"I lost $25K today"--Does it really feel like that?

[scrabbler1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redduck But back to the OP's original question: I lost $25K today"--Does it really feel like that? I imagine for many of those who lost $25K today, it might have felt like they lost that amount. And, tomorrow, if another $25K is lost, I imagine it may feel like they lost more than that--especially if they are in the distribution stage. Maybe some of those with first-hand knowledge will chime in (or not).

I "lost" $16k today but it had no effect on the monthly bond fund distributions I receive to cover my expenses. The number of cents per share in the August distribution was almost identical to the July distribution, so the total dollar amount was also nearly the same. For me, that cents per share in my main bond fund is the number most important. And I pay close attention to the fractional amount, too, because I won just over 52,000 shares. Even an extra one-tenth of a penny translates to $52 more coming to me.

I also get a stock fund distribution every 3 months or so to supplement the monthly bond fund distributions. The next one of those will occur in early October. But once again, the daily fluctuations in the price of a share are far less important to me than the number of cents per share in the upcoming distribution.

[NW-Bound]

Yep, another day when it would be nice to "lose" only $25K. Darn!

I have never misplaced $25K, have it dropped off my car, or totaled a $25K car with no insurance, so I do not know what really losing $25K feels like. But I think the OP is right, that losing the money in the market does not hurt as much. It's because I am still giving up the gain, not my principal. Not yet.

Anyway, all the MFs and wife's 401k result are in. Stock down -2.78%, and MFs down -2.27% vs. S&P at -2.96%. Total portfolio down -1.65% vs. Wellington at -1.80%. Perhaps I should be happy I beat these benchmarks.

And Mulligan keeps taunting us with his preferred stocks.

[ejman]

Let's see, down 1.48% today. Interesting how psychology (mine anyway) works. If I'm down considerably less than the S&P on a downer of a day such as today (as I should be with a 50/50 nominal) I feel I'm doing alright and dodged a bullet. Now when the market goes up and again I get my usual 1/2 of the days action I just shrug and feel OK because I tell myself I'm exchanging volatility for a conservative stance of hanging on to my retirement nut... Funny the games we play.

[NW-Bound]

I am greedy. In a bear market, I want to drop less than the S&P. In a bull market, I want to match it, even if I am not fully invested.

[ejman]

Yes, I too would like the key to the Lake Wobegon approach, where all investors are above average...

[NW-Bound]

I did it during the Great Recession. See: http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ion-72184.html. I shall try again.

[NW-Bound]

OK, here we go. Today, my winning streak against Wellington ends.

My stocks up 1.44% and my MFs up 1.22% vs S&P 1.83%.

Total portfolio up 0.85% vs. Wellington 1.00%.

[ejman]

I determined long ago that if I just did a 50/50 Wellesley/ Wellington portfolio with occasional rebalancing I would have done better than all the turning and twisting and slicing and dicing and pretzelizing I've done over the years. But what's the fun in that?

[NW-Bound]

May I suggest just a bit of a leveraged ETF, bull or bear depending on your mood, to add spice to life? They move at 3x the speed of their underlying index, and some indices may move at 2x the speed of the S&P. Oh là là!

You can eat something as benign as jalapeno with a Scoville rating of 4,000, or you can just nibble on habanero (100,000+ SHU), or the ultimate California Reaper topping out at 2,000,000 Scoville rating.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound May I suggest just a bit of a leveraged ETF, bull or bear depending on your mood, to add spice to life? They move at 3x the speed of their underlying index, and some indices may move at 2x the speed of the S&P. Oh là là! You can eat something as benign as jalapeno with a Scoville rating of 4,000, or you can just nibble on habanero (100,000+ SHU), or the ultimate California Reaper topping out at 2,000,000 Scoville rating.

You mean the famous Carolina Reaper?

[HFWR]

Seasons don't fear the reaper...

[MichaelB]

Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain