Reply #62: The stock market is not an atm [View All]

[quaker bill]

Lots of people who had every reason to believe they knew what they were doing, and even have the degrees to back them up, still lost money in the crash.

Personally I am up quite a bit YTD, but I do not do tax deferred investing, like a 401K. I want the freedom to pull all my money out when I feel the need to, without tax penalty. So, I pay the taxes on the money, then invest. Overall, over the last 20 years I have easily earned 5 times the principal invested. That being said, my current exposure to the stock market is modest. During the Bush administration, it made more financial sense to pay down my mortgage, as my savings in compound interest easily beat the potential earnings in the market.

Currently, even in this down market for real estate, I am very much right side up on my mortgage. It is still by far and away, the best investment I have ever made.