Why retirement savers are numb

[GoesTo11]

Looking over the last 6 months at the S&P 500 :

1 out of 3 days - It's gone down more than 2%
1 out of 4 days - It's gone down more than 3%
1 out of 6 days - it's gone down more than 4%
1 out of 10 days - it's gone down more than 5%
1 out of 20 days - it's gone down more than 6%
1 out of 30 days - it's gone down more than 7%
1 out of 40 days - it's gone down more than 8%

[havocmom]

1. and there is damned little time to come up with a new source of retirement $

lots of older people will be looking down the barrel of their gun

[emilyg]

2. So true. At the age

of 70 I feel panicky.

[GoesTo11]

4. I think a lot more people are going to have to figure out how to live as cheaply as possible.

Roommates? Hobbies and social activities that don't cost anything. That doesn't have to be the end of the world - I'd rather have a nice group of friends on a potluck picnic in the park than be stuck eating room service in a five-star hotel by myself. But there are some things that you really have to spend on or you lose. You have to be able to get healthcare. You have to be able to see your family or you lose a part of yourself. And if you have roommates, you and they had better be damn easy going to have it work after so many years of living the traditional American way.

I hope people can re-configure decent lives out of this. Networking is probably important. Maybe the internet can help. Sigh.

[emilyg]

6. I would be Ok if not for

almost totally supporting divorced daughter - the ex not working and no child support coming in.

[704wipes]

12. So maybe boarding houses will be back?

just a thought,,,,

[girl gone mad]

11. One way to look at it...

is that so many other folks are in the same boat, the COL is going to have to come down, in my opinion. Everything is negotiable in this economy, even doctor bills and groceries. Consumer deflation may not make up for investment losses, but it should help those on a fixed income (and who isn't on a fixed income, these days?).

[T Wolf]

3. We must face the fact that those dollars are GONE FOREVER and we will never recoup

those losses.

The end result is that we will be "short" x number of dollars whenever we retire.

For those about to retire, the effect will be a retirement at a much poorer standard of living, if retirement is possible at all. We just do not have time to recover.

For those still decades away, there is time to rebuild to a level better than expected now - but THOSE DOLLARS CAN NEVER BE RECOVERED! Your retirement will be less than what you anticipated a couple of years ago.

[GoesTo11]

5. Unless you got them as a bonus from Merrill Lynch

or Citi or AIG or Goldman or Lehman or .... Then the money is yours forever, because THOSE DOLLARS CAN NEVER BE RECOVERED and you laugh as you jet off to some tropical resort near your tax haven.


Anyway, I agree with how you are thinking about it. You have to see the world as it is. I was thinking that it's probably useful also to try to think about what we do have in life and be thankful for that and not about what we had or thought we would have or could have had. Easier in theory than in practice, though, on a day when another two months' worth of living expenses just disappeared forever.

[T Wolf]

7. Yeppers. A decade or so back, I stupidly invested my minimal IRA dollars in a cousin's

company (in the forefront of sub-prime lending). Over a year or so, it rose about 250% until I had almost $25k. Then, the feds looked into the "bookkeeping practices" of the CEO and whoops, there goes my IRA.

Of course, my cousin did not lose a penny because he sold his millions of dollars of shares before the stock crashed to nothing. Likewise the CEO and the rest of the big-wigs.

Lessons learned - don't invest with family; protect your principle; don't be greedy.

I don't obsess over the lost money because it is gone forever.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. INteresting the crash came just as the boomers were getting ready to collect

all that "safe, saved" money in the investment houses....

very interesting.

Those semi-forced 401 K and pension plans were a very long term sucker bet.

[Art_from_Ark]

13. I am thinking the same thing

401(k) plans seemed like just another pyramid scheme to me

[pansypoo53219]

9. i am investing in ebayables.

and ebaying. there are treasures in my grandma's hoard.

[Art_from_Ark]

10. Joining Cheney's New Economy, eh?

I'll be headed that way too before long. I sure hope there's a good market for lawn flamingos and cheap figurines :bounce:

[grasswire]

14. whatcha got?

I'm still looking.