Are you still in the stock market?

yep key word is self inflicted .

it isn’t the natural business cycle at work here .

its pure manipulation by our leader .

you know he planned this playing out this way .

you can bet his wealthy buddies were buying as regular americans got scared and sold out at low prices
I agree w most, but not sure I would agree w the bolded statement. There has never ever been any plan associated w anything before so that would be a first.
 

I had cashed out my small 401K, and with the market back up got all my money back. I am thinking that if the downturn scared anyone they should get out now.
 

I purchased Amazon stock with 95% of my money back in 1998. I don't regret it. When my wife and I die, it goes to our married daughter. She will then be able to support her husband and kids the rest of their lives.

However, many years ago I had also placed all my money in a stock called "Transitron." I lost ALL MY MONEY back then.
 
many of us are very cautious right now and are running the highest cash levels maybe ever .

i know being retired and having had an amazing year , as well as i locked in a lot in realized gains this year

so looking this morning at how we are positioned:

20% equity funds consisting of

vti total market fund 10%

vwo emerging market 5%

vio small cap value 5%

pretty much the larry swedroe fat tail but with a total market fund included


10% bond funds

TIP inflation protected bond ETF , not a fan of tips but right now i think it’s the best horse in the glue factory.

5% gold etf iau

65% cash instruments , sgov , bil , money markets , bank

with rates where they are now we are getting over 10k a month in just interest

so right now i can sit back with a lot in cash instruments but that isn’t going to be a long term thing for us

particularly interested in what retirees are doing as those with plenty of time can simply stay the course
 
So you have about 2 millions in cash instruments.
pretty close right now , but hopefully only temporarily until this mess gets some direction. berkshire has 348 billion in cash

we had outsize gains last year as my fidelity blue chip growth doubled in just two years so we booked about 600k in gains and i realized about another 100k this year in gains so we can take a breather .

right now the interest brings in 10k a month so definitely not in a hurry to throw it all back in with this political environment
 
Last edited:
Are we in a period of what Alan Greenspan referred to as irrational exuberance? 🤔

The recent surge in the stock market seems to support the idea that it’s impossible to time the market.
the idea that we can time the markets never really played out for the small investors .

but at this stage of life many of us are more concerned with what lets us sleep and not the gains we may not get .

we are pre wired to hate losing money more than making it
 
Last edited:
I found a good investment adviser over 20 years ago and have stuck with him ever since. He also invested the funds of my employees back when I had a small business. I have done quite well, no complaints. I never had any interest or aptitude for doing it myself.
 
the idea that we can time the markets never really played out for the small investors .

but at this stage of life many of us are more concerned with what lets us sleep and not the gains we may not get .

we are pre wired to hate losing money more than making it
We all need to do what feels right.

I’ve always managed to make more than I’ve lost so I guess that I’ll just keep bumbling along.
 
We all need to do what feels right.

I’ve always managed to make more than I’ve lost so I guess that I’ll just keep bumbling along.
it isn’t about making more than you lost .

it is the fact that the ibbotson data and morningstar small investor returns show the typical small investor lags the very funds they were in and tried to time .

if they did nothing they would have had better returns. , the more volatile the markets the bigger the difference
 
it isn’t about making more than you lost .

it is the fact that the ibbotson data and morningstar small investor returns show the typical small investor lags the very funds they were in and tried to time .

if they did nothing they would have had better returns. , the more volatile the markets the bigger the difference
Like I said, we all need to do what feels right.
 
Like I said, we all need to do what feels right.
exactly what i said above .

but make no mistake about it , that comfort has a price .

if you can afford to not maximize your returns in retirement that’s great , we are in that category now after a decade of excellent returns being heavier invested while in retirement.

but many are not in that shape and they do need their money working for them as best as it can
 
Anyone else still in the stock market or have you moved on?
When OP originally started this thread on March 11 the Dow closed at 41,433.48. As of today the Dow closed at 42,982.43. That is a 3.73% increase in about 3.5 months. On March 11 the S&P500 closed at 5614.56. As of today the S&P500 closed at 6092.16. That is an 8.5% increase.

I am glad to answer the OP's original question. Yes, I am still in the market and never got out.
 
When OP originally started this thread on March 11 the Dow closed at 41,433.48. As of today the Dow closed at 42,982.43. That is a 3.73% increase in about 3.5 months. On March 11 the S&P500 closed at 5614.56. As of today the S&P500 closed at 6092.16. That is an 8.5% increase.

I am glad to answer the OP's original question. Yes, I am still in the market and never got out.
it’s actually more , the raw numbers don’t reflect the dividends
 
When OP originally started this thread on March 11 the Dow closed at 41,433.48. As of today the Dow closed at 42,982.43. That is a 3.73% increase in about 3.5 months. On March 11 the S&P500 closed at 5614.56. As of today the S&P500 closed at 6092.16. That is an 8.5% increase.

I am glad to answer the OP's original question. Yes, I am still in the market and never got out.
It's not wise to take a snapshot of the market performance in the past and predict the future performance.
 
When OP originally started this thread on March 11 the Dow closed at 41,433.48. As of today the Dow closed at 42,982.43. That is a 3.73% increase in about 3.5 months. On March 11 the S&P500 closed at 5614.56. As of today the S&P500 closed at 6092.16. That is an 8.5% increase.

I am glad to answer the OP's original question. Yes, I am still in the market and never got out.
I'm the OP and my financial advisor just traded some of my fixed-asset investments for others. I still have 40% in equities and have made all the money I need during the market increase. I have no regrets and I have no animosity towards those who have chosen to ride out the market. It was my strategy for over 40 years.
 
I'm the OP and my financial advisor just traded some of my fixed-asset investments for others. I still have 40% in equities and have made all the money I need during the market increase. I have no regrets and I have no animosity towards those who have chosen to ride out the market. It was my strategy for over 40 years.
But your financial advisor collect >1% of your total investment annually, no matter what.
 

Back
Top