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I posted something to the effect of "sorry the deal didn't work out, but enjoy having that big stash of cash around for a little while longer" in the assumption (which I'm sure is correct) that xmonger is smart enough to keep his down payment savings in an FDIC-insured bank account.
Then someone made some comment about the paltry interest rate on on those FDIC-insured accounts.
To which I responded something along the lines of "yeah, it's better than losing 1% per month which is what real estate is doing" and then made passing reference to what I thought was obvious and beyond dispute: the stock market is down about 50% from its peak, and had xmonger been saving his money in there, he would have lost half its value.
So my point was simply that: xmonger can and should enjoy having his big down payment stash in safe, secure investments that are not at risk of losing money before he needs to use it. The interest rates may be paltry right now, but it's better than any of the alternatives.
Um, I think it's safe to say that xmonger's down payment stash is better off sitting in FDIC insured bank accounts. I'm surprised I even need to argue this point.
Had he been a moron (which he is not) and kept his fat cash stash in the stock market, he'd be down roughly 50% from October 2007.
What is your point?
I have to agree with you. I see so many here losing money by the day, and with long faces.. Mine is all in FDIC insured bank accoints.
I guess I'm just conservative as 401k is also in secure accounts.
I posted something to the effect of "sorry the deal didn't work out, but enjoy having that big stash of cash around for a little while longer" in the assumption (which I'm sure is correct) that xmonger is smart enough to keep his down payment savings in an FDIC-insured bank account.
Then someone made some comment about the paltry interest rate on on those FDIC-insured accounts.
To which I responded something along the lines of "yeah, it's better than losing 1% per month which is what real estate is doing" and then made passing reference to what I thought was obvious and beyond dispute: the stock market is down about 50% from its peak, and had xmonger been saving his money in there, he would have lost half its value.
So my point was simply that: xmonger can and should enjoy having his big down payment stash in safe, secure investments that are not at risk of losing money before he needs to use it. The interest rates may be paltry right now, but it's better than any of the alternatives.
Thanks for clearing that up.
And yeah, if I were waiting for the right house to come on the market, and was planning to buy when it did, I'd have my down payment is something ridiculously safe, even if that meant I was gaining no interest at all. While the market has indeed been up recently, (another 250 today!) I would not recommend it as a place to stash really short term money that I needed to preserve.
I have to agree with you. I see so many here losing money by the day, and with long faces.. Mine is all in FDIC insured bank accoints.
I guess I'm just conservative as 401k is also in secure accounts.
Diane G
Yeah. What I cannot fathom are the stories of 62 year olds, just a few years away from retirement, who had 100% of their retirement savings invested in the stock market.
That's greed, willful ignorance, or both. Anyone with a functioning brain that works well enough to save money for retirement and invest it in the stock market could have done 5 minutes of research on the internet and learned that as you approach retirement age the bulk of retirement savings should shift toward fixed income investments.
Yeah. What I cannot fathom are the stories of 62 year olds, just a few years away from retirement, who had 100% of their retirement savings invested in the stock market.
That's greed, willful ignorance, or both.
or a VERY slick/convincing broker !
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lusitan
as you approach retirement age the bulk of retirement savings should shift toward fixed income investments.
we're diametrically opposed in our viewpoints on NJ RE, but on this I agree with you 1000%
Nah. Anyone who abdicates responsibility for his own retirement savings to a broker falls into the "greedy" camp, those who think that by finding the "right guy" they can beat out everyone else.
I can count on my left kneecap the number of times I've read about a broker who has actually bought stocks for a client without the client's permission or the authority invested in him by the client.
What's that they say about a fool and his money?
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