Survey: Is The Capital Meltdown Affecting You?

[Fishtales]

1.) Net worth deflating feeling. 401Ks getting banged like a back porch door in a hurricane. I'm in my mid 40s and this is bothering me. I can't imagine being in my early/mid 60s. Brokerage account banged up too. Where do you put it anyway - nothing appears to be safe.
2.) Boat show - who cares... Free passes to the NE Fall Boat Show came. For the first time in 7 years I tossed them away. No interest in seeing fiberglass at this point. Actually can't wait to put the damn sled away for the season at this point.
3.) Brokers that fight you. I tried to get my broker to move 50% out of the markets into cash and bonds. They argued and argued to stay the course. Has the brass nuggets to tell me to move it to Schwab and manage it myself before he'd do what I want. In the meantime the market is down another 500. He will be loosing the accounts. These guys still are either drinking the koolaid, worried about their lousy commissions or know if they blink and move our money the toilet really starts to flush. If the bailout doesn't happen, we'll see Dow sub 9000 I would say within 3 months.
4.) Add the defying oil market and this thing totally blows. Can't see how it moves so fast up and like a snail on the way down.
5.) Throw in the uncertainty of the bailout, the fact that it isn't likely enough and if some other crazy thing happens and we are on the edge.

The boat industry is going to be shaken to the core and likely a lot of us with it.

 

[ocnslr]

1.) Net worth deflating feeling. 401Ks getting banged like a back porch door in a hurricane. I'm in my mid 40s and this is bothering me. I can't imagine being in my early/mid 60s.

I was born May 2nd, 1947.... the rest of my life is changing before my eyes..

Too bad the people responsible will never be held responsible..

Brian

 

[CJBROWN]

I moved my T-A 401k out of stocks and into a cash-management account. Out of their 'super performing' portfolios, the two cash accounts are the only ones that made a few points over the last year. My balance lost over 20%. Down the toilet. I figure I have 14 more years, but I'm not going back to a growth portfolio 'till things turn around some. Just keep paying my mortgage down, at least we can keep the house as long as we have jobs.

Gas has settled back down to what I predicted it would about 6 months ago. At least for now. The only thing that it is effecting for us is that the motorhome sits instead of us being able to go somewhere in it. We cancelled our road trip this year because of gas costs. Funny, we got a letter from the bank today, touting what a good value RV travel is compared to staying in hotels and eating out. And that it would affect our credit for a long time if we were thinking of letting it go back. A pre-emptive strike on the banks part? Think I'll call them tomorrow and work them for a lower rate on a re-fi, drop the payment a hun or two.

It's not just the economy either, we have Russia going back to it's offensive posture in a resurgence of power, going after Georgia. All of the slavic countries are now on their list, with the rest of the european union next door. Iran is getting ready to nuke Israel. And the country wants to put a muslim-raised liberal with ties to reverse-prejudicial minorities in the whitehouse. He wants to "talk to them'. What a fag. The radical islamic fundamentalists are vowed to take over the world, and they are doing a pretty good job in europe, and working on us next. And everyone is just too nice and civilized to do anything about it. Just more 'talk' about it and sit back and let it happen.

I was going to go to the boatshow, but maybe we'll find something more entertaining to do instead. Lobster season opens next weekend and I still have a boat 8)

We've been on the edge for a long time, it's just that no one really paid attention or gave a crap. Who were they fooling with a run-up economy fueled by the borrowing of home equity that was simply artificially created? All of that business and economical expansion, all on fake money. Looks an awful lot like the dot-com bubble, it's all just fake money and values being thrown around. Only now it's at the core of our economy and not just isolated to a business sector. The recovery is going to take quite a while.

Okay...rant off :roll:

 

[seasick]

It may look bad and don't get me wrong, it's not good but it has been worse several times since the depression. You can blame the wall streeters all you want but the blame is to be shared by the dealers, agents, brokers and yes you and I (OK, not me) who made poor investments. Not stocks, or hedge funds but bad investments in mortgage loans we really couldn't aford, equity loans to upgrade that kitchen or bath or buy a new boat/car. "No credit, Bad Credit, NO PROBLEM. If you are stupid enough to take the loan we are eager to give you the money and then seel the loan to some other totally unaware idiots to repackage and name as something exciting and esoteric."
Our government spends money it doesn't have and we do the same thing.
So put the blame where it belongs, on all of us.
Now is not the time to panic. Individual investors are usually terrible at timing the market and just about always react at the wrong time. So, spend wisely, invest wisely and save something for that rainy day ( or longer). And yes, be concerned but don't panic.

 

[Brad1]

Mid-40s here as well. Our (my wife's and mine) 401ks have certainly taken a hit. But I don't need that money for another 15 yrs. I also think my allocations are relatively sound. I don't want to start shifting things around now to less volitile investments and lock in my losses. My thinking is that brighter economic times lay ahead. Now's a good time to buy low and also let that dollar cost averaging thing work for you.

That's my outlook however foolish it might be.

 

[megabytes]

53 here.
I agree with seasick - enough blame to go around. There is plenty of finger pointing but all one has to do is look at the savings rate and admit we are living above our means as a country.

I would be really scared if close to retirement but at this rate I may need to work forever.

At least we are diversified since we own two homes, 401Ks, and a few unrelated investments. We also have good jobs - at least for now. I plan to keep boating as long as possible. Sure, I pick my days to get the best out of the gas bill. I passed on some good wx days when the fishing was slow that I might have taken when gas was $2/gal.

The boating industry (along with others sch as RV, restaurant, entertainment, etc) is already slow so the recent financial failures will only make things worse. In the long run the strong will survive. This is not the first downtown and will not be the last.

 

[Grog]

Just turned 40 so there's pleanty of working ahead for me. Luckily I haven't been hit too hard by the market, most of my investments have held. My father is a stock broker, I see these drecks when customers aren't around. Most of them are scumbags, just hearing what the branch manager has done is sickening (I'm suprised he isn't in jail).

There will be some bargains to be had but be buy too soon.

Many people screwed themselves, like those who took 30 year loans to buy furniture or a car (which will be in a landfill well before the loan is paid off). Loan agents giving loans to people who have no reason getting the load and WILL wind up in foreclosure, but they made their commision so they don't care and the loan will be sold. Loans are sold in lots, some are destined to go into foreclosure, some will be late, and others will be OK. When the bad loan percentage gets too large nobody want to buy them and then you're stuck. Interest only loans was another scam. Who in their right mind will go after that? If you want to flip a house and gamble you may win but if the house doesn't sell you're up a river without a paddle. Not to get too political but Obama's financial advisor (Raines) was in charge of Fannie Mae when they started the sup-prime loans and other problems and people think he knows how to help the economy?

One thing to remember in the future: CASH RULES


Enough of this depressing junk, who's going fishing?

 

[Capt Bill]

62 for another month, both she and I on S.S., and heavy in the stock market. Scary, but I still trust my independent CFA, and he re-stated what Warren Buffet has said many times, and that's to buy when there is panic in the streets, and everyone is selling. When the market plumetted 500 points last week, I called him, and he said ...I love days like these. There are great bargains available to us now. The bluntness shocked me, but no more than Wall Street's reaction to the news about AIG.

I am staying in. My CFA has been very good at picking undervalued stocks, and history tells us that the market will come back. I just hope that the majority of the 55 or stocks that I own, are there to come back with it.

 

[CJBROWN]

>snip
I am staying in. My CFA has been very good at picking undervalued stocks, and history tells us that the market will come back. I just hope that the majority of the 55 or stocks that I own, are there to come back with it.

You are fortunate that you can have an independent manage your portfolio. When you put money in a 401K it's managed by the investment company in fund portfolios and you have to pick from what they offer. In my case, it's Transamerica. As I mentiond, not a single fund they manage has made any money in the last two years. How long should one wait before doing something about the hemmorage? Last week I said enough is enough. Do something before there's nothing left. I can change it back to a stock fund with a mouse click. In the meantime, I'm not losing anymore except for what inflation is doing to me. But we can at least wait it out now without losing it all.

My mother has an investment manager for her estate and he kept telling her to 'stay the course', leave her money in stocks. She's lost almost two hundred grand. Same deal there, how long do you stay in? 'Till you have nothing???? She pulled hers out too. We'll just wait for things to turn around and then pick diversified growth portfolios.

I feel bad for those in or close to retirement where they don't have time to wait. I can just keep working and catch up on my retirement fund when things turn around. We all know they will at some point, right???

 

[Capt Bill]

!!!

Chris, I don't disagree with your decision at all. In fact, I did exactly the same thing 2 weeks ago with investments I had with LPL Financial. My investments with them were actually worth less when I cashed out, than than what I invested with them 9 years ago, and I never took a penny out of the portfolio!!! Sometimes, we just got to cut our losses.

I hope things get back on track for you. For all of us.

 

[CJBROWN]

Gee, 9 years in an investment fund and you lose money cashing out? That's a hard one to take, isn't it?

When my mom called me and told me she sold all her stock I thought she was nuts. Then I talked to a friend that was in life insurance and financial advising for a time and he confirmed that it was a smart move given the current volatility. It's easy to buy back in when things start moving up, or when long term trends point to growth.

And in my mom's case, that's my inheritance! And it's a chunk of dough, so no, I don't want to see her lose it all. She may end up spending it all before she dies just trying to stay healthy, but at least we don't want it lost on crashing stocks. They made a huge windfall in realestate in the 80's, and setup a living trust. Dad is already gone and the new younger boyfriend is broke, so he keeps his eyeballs on the money. She's assured us kids she's not marrying him - ye gads.

 

[jehines3]

I'll be 32 this month. All my toys are paid for (Boat, Motorcycle, and car) I only hold a Mortgage and one of my wife's student loans, and neither is over 5.75% interest. When we built our house my wife almost convinced me to mortgage more than the 3x's annual guidline which worked out very well on my first property. We kept the final mortgage to exactly 3x's my annual 4 years ago. We went conventional 30 year FIXED. My house rode the bubble up and a little back down, but with the work I've put in to cover the options my wife wanted at the time of build, I'm still way ahead. I'm not sure for how much longer if this keeps up though. These are the times you almost regret having allot since you have more to watch go bye, bye when it all goes downhill. We have been fortunate since building the house and having two kids we are still able to let her stay at home instead of daycare. I'm thankful everyday for what I have. I hate that I'll be taxed for an unknown amount of time to cover all the bad paper written that the governement is buying right now though. I guess I still have my boat. The $4.00 gas in July was not so bad in hindsight seeing where the economy has gone since then.

 

[wahoo33417]

50 here and I'm scraping up all the cash I can to put back into the market. Maybe this isn't the bottom, maybe a lot more to go. I'm not smart enough to call the bottom. And I'm sure not smart enough to know when a bounce up is for real and time to get back in.

But I do believe that many solid companies are on sale.

Painful and scary right now, but following the herd has never helped me. I learned that from my previous "tech" investments.

So join in, misery loves company!

Rob

 

[Fishtales]

Hi Guys,
Nice to see that I'm not alone... As with most of you, I'm in a decent position only a mortage on my 2nd home, no debt to speak of and have all my toys paid for (bike, boat and old car).

It still pisses me off about the market, the dopes that put us in this position and the fact that we likely get crushed in the bail out - guess I got spoiled seeing things rise up for several years only to crash down.

 

[LittleMrs]

I'm in my mid 40s. I've been worried poopless the past week or so. I work for a wall street bank - can't say its a very secure job market ! So I did a 40 year financial plan. I always assume that my stocks will go down 10 - 15% when I do these plans. Boat is paid for, no credit card debt, only debt is my mortgage (about 25% of my homes current value so lets say 35% of what the house will be worth if housing continues to decline).

The good news is that I can still afford to boat on the 265 Express once a week even if / when gas goes to $4.50 a gallon. I'll be able to use the Seafox as much as I want - that thing runs on DROPS of gas, not gallons LOL. The bad news is that I can only afford the boats for the next 20 years (assuming a 3% infl rate) and I'll be broke and homeless when I'm 75. I figure I'll worry about that when / if I get there - I can always go back to smoking 3 packs a day --- I'll go through my savings faster but I'll die alot faster too (really bad joke but when you're looking for the bright side humor is sometimes hard to find !)

From a "big picture" point of view this whole mess just makes me so ANGRY :evil: When I think of totally innocent people losing their pensions, losing their 401Ks, struggling to afford to get to work or buy food ..... it just makes me FURIOUS. Freakin "Greed is Good" mentality of some .... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[okletsfish]

I`m 67 and my wife is 61 we have lost about 11% of our IRA`s since last October.Just last week I talked with the guy who is manageing our accounts and told him at our age we don`t buy "green bannas"so he better come up with a plan to protect our savings.So far we havn`t had to dip into any of these accounts but are not adding to them either so the dollar cost average deal isn`t comming into play as it did when we were younger.The bright side of this is that is if there is one is we are completly debt free.Now if I were a lot younger and working now would be a great time to be buying. :wink:

 

[hotajax]

It's Sickening

that the greedy weasels of Wall Street will get a free pass. So will the politicians who knew this crap was going on. Now we have to pay for other peoples' mortgages in the name of political correctness.

 

[Seahunter]

Re: It's Sickening

Now we have to pay for other peoples' mortgages in the name of political correctness.

If some have their way we'll be the Socialist Republics of America in no time.

 

[hotajax]

For Seahunt

I believe we are already there. There is no free speech, guns are fast becoming a nuisance to all liberals and Democrats, and Congress uses our taxes to buy votes from the underclasses.

 

[okletsfish]

All I can say is vote em out, other wise we the"silent majorty"will be paying through the nose.Just look at the Christmas list that has been added to this bailout. :x