How's the old 401 K going

[Gary - K7GLD]

Originally Posted by Ann n Gene

Well Gary, guess the end of the world has not arrived just yet and we do not all have to go out and jump off the nearest building. Seems wall street boys are coming back, got a lot of nervous nellies to sell on the down market creating themselves a buying opportunity. oh well, keep preaching the sky is falling and you MIGHT be right some day. just my opinion.

And HERE is the central issue and tragedy of today's USA society - MOST are content to merely watch the stock market - and perhaps their own paycheck or SS payments, as THEIR major - or ONLY - yardstick of the world's financial condition and fully ignore - or are deliberately ignorant of - the MANY related issues currently eroding the standard of living of our society and the world. As stated earlier:

LESEE now - USA credit rating downgraded, increasing efforts at a "World Bank" and abandoning the dollar as the world reserve currency (prelude to rampant USA inflation!) - Asia and other offshore countries owning America's debt amounting to more $$$ than our annual Gross Product. The failed housing market, and no more "normal" reserve funds available for additional "Stimulus" (that was a miserable failure anyway!) - and now talks of merely "printing more (worthless!) dollars" to pay debts - which serves only to devalue current dollars and erode our credit ratings even further. Dried up unemployment benefits so more unemployed have NO funds available to support them or their families - and banks are still holding so many homes in default that THEY are in increasing jeopardy of failure.

I could go on and on - there's a FAR larger world-wide economic catastrophe moving like a train wreck in slow motion that is TOTALLY unstoppable and inescapable - sure, there probably WILL be a USA in the next 10 years - but it WON'T be the one we saw 10 years ago - and MANY of us will NOT like what we will be seeing and experiencing!

Burying our heads in the sand and wishing on a star - or similar forms of denial only place individuals and their families at greater risk - and the results won't be pretty!

And *I* continue to stand by ALL of the above!
.

[bob213]

Unfortunately I have to agree with Gary. We can't run on Monopoly money forever... And those hippies our parents were afraid of...they, along with the war protesters of the 70's are now running our government......

[Wanabee FTer]

Originally Posted by Gary - K7GLD

And HERE is the central issue and tragedy of today's USA society - MOST are content to merely watch the stock market - and perhaps their own paycheck or SS payments, as THEIR major - or ONLY - yardstick of the world's financial condition and fully ignore - or are deliberately ignorant of - the MANY related issues currently eroding the standard of living of our society and the world. As stated earlier:

And *I* continue to stand by ALL of the above!
.

Gary, as long as the liberal and infotainment media outlets help keep this country divided, we will all standby paralyzed to make any serious reform in our government.
United we stand?... A great concept.

P.S. I will add (to keep this post on topic) I took all my money out of my 401K three years ago. No stock market games for me.

[Gary - K7GLD]

Originally Posted by Wanabee FTer

Gary, as long as the liberal and infotainment media outlets help keep this country divided, we will all standby paralyzed to make any serious reform in our government.
United we stand?... A great concept.

P.S. I will add (to keep this post on topic) I took all my money out of my 401K three years ago. No stock market games for me.

YUP - most of our "investment $$$" is in annuities at a steady 5.25 % return - or else in the most secure bonds - those not earning a whole lot, but not losing, either, even in the current market.

We haven't lost a dime in the current stock market "correction", other than the steady decline in the buying power of the USA dollar due to devaluation cause by running the printing presses 24/7 printing money with absolutely NO actual backing...

And THAT, NONE of us will escape...

[melvonnar]

Originally Posted by bob213

Unfortunately I have to agree with Gary. We can't run on Monopoly money forever... And those hippies our parents were afraid of...they, along with the war protesters of the 70's are now running our government......

Only partly true: Money runs the world; if you don't have an awful lot of it, your just swimming against the tide.
History repeats itself and there is little that the (unwealthy) can do about it.
Thats what I think and I'll stick to it.
My 401K?; I got out years ago and never looked back.

[Cat320]

Originally Posted by Cat320

The market will be back, might take a while, but it will be back, always comes back.

I stand by my statement. If you are in it for the long term, you'll be fine, be patient...it always comes back. Hopefully a new group on Washington will help.

[Gary - K7GLD]

Originally Posted by Cat320

I stand by my statement. If you are in it for the long term, you'll be fine, be patient...it always comes back. Hopefully a new group on Washington will help.

Many folks - especially among the RVers I would bet - simply don't have the YEARS it often takes for a recovery - it it ever does actually come. Long term investing and patience has traditionally been for younger investors in their 30's and 40's - not those of us in our 60's, 70's and beyond.

Even then, that "patience" relates to an otherwise largely stable world financial condition - and THAT is hardly what we are seeing all around us now, and in the foreseeable future.

We got out of the Mutual Fund investing game shortly after the stock market burn-down that started during the last year of Clinton's Presidency, and continued thru Bush's. Unfortunately, we were about 80 grand too late.

Our "financial advisor" - the one who at the beginning of our association was loudly proclaiming as to how he monitored his investors ages and accounts to provide best service and protection, was conspicuous in his absence as our then current retirement $$$ lost 1/3 of their value.

Strangely, he had NOTHING to say when he started on his own "stay in for the long haul, the market will come back" - and I pointed out to him my age, and the need for stability of our $$$ right THEN, not 10-15 years LATER!

Right THEN was when I dumped HIM, and our mutual fund investments - and have done FAR better on my own!

[Dixieray53]

We don't lose anything until we sell... Oh and which government officals are Hippies....I want to get to know them... Peace...D

[hondo122]

Originally Posted by Wanabee FTer

Gary, as long as the liberal and infotainment media outlets help keep this country divided, we will all standby paralyzed to make any serious reform in our government.
United we stand?... A great concept.

P.S. I will add (to keep this post on topic) I took all my money out of my 401K three years ago. No stock market games for me.

I'm a bit confused exactly who is keeping the country divided. Personally I think we should ALL do more research on who is paralyzing the government. Don't leave it to one source of information, liberal ,conservative doesn't matter, look who's the wizard behind the curtain, just remember you're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy

[melvonnar]

Gee fellows you have to be awful dence to not know that money runs not only this country but everywhere; politics has nothing to do with it.
Money rules.

[Perry White]

looks like being in it for a long time isn't going to pay off for some time. Why not sell and buy it back later when it settles down? At least I'm making .05% until the banks fail. Down 475 right now. Were in trouble. Lets go on a vacation and let someone else worry about it.

[Gary - K7GLD]

Originally Posted by Perry White

looks like being in it for a long time isn't going to pay off for some time. Why not sell and buy it back later when it settles down? At least I'm making .05% until the banks fail. Down 475 right now. Were in trouble. Lets go on a vacation and let someone else worry about it.

Only problem is, the guy at the top who SHOULD "worry about it", is ALREADY on vacation...

OH - and the ones claiming the market "will come back" were RIGHT - it's 2008 all over again - and it's starting to look like the 1930's are on the way!

[Shellback1]

Originally Posted by Cherylv

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago,
you would have $49.00 today! If you purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG, you would have $33.00. If you purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers, you would have $0.00 today.
But, if you purchased $1,000 worth of beer, drank all the beer, turned in the aluminum cans for recycling, you would have $214.00.
Therefore the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle.
It is called the 401-Keg Plan

I vote for that!