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Yes, I’m freaking out over the impending global financial collapse.
There will be be huge losses in jobs, scarcity in basic necessities, widespread death and hunger, and utter chaos.
It’s unrelated to the virus, which is the least of our worries.
I think it taps into that whole existential threat thing. Might I suggest a diversion?
having visions of 2008... the carnage and suffering '08 caused by all the unemployment was just plain awful to watch. I really hope it does not get that bad.
Americans are not used to losing their freedoms. We take so much for granted. We go about our lives without giving it much thought. Now all of a sudden there is chaos. We can’t leave our homes. Schools, churches, movie theaters and restaurants are closed. People can’t go to work and there is nothing but unknown.
Don’t focus so much on your money, focus on humanity. Help someone in your community who is elderly and alone. Our well being is more valuable than our stock portfolio.
Most of my money ( trust fund) is tied to hospital and medical supply companies in America and Europe. My own personal portfolio has suffered a bit, but nothing to freak out over. The trust and businesses that are tied to it are way in the black.
I was freaking out after the first 10%. Now the drop is so steep I'm sort of numb to it. Thursday mid day I bought a few solid blue chips and made 12% back in one day. I know the market is super volatile but now I'm just investing every free cent I have back into the market.
I am extremely worried as I am 67 and DH will be 68 in October. Our entire retirement is SS and our IRAs (both regular and Roth). We never had any pensions. The last big crash left us breathless, but at least we had time to recover. This time not so much before we have to start withdrawing. As it is we were taking a small quarterly amount out of a smaller 401K, but have now cancelled the Apr payment and maybe the next one as well. We only had 2 more payments from it before it was done. So now we are back to living off SS and the very little amount that DH still works part time (less than a week/month). We do have a decent checking account and savings account so hoping it ties us over.
Luckily we didn't have any huge plans for anything and we live quietly so we can save money, but it was nice to be able to go out to eat when we wanted or buying things for the new grandbaby when we wanted. We will have to cut back. We do have a car payment, but at least no mortgage.
I am extremely worried as I am 67 and DH will be 68 in October. Our entire retirement is SS and our IRAs (both regular and Roth). We never had any pensions. The last big crash left us breathless, but at least we had time to recover. This time not so much before we have to start withdrawing. As it is we were taking a small quarterly amount out of a smaller 401K, but have now cancelled the Apr payment and maybe the next one as well. We only had 2 more payments from it before it was done. So now we are back to living off SS and the very little amount that DH still works part time (less than a week/month). We do have a decent checking account and savings account so hoping it ties us over.
Luckily we didn't have any huge plans for anything and we live quietly so we can save money, but it was nice to be able to go out to eat when we wanted or buying things for the new grandbaby when we wanted. We will have to cut back. We do have a car payment, but at least no mortgage.
This is why I don't agree with the stances of Bengen and The Trinity Study which expanded upon Bengen's theory in relation to safe withdrawal rates. The problem is that the studies require that you stay in the stock market heavily during retirement (at least 50% or more) in order to try to pick up some more "growth".
The problem is that you could be entering into a long Bear Market right when you are starting retirement or right in the middle of it. Crashing your stock values and making it difficult to cover expenses (potentially).
Now, if you have a significant amount of principal balance to where the amount in safer investments like bonds or fixed income can more than cover your personal expenses, then okay....you could leave the remaining portion in stocks as you still don't need those monies for a long period of time and additional growth can be acquired over time (10 to 20 years).
But if you don't have that type of situation, you should not be heavily in stocks, no matter what Bengen says. You need to go mainly all bonds and fixed income, then CUT your retirement expenses to a minimalist lifestyle. Otherwise, you are taking on a significant amount of risk to try to chase some additional growth.
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