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So how is YOUR stomach this week?
09-23-2008, 08:40 PM
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#1
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
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So how is YOUR stomach this week?
THIS is why I am 50/50 US/foreign.
Actually, I was in hospital with appendicitis the week of the crash, so my corporeal stomach is rather unsettled, but my financial stomach is quite calm.
I did my research years ago and picked asset classes that I am comfortable with for the long run (mostly index funds). I rebalance every year or so. I pretty much ignore wild rides like this. (I did add a few grand to the Vanguard Energy Index this week. Too cheap to pass up. ) I am only concerned with ten-year stretches, but I am starting to build a 5-year CD ladder. If I retire in 5 years, OK. If I continue to work, I just buy another CD.
You, too, can sleep well:
1) Choose asset classes as uncorrelated as you can that pay. (There are many uncorrelated asset classes that don't pay well in the long run.)
2) Fund them in reasonable proportions.
3) Rebalance every year or two.
4) Expect downturns that may last as long as 5 or 10 years.
You don't lose money until you sell. I am down a fair amount, but I haven't lost a cent. I am still way ahead of where I was 6 years ago. I expect my poke to recover and more.
Don't panic.
Gypsy,
with a positive report on Alberta Health Care's emergency service.
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
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09-23-2008, 08:42 PM
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#2
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,021
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Ed, glad to hear everything came out all right.
__________________
Numbers is hard
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09-23-2008, 08:57 PM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
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Thanks, REW. All systems go.
I have pictures.... I think they used a shovel.
Now, when is there going to be a neck-tie party on Wall Street? Just because I am unfazed doesn't mean I don't want blood.
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
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09-23-2008, 08:59 PM
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#4
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: At The Cafe
Posts: 6,873
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Glad to hear that emergency services came through for you; and equally good to hear a positive attitude about AA.
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09-23-2008, 09:10 PM
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#5
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,500
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Wow! What an awful experience. At least you probably missed all the panic and such.
I am not feeling a lot of panic, though I do wish the market would settle out and start gaining steadily some day.
You are sensible to say that you haven't lost until you sell. But still, it seemed like it took a long time for people to recover their losses from the tech stock fiasco a few years back, and catch up with inflation.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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09-23-2008, 09:12 PM
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#6
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
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Somewhat plump.
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
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09-23-2008, 09:20 PM
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#7
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 920
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Appendicitis is the standard thing I think of whenever I read something about someone who lives on some remote island that can only be traveled to by boat.
Good to hear it worked out ok... now let's get those tonsils scheduled.
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09-23-2008, 09:21 PM
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#8
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 4,455
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Ed,
Hope that the recovery be quick without any complication.
As W2R says, I too hope for market recovery soon.
Spanky
__________________
May we live in peace and harmony and be free from all human sufferings.
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09-23-2008, 09:25 PM
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#9
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 12,901
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My stomach had been aching for the past year. As it turns out, it wasn't because of the market! It was gastritis. But now that I am on meds, things are a lot better!
I have been pretty "happy" with the performance of my low correlation portfolio over the past year, it has held up pretty well. I keep investing money on a regular basis, as usual. Not panicking... yet.
But I was wondering, how did a 50/50 US/foreign allocation help you? Didn't the foreign markets drag your returns down? It sure dragged mine down...
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09-26-2008, 08:19 PM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
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FIREdreamer,
50/50 sagged, too. It is just a matter of personal policy that I split it up this way. It is on autopilot and I am not going to analyze it just now. I am too busy at the moment. More later.
Glad you got good meds. A fat portfolio isn't any good if'n you is dead.
tiuxiu,
Yeah, now I can go live on that little rock in the San Juans! The tonsils are long gone (50+ years now).
The idea of being in the middle of nowhere with the onset of a serious health problem has been something I have had in the back of my mind for years. I have been taking that into account in my retirement location musings. It changes the way I look at things.
Cheers to all.
Gypsy
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
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09-26-2008, 08:30 PM
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#11
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2008
Location: No fixed abode
Posts: 8,765
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I agree. It's time for the peasants to break out the pitchforks and torches. "A riot is an ungly thing... . undt, I tink, that it is chust about time ve had vun."
__________________
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." - Anonymous (not Will Rogers or Sam Clemens)
DW and I - FIREd at 50 (7/06), living off assets
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09-26-2008, 08:34 PM
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#12
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
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W2R,
My pot survived the tech crash very well. Slice-and-dice index funds helped a lot. This downdraft hit me harder, but I am still way ahead of where I was 6 years ago.
I got bit with a tech stock in the very early days of personal computers (~1975). A cheap lesson. I learned that I had no business buying individual stocks, particularly ones without cash flow or earnings.
I hope things go well down there south of the border. Business is good for me up here. There are so many exciting things coming my way. Opportunities are everywhere up here in Alberta. I am having way too much fun.
Cheers,
G
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
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09-27-2008, 08:21 AM
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#13
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Portland
Posts: 2,038
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy
W2R,
I got bit with a tech stock in the very early days of personal computers (~1975). A cheap lesson. I learned that I had no business buying individual stocks, particularly ones without cash flow or earnings.
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I'm happy for you that you learned your lesson early. I learned mine during the tech crash and lost quite a bit.
I was sitting with a 60/40 portfolio before this meltdown. I'm putting all new money into stocks.
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