Loss of retirement money is upsetting.

[DisneyBamaFan]

We don't look either. We did invest more into the market, because we can't pass up a sale. We're just lucky not all of our money is there.

For the "sale" part, look at the NASDAQ since it fall from grace. 8+ years later, less than 33% its previous value, and that is not adjusted for inflation.

It is time to develop a Plan B, and your local financial advisor is a waste of money. They have not lived through a depression. They have no idea what to expect or what to do. They are still preaching "dollar cost averaging" in a world that may not see an increase for a decade or more. That means no gain, and potential losses, for 10+ years. The old staples (savings accounts, bonds and property) may be the best investment vehicles for the next few decades, but we can't even be sure of that yet.

The best philosophy - keep an open mind and stop thinking that the market "has to go back up". It doesn't. At least, not in a timeframe that would help...

 

[Planogirl]

I don't like it either but what can you do? I see no option right now but to ride it out until it goes back up. And I believe it will...eventually.

 

[luvmy3]

Its not just retirement funds, my kids college money is pretty much gone also. At least me 2 dses have time to gain some of it back but not my dd.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Why is he a bozo?

When looking another person in the eye and seeing their pain, this kind of talk is not helpful. Empathy is in order, no? In times like these, we need more friends - can't have enough. This guy isn't making any new friends...

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I don't like it either but what can you do? I see no option right now but to ride it out until it goes back up. And I believe it will...eventually.

Yeah, my 401k funds that rode the wave down will stay in index funds. I would rather lose it all than watch it go back up and kick myself for the rest of my life for being impatient. But my funds that are in more secure vehicles will stay there, and I am not adding to my index funds...

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Its not just retirement funds, my kids college money is pretty much gone also. At least me 2 dses have time to gain some of it back but not my dd.

My oldest son wants to go to MIT. That is out of the question unless he gets a scholly, now. Still, that isn't a horrible thing. I went to a very good state university...

 

[lovemygoofy]

I feel like you do, OP. Sick to my stomach when I look at all our hard earned (and I DO mean hard-earned money, dh's job is incredibly stressful and going in each day is really hard for him) money going down the drain.
So far I've tried to be optimistic and keep buying more shares each month in mutual funds but after listening to the things Obama has been said, and how I think his actions and goals will affect wall street, I'm losing heart. I think I will soon quit that type of investing and look elsewhere to put our money. Right now under the mattress would be more profitable!

Keli, I think that is what I'm so upset about. All the money we have invested from every deployment is simply gone. I think about all the hours worked and days gone and the money we put in and it's just gone. Of course we didn't put all the money in those kind of accounts and we are years and years away from retirement but the money that is gone just upsets me.

OP, please know what happened is not something you could have forseen. This is a risk we make putting our money in the market. My father in law doesn't do normal retirement account. He keeps turning over CD's and has been for years. Because he is loyal to his little bank, they give him the highest interest rate possible. I think he has anywhere from 10-20 cd's that he turns over every 3 years on various rotation years.

I hope you feel better. I understand your frustrations and emotions and you should do what makes you and your husband feel better right now.

 

[FINFAN]

Add us to the list...however we are feeling the college investment kick in the teeth right now. Feels like we are saving twice as we are scrambling to make up for what we lost RIGHT when we needed to take it out. Insult to injury is the lovely "Kiddie Tax" this year which taxes us on our already lost value sice we took it out to send to college. BIG MISTAKE! We should have left DD's colleg account alone and taken out a Parent Plus loan, used that to pay for her education and given her account 4 years to rebound. We will more than likely do that for DS who is 4 years after DD. We had hoped that our retirement/equity would be livable if we were not having to still pay off student debt ofr our kids, but not now...time is against us for the most part, MAYBE our retirement will bounce back to what it was prior to taking the hits, but we will have lost what, about 7-8 years of time? That is huge. We have thought about selling the house if the market rebounds in 3 years when DS heads off to school , but I think we are going ot need to keep it for DD to move back to as she will not be able to afford rent/motg and her student loans, even with us helping to pay them...vicous circle...you are not alone is the feelings you are having. We played by the book, and got s*****d. I shoud've paid closer attention to how all the other parents were planning on working the system around here, apparently the "American Way " is somewhat disenchanting.

 

[McDISer]

You know, we were all so brainwashed,
to go with these 401K's that our company offered us.
I know other's invested in the stock market other ways,
but it is what I did way back in 1990 when I started work with a new dealership.
From 1990-1993 I contributed a lot of money with matching funds.
Then the dealership sold out.
From 1993-2001 I barely made any money.
I don't work for that place anymore, but I have a feeling the dealership was "crooked".

We just received our statement last week, 40% is gone since the July statement. I already have to work till I'm 72 to collect Social Security and by then, that will be gone too.

We bought land.
Hopefully in 30 years we will get a better return on our money.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

You know, we were all so brainwashed,
to go with these 401K's that our company offered us.
I know other's invested in the stock market other ways,
but it is what I did way back in 1990 when I started work with a new dealership.
From 1990-1993 I contributed a lot of money with matching funds.
Then the dealership sold out.
From 1993-2001 I barely made any money.
I don't work for that place anymore, but I have a feeling the dealership was "crooked".

We just received our statement last week, 40% is gone since the July statement. I already have to work till I'm 72 to collect Social Security and by then, that will be gone too.

We bought land.
Hopefully in 30 years we will get a better return on our money.

If you get matched funds in any program, take it. That is an instant 100% return on investment. Even if that fund loses half its value, you have lost nothing of your principle - and that was taken out before taxes if you are in a 401k. The question is, what funds to invest in within your 401k.

Let's say that you put in $5k this year, and your company matches that. You have $10k in the fund, but you only put in $5k, and you got a tax break of about $1500 for that $5k investment, so it really only cost you about $3500. So, at the end of the year, you saw your $3500 almost triple in value to $10k. Not bad. Makes putting your money in a bond fund a little easier when you think about it that way...

Property is not a bad idea, but don't miss out on the matched funds.

 

[OctMtnWoods]

Thanks everyone. I certainly knew we weren't alone, but your words have helped some this morning. We are down 50%.

 

[sbell111]

A TRUE Bailout plan would allow people to take some $ out of their 401K's (for financial help & to salvage something) without any penalties.

I here so many people talking about having their money stuck in a 401k and having to let it ride the stock market. This is simply not correct. You are free to change around your investments without penalty. Typically, this means that as you get closer to retirement, you move your money from risky investments (like the stock market) to less risky investments like bonds and money markets.

While I certainly have no intention to swap out of stocks at this point, you are free to do so without penalty.

In general you really haven't lost anything as long as you do not lock in your losses by pulling out now.

The market of course will go back up.

If you are near retirement and need to start pulling it out then there would be more concern.

I'm actually increasing my contribution soon while prices are low to try to make up for the 6-9 months of growth we've lost.

Agreed. This is the time to buy, in my opinion. Stocks are on sale.

Yes, watching 40% of our retirement savings vanish has been very distressing. And it doesn't help when some bozo at work tells his story again of how he had a feeling and pulled everything out of stocks and funds and put it into cash investments in January 2008. Phfft.

I think we all have a bit of animosity (or at least jealousy) toward people who have better timing than we do. I know that I wish that I had pulled everything out of the stock market last January and dumped it back in right now. Hindsight is funny that way.

... Didn't we all know deep in our minds and hearts the bubble would burst? Seems like people have talked about this day for several years now. It is happening...it feels like a slow death to me.

I remember the talking heads forecasting a fall when the Dow hit 7,000.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

...I remember the talking heads forecasting a fall when the Dow hit 7,000.

Think about it. If we had all gotten out then and invested in something else, we would all be much better off. It hit $7k in 1997. That would have given us 11+ years to make money in other areas. Maybe they were right?

 

[geffric]

I only looked at ONE account. I lost 60%.
I will never be able to retire.

If you have your health and your family, this is no big deal. If we have to work longer, or if this means not being able to retire at all, it need not get us down. We just need to start calculating our wealth in family and friends again. Just keep in mind, for all our losses, we are still so much better off than most...

Its not just retirement funds, my kids college money is pretty much gone also. At least me 2 dses have time to gain some of it back but not my dd.

okay I need to add my 2 cents.. and it is in todays market only 2 cents.. LOL..

DS#1 is leaving for college in the fall and has lost 40% of his college fund, DS#2 is only 2 years away, I got laid off from my job, and an old and only 6 years from retirment, and not only have I lost 40% of my retirement fund - 401K value and stock investments, I have lost ability to work to make it up, and so join the club..

On the brighter side... I will eventually find a job but prob at a much lower income and DS#1 and DS#2 will have lots of loans for college and we will go on..

best investment - DVC- bought back in early 90s, have prepaid vacations and if I need money, i can sell it and make some money..much more than anything else..

 

[4nana]

Know you're not alone, I don't know anyone who hasn't lost bunches ! DH is retired, we thought we were diversified, however still lost 50%. Now we've put balance in safe keeping, and will buy back when things hit rock bottom and hopefully ride the wave up, if there is even time in our lives . Like many, our adult kids are very concerned, as the investments they were banking on for grands college have taken a beating.

Thankfully DH and I live responsibility within our means and have little debt, so can currently make ends meet and I have a home business to bring in xtra $$'s. However, the 401K we'd struggled to save for yrs., were counting on in this phase of our lives, won't help us today. We've been thru recessions before, but this time is much worse and sadly is here to stay for awhile. Meanwhile, we'll roll with the punches, keep thinking positive and count our many blessings...we have a nice home, descent pension/SS (we hope and pray we can count on), good health ins., all the basic necessities, and most of all a loving family. Life will go on and in time this too shall pass.

We're all in the same boat, we need to think positive and keep the faith ^i^

 

[debden]

I can imagine how awful this must be.My sister just e-mailed me to say she just looked at her 401k that she had for 30 plus years now and half of it was gone!!
She was horrified.And very upset.
Now she wants to pull the rest out before she loses all of it.....
The experts say leave it in if you have another 15-20 years to recoup but that's easy to say.

 

[LindaG4458]

We've lost half of the 401k's and we are retired. DH collects social security but I don't qualify for another 1.5 years. I am very depressed. We were in Walmart this morning and there was an elderly woman running a cash register. I had visions of myself in about five years.

At least we are in FL where the sun is shining and there is no snow. If we were in NH with the snow and cold it would be worse.

If the worst happens we will sell our NH home (where we have residency) and stay in FL full time.

 

[NotUrsula]

I foresee a whole "bubble" of folks having to postpone retirement until we're nearly 80.

I haven't looked at my retirement accounts lately but I know that it won't be good -- I really didn't start putting into them in a big way until 10 years ago when my Mom died, because before then I had to support her. I just hope like hell that my health holds out long enough that my kids won't end up in the same position, thanks to all these big losses.

Holding on for the long-term and waiting for the rebound sounds sensible, but what if your money was in something like Lehman Bros? Stocks don't rebound from zero.

 

[Handbag Lady]

A TRUE Bailout plan would allow people to take some $ out of their 401K's (for financial help & to salvage something) without any penalties.

YEAH!!!!!!! We would be able to take out money we are already losing (so we'll stop losing it) and buy a house now that they are less expensive. We either have enough for 20% or the closing costs but not both.

 

[HakunaMatata2]

If you have your health and your family, this is no big deal. If we have to work longer, or if this means not being able to retire at all, it need not get us down. We just need to start calculating our wealth in family and friends again. Just keep in mind, for all our losses, we are still so much better off than most...

You're right! It might not be as bad for those folks close to retirement working a few more years, but each job retained by these folks is one less available for those graduating and trying to enter the job market.