Crap.

[eggwards]

It's minutes from the opening of the stock market and all of the futures, all of the other world markets results overnight point to a large drop for the market today.

I'm tired of this. I'm sick of talking about the market and telling people how much of their savings they have lost, especially retirees who are counting on this. People are looking to me for guidance, but I can only give them a "wait it out." It's maddening. Where the hell is the bottom of this decline?

I'm also tired of pictures of stock brokers looking dismayed every single day.

We have a set up that people can get more specific advice, but they have to wait for an appointment. The advice specialists only tell them to diversify and wait it out. I have stopped referring people to the advice councilors because they don't tell them anything new, or anything that would belay their fears right now.

I so hate my job right now. Folks, I don't know when things will be better. I can change you out of certain investments, but I can't change the investments themselves, and yes I know some of them have lost 40% or more. It's awful. And from the looks of it, it's here to stay a while.

It took decades for the market to get to it's high, which was about this time last year. It may take a very long time to see your savings get back to where they were.

Aren't you happy that we've all left pensions behind and were told to save in our 401(k)s for retirement. Yeah, that was a great move.

Well, the Dow opened at 250 points down...we'll see where it goes from here.

EDIT: well, now it's down nearly 500 - in just minutes, and if it falls more than 1,100 points - as some have suggested, we'll see a halt in trading for the day. This could be a really fucked up day.


ANOTHER EDIT - 3:00CT: Well, it looks like we've staved off total market meltdown, closing down a little over 300 points. Given the predictions this morning, it's a little surprising, but that's the way it goes. I've learned never to make predictions when it comes to finances.

Comments

[chernocub.livejournal.com]

I know I shouldn't, but I typically check my 403-b balance every morning. It's disappointing to see how far into my contributions the losses have dipped, but at least I'm not looking at retirement in the next year or so. My advisor finds my recordkeeping and monitoring amusing, but at least he knows our meetings won't be tied up with how this fund I'm in compared to the others.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the general wisdom that you shouldn't watch it day after day because that can lead to trading and selling on the worries instead of making more intelligent decisions. At this point, it's better to ride it out than sell, then selling at a low. This is what I tell people, but that thought only goes so far.

My current 403(b) (I work for a non-profit, actually) is invested pretty aggressively, so I've seen some big losses, but I keep telling myself that new contributions are going in at really great prices. Better prices than people have gotten since Bush One right now, but it's hard to see the fall continue at this point. My 401(k) from my old job is invested pretty conservatively, so it's falling, by not quite as alarmingly, thankfully. Still, I know I haven't saved enough for retirement.

Ugh!

[cruisebear.livejournal.com]

I have lost about 50% of my 401K but I don't look at it everyday anymore. It is too depressing and I am not retiring for about 8 years. I keep telling myself you only have lost money on paper and if I withdraw it now-I have a real and immediate loss.

I have picked up some very good values in the stock market like my favorite Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruise lines.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Well, I always hear people who invest in something they know and love tend to do well with those investements, so you purchase of cruiseline stocks should be good. It may be a while before confidence comes back in the vacation and travel industries, though.

You can't keep looking at your portfolio, even if you are very active with your investments. For retirement, buy and hold is usually best. Most day traders tend to move too often and end up consting themselves a lot of money.

You are right about the real and immediate loss. While we may sink further during the short term, it's very unlikely that we will be at this point in a couple of years, but people need to be patient.

[hot4latin.livejournal.com]

"Aren't you happy that we've all left pensions behind and were told to save in our 401(k)s for retirement. Yeah, that was a great move."
Oh how things would have been so different if we had gotten Al Gore's little lock box.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Man, that's been so long ago, I forgot exactly how that was supposed to work. I guess I have never counted on Social Security being there for me, that I get worried about my retirement savings. I don't expect the government to bail me out, but I know plenty of people who do.

What is the truth is that companies don't want pensions because they are so hard to manage and turn out to be very expensive, but it would be the best thing for the worker. Still, we have this opportunity to save, but we really haven't seen wages go up to make up for the loss of reliable pensions. So much for the trickle down effect.