I was 13 in 1973 when we started lining up for gas and our family darn near became vegetarians due to the rising price of meat. (I wish I'd saved my "Whip Inflation Now!" button.) By the time I hit college, stocks were dead and everyone was investing in hard assets like gold, diamonds, & collectibles. In 1981 I had a
checking account paying 10% interest.
1987's "Black Monday" was just a blip on our financial radar. We were too busy with our lives so we just rounded up all our spare change, dumped it into our mutual funds, and went back to our normal daily activities. That was probably the cornerstone of our ER portfolio.
I was too busy with work in the 1990s to devote any time to considering the potential of the Internet gold rush, but the 2000-2001 markets sure got our attention. I ER'd in June 2002, just in time for the gut checks of July and October.
Last week will probably be another blip on our financial radar.
The great depression, hands down. Hated every minute.
I think Al's referring to the gazillions of times our parents & grandparents have forced us to relive their experiences. They only had to go through the Depression once, but we've had to listen to their stories thousands of times and deal with the seemingly irrevocable changes that it seared into their behavior & attitudes.
For some reason nothing since then has succeeded in changing their minds about the life lessons formed during the Depression. I still can't get my father-in-law to deal with the effects of inflation on their retirement portfolio. "Safety now" is far more important to them than what their money will be worth in 25 years... maybe because they're counting on being able to use our money too!