mostly in mutual funds and the stock market is sinking. The national economy may be sinking with it. If things get worse I may have to retire to India where food and rent is cheaper although the standard of living is lower. A semi broke American can still live pretty well there but the blaring music takes getting use to. .
My retirement fund is
- Thread starter Hallarian
- Start date
kickingbird
candle lighter
I'll probably have to join you Hallarian - I'll bring the earplugs 
With mutual funds you have to sit tight. It's hard to do, especially when you're seeing the value of your fund keep going down; but these things come in cycles, and now is not the time to cash out, especially if it's at a loss.
Mind you, some years back I cashed out my mutual funds when they sunk low, but at the time, I was desperate for cash and that was the only money I had. The smart thing to have done was to sit on it; it would have come back up, eventually.
"Buy low - sell high" - so if stocks are down now, if you're the speculative type, you buy them now.
Me, I'm not that adventurous. Once I got out of mutual funds, I decided to find something safer that bears interest. Maybe I won't get as much money in the long run, but it is comforting to see my balance always go up, even if only minimally, rather than the roller coaster of mutual funds/stocks which go up and down, up and down, down, down.
One of the reasons a country went to war in the past was as much for economic reasons as it was for anything else. A country at war usually ends up with a booming economy, hence I suspect it was one of the reasons, among all the others, that Bush invaded Iraq. Nothing like a good war to get a stalled economy moving. Only it didn't work this time.
By the way, jhogan, I'd be interested to know- the change to your portfolio - did you acquire more foreign holdings over domestic? Because that's more likely to earn you income at the moment than investing domestically.
Money market rather than stock might be another way to go. It's all too risky for me, though; I'm sticking to interesting-bearing accounts and certificates. At least I'm guaranteed an increase with them.
Mind you, some years back I cashed out my mutual funds when they sunk low, but at the time, I was desperate for cash and that was the only money I had. The smart thing to have done was to sit on it; it would have come back up, eventually.
"Buy low - sell high" - so if stocks are down now, if you're the speculative type, you buy them now.
Me, I'm not that adventurous. Once I got out of mutual funds, I decided to find something safer that bears interest. Maybe I won't get as much money in the long run, but it is comforting to see my balance always go up, even if only minimally, rather than the roller coaster of mutual funds/stocks which go up and down, up and down, down, down.
One of the reasons a country went to war in the past was as much for economic reasons as it was for anything else. A country at war usually ends up with a booming economy, hence I suspect it was one of the reasons, among all the others, that Bush invaded Iraq. Nothing like a good war to get a stalled economy moving. Only it didn't work this time.
By the way, jhogan, I'd be interested to know- the change to your portfolio - did you acquire more foreign holdings over domestic? Because that's more likely to earn you income at the moment than investing domestically.
Money market rather than stock might be another way to go. It's all too risky for me, though; I'm sticking to interesting-bearing accounts and certificates. At least I'm guaranteed an increase with them.
Amos Stevens
New Member
Sorry to hear that Hallarian!
I hear that buying down in Mexico is cheapier than here-and don't worry about the mexicans & their loud music,they have all moved into Arizona
I will warn Spot he may have to break into his 7up(aka piggy) bank for ya
I hear that buying down in Mexico is cheapier than here-and don't worry about the mexicans & their loud music,they have all moved into Arizona
I will warn Spot he may have to break into his 7up(aka piggy) bank for ya
TDWoj said:
You know, it was some time ago. When 9/11 happened, just prior to and subsequent of I had begun paying attention to the split, and when I noticed other were performing worse, I shifted. Now, the worse performers back then are even worse now, and now it's been steady money maker. But I have to look at the statements again to see how it is/was split. Others back then that I know didn't chg like I did, deciding to keep it as is, and they still haven't recovered yet. Mind you, I didn't make drastic chgs, just enough though.
Hallarian said:
Our economy is not sinking, nor have they said that. (Other than Gge. Soros, who is rabidly anti-Bush for many other reasons - and who, by the way, has destoyed countries currencies in an effort to make himself rich). They may say that PORTIONS of the system are in trouble, but that has been said for yrs, and we HAVE been in worse times before. This is nothing, and I am amazed people even think that. And yes, I know there are certain types of people that are hurting and in worse shape they have ever been, but I am talking in general terms and historically.
And about picking stocks, etc., it's not as hard as you think. In high school, for that typical project where we all had to pick sticks with funny money, by then end of the yr I ended making over $26k. All it takes is a little reading and studying and paying attention.
Another example - take Ben & Jerry's. Some time ago, when I thought it was a low price, money that I was going to invest and later would have sold before the price dropped would have made over $36k. Of course, I didn't have the money to do it, but if I did, it woulda' been a nice profit. And it was just readin', and studyin' and payin' attention.
Littledragon
Above The Law
Hallarian said:
I think I will stay out of this thread, I am still a kid lol.