i never got a response for this (Question about rebalancing)

[Blue Collar Guy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan From Investopedia Rebalancing

but i had the "i rebalanced to 100 % stocks during the downturn" posts confusing me, its been cleared up now, thanks

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Collar Guy but i had the "i rebalanced to 100 % stocks during the downturn" posts confusing me, its been cleared up now, thanks

And you were right to question anyone who said that, that's not rebalancing. It's market timing unless it was part of the investors plan beforehand.

[NW-Bound]

Never could do 100% stock. I did buy quite a bit to raise stock AA in early 2009, which was the right time. But then, when I got some good gains during the recovery in late 2009, started to sell too soon as I was afraid of a W-shaped market performance. I keep records of everything, and now look back and kick myself for not hanging on these good buys.

Woulda, shoulda. Well, the market may just give us another chance to prove our mettle. Didn't I hear a "Wh***" recently?

[Chuckanut]

What MidPack said in reply #14.....

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack And you were right to question anyone who said that, that's not rebalancing. It's market timing unless it was part of the investors plan beforehand.

+1

[Animorph]

I don't remember anyone here increasing their stock allocation percentage in 2008, though I'm not known for my memory. I thought a few did the opposite, or couldn't stand even normal rebalancing into equities.

In my case, I had no bonds but had gone to 30% cash in 2007 just before retiring. Excluding the cash I was 100% equities, and that was my long-term allocation. I was concerned not so much about housing but the negative savings rate, and a possible downturn right as I retired.

During 2008 & 2009 I used chunks of cash to buy equities algorithmically as the market reached new lows. At the final 2009 low I was about out of cash, other than a few months of living expenses. So I was always sort of "100% equities", just adding to them from cash that was never part of my long-term allocation plan.

[NW-Bound]

Quite a few including myself did buy in late 2008, but as FIREd said (he was FIREDreamer then), it was like "throwing money into an abyss" as the market kept on diving deeper and deeper.

I made a few posts crying "Buy, Buy,Buy", which later became an anemic "buy, buy, buy".

Yep, I did buy, but then sold too soon. Darn!

Do we want to have another chance?

[SpinDr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Yes, but the oldtimer regulars here are a pretty tight knit group, and we remember exactly what other oldtimer regulars were saying in 2008-2009 (even if they deleted it or had it deleted afterwards). Some were basically holding hands, verbally speaking, pretty scared, and urging others to hang tight. Others were posting wildly about selling everything and going to cash. There are a few of those who sold low and who do admit it freely. I think that is really admirable, because others can learn from this sort of post.

It must have been interesting times around here during that period! Did it seem that the mutual support among the members helped keep many folks from making rash moves that would have hurt them in the long run? I was not aware of this board at the time and luckily held tight and kept buying which worked out in the end. Being a bit younger, and being able to ride it out, though, is bit different from being close to retirement and having less time to mend a wounded portfolio.

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Yes, but the oldtimer regulars here are a pretty tight knit group, and we remember exactly what other oldtimer regulars were saying in 2008-2009 (even if they deleted it or had it deleted afterwards). Some were basically holding hands, verbally speaking, pretty scared, and urging others to hang tight. Others were posting wildly about selling everything and going to cash. There are a few of those who sold low and who do admit it freely. I think that is really admirable, because others can learn from this sort of post.

Oh, I wasn't trying to pin the tail on anyone in particular. And this thread is not even the the type that is most prone to this kind of "survivor bias." But I still think that human nature makes seeking this kind kind of information on internet forums not just futile, but probably misleading. The plural of "anecdote" is not "data."

[Fedup]

I wish I can find the old thread. I want to see who panicked and who didn't. Just out of curiosity.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpinDr It must have been interesting times around here during that period! Did it seem that the mutual support among the members helped keep many folks from making rash moves that would have hurt them in the long run? I was not aware of this board at the time and luckily held tight and kept buying which worked out in the end. Being a bit younger, and being able to ride it out, though, is bit different from being close to retirement and having less time to mend a wounded portfolio.

Those who found it "really different" were those of us who were retired with no other source of income other than our portfolio.

Here are a few threads dating back to the "market unpleasantness" of 08/09:

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...-it-42983.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ere-42912.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...now-42982.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ion-43026.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ing-42869.html

[SecondCor521]

As I've written many times before, my AA was 100% stock index funds from at the latest in the early 1990's until June 2016, when I moved to 90%/10% stock/bond index funds. My investing plan calls for anywhere between 90/10 and 95/5.

So in the case of 2009 (and 2000), I held all the way down and all the way back. I was working at that time, so I was also buying into the market with my 401k and IRA contributions, which I always made as soon as possible regardless of market valuation.

Generally I have ice in my veins - because I'm an idiot. But I do remember the depths of 2009 wondering if maybe this time it was different. But I mull things over for long periods of time, so by the time I had any notion about changing things, the market had started its recovery.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpinDr It must have been interesting times around here during that period! Did it seem that the mutual support among the members helped keep many folks from making rash moves that would have hurt them in the long run?

I thought it did. Maybe I was reading things into various posts, but I felt like going through this created closer friendships too. We faced the same awful situation and got through it together.

[SpinDr]

The "It's a Depression... Have Fun with It!" thread looks like a pretty great example of Gallows Humor : )

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Those who found it "really different" were those of us who were retired with no other source of income other than our portfolio. Here are a few threads dating back to the "market unpleasantness" of 08/09: http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...-it-42983.html http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ere-42912.html http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...now-42982.html http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ion-43026.html http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ing-42869.html

That's a great list of threads! Even though the market bottom was in 3/2009, I felt like many of us were numb by that time, and were even worse off around maybe 10/2008 and 11/2008.

Here's a thread from that time that I thought was poignant:
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ach-40692.html

[splitwdw]

It may just be semantics. That person didn't say they "rebalanced" to 100% stocks. There are oops and typo on most of the threads. Half the time there are words left out of sentences and I can't figure out what some people are saying. Some people on this forum don't read ever post in a thread and give the same answer that's already been posted or maybe the person is away. Why is it so important to know if they changed from 100% stocks.

[Blue Collar Guy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Those who found it "really different" were those of us who were retired with no other source of income other than our portfolio. Here are a few threads dating back to the "market unpleasantness" of 08/09: http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...-it-42983.html http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ere-42912.html http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...now-42982.html http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ion-43026.html http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ing-42869.html

i read one of the links above and i read a ton of people bragging about their stockpiles of cash , so it seems that rebalancing was not done by many, at least during the crash, i havent done it yet as i just moved out of the accumulation (100% equities) stage, but as i said earlier i got my answer about the "i rebalanced and im now at 100 % equities statements. during 2007-2009 crash i kept dollar cost averaging, from my paycheck, pension excess, & lump sum distribution. the i now have 10 years of cash on hand, and the i just went to 100 % equities ill take with a grain of salt.

[splitwdw]

Rewahoo, Thanks for the links. I like to see what the thoughts were of the people that were posting.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R . Here's a thread from that time that I thought was poignant: http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ach-40692.html

Interesting to note that 1/3 of the members posting to that thread are no longer on the board...

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Interesting to note that 1/3 of the members posting to that thread are no longer on the board...

I try not to wonder what happened to them.