401k Owners !!

[Rock Crawler]

Looks like half of yesterdays drop was gained back today. Hard to move things in that small amount of time.

Not sure what your looking at, but the dow jones is currently down another 335 points from opening.
INDEXDJX: .DJI - Google Search

 

[NorTracNY]

Talking heads and "experts" say that the stock market is overvalued. Ok. So where do people put their money if they want to invest?

We keep getting told to save for retirement, and we should be saving for retirement among other things, so where do I put the money?

Unless one has enough cash to buy property one is stuck with the stock market or very low return investments. So, if more and more people save money, will not the market be "overvalued" compared to the past?

The current ups and downs in the market don't appear to be a sign of anything other than profit taking. Job less claims are dropping and dropping. People seem to be spending money, the tax cuts should give a boost to the economy, and because of the tax law changes, companies are bringing back cash held overseas that has to be spent, saved, or invested which will help the economy.

I remember the lead up to the 2008 meltdown it was obvious it was about to happen. A coworker and I were discussing pulling our money out of the market before the meltdown. He did and I did not. He saved/made a bit of money as a result. I just rode it out and the paper loses went away after a year. I did sit down one day and guesitmated how much money I could have saved/made if I had pulled out of the market as he did, and we would have a bit more money, but not that much more money in the grand scheme of things.

One of our best investments will likely be buying land but I think that is as risky as the stock market. The tax hit on selling land is going to be a b...tch.

Later,
Dan

Keys from your post... Talking Heads... Yes, those people about as intelligent as most reporters today. They are people just yapping about something. If they can't say the sky is about to fall or is falling, then what else are they going to talk about?

Your coworker got out of the market before the downturn. Good for them. When did they get back in? People cannot time the market. They often sell on emotion and lock in a loss from the peak and buy too late missing a significant upturn.

Have someone print out the historical plot of the DOW over a 2-5yr period. Have them cover up the paper from the right. As they slide the paper from left to right, you mark down where you'd sell and where you'd buy. Just make sure you don't know the historical time period. I've done this before with people that talk about timing the market. They always feel foolish from this exercise.

 

[dmccarty]

...
Your coworker got out of the market before the downturn. Good for them. When did they get back in? People cannot time the market. They often sell on emotion and lock in a loss from the peak and buy too late missing a significant upturn.
...

He got back into the market after the chaos was over. He is pretty rational about the market. Just happened to by talking with another coworker an hour or so ago who was really upset by the market ups and downs that are occurring. :confused3: Wondering if they should sell! :thumbdown: The market ups/downs are just noise at the moment.

Later,
Dan

 

[RSKY]

He got back into the market after the chaos was over. He is pretty rational about the market. Just happened to by talking with another coworker an hour or so ago who was really upset by the market ups and downs that are occurring. :confused3: Wondering if they should sell! :thumbdown: The market ups/downs are just noise at the moment.

Later,
Dan

Kinda hurtful noise.

RSKY

 

[KubotainNH]

Not sure what your looking at, but the dow jones is currently down another 335 points from opening.
INDEXDJX: .DJI - Google Search

I wrote that on Tuesday. It was down Monday, rebounded then went down again. Up a bit today. Interesting week for the market.

Mon- down 1175
Tues - up 567

 

[Rock Crawler]

Ah, I didn't notice that.

 

[kenmac]

well, As someone that went through the down turn of 08 ? and didn't shoot myself. I can make it. I learned from form that down turn and toughened up. The market isn't always going to be good all the time. There will be ups and downs and no one knows when that will happen. Investing in the market isn't for the faint hearted !

 

[RSKY]

well, As someone that went through the down turn of 08 ? and didn't shoot myself. I can make it. I learned from form that down turn and toughened up. The market isn't always going to be good all the time. There will be ups and downs and no one knows when that will happen. Investing in the market isn't for the faint hearted !

True words. I like to look at the long term. The two funds I put my wife's and my oldest's money in have a 12% overall gain since the 1980s. Since that daughter won't retire for 20-30 more years I think she is safe.

RSKY

 

[dmccarty]

Kinda hurtful noise.

RSKY

Only if you listen...

:laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Market timing is fools gold. Warren Buffett made a million dollar bet with a professional hedge fund manager that a Vanguard S&P index fund would out perform the professionals fund over a ten year period. The professional was so far behind after 8 years he conceded and payed up.

Buffet has made the decision that he will put 90% of his fortune in a S&P index fund for his wife when he dies. Quite a decision considering he has made billions in his own fund. He just understands that the low fees and diversification of an index fund make them almost impossible to beat even by investment professionals. A study has shown that S&P index funds regularly beat 80% of managed funds.

All index funds are not equal. It's all about low fees. Currently the funds with the lowest are Schwab, Fidelity and Vanguard.