Correction Imminent?

[REWahoo]

Yes, I survived, but I am running out of energy and strength to go another round. I am treading water in GNMA's for the time being, until it is safe to go into the water again.

I'm not sure if that "safe water" will show up again - at least not soon enough to be meaningful for most of us.

You can always buy some real estate and become a landlord...

 

[MichaelB]

Everybody here seems to be living in the future. For the people that want to invest in the here and now, and don't have time to recoup steep losses, is the stock market a sane choice?

We're all in the here and now, and the stock market is just as risky as it has always been.

 

[Lisa99]

Yes, I survived, but I am running out of energy and strength to go another round. I am treading water in GNMA's for the time being, until it is safe to go into the water again.

This is why I have a financial plan, with an asset allocation that I'm comfortable with and our money all in index funds.

I don't want to have to worry about when to get in, get out, or get under the table. And while this plan and investment approach has only been in place for 2.5 years, I fully expect it to work for us long term based on results so far.

 

[REWahoo]

This is why I have a financial plan, with an asset allocation that I'm comfortable with and our money all in index funds.

I don't want to have to worry about when to get in, get out, or get under the table.

+1

No need to bob, weave, zig or zag if you're strapped in and going along for the full ride.

 

[MichaelB]

Not if the asteroid hits first...

I think you have an asteroid fixation. The real danger is the satellites overhead, invading our minds and reading our thoughts. But there are solutions. Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie

 

[rembrandt]

With my luck, my tenants would stiff me on the rent, and the eviction costs would put me further in the hole. As you can see, I am a very optimistic person.

 

[REWahoo]

With my luck, my tenants would stiff me on the rent, and the eviction costs would put me further in the hole. As you can see, I am a very optimistic person.

You do paint quite a picture...

 

[bondi688]

This is why I have a financial plan, with an asset allocation that I'm comfortable with and our money all in index funds.

I don't want to have to worry about when to get in, get out, or get under the table. And while this plan and investment approach has only been in place for 2.5 years, I fully expect it to work for us long term based on results so far.

Your 2.5 years history reflected the bull run of S&P 500 that started in March, 2009, and is way too optimistic a gauge for the future. You may not know the stock market was essentially flat in most of the 70s. There were the Black Friday of 1987, bursting of the dotcom bubble in early 2000, 9/11 and the big collapse of 2008.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/historical/spx1960.html

 

[REWahoo]

I think you have an asteroid fixation.

Are you suggesting my asteroid needs fixing?

 

[Lisa99]

+1

No need to bob, weave, zig or zag if you're strapped in and going along for the full ride.

LOL. True!

 

[rembrandt]

bondi688 is the only one who seems to have a grasp on history.

 

[Lisa99]

It's great to understand history but us mere mortals have a much greater danger of running out of money by jumping in and out of the market rather than just staying the course Bogleheads style.

 

[REWahoo]

bondi688 is the only one who seems to have a grasp on history.

I disagree. I experienced each and every one of the events of 'market unpleasantness' he listed. I was able to buy shares at a discount.

 

[rembrandt]

Tell that to the Enron investors.

 

[REWahoo]

Tell that to the Enron investors.

OK, I get it. We're doomed.

 

[brewer12345]

bondi688 is the only one who seems to have a grasp on history.

Confirmation bias is a wonderful thing.

 

[MichaelB]

bondi688 is the only one who seems to have a grasp on history.

Experienced them all and also retired just before one of them, 12/99. That was fun, but we're still around.

The stock market isn't for everyone.

 

[rembrandt]

We are doomed, but somehow it doesn't feel so bad with an Absolut on the rocks in my hand.

 

[REWahoo]

We are doomed, but somehow it doesn't feel so bad with an Absolut on the rocks in my hand.

+1

 

[bondi688]

I disagree. I experienced each and every one of the events of 'market unpleasantness' he listed. I was able to buy shares at a discount.

I also took advantage of the big corrections and bought at those times, but that was when I was working. For most people in ER, they do not have free cash waiting on the sideline to put in, and the bear roam is not longer a buying opportunity but a stress test of your reserve. ( Hence that thread of how much cash to hold is useful, so you can ride out the bear market instead of selling in that environment to a Gen Xer, who then boasts how he benefited by buying at a discount.)

 

[ejman]

Whenever I start taking the doomsters too seriously I remember what this fellow had to say during practically my entire adult life. Granville Says Dow Industrial May Drop Toward 8,000 in 2012 - Bloomberg

If I had paid attention to him I would still be working

 

[Brett_Cameron]

Are you suggesting my asteroid needs fixing?

The have some good surgeries available, methinks.

 

[brewer12345]

I also took advantage of the big corrections and bought at those times, but that was when I was working. For most people in ER, they do not have free cash waiting on the sideline to put in, and the bear roam is not longer a buying opportunity but a stress test of your reserve. ( Hence that thread of how much cash to hold is useful, so you can ride out the bear market instead of selling in that environment to a Gen Xer, who then boasts how he benefited by buying at a discount.)

Ummm, that is why you want to hold other asset classes besides equities, hopefully relatively uncorrelated.

 

[rembrandt]

Here, here!

 

[bondi688]

Ummm, that is why you want to hold other asset classes besides equities, hopefully relatively uncorrelated.

My comment was not about asset allocation, but to address the point, previously, for some people in the accumulative phase, a bear market may be a buying opportunity, but that is not true for many who are in ER.