Where were you in September 2008?

[mexexpat]

We were in the middle of concluding the purchase of our 1st home in Mexico. We were in the US and and watching the stock market slide with one eye and the currency markets with the other.

But it all worked out and here we are in 2018 living in our 2nd Mexican home.

 

[JoeWras]

One great example is cars - we had just upgraded to a newer used car with loan when the credit markets began freezing up and no one could get a loan. National talk about letting the big three go under. Ford motor stock hovered around $2 and if I had a few spare nickels I would have bought in.

...

Unfortunately- history repeats itself.

We're waiting for the next recession to buy a car. Hopefully, the next brand we buy will exist the following year.

DW has a Pontiac. Actually a NUMMI car. GM/Toyota killed NUMMI after the 2008 debacle. Fortunately, other GM brands still service it, although we have found it is a bit of an orphan of sorts and sometimes causes confusion or delay for things like recall.

 

[Dawg52]

Right!

Everybody at that time, if they are still here, will remember you as the poster who used the most in his posts.

When I pass at least I will be remembered for something.

 

[mystang52]

15th year of ER having been ballpark 60/40, Boglehead convert for a long time AND having gone more or less full auto via Target Retirement index fund in 2006 I 'stayed the course'.

heh heh heh - investor since 1966 I stayed calm Right? Nope. Gervous and Nerky I lurked on Bogleheads, here and other other forums, piddled with a few good stocks and watched football. Thus stalling my way to victory. Love the smell of full auto index funds.

I had been a low level corporate officer at AIG, so through stock options my $28,000 aggregate cost-basis had grown to a $70,000+ value. But I wasn't following the news (I was no longer employed there in 2008). On my computer at a coffee shop I read an article about AIG's financial troubles, so took a check of my stock holdings.

I don't recall exactly, but at that point they were worth maybe $3000. I made a mental note to check further when I got home, but forgot to do so. Literally in the next day or so they were worth about $900.

But I learned my lesson that being an individual stock-holder is not for me. After discussion with my Vanguard advisor, I sucked it up and sold the AIG stock, along with the rest of my stock holdings (I never had a lot, anyway) and became an Index investor. That AIG loss was painful, emotionally, but fortunately in the grand scheme of things it wasn't critical to my retirement plans.

 

[aja8888]

I was working and DW was too. She ended up losing her District Manager's job at a commercial real estate company and technically retired at that moment.

I was still consulting (oilfield mostly) and stayed well employed. I remember myself and a worker mate setting up a table of great companies with common stock was selling at under $10 per share. We were going to put $10K into each one and hold on, but never did (big, big mistake) (remember Ford at $1.40/share?)

Anyway, I decide to buy another house in our area for DD to live in and was bidding on foreclosures and bank repo's @ $60 square foot. I never hit on the one's I bid on, but did snag a 2,000 sq. ft., 3 year old brick ranch that was a rental for $120K. Beautiful house in a great Woodlands neighborhood. The house is now valued at about $220K +. I should have bought a few more!

 

[pacergal]

Both DH and I worked for govt. so luckily did not lose our jobs. So many people underwater on mortgages, foreclosures and job loses everywhere. Scary times. Didn't like opening my investment statements and seeing the numbers go down consistently, however, I clearly remember my Dad saying "the stock market will recover, give it time, Gains and losses are only on paper until you sell". He was my reassuring guiding hand. Thanks, Dad!
Retired a few years earlier than anticipated.

 

[JoeWras]

Anyway, I decide to buy another house in our area for DD to live in and was bidding on foreclosures and bank repo's @ $60 square foot. I never hit on the one's I bid on, but did snag a 2,000 sq. ft., 3 year old brick ranch that was a rental for $120K. Beautiful house in a great Woodlands neighborhood. The house is now valued at about $220K +. I should have bought a few more!

I'd like a ranch. A neighbor will be selling in 5 years. If there is a recession then, or a downturn right before (quite possible), will I have a fortitude and cash to buy it? I hope so. Right now, the market is way too hot.

 

[REWahoo]

I'd like a ranch.

How many acres are you looking for?

 

[45th Birthday]

I was just over two years post-FIRE at that point. Actual nadir in net worth occurred six months earlier in March. Since September 2008, NW up 54%. Don't remember being overly worried, but I had other things on my mind. Daughter had major surgery the month before and son was starting to look at colleges.

 

[Downtown]

I recall thinking it might be a good idea to have a bigger wad of cash lying around the house...just in case our bank’s ATM no longer functioned and credit cards stopped working, too (or the financial system completely collapsed altogether)! I never had such thoughts of financial Armageddon before. To this day, we keep some extra cash handy “just in case”. September 2008 was definitely a wake-up call.

 

[JoeWras]

How many acres are you looking for?

Oh, about 0.046 or so.

 

[gamboolman]

I was offshore Equatorial Guinea, West Africa for about 7 months straight before I went in to Texas to get a new neck installed, spinal fusion, C-5, C-6, C-7...about 1-1/2 months off...then back offshore for 8 months straight
Life of a glamorous International Oilfield worker...
Still in West Africa every GD day since to today....

 

[Another Reader]

I recall thinking it might be a good idea to have a bigger wad of cash lying around the house...just in case our bank’s ATM no longer functioned and credit cards stopped working, too (or the financial system completely collapsed altogether)! I never had such thoughts of financial Armageddon before. To this day, we keep some extra cash handy “just in case”. September 2008 was definitely a wake-up call.

Sometime in late September or October 2008, I had to move cash from one bank to another to pay a contractor. It was several thousand dollars. I wasn't sure what would happen if one of the banks failed while the money was up in the ether, mid-transfer,. Instead of doing it electronically, I went to Bank A, got the cash, stuffed it in my pocket, and drove to Bank B.

 

[kevdude]

I was in the middle of watching my industry basically implode - the financial sector and more specifically the lending aspect. I originated commercial real estate loans for the bank I worked for, but other institutions as well such as Wall Street firms and Life Insurance companies. All dried up. I went about 2 years without originating a single loan.

I live in the Seattle are and watched Washington Mutual fail - this was a huge deal for the local banking industry as WaMu is headquartered here. I had many friends that worked there, many laid off and many woke up working for JP Morgan Chase the next day.

All Wall Street firms that dealt with commercial real estate loans closed shop (the commercial real estate loan depts, that is) and all those employees were let go. The bank I worked for was a large regional bank with heavy exposure to home builders, so like many others we were given a Cease and Desist order and eventually took TARP money. Within about a year the bank was basically sold to two private equity companies and the govt was repaid $0.20 on the dollar for those funds. I maintained my employment, but took a 40% pay cut. Throughout this whole time all 401k matching was done with company stock that was basically worthless. At the time of the private equity infusion, all "legacy" stock was wiped out.

By this time, much of my job turned into working out construction loans that had gone bad. I was fortunate enough to be employed, but every day seemed like it could be the last.

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

Where were you in September 2008?

We are fast approaching the 10 year anniversary of what was for me the scariest financial news month ever.

I was seven years into my retirement. My farm was producing maple, honey, apples, herbs and fiddleheads. I was a vendor in a local Farmer's Market.

I also owned an apartment complex in another state that was yet full of tenants. We were confident that we could weather through the storm. My Net Worth was growing, I had one-degree of separation between myself and worry. My tenants had jobs and they paid me rent. So long as they were employed I had smooth sailing.

Little did I suspect that our tenants would soon lose their jobs.

 

[PatrickA5]

Had just quit my megacorp job at age 50 in July, 2008. DW decided to keep on working a few years, so we still had her salary. Also, our house was paid off so we didn't have to worry about losing our house. Our portfolio lost 30% in 2008.

Ten years later and DW is still working (can't get her to quit). Portfolio and Net Worth are 4 times what they were at the end of 2008, so I guess we fully recovered.

Actually, the great recession was not nearly as bad (for us) as the 2001 meltdown. Most of my 401K was lost as my company stock went from $50 to 50 cents in a matter of a few months - oh, and we couldn't sell it either.

 

[DrRoy]

I was working, ~8 years from RE, watching the series of train wrecks, and under stress from the losses.

 

[nhcycling]

Watching Mega Corp I worked for at the time go down ... in early 2009, three quarters of my division had been RIF’ed, including me. I was lucky to find a job a few weeks later, but took a 1/3 pay cut. Luckily didn’t take a huge hit on my portfolio like so many others, was invested conservatively at the time anticipating a decline. It scared me to think about ER after that.

 

[NYEXPAT]

I was sitting drinking coffee at Cafe Z in Lima Peru and waiting for spring!

 

[IMATERP]

I was sitting drinking coffee at Cafe Z in Lima Peru and waiting for spring!

I bought 1,000 shares of Lehman Brothers at 3:57p.m. prior to the weekend that they went into bankruptcy. I paid $1.06 a share and was certain that the Govt. would label them too big to fail. Needless to say, I was wrong and this poor decision quashed all future aggressiveness in the stock market. A cheap lesson to be learned but frustrating times.

I

 

[bigcmagor]

I'll add myself to the fazed group. On the personal front, we had bought our Florida home in March of 2008 at half of the listing price - thinking we stole it. It would continue downward another 30% in value. The 401k balance lost 20 years of employer matching funds and investment gains. Personal income was reduced by 80% during the worst of the crisis.


At work, we dropped from 364 employees to 220. Having to decide who stayed and who had to go was the worst part of the nightmare for me. The chest pains started every day around 2pm in the office and I got used to leaving at that time, figuring a heart attack wouldn't be a bad way to go. I just didn't want to do it at work.


My best friend and I built homes next to each other. He was a homebuilder. In early 2009 he would commit suicide so that his family could survive with the life insurance proceeds. I still live in mine and get a daily reminder of his decision as I walk out the door every day.


I envy those that came through the period un-fazed.

 

[Dtail]

I'll add myself to the fazed group. On the personal front, we had bought our Florida home in March of 2008 at half of the listing price - thinking we stole it. It would continue downward another 30% in value. The 401k balance lost 20 years of employer matching funds and investment gains. Personal income was reduced by 80% during the worst of the crisis.


At work, we dropped from 364 employees to 220. Having to decide who stayed and who had to go was the worst part of the nightmare for me. The chest pains started every day around 2pm in the office and I got used to leaving at that time, figuring a heart attack wouldn't be a bad way to go. I just didn't want to do it at work.


My best friend and I built homes next to each other. He was a homebuilder. In early 2009 he would commit suicide so that his family could survive with the life insurance proceeds. I still live in mine and get a daily reminder of his decision as I walk out the door every day.


I envy those that came through the period un-fazed.

Wow, that's all I can say.

 

[I was misinformed]

As a Financial Fraidy Cat (tm) my personal portfolio was rather insulated. My main concern was as the Director of a “soft money” academic research institute with 50+ employees. I tried to present them with a realistic a view of our possible future without causing panic.

In talking with one of our employees I managed to recall a bit of history that captured how I was feeling. In 1992 the French revolutionary forces at the Battle of Valmy won their first and very critical victory against the European coalition arrayed against them (in this instance the Prussian army). Goethe was actually an observer at the battle and did his best to comfort the Prussian officers afterwards by saying “Here and today, a new epoch in the history of the world has begun, and you can boast you were present at its birth.” Of course, in retrospect, the 2008 Financial Crisis turned out to be not quite as consequential as the French Revolution, but at the time I really wondered whether this would seriously disrupt the trajectory of history.

 

[walkinwood]

Thanks to all of you that have shared your experiences.


We had ER'd in May of '08. In early September, we were on a road trip from NJ to Chicago, Minneapolis, the Upper Peninsula of MI, Toronto & back via NH. Then a week at home and off to the UK and Germany (Hamburg).


I don't remember the failure of Fannie/Freddie affecting me much, but when Leahman collapsed just a couple of days before we were to leave for the UK, I started worrying. Most of the stock market damage (in my memory) occurred while we were in the UK and I was quite worried (understatement). DW and I decided to enjoy at least one year of "er" (it was definitely beginning to feel like a lower-case event) and then start looking for work to mend the portfolio.



Luckily, I made my "I'm an investing genius" back during the Internet boom days, so I was well diversified with no individual stocks in my portfolio and an AA that was right for our ER.


I re-balanced a bit in the early days, but then stopped. It was just too scary to move any more money into stocks. I did move funds to capture losses.

 

[imoldernu]

We were in Florida in our over 55 community. Already had 19 years of retirement and was safe, but remember that our community of 350 homes was still building and there were many new retirees caught in the middle. A nervous time for many.

A recent article brought to mind that financial "safety" may be a relative term.

The rate of those 65 and older filing for bankruptcy is three times what it was in 1991, a new study finds, as more enter their later years in a precarious position.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/too-little-too-late-bankruptcy-booms-among-older-americans/

An in depth analysis.