The stock market

[gunnarthor]

Ouch. Lots of pain.  Our portfolio has lost about 17% of its value in the last month or so.  That really sucks.

[Mike Sixel]

Yes, but, if you don't need the money in the next year or two, it doesn't really matter. Indeed, this is a great time to buy*. That said, I do need some of the money to help my kids pay off student loans.....so ya, this has hurt a bit. Really, most people should just ignore the market until they are much, much, older, and just keep putting money in.

 

*that is not financial advice, that is an opinion. I repeat, that is NOT financial advice.

[Vanimal46]

No kidding... Being in my mid 20's my portfolio is high risk/very aggressive and about 85% stocks... It hasn't been a fun month to say the least.... down 22% since the end of 2015 to be exact. 

[Vanimal46]

 

Yes, but, if you don't need the money in the next year or two, it doesn't really matter. Indeed, this is a great time to buy*. That said, I do need some of the money to help my kids pay off student loans.....so ya, this has hurt a bit. Really, most people should just ignore the market until they are much, much, older, and just keep putting money in.

 

*that is not financial advice, that is an opinion. I repeat, that is NOT financial advice.

That's how I'm viewing it... Try to contribute a portion of my salary/commission checks to the portfolio each month to keep building it, and live off of the rest of the funds I earn. 

The only big purchase I'm planning for is to buy my first house in 2017/2018... hopefully the aggressive approach pays off to put at least 20% down in the future.

[Mike Sixel]

Hell, I'm 51 and I'm in an aggressive mix. 

[gunnarthor]

 

Yes, but, if you don't need the money in the next year or two, it doesn't really matter. Indeed, this is a great time to buy*. That said, I do need some of the money to help my kids pay off student loans.....so ya, this has hurt a bit. Really, most people should just ignore the market until they are much, much, older, and just keep putting money in.

 

*that is not financial advice, that is an opinion. I repeat, that is NOT financial advice.

Sadly, I'm a nonprofit attorney.  A few years ago Congress passed a loan forgiveness program that would forgive your loans after you've worked at a nonprofit for 10 years and were paying off the debt while working.  Last summer I learned that I was paying it off but under the wrong plan so all my years didn't qualify.  (That was a really bad day).  I had actually been paying MORE than I would have under the qualifying plan but it didn't matter.  So my wife and I started planning how we'd pay off this 100k and decided to make a big payment out of our savings in March 2016 (after we had owned a certain stock for a year to get lower taxes).  And now the our portfolio is tanking just as we're getting ready to actually use it.  As I said, 'ow'.

 

But I agree it is actually a good time to buy low on some things.  Oil will eventually go back up.  And some of the financial giants are a good price, too.**

 

**that is not financial advice, that is an opinion. I repeat, that is NOT financial advice.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I'm getting killed. I've lost over 20% of my market value in the past 6-8 weeks. I've aggressively invested in individual stocks over the past few years. Had 70% gains overall, now down to about 35% gains.

 

Oh well. All my stocks are long-term investments with the exception of Apple, which is in freefall for no good reason. But they pay a decent, if underwhelming, dividend so I'm not sure whether I'll sell next time they appear to peak or hold on to them indefinitely.

 

But man, Netflix has been killllllllling it for me. Invested in them 13 months ago.

[Mike Sixel]

Ouch. I imagine my mom, who relies on a small portfolio, is a bit down this week.......I should call her.

 

And, that scenario sucks. And, thanks for being in the non-profit world, we need more help out there.

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

If I was to invest in a stock right now, it'd be Apple. The market's valuation of them is nonsensical and their P/E is absurdly low.

 

It'd be a good idea to get into them before their quarterly report in a week or so.

[Mike Sixel]

not advice:

 

Activision

Disney

Netflix

Amazon

 

I am in on all of those.....

[Mike Sixel]

 

If I was to invest in a stock right now, it'd be Apple. The market's valuation of them is nonsensical and their P/E is absurdly low.

 

I have it both in my self directed 401K and personal account....if that means anything to anyone.....not advice, btw. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

not advice:

 

Activision

Disney

Netflix

Amazon

 

I am in on all of those.....

High fives, Mike. I'm in on Disney, Netflix, and Amazon. Amazon and Netflix in particular.

 

Patience is really the key with the market, IMO. I sat on a stagnant Amazon around $300 per share for over a year and then the damned thing doubled in 8-10 months.

[jimmer]

When I retire, I wil have Military retirement (already have). Federal employee retirement

(Working towards) and if social security is still around, that too. I dabble with a 401k (it will do whatever it does) and I will have a quality nest egg in savings when I retire. I don't want to just count on one thing. I want multiple sources of income.

Edited January 20, 2016 by jimmer

[Vanimal46]

Apple and Google have been a fun ride the last couple of years. I'm waiting for a day when Apple reaches $700 a share again like it was in September 2013... 

[Willihammer]

I read A Random Walk Down Wall St. about a year ago and that has guided my retirement investing since. All passive, mostly foreign, no individual stocks. My returns are down as bad or worse than anyone's but its a good read nonetheless if anyone out without a finance degree is thinking about socking away some money for a while.

Edited January 20, 2016 by Willihammer

[gunnarthor]

 

When I retire, I wil have Military retirement (already have). Federal employee retirement
(Working towards) and if social security is still around, that too. I dabble with a 401k (it will do whatever it does) and I will have a quality nest egg in savings when I retire. I don't want to just count on one thing. I want multiple sources of income.

Yeah, obviously as many different plans is better.  I have a small 401k right now with a full match from my employer.  My wife will get a state pension.  We have some IRAs as well.  We also set up some 529 plans for our kids college funds which will (hopefully) pay a large portion of that down the road.  We got lucky and paid off our mortgage early so we're managing to put away a pretty good amount each month.  

 

If not for those damn school loans (at 7.5% interest) ...

[Squirrel]

 

Hell, I'm 51 and I'm in an aggressive mix. 

I'm 54 and my mix isn't aggressive ... but it's not a conservative mix, either.

[Willihammer]

 

Yeah, obviously as many different plans is better.  I have a small 401k right now with a full match from my employer.  My wife will get a state pension.  We have some IRAs as well.  We also set up some 529 plans for our kids college funds which will (hopefully) pay a large portion of that down the road.  We got lucky and paid off our mortgage early so we're managing to put away a pretty good amount each month.  

 

If not for those damn school loans (at 7.5% interest) ...

If you missed it (this program started at the beginning of the year I think), might be work checking out: http://www.selfrefi.state.mn.us/

 

4.5% refi rates.

[Mike Sixel]

 

I read A Random Walk Down Wall St. about a year ago and that has guided my retirement investing since. All passive, mostly foreign, no individual stocks. My returns are down as bad or worse than anyone's but its a good read nonetheless if anyone out without a finance degree is thinking about socking away some money for a while.

 

An all time classic book. Truly.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Yeah, obviously as many different plans is better.  I have a small 401k right now with a full match from my employer.  My wife will get a state pension.  We have some IRAs as well.  We also set up some 529 plans for our kids college funds which will (hopefully) pay a large portion of that down the road.  We got lucky and paid off our mortgage early so we're managing to put away a pretty good amount each month.  

 

If not for those damn school loans (at 7.5% interest) ...

 

Not a fan of the 529.......it isn't very liquid. That said, it isn't an awful idea.

 

If I was young again, and had young kids, I'd be buying rental properties, and gifting them 10K a year of the value. Then, when they need the money, they can either use the rent, or sell the places. But, that ship has largely sailed for me.....though maybe not.....

 

*not advice, just what I'd do.....

Edited January 20, 2016 by Mike Sixel

[Seauville]

I remember feeling so cool buying Disney under $100 per share.

 

I'm in for the long haul so this isn't a problem in the long run obviously, just funny to think back on.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Not a fan of the 529.......it isn't very liquid. That said, it isn't an awful idea.

 

If I was young again, and had young kids, I'd be buying rental properties, and gifting them 10K a year of the value. Then, when they need the money, they can either use the rent, or sell the places. But, that ship has largely sailed for me.....though maybe not.....

 

*not advice, just what I'd do.....

It's a good plan and I was *this close* to doing just that in 2013; made a short sale offer on a house but the bank foreclosed on it before anyone alerted them a short sale offer was in place (mind you, there was a 3-4 month gap between these two events... why'd we bail out these clowns again?).

 

Thankfully, it didn't happen because I don't have the time to manage a rental property on top of all the other crap I do but if you have the time, it's a good way to go.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I remember feeling so cool buying Disney under $100 per share.

 

I'm in for the long haul so this isn't a problem in the long run obviously, just funny to think back on.

Heh, yes. Same here. But Disney is a small dividend stock and I plan to hold on to it for at least five years so whatever.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I've been doing a lot more trading of late, so I'll simply say this.  What you are seeing right now is the beginning.  You'd be wise to move your money into a money market for the bulk of 2016.  The market is waking up and realizing that nothing was fixed from 2008 and now we've added a ton more sovereign debt to it... debt that some countries aren't going to repay.  I wouldn't be shocked in the least if the European crisis comes back in full with defaults from some or all of the PIIGS nations at some point, and that contagion could spread elsewhere too. 

 

Cut your losses.  You may get a small bounce here given the number of down days, but we are in a full fledge bear market and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the market return to 2008 lows.  Buy back in once the damage is done. 

 

 

[diehardtwinsfan]

Side note, there are a number of proshares ETFs out there that work inverse of the market.  Those aren't bad investments if you can trade ETFs in your plans. 

 

TWM for instance, is up something ridiculous (about 40%) in the last two weeks as it does roughly 2x the inverse of the Russell 2k (which has lost about 20% in the last 3 weeks). 

[nicksaviking]

 

Ouch. Lots of pain.  Our portfolio has lost about 17% of its value in the last month or so.  That really sucks.

 

I would like your post out of commiseration but I didn't want to send the wrong message.

[DaveW]

Yeah, markets have taken a hit, one of the few investments I have that are actually up a signiciant amount over the last year is Bitcoin (go figure!)

 

Oh well though, great time to buy as I still have another 20-35 years in the workforce. I would NOT be wanting to try to retire in the next 12 months, I feel bad for those folks.

Edited January 22, 2016 by DaveW

[Brock Beauchamp]

If you want a laugh, look what the market did to Amazon today.

 

+$52 per share during trading

 

-$82 per share after hours

 

The market is silly and stupid.

[Mike Sixel]

Under Armor up 22% today, if I owned more shares, I would have cashed them in......but I only own 12.......

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

I don't own Under Armor but Facebook had at really good day for me.