« previous next »
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: 401k pain  (Read 3115 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline rich_t

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7942
  • Reputation: +386/-429
  • TANSTAAFL
401k pain
« on: November 27, 2008, 09:20:01 PM »
Ok be honest.... how well has your 401k investments fared in the last 12 months?

Mine is down 34.9% as of today.

I blame me.  I failed to get out of the higher risk options early enough.




Logged
"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." --Norman Thomas, 1944

Offline Lacarnut

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4154
  • Reputation: +316/-315
Re: 401k pain
« Reply #1 on: November 27, 2008, 10:08:50 PM »
Mine is down around 25%. Been in cash for the last 2 months earning a measly 4.5%. That's better than losing; I think the stock market will be in a funk most of next year.
Logged

Offline rich_t

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7942
  • Reputation: +386/-429
  • TANSTAAFL
Re: 401k pain
« Reply #2 on: November 27, 2008, 10:12:16 PM »
Quote from: Lacarnut on November 27, 2008, 10:08:50 PM
Mine is down around 25%. Been in cash for the last 2 months earning a measly 4.5%. That's better than losing; I think the stock market will be in a funk most of next year.

I agree.  We do live in interesting times.
Logged
"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." --Norman Thomas, 1944

Offline Miss Mia

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8052
  • Reputation: +353/-137
Re: 401k pain
« Reply #3 on: November 27, 2008, 10:16:51 PM »
I'm not sure.  I'm not looking.  LOL!

I really don't worry much, because I'm only 28.  I just keep a positive outlook and think "hey, I'm buying cheap right now."


My mom lost a lot.  She had been planning on retiring in May, but that'll have to be put on hold for a little while.
« Last Edit: November 27, 2008, 11:16:24 PM by Miss Mia »
Logged
Stink Eye
"Bloodninja: It doesn't get any more serious than a Rhinocerus about to charge your ass."

Offline djones520

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4207
  • Reputation: +181/-146
Re: 401k pain
« Reply #4 on: November 27, 2008, 10:59:30 PM »
I have a TSP, which is the equivalent of a 401K for Federal Employees.  I've kept all of mine in the lowest growth fund so I'm hoping that it hasn't been hit to hard.  Luckily though, I wasn't planning on touching it for another 30-40 years so I've got plenty of time to rebuild whatever may have been lost with this current economic situation.
Logged
"Chuck Norris once had sex in an 18 wheeler. Some of his semen dripped onto the engine. We now call that truck Optimus Prime."

Offline NHSparky

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24431
  • Reputation: +1278/-617
  • Where are you going? I was gonna make espresso!
Re: 401k pain
« Reply #5 on: November 28, 2008, 09:13:54 AM »
About 30 percent.  But then again, I lost nearly that percentage in 2000-01, and saw it shoot right back.

Unless you're retiring in the next 4 years, it's all good.
Logged
“Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him better take a closer look at the American Indian.”  -Henry Ford

Offline Chris_

  • Little Lebowski Urban Achiever
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 46845
  • Reputation: +2028/-266
Re: 401k pain
« Reply #6 on: November 28, 2008, 09:55:21 AM »
Quote from: djones520 on November 27, 2008, 10:59:30 PM
I have a TSP, which is the equivalent of a 401K for Federal Employees.  I've kept all of mine in the lowest growth fund so I'm hoping that it hasn't been hit to hard.  Luckily though, I wasn't planning on touching it for another 30-40 years so I've got plenty of time to rebuild whatever may have been lost with this current economic situation.
Well, I lost $70,000 in the last 6 months.  But, like you, I am in it for the long haul.  It hurts but it will come back.  That won't happen until we kick out the incoming fuhrer, though.
Logged
If you want to worship an orange pile of garbage with a reckless disregard for everything, get on down to Arbys & try our loaded curly fries.

Offline Strider

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 194
  • Reputation: +26/-3
Re: 401k pain
« Reply #7 on: November 28, 2008, 08:50:04 PM »
Quote from: freedumb2003 on November 28, 2008, 09:55:21 AM
Well, I lost $70,000 in the last 6 months.  But, like you, I am in it for the long haul.  It hurts but it will come back.  That won't happen until we kick out the incoming fuhrer, though.
Yep...
Let er ride....
I was down at the bottom to the tune of 80%...all my friends were panic selling and thought I was crazy for staying in, but the damage had been done and a sell would have been a for sure loss....as of today I am back up 30%.....
Logged

Offline Rick

  • Crazy old man
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 825
  • Reputation: +74/-9
Re: 401k pain
« Reply #8 on: November 28, 2008, 08:55:47 PM »

I am down "only" 20%. I too have stayed and have upped my contribution to $500 a month.
Logged

Offline djones520

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4207
  • Reputation: +181/-146
Re: 401k pain
« Reply #9 on: November 28, 2008, 08:57:18 PM »
God I'm afraid to see how much mine dropped now.  The fund that I have mine in hasn't lost money on a yearly average since the TSP was created (not knowing what this years effects are), so I'm hoping it wasn't much.
Logged
"Chuck Norris once had sex in an 18 wheeler. Some of his semen dripped onto the engine. We now call that truck Optimus Prime."

Offline Strider

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 194
  • Reputation: +26/-3
Re: 401k pain
« Reply #10 on: November 29, 2008, 12:24:03 PM »
Quote from: BadCat on November 29, 2008, 11:08:19 AM
Mine is up 3.5%
But I sold every stock I had when the Dow was around 13400 and put it into safe interest bearing bonds.
Smart move...wish I had...but the thing that escapes me is why so many sold at the bottom,I know fear of the unknown was a driving factor but at some point common sense has to prevail...
imho the short sellers were the driving force for the massive drop in the dow (wish I had been smart enough to jump on board with them) but at some point they had to release thier grip on the market and I am thinking that is what has happened. Shorting at the levels we have seen in the past few months carries alot of risk, buying long has a bottom, short selling doesn't
Logged

Offline JohnnyReb

  • In Memoriam
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 32063
  • Reputation: +1997/-134
Re: 401k pain
« Reply #11 on: November 30, 2008, 06:30:58 AM »
Don't know what I've lost because I ain't sold nothing. My attitude is, "It's all on paper until you sell."
Logged
“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of ‘liberalism’, they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.” - Norman Thomas, U.S. Socialist Party presidential candidate 1940, 1944 and 1948

"America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within."  Stalin

Offline Baruch Menachem

  • In a handbasket, heading to a warm destination
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1019
  • Reputation: +37/-18
  • do the best you can with what you can
Re: 401k pain
« Reply #12 on: December 02, 2008, 07:45:34 AM »
totally blown.   I don't even look anymore.  Of course most of it was blown when I had my troubles last year.  What is left over isn't even worth ignoring.
Logged
An optimist sees the glass as half full, a pessimist sees the glass as half empty, an engineer sees that there is twice the glass required to contain the beer

My name is Obamandias, King of Kings, 
  Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Pages: [1]   Go Up
« previous next »