Comments on: “Stay the Course” is Becoming a Hard Pill to Swallow in This Market http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/ Helping a unique generation achieve financial independence. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:51:06 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Jeremy http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-104732 Jeremy Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:44:41 +0000 http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-104732 My compassion isn't lacking, but my patience with repeated comments is. If you personally feel there is little evidence of a recovery, that's fine. A lot of people would agree. But even you say "near future" and you're speaking for a demographic that is in a position to rely on this money in just a few years. So if you're 50+ and have most of your money in stocks, and subsequently lost a lot of it recently, then sure, you probably shouldn't stay the course because it's something you shouldn't have been in to begin with. But this site targets mainly the 30-something crowd, not the boomers who are just a few years from retirement. So, the advice here is going to address those concerns. If readers typically have 30+ years until full retirement, then yes, sticking with your investment plan and continuing to invest is still the best advice. If I were to write something for the older generation, obviously it's going to depend on a lot of things. Some people are 65 and invested mostly in stocks and just fine with the losses, while others can't afford to lose even 1% of their money. But those generally aren't the average reader. My compassion isn’t lacking, but my patience with repeated comments is.

If you personally feel there is little evidence of a recovery, that’s fine. A lot of people would agree. But even you say “near future” and you’re speaking for a demographic that is in a position to rely on this money in just a few years. So if you’re 50+ and have most of your money in stocks, and subsequently lost a lot of it recently, then sure, you probably shouldn’t stay the course because it’s something you shouldn’t have been in to begin with.

But this site targets mainly the 30-something crowd, not the boomers who are just a few years from retirement. So, the advice here is going to address those concerns. If readers typically have 30+ years until full retirement, then yes, sticking with your investment plan and continuing to invest is still the best advice. If I were to write something for the older generation, obviously it’s going to depend on a lot of things. Some people are 65 and invested mostly in stocks and just fine with the losses, while others can’t afford to lose even 1% of their money. But those generally aren’t the average reader.

]]> By: Terry Wasson http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-104730 Terry Wasson Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:00:04 +0000 http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-104730 Jeremy, Your compassion is certainly lacking. I lost 27% after years of being well diversified. I’ve watched With a sick felling in my gut people following the pack and staying in with little chance of recovery. Every so called expert advises everyone to Stay In or you will miss the greatest upswing in history . I see little evidence of an upswing in the near future. Most investors are not savvy enough to chart their own investments and must depend on advisors who will never ever advise anyone to get to while they still have some money. I watch the greedy sharks buying even more convinced they are getting a bargain and making fun of people who get out to Save what little they had left. The truth as I see it: The market may not be a bargain and value may be actually near the correct amount after years of Unrealistic highs. Everyone should at least consider perhaps we are facing many years of declines and you may never Recover. Of course you will be there to point out it is their own fault . Jeremy,

Your compassion is certainly lacking. I lost 27% after years of being well diversified. I’ve watched
With a sick felling in my gut people following the pack and staying in with little chance of recovery.
Every so called expert advises everyone to Stay In or you will miss the greatest upswing in history .
I see little evidence of an upswing in the near future. Most investors are not savvy enough to chart their own investments
and must depend on advisors who will never ever advise anyone to get to while they still have some money.
I watch the greedy sharks buying even more convinced they are getting a bargain and making fun of people who get out to
Save what little they had left.
The truth as I see it: The market may not be a bargain and value may be actually near the correct amount after years of
Unrealistic highs. Everyone should at least consider perhaps we are facing many years of declines and you may never
Recover. Of course you will be there to point out it is their own fault .

]]> By: Jeremy http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-104676 Jeremy Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:48:14 +0000 http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-104676 Terry, if you're 60 and lost a lot of money that you don't have time to get back, that's your own fault (or your financial planner's fault if they are managing your investments). Someone 60 and in a position to rely on that money in a few years should be invested in a way that protects principal and generates income, not gambling heavily on stocks. If you were taking on more risk than you were comfortable with at that age, well, that was a mistake. Terry, if you’re 60 and lost a lot of money that you don’t have time to get back, that’s your own fault (or your financial planner’s fault if they are managing your investments). Someone 60 and in a position to rely on that money in a few years should be invested in a way that protects principal and generates income, not gambling heavily on stocks. If you were taking on more risk than you were comfortable with at that age, well, that was a mistake.

]]> By: Terry Wasson http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-104660 Terry Wasson Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:06:58 +0000 http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-104660 The only suggestion ever given is to “Ride it Out”. I am 60 years old and I lost a very large amount of money that will never come back. To encourage people to keep investing may totally ruin some lives. If you are over 50 there is a very strong chance you will be dead by the time we recover. I see little evidence of a recovery anytime soon and much more capital may be lost. There is surely a point where the loss is so great that you will never recover. The always used line that historically the market always recovers may be not accurate for today’s not so typical market. I personally will never invest again. I prefer to keep at least something to retire on and not gamble it in a very uncertain market. I’m fully aware some of you will label me stupid and call me too weak to be in the mutual funds. I hope I am wrong and those of you that stay with the “Ride it out crowd” don’t regret your choice. I simply do not trust the market today and doubt I ever will. The only suggestion ever given is to
“Ride it Out”. I am 60 years old and I lost a very large amount of money that will never come back. To encourage
people to keep investing may totally ruin some lives.
If you are over 50 there is a very strong chance you will be dead by the time we recover.
I see little evidence of a recovery anytime soon and much more capital may be lost. There is surely a point where the loss is
so great that you will never recover. The always used line that historically the market always recovers may be not
accurate for today’s not so typical market. I personally will never invest again. I prefer to keep at least something to
retire on and not gamble it in a very uncertain market. I’m fully aware some of you will label me stupid and call me too weak to
be in the mutual funds. I hope I am wrong and those of you that stay with the “Ride it out crowd” don’t regret your choice.
I simply do not trust the market today and doubt I ever will.

]]> By: 5 Year-End Financial Tips to Make 2009 Your Best Year Ever : Generation X Finance http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-99279 5 Year-End Financial Tips to Make 2009 Your Best Year Ever : Generation X Finance Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:41:00 +0000 http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-99279 [...] this year. This has a lot of people second guessing their investment strategy, and even worse, causing people to get out of the market completely. While I can’t telll you how you should be investing, you should at least use this time to [...] [...] this year. This has a lot of people second guessing their investment strategy, and even worse, causing people to get out of the market completely. While I can’t telll you how you should be investing, you should at least use this time to [...]

]]> By: David http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-91391 David Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:53:41 +0000 http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-91391 Good article. These are certainly some trying times. I was always of the mentality that over the long haul (15-20) years the market outperformed other investments by 1-3% a year (though a bit more volitile) and so you were wise to slowly dollar cost average into it. Therefore, although I work really hard and make a decent living, I've been frugal and putting almost all of my extra money into broad based index funds and emerging markets and thinking that with 30+ years to retirement over the long run I'd slowly win to it. (I'm 30 and had about 300k put away in all.) But now to think that it's all down ~40% (emerging markets doing worse than S&P) and that I've lost over 120k makes me feel sick at times. Hopefully we rebound, but with all this talk of recession and such I don't see us bouncing back for 4-5 years at best. I guess my point is that I just feel that I was unlucky (or robbed) to build up all my savings over the last 6 years, only to lose a huge chuck in this crash in 8 weeks?! Just bad luck/timing I guess. Good article. These are certainly some trying times. I was always of the mentality that over the long haul (15-20) years the market outperformed other investments by 1-3% a year (though a bit more volitile) and so you were wise to slowly dollar cost average into it. Therefore, although I work really hard and make a decent living, I’ve been frugal and putting almost all of my extra money into broad based index funds and emerging markets and thinking that with 30+ years to retirement over the long run I’d slowly win to it. (I’m 30 and had about 300k put away in all.) But now to think that it’s all down ~40% (emerging markets doing worse than S&P) and that I’ve lost over 120k makes me feel sick at times. Hopefully we rebound, but with all this talk of recession and such I don’t see us bouncing back for 4-5 years at best.

I guess my point is that I just feel that I was unlucky (or robbed) to build up all my savings over the last 6 years, only to lose a huge chuck in this crash in 8 weeks?! Just bad luck/timing I guess.

]]> By: Carnivals In the Week of October 5th http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-90218 Carnivals In the Week of October 5th Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:04:28 +0000 http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-90218 [...] blog post that I’d like to highlight form this past week was “Stay the Course” is Becoming a Hard Pill to Swallow in This Market at Generation X Finance. This is a really good post that points out that staying the course is [...] [...] blog post that I’d like to highlight form this past week was “Stay the Course” is Becoming a Hard Pill to Swallow in This Market at Generation X Finance. This is a really good post that points out that staying the course is [...]

]]> By: Poll: Have Recent Market Conditions Caused You to Make Any Investment Changes? : Generation X Finance http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-90125 Poll: Have Recent Market Conditions Caused You to Make Any Investment Changes? : Generation X Finance Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:20:47 +0000 http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-90125 [...] up on deeply discounted stocks. And of course, you have those who are just plugging away and staying the course, regardless of how hard it is to [...] [...] up on deeply discounted stocks. And of course, you have those who are just plugging away and staying the course, regardless of how hard it is to [...]

]]> By: Weekly Roundup - Garage Sale Edition | Cash Money Life | Cash Money Life http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-90005 Weekly Roundup - Garage Sale Edition | Cash Money Life | Cash Money Life Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:06:45 +0000 http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-90005 [...] “Stay the Course” is Becoming a Hard Pill to Swallow in This Market. [...] [...] “Stay the Course” is Becoming a Hard Pill to Swallow in This Market. [...]

]]> By: Book Giveaway Winner and Thanksgiving Links - Oct 12, 2008 http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-89992 Book Giveaway Winner and Thanksgiving Links - Oct 12, 2008 Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:30:43 +0000 http://genxfinance.com/2008/10/07/stay-the-course-is-becoming-a-hard-pill-to-swallow-in-this-market/#comment-89992 [...] Generation X Finance being an advisor says that “Stay the Course” is Becoming a Hard Pill to Swallow in This Market. [...] [...] Generation X Finance being an advisor says that “Stay the Course” is Becoming a Hard Pill to Swallow in This Market. [...]

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