Times are tough all over

[LabRat]

Originally Posted by glatt

My 401k is down 31% from one year ago, and I've been pumping money regularly into it for that entire year, so when you consider that, it's even worse.

I heard this morning on GMA that the average american has lost 19-25% of the value of their 401K investments. The overall market is down 40%, so as long as you were diversified, hopefully you haven't taken too bad a hit. (What to Do With Your Money
Mellody Hobson and John Bussey discuss the government's plan for the economy.)

I just got my last quarterly statement, and have lost 10% so far since the first of the year. I have been a bit conservative up to this point, but I am making a point to now shift my allocations so I am dumping a lot more into more and different stocks than I was till now. I am youngish, and figure I'm gonna buy while it's cheap and have time to wait for the market to recover.

[classicman]

tw - you are a pompous ass and back on ignore you go. You repeatedly blamed ARMs and I countered every time. You denied and attempted to refute my points with half truths and conveniently avoided the question put to you 4 times. You disregard anything that doesn't fit into your little preconceived notions and any culpability implicating anyone other than GWB and the EVIL republicans. That is your game - You are as extreme left as UG is right. Buh bye

[tw]

Originally Posted by tw

Classicman – do you realize that is equivalent to blaming an ant for causing you to stumble? Can you deal with the absurdity of your ‘research’ rather than take it as a personal attack?

So how does classicman respond? More personal attacks.

Originally Posted by classicman

tw - you are a pompous ass and back on ignore you go.

[HungLikeJesus]

I think tw's been quite reasonable lately.

[Shawnee123]

I dunno...I have PERS and don't know a damn thing about it.

[Undertoad]

I guess I'm saying that home buyers and defaulters were greedy, but it doesn't matter. It's just human nature. If you tell people they can make a quick buck most of them will do it. When it became a notion that it was perfectly fine for someone to default if their house lost value, people took up the practice.

[HungLikeJesus]

glatt, I'm probably in the same position as you. I've had that uneasy feeling for months and haven't done anything about it. I just got investment statements last week and haven't opened them. I've buried my head.

I put a lot more effort into making money than into holding on to it. I think this is true of a lot of us.

[glatt]

Thank you. Misery loves company, and it makes me feel slightly better to know I'm not the only one.

Oh, and I'm probably cursed to have my online account bookmarked. I've been checking it every day these last couple weeks. I should just delete that bookmark and forget about it.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by glatt

I should just delete that bookmark and forget about it.

That's what I did. Its ugly, really ugly - down more than yours too. Maybe that'll make you feel a little better too.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by classicman

That's what I did. Its ugly, really ugly - down more than yours too. Maybe that'll make you feel a little better too.

I'm sorry.

[Cicero]

(UT)? When I was marketing last year and a little prior for real estate (sub-prime) this never came up. People thought they had finally gotten into a position to afford a better home or a new home, when they in fact were not able to, but were approved. They could not afford what they were sold. Bottom line. But they were sold.

We worked with a lot of people just getting by, and shoving large families in what they thought they could afford at the time.

The market is also different down here. You get a broom closet for 200,000 and you are doing great...It's 1200 a month to rent a sub prime property so people thought they could buy cheaper and pay less, and they did. They could afford no substantial increase as they were already strapped. They thought they could save by not renting. All the rich white folks drove up all the prices and renting became outrageous. Buying a nasty shack was cheaper for all us poor folk that can't afford 1250.00 a month in rent. So they bought houses to fit their family in for 800.00 a month mortgages instead. At the time it seemed like a wise choice for them to invest and not spend so much on a rental they could not afford.

Long story long. They defaulted because they thought it was a more practical choice and one they could live by (more economical, can buy groceries too).

I am sure some people are doing what you imagine. Defaulting when the value dropped. I just haven't heard from any that weren't just ass out broke.

That's just how I see things on the local level. I almost fell for it and let my husband talk me into too. I did not. Thank god.

[TheMercenary]

Dollar cost averaging. It will come back up eventually. The people who really need to worry are those who just retired and are now living off those investments and I would say those who are within 5 years of retirement, because I bet it will take at least that long before they come back up.

[TheMercenary]

The most frequent one around here is related to race. They are easily argued against in most cases. One thing is for sure, if Obama is elected much of the wind will fall out of the sails.

[DanaC]

Given that everybody is so glum, what with the stockmarkets going into freefall an'all... I am injecting a little cheer into this mix:

Chin up everybody, some people have it worse:

[tw]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Given that everybody is so glum, what with the stockmarkets going into freefall an'all...

... I could not be more excited. To me, opportunities abound like we have not seen for almost a decade. The market was so boring for so long with so few opportunities. Remember what generals were doing as the Battle of the Bulge started. Eisenhower had to turn on them. Remind them that this Battle was one of the greatest opportunities they had to end the war. This market meltdown is a rare and exciting opportunity even for those who may lose an average amount - maybe 20%. Exciting if one chooses to make it so.