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Old 01-08-2018, 12:54 PM   #41
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Wasn't really investing as i think I had a tiny bit in a stock mutual fund (Vanguard) a few shares in my neighbors company and a bit in money markets. This was right before the '87 crash. Since I did not have much in stocks it was not a big hit. I remember my GF freaking out. I was a bit nervous but held the course.

Got serius about investing when my boy was born and my company started throwing off some cash. That was '96. In 2000 I was a speaker at a conference in Denver when tech stocks started crashing. Wasn't much I could do as internet was in the early stages. So held on by default

Don't remember '03 much. Then the big one. We are a construction company so it was a double whammy. No work & investments were down. We spit balled it and did it day by day. Lower salary, stopped auto investments (company cash flow) and borrowed a little bit on the house LOC. A small inheritance also helped. Mrs Scrapr was unbelievable in doing more with less. We had bought a vacation house a few years before. I was adamant about selling it. She was adamant about not selling. I gave in...she made it work. (LOL)
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Old 01-08-2018, 12:59 PM   #42
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Started investing during the mid 90s (first 401k).

Didn't understand it until 2013 tho. Literally had no clue how investments or the market in general worked until then.
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Old 01-08-2018, 01:00 PM   #43
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I think it was mid 1990's. With my divorce in 1983-84 I had to start over pretty much from scratch and I didn't have anything left over to invest. We were finally getting stable and even had furniture in the living room! (I have a photo somewhere of DW sitting on the floor reading a book under a pole lamp.) So we finally started putting money into 457 and TSP accounts, me in a target date fund since I had no idea what else to do, and her in conservative TSP funds.
A bit off topic but, this reminds me of our (me & GF/DW) first apartment out of college. Our “coffee table” was a used Strohs beer case under a naugahyde covered piece of plywood. Ahhhh, the good old days!
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Old 01-08-2018, 01:03 PM   #44
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Since 1995. Was a bad boy! Played with margin, all in individual stocks, lost about 1M around 2001(still burning that loss), changed investment strategy to mutual funds in 2003 but never panicked and sold anything. Worked out well in the end and retired on 12/1/2016
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Old 01-08-2018, 01:11 PM   #45
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Old 01-08-2018, 01:51 PM   #46
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Opened my first Vanguard acct (Roth IRA) in 2010. Up until then we only had CDs and savings accounts. I still like CDs and cash but I have learned to like mutual funds. DHs state pension funds were always invested in the markets and that was enough risk for us.
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Old 01-08-2018, 02:31 PM   #47
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Well. 1981 ? I lost a bundle chasing Philippine Long Distance Telephone on its way up. Turned out it was how Marcos was getting a payout while leaving for exile. Why then? Why that? Who knows?
1989 started on my 401k. All mutual funds almost all equities. That and some minor stock options was it.
2013 put most of the 401k in an IRA to play with even more MF and ETFs and living expenses.
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Old 01-08-2018, 02:43 PM   #48
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A bit off topic but, this reminds me of our (me & GF/DW) first apartment out of college. Our “coffee table” was a used Strohs beer case under a naugahyde covered piece of plywood. Ahhhh, the good old days!
Ah yes, I'm very familiar with the interior decor style we all used to call Early Poverty.
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Old 01-08-2018, 02:57 PM   #49
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Early 80's
Megacorp had company stock profit sharing which transitioned to 401k. I remember always being curious about "the market" and wondering about the DJIA (what's a point?) but no one anywhere in my extended family ever had any interest whatsoever. Mom had US Savings bonds.
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Old 01-08-2018, 02:59 PM   #50
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Early 1990's we bought some bonds the nice man at the bank advised. In 1999 we woke up and realized our net worth was very red (we did own a few businesses) and something had to change.
Today we are comfortable and I am able to fully retire when
I am ready.
Awesome.
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Old 01-08-2018, 03:08 PM   #51
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Ah yes, I'm very familiar with the interior decor style we all used to call Early Poverty.

Mid-century yard sale...
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Old 01-08-2018, 03:34 PM   #52
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Quote:
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Ah yes, I'm very familiar with the interior decor style we all used to call Early Poverty.
Quote:
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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.
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Old 01-08-2018, 04:05 PM   #53
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Early 1982, thanks to Megacorp investment/retirement plans.
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Old 01-08-2018, 04:09 PM   #54
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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!
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Old 01-08-2018, 05:07 PM   #55
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Old 01-08-2018, 05:37 PM   #56
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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.
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Old 01-09-2018, 06:20 AM   #57
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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.
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Old 08-13-2018, 05:29 AM   #58
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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.
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Old 08-13-2018, 07:22 AM   #59
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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.
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Old 08-13-2018, 07:41 AM   #60
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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.
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