started our new job back in March. She mentioned she just randomly picked funds! And throughout this whole crisis she never looked at her portfolio! A few weeks back I asked her about it and she's like oh yea I've been meaning to log in and look! I had to tell her the URL cuz she didn't know! AND she couldn't remember even her login userid.
It would probably shock us to know how many people acted just like your co-worker. People were just blindly throwing money into "retirement" without having a clue what they were really doing. Then, when the market changes and they're left out in the cold they want to cry foul and demand to be made whole again. Sorry, it just doesn't work that way.
Hopefully people learn a lesson from all of this and take personal responsibility for their lives and their financial situations. If that happens, I'd consider the current 'crisis' worthwhile.
That's a victim's mentality. You can spend the time and energy to learn about the markets just like everyone else (not directing this at you personally).
Sounds more like some serious situational awareness to me. First step in stopping being a victim. Good for sheenie2000!
Why should she care to learn a thing about something she clearly does not care about -- what some other pack of people's market is doing whatever with her money, which cannot even know. Again . . . Why? To prevent that same pack from cheating and stealing from her? That again is just compounded stupidity.
Once she has identified the crooks, she should get away from the crooks, and just stay away from the crooks. No need to study them.
Back towards Community Investing. Maybe she should or could "invest" towards a small percentage of a local deli or cafe. She can go there for Saturday brunch and she can enjoy the fruits as well as some profit from investment while watching it grow.
Maybe a small florist shop. Maybe a roller skating place where her kids or grandkids can play. Maybe a small hardware or sewing center. You get the idea, where she can know the people and see what is going on, as well as getting benefit from it for herself and her community. Split it among several places and if one goes down, the others may do well.
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It's not fair to criticize the people who made money in the market because of their knowledge of what was going on.
Just as it is not fair to blame people who have been clearly mislead and "blue skied" into this manipulative mess.
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If someone blindly throws money at "the market" and expects a good return, that's crazy. You might as well go to Vegas and blindly place your bets there. At least you'll get some free food and drinks while you lose your money in Vegas.
Good comparison. Wall Street and Vegas do have many similarities and are not really suitable "investment" options for most Americans.
As Moses demanded -- Let these people go.
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