Just curious ????

[HFWR]

Ah yes, I'm very familiar with the interior decor style we all used to call Early Poverty.

Mid-century yard sale...

 

[rodi]

Ah yes, I'm very familiar with the interior decor style we all used to call Early Poverty.

Mid-century yard sale...

See - I always thought it was Eclectic Savation Army mixed with Early American Hand-me-down.

Still have some pieces that fit that style... They function and look ok...


As to the OP's question - first job that offered a 401k was in the mid 80's. I've been participating ever since. Mostly on auto pilot (not paying attention - just contributing via payroll.)

As for the market gyrations... I remember a younger coworker commenting in 1999 or early 2000 that he expected his money to double every 6 months... That rule had worked for him up till that point. But he'd only known the bubbly dot.com stuff... He thought I was harsh when I laughed. LOL.

 

[Eagle43]

Early 1982, thanks to Megacorp investment/retirement plans.

 

[Islandtraveler]

The first stock trade that I made was in 1982. Some rich dude that I met at a bar that I worked, gave me a “tip” on a stock which I followed up on. I opened an account with a “discount broker” by the name of Max Ule. It took me two weeks to set up an account through phone and mail. Paid $65.00 to buy $2000 of a stock named Zapata. Some kind of oil Company in TX. Long story long, I lost about half of my dough. God I wish I had met Jack Bogle sooner!

 

[Meadbh]

I started in 1990.

 

[iloveyoga]

1982 I think, when my employer started their 401(k) plan. I worked in the pension business and I remember a client asking me about that 401(k) thing and I had to look it up and call him back.

 

[txtig]

I still have the paper stock certificates from my very first stock . . . shares of Exxon that I received when working as a deckhand on an Exxon towboat working the Inland Waterways. Circa 1974. Still reinvesting the dividends.

 

[happy2bretired]

I opened my IRA in my late 20s or early 30s. Just glad I did. Later, I signed up for TSP when that became available for Federal employees. I don’t remember the dates, time flies by so fast.

 

[frank2009]

Since '85 or so. Made some costly mistakes like selling a fund in a taxable account and incurring a 7k cap gains bill. At least by '08 I knew enough to hold on to my equity funds and not panic (too much!). That turned out OK.

 

[MRG]

In 1984 I started at Megacorp. They gave us profit sharing in a private fund. For over 30 years they ate the 1% fee.

I was hired as an entry level programmer. My first big project was writing calculations for stock distributions. I had no idea what a distribution, or a stock was. Hahaha. I guess I did ok.

 

[athena53]

I bought my first stock in 1973 when I was 19- had to put a parent's name on the account! It was Republic Steel, where Dad worked at the time. I think I sold it 3 years later. Started my first job in 1975 and started buying company stock, which actually did pretty well. I then started investing with a broker at Merrill Lynch whom I met through a coworker- she started out as a ballet major, finished as a psych major and was a rabid chartist. We made some very good moves but I lost touch with her when I sold everything to buy a house. She started out at ML, went to another giant firm after that and I see she's now with a big "wealth management" firm.

Dabbled in mutual funds and a few stocks after that and got serious when I left a company in 1985 and rolled over a crappy after-tax "Invest for Retirement" plan. Started buying Comcast in the early 1980s at the advice of family in the business and did VERY well (basis about $2/share). Got more serious as the pile grew bigger and I rolled over 401(ks) into an IRA as I left various jobs.

 

[Huston55]

I bought my first stock in 1973 when I was 19- had to put a parent's name on the account! It was Republic Steel, where Dad worked at the time. I think I sold it 3 years later. Started my first job in 1975 and started buying company stock, which actually did pretty well. I then started investing with a broker at Merrill Lynch whom I met through a coworker- she started out as a ballet major, finished as a psych major and was a rabid chartist. We made some very good moves but I lost touch with her when I sold everything to buy a house. She started out at ML, went to another giant firm after that and I see she's now with a big "wealth management" firm.

Perfect majors for a broker; someone who’s trained to talk & dance.

 

[deserat]

1987-8 with USPA (high load, ended relationship with them in 94), another broker managed high load fund in 91 (sold that in 94 - lessons, lessons), Fidelity mutual fund in 91; serious investing and frugality started in 94 - Vanguard and TSP since - index funds all the way, plus a CD here or there for house equity holding until next house bought. Have been through dot com bust and 2008 rout. Have never sold until divorce when had to (only a portion). It has been amazing how it has grown. Afraid to touch it

 

[imoldernu]

Missed this one

Never bought a stock. We had a few stocks that came from my departure from Sears back in 1966, which split or diverged into three different stocks, and DW ended up with 22 shares of MetLife from some crazy kind of insurance deal that I never understood, about 15 years ago. So the answer is NO! In the past 82 years, never bought a stock.

I think the corporations have spent more money in postage, keeping me up to date on the legalities, than the stocks are worth.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

In 1984 I started at Megacorp. They gave us profit sharing in a private fund. For over 30 years they ate the 1% fee.

I was hired as an entry level programmer. My first big project was writing calculations for stock distributions. I had no idea what a distribution, or a stock was. Hahaha. I guess I did ok.

if (payee == "MRG")
{
// Logic to "enhance the payment" goes here"
}
else
{
....
}

My first real purchase was at age 20, after graduating from college. I think it was Warner Lambert (but not positively sure if that was the first, I would have to find and go over my old records). 2nd edit: I also started buying mega-corp's stock about a month after I was hired.

At about 14-15 my father took me to see an old buddy (not sure how) who was a broker. He mentioned a company called "Action Industries" (Amex), which I followed in the paper for a couple years. I would look at the price each day, and write it down in a notebook. What is most interesting about this is my father (nor anyone in my family) had ever owned any kind of stock.

 

[MRG]

if (payee == "MRG")
{
// Logic to "enhance the payment" goes here"
}
else
{
....
}

My first real purchase was at age 20, after graduating from college. I think it was Warner Lambert (but not positively sure if that was the first, I would have to find and go over my old records). 2nd edit: I also started buying mega-corp's stock about a month after I was hired.

At about 14-15 my father took me to see an old buddy (not sure how) who was a broker. He mentioned a company called "Action Industries" (Amex), which I followed in the paper for a couple years. I would look at the price each day, and write it down in a notebook. What is most interesting about this is my father (nor anyone in my family) had ever owned any kind of stock.

Hahaha. Actually in a status meeting the analyst who wrote the specification I wrote code for, asked a similar question. "Had I remembered to dynamically allocate her private dataset to collect the fractional cents rounded off in the calculation routines?". My manager looked at me, the new entry level programmer, and I knew a code review was coming.

Big money. The first distribution on a very large dividend paying issue.

 

[RobbieB]

Since I was 23. That means 40 years -

 

[6miths]

Mid 80s.

 

[Dash man]

Early 80’s I started with Exxon in a DRIP account. Couldn’t do any serious investing until after my divorce and starting a new job at Megacorp in the 90s.

 

[Bogie]

Covered Call

I've been in the market about 36 years. I remember in October '97 I had written covered calls on a stock I owned and the Friday before the crash my option was exercised unexpectedly so I no longer owned the stock and I was disappointed it had been called.... Then Monday happened. Monday afternoon I was calling my broker making sure I no longer owned the stock. Somebody had really bad timing.


Ha

 

[B0bL0blaw]

I am definitely one of the noobs here, which is why I come to this board -- to learn from the wisdom of you geezers

I am 36 and have only been really in the market since I was 27. I had a couple small investments before this, but I really got into the market in 2009 when I graduated law school and started my career.

Unlucky timing to start your career in a recession, but lucky timing to begin buying stocks in 2009 and only have enjoyed the longest bull market in history. You win some you lose some...

The next market crash will be my first real one, and it will be a real learning experience for me. I have a very aggressive allocation and plan to ride anything and everything out. Fingers crossed my resolve doesn't fail me.

 

[kgtest]

I am definitely one of the noobs here, which is why I come to this board -- to learn from the wisdom of you geezers

I am 36 and have only been really in the market since I was 27.

Same with me, well just turned 37 >1month. Started when I had the first opportunity for a company sponsored 401k at 27.

I felt behind after blowing my dough in my 20s, but have since surpassed both my older siblings in $ invested.

Also enjoying the longest bull in history..although people tend to recall the crashes (bad) more then the longest bulls (good)...

So maybe the glass isn't half full.

I invested in Real estate before stocks, that's what dad preached.

 

[RobLJ]

Had to laugh, since I moved a VALIC annuity account (with not much money to roll-over) to Fidelity the same year. Started with Contra as a core fund like you, then added Select Biotech and LowPrice a few years later.


Those 3 core funds funded an awful lot of money towards retirement, although I continued to diversify as the account balance kept going up.

In 1994 - With Fidelity Contra Fund

 

[Major Tom]

I've been "in the game" (though mainly via funds) for roughly 25 years. Never paid much attention to market ups and downs during the accumulation phase, and since I've only been withdrawing for about 7 years, have not yet had cause to get nervous during a down period.