Happiness in the falling market.

[petershk]

I'm sure many of us have endured some kind of loss in the past few weeks. I'm no exception and have spent more time than is justified worrying about it (haven't actually DONE anything because I believe it's just...well... Whatever).

But wanted to say I'm happy to have a family and friends... My relative health and safety and a lot of undeserved benefits that most people in the world will never have.

So... The 5-10% drop in investments doesn't seem so bad in that light.

What are you happy for?

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[Whisper66]

Family - especially wife and my kids. Free time - to spend with them and then fill the rest of my time with sports and projects.

Actually - I'm also happy for the drop on the market. Had some money I needed to invest but struggled since everything was so high priced. The drop in the market came at a good time for me.

 

[SJ1_]

Family - especially wife and my kids. Free time - to spend with them and then fill the rest of my time with sports and projects.

Actually - I'm also happy for the drop on the market. Had some money I needed to invest but struggled since everything was so high priced. The drop in the market came at a good time for me.

+1 on both counts. (grand kids in my case)

 

[Coolius]

I was, like everyone else, consumed and fretting about losses piling up and portfolio balance declining steadily.

Then, mid-morning today, received an e-mail from the wife of a former colleague in the high tech industry; he had a massive heart attack and died in the study of his home. He was only 69 years old, they had completed building their dream retirement home in New Mexico in May.

Awful news, but reminds us to enjoy our lives & loved ones while we have the strength, mobility, awareness and health to do so. All may be gone in the blink of an eye.

 

[W2R]

There is so much to be happy for, including retirement, loved ones, contentment, kittens, no natural disasters here lately, waking up on this side of the dirt, and so on. There is so little reason to fret over the market.

Honestly, I'm not especially worried about the market right now. We have had a bull market for quite some time, and that can't continue forever. But we are adults and we all knew that.

So, let's hang on and see if we can enjoy (or even profit from!) the roller coaster ride.

 

[Dawg52]

I'm happy I wasn't 50+% in stocks.

 

[Senator]

I am happy that my blood pressure is like 127/78 or something like that.

 

[Car-Guy]

I'm happy to be putting some of my surplus cash to work.

 

[jazz4cash]

I am happy I retired on 8/1. If I had waited one more month, it would have been hard to pull the trigger. I am starting to wonder if I am too calm about the current decline/correction.

I am happy for family and friends and I have more blessings than I deserve.
I am happy I found this forum.

Since I stopped working on 6/23, I have been to more funerals (4) than I can ever remember in such a short period of time. All of these were folks that died young (75, 62,63,55) and all were working except for one. It gives me an overwhelming sense of happiness that I got out before my time came,

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes, I am happy I am still alive, not in pain, still being self-propelled, and immediate family still healthy.

I have a roof over my head, AC to protect me from the miserable heat, running water in the house. Food is still abundant and inexpensive, gasoline is cheap, the Internet is fast. There's so much to be thankful for, and we are not even close to Thanksgiving.

I would be even happier if the market held up and I were not hundreds of $K below my personal high water mark. Oh well, a guy cannot have everything. And I still have lots of cash to buy at some point.

 

[Live And Learn]

I am thankful that I didn't have to go to work today, and I don't have to go to work tomorrow either!

 

[6miths]

Happy that I have enough that it doesn't really matter what the markets do tomorrow, this week or next year and happy to have made the acquaintance of the likes of Bogle, Bernstein and Ferri among others.

 

[Sea Kayaker]

I'm happy I've been ER'ed close to a year. Have my beautiful wife with me on the the journey. I'm in the best shape of my life - by a long shot. Have my Pacific Northwest and Baja sanctuaries...both owned free and clear of course.

And because my wife still insists on working, a high paying gig at that, we still have around 5k to invest at the end of every month - actually a pretty awesome thing in a falling stock market.

I am blessed on so many levels that a possible incoming bear market cannot even remotely bring me down.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Happy and thankful to have a paid off house, so the portfolio doesn't need to stay high enough to generate mortgage payments; without those, the pension and SS cover our expenses. I know this isn't everybody's idea of a good thing but it works for us.

Can't control the markets, but the things we can control are doing okay, and of course good health and world peace are always appreciated.

 

[chris2008]

Happy for having DH with me, both in good health and happily retired for 2y now.
Happy that we can sit out the bears and still enjoy life.

 

[ESRwannabe]

Stock market drops stopped bothering once I started investing for income. This is especially true when I invest in individual stocks. When I buy companies I focus on the quarterly data and the earnings calls for the companies I own and their nearest competitors. Whatever is going on with the S&P 500 is irrelevant.

 

[dunkelblau]

I'm glad I stayed on at work instead of chucking it while I was still in my 40s. Easier for me to slowly rebalance using my paycheck than from my own cash reserves. Not that this matters, I'm now surrounded by extended family and they're all doing well, this is what counts.

 

[Beardog]

I am glad that over the last 10-15 years I haven't been tempted to change asset allocations over several seemingly bumpy time periods, and because of that, the recent market volatility has been of no concern to me. I am more concerned about an unstable world, the rise of evil all around us, and the future that my grandchildren might have to endure. At the moment, I am thankful for this cup of coffee, the iPad on my lap, and this leather recliner!

 

[unclemick]

Happy that I have enough that it doesn't really matter what the markets do tomorrow, this week or next year and happy to have made the acquaintance of the likes of Bogle, Bernstein and Ferri among others.

Ditto.

Happiness sucks and sanity is overrated. Having 'dinked' with investing since 1966 the sheer joy of whining and worrying on dips has grown a tad old.

heh heh heh - it's become harder to frown on and stay serious. Sometimes happy just sneaks in. Still left handed though.

 

[W2R]

I am happy that my blood pressure is like 127/78 or something like that.

That is great! After reading your post I was inspired to take mine again. It was 120/70 even right after 3 cups of coffee, which I am thankful for too (both the BP and the coffee! ).

In my case, my reasonable BP is thanks to a beta blocker which does a phenomenally good job in keeping it down. Truly miraculous, IMO.

Happy and thankful to have a paid off house, so the portfolio doesn't need to stay high enough to generate mortgage payments; without those, the pension and SS cover our expenses. I know this isn't everybody's idea of a good thing but it works for us.

Works for me, too. I can live on pension and SS, like you, too, but I'd have to cut back quite a bit. I probably would anyway if there was a bad market crash. Meanwhile dividends help me to fill that gap. Like you, I love knowing that no matter what, at least I don't have to come up with mortgage payments. I am also completely set for free entertainment, with OTA television and enough video games and kindle books to keep me happy and occupied for several lifetimes.

 

[nerkdawg]

Thankful that I am here - Had an emergency quadruple bypass 10 days ago, lucky that I caught it before heart attack. Family has been great with support.


Market hasn't bothered me at all. DW and I are very lucky to have pensions that exceed our spending as well.

 

[38Chevy454]

Thankful that I have everything I need, or for the most part even anything that I want. My portfolio may be up and down roller coaster lately, but in the end i am confident that my less than one year left working will result in a happy and successful retirement time.

 

[ChicagoGal]

Thankful that I am here - Had an emergency quadruple bypass 10 days ago, lucky that I caught it before heart attack. Family has been great with support.

Glad all went well

I'm happy that I don't need to stress about the market stuff right now. My ER horizon is far enough off that I have faith things will bounce back, and close enough that I can hang in there!

And I'm happy that I leave for an Alaskan cruise next week

 

[HFWR]

If I was any happier I couldn't stand it!

 

[Birchwood]

I'm happy I sold a bunch of winning stocks last year when the market is at it's peak. Although I left some stocks for the long run, the sale will take care of about 4.5 years of living expenses, without touching SSS, pension and cash savings. Although my mutual funds are now down for the year, looking in the last 5 years, it still made money.