Moemg
Gone but not forgotten
I retired the end of January 2008 so I was watching my investments drop like a lead balloon and questioning my decision to retire .
Where were you in September 2008?
- Thread starter audreyh1
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Oh, one other thing. Not to be smug, but there was a bit of told you so when I saw people losing their houses. We never bought a McMansion and never for one minute worried about losing our house. Also picked up a small ranch for DD in foreclosure and have done well on that. LBYM paid off, but I can’t deny it would have been fun to live large for awhile. We never did, just comfortable, which we are very thankful for.
Dawg52
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I was 18 months into retirement and calmly getting through the crisis. 
Actually my signature reflects my mood at the time.
Actually my signature reflects my mood at the time.
NW-Bound
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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I was 18 months into retirement and calmly getting through the crisis.
Right!
Everybody at that time, if they are still here, will remember you as the poster who used the most
in his posts. PS. At that point, I was both scared and excited at the same time. I had a lot of cash, and wanted to deploy it. Yes, I did buy some in the late 2008 and early 2009, but did not go all in. And then, I was selling too soon when the market recovered in mid 2009, instead of keeping all my purchases.
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We both kept our jobs. I worked for a financial company and we would "jokingly"-or not-- wonder if our key-cards to get into the office would work the next day. But even then I continued to get a raise and bonus (tiny).
One thing I had not planned on--I had been buying stock through our ESPP for our kids cars who were turning 16 in 2008 and 2009--ouch!! Everything was going well until then.
So I "doubled down" and bought a much larger percentage of company stock. It went up and made back my loss and more--but the kids had to wait an extra year+. One had to suck it up and use mom's Mustang convertible for a year.
Our stock went from about $100 in 2005 down to $3. On that date it doubled to $6 and still is nowhere near its high. Goodbye stock options.
One thing I had not planned on--I had been buying stock through our ESPP for our kids cars who were turning 16 in 2008 and 2009--ouch!! Everything was going well until then.
So I "doubled down" and bought a much larger percentage of company stock. It went up and made back my loss and more--but the kids had to wait an extra year+. One had to suck it up and use mom's Mustang convertible for a year.
Our stock went from about $100 in 2005 down to $3. On that date it doubled to $6 and still is nowhere near its high. Goodbye stock options.
OP
OP
audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Ouch! Horrendous!
MRG
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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I was working with no idea about ER. I rolled a portion of my retirement from Megacorp to a IRA as I watched the 10k shares of company stock drop from 80->20.I don't think I recall how much fear there was. I still felt secure with a comfortable job maxing out my 401k and Roth.
Oz investor
Full time employment: Posting here.
my mother had died the year before and she had power-of-attorney over her nursing home domiciled sister ( i failed to gain the power-of attorney for her but that is another story )
so i am basically sitting watchdog on Auntie's residence and possessions without any official status HOWEVER since the Federal government were unwilling to retrieve their property from the residence ( Auntie was a a 20 year plus federal government employee/branch manager ) i got to unofficially ignore many federal laws ( can't touch it , can't read it , can't 'possess it ' , can't sell it , can't abandon it , can't let the public see it , and can't destroy it ... and the powers that be are too fat and lazy to collect it , and of course i was only able to STRONGLY SUGGEST that the various departments should come and safeguard their documents and assets without admitting what i was watching over )
including some interesting keepsakes from WW2 ( from her wartime service )
apart from the fact i was going to inherit Aunties stock portfolio ( much to my amazement ) the GFC was the last thing on my mind , and the least of my worries .. i still had mum's house to sort out as well .
the UPSIDE was by 2011 i had inherited two estates a share portfolio property and cash and hit the investment market as possibly the luckiest novice you will ever meet ( i rejected the FA as conflicted advice straight up a fact the government is now acknowledging via two official inquiries )
in fact the last decade was so exciting i forgot to have a mid-life crisis ( so am still looking for that cutie , LOL )
so i am basically sitting watchdog on Auntie's residence and possessions without any official status HOWEVER since the Federal government were unwilling to retrieve their property from the residence ( Auntie was a a 20 year plus federal government employee/branch manager ) i got to unofficially ignore many federal laws ( can't touch it , can't read it , can't 'possess it ' , can't sell it , can't abandon it , can't let the public see it , and can't destroy it ... and the powers that be are too fat and lazy to collect it , and of course i was only able to STRONGLY SUGGEST that the various departments should come and safeguard their documents and assets without admitting what i was watching over )
including some interesting keepsakes from WW2 ( from her wartime service )
apart from the fact i was going to inherit Aunties stock portfolio ( much to my amazement ) the GFC was the last thing on my mind , and the least of my worries .. i still had mum's house to sort out as well .
the UPSIDE was by 2011 i had inherited two estates a share portfolio property and cash and hit the investment market as possibly the luckiest novice you will ever meet ( i rejected the FA as conflicted advice straight up a fact the government is now acknowledging via two official inquiries )
in fact the last decade was so exciting i forgot to have a mid-life crisis ( so am still looking for that cutie , LOL )
Was just hitting peak earning with mortgages paid off a couple years earlier and really just starting to invest serious dollars in the market. Couldn't have happened at a more fortuitous time for me. I guess one or two years earlier would have been slightly better. Having been a lightweight investor during the tech bubble it evoked more feelings having more skin in the game but it was hard to think that the drop was going to be a bad thing personally. 666 turned out to be the magic number but only in retrospect. Slow and steady usually wins the game.
cranberryjoe
Recycles dryer sheets
Prior to September 2008 I was on track for ER in 5 years when I would turn 55.
September 2008 was terrifying. My AA was not appropriate for someone who wanted to retire in 5 years, so my paper losses were huge. I could not believe what I was reading in the news, and each day was worse than the previous day. Sales at my MegaCorp stagnated during the next few months as the companies that were our customers cut back on spending or went out of business. For the first time in my career I seriously worried that the company might not survive and my job would disappear.
At the bottom in 2009 I looked at my account balances and revised my retirement date to age 58 (2016) but uncertain whether I could recover by then.
Fortunately the recovery was strong and rapid. I managed to ER at my originally planned age of 55.
September 2008 was terrifying. My AA was not appropriate for someone who wanted to retire in 5 years, so my paper losses were huge. I could not believe what I was reading in the news, and each day was worse than the previous day. Sales at my MegaCorp stagnated during the next few months as the companies that were our customers cut back on spending or went out of business. For the first time in my career I seriously worried that the company might not survive and my job would disappear.
At the bottom in 2009 I looked at my account balances and revised my retirement date to age 58 (2016) but uncertain whether I could recover by then.
Fortunately the recovery was strong and rapid. I managed to ER at my originally planned age of 55.
97guns
Full time employment: Posting here.
The recession is what made my retirement, through the housing crash
I was very ignorant of proper diversification. When the market crashed, I said to myself- if I am going to lose my money, I am going to lose it on company stock. Rolled everything into company stock. Huge bonus in December, which all went into company stock. Big raises, which were put into increased contributions in the 401k. Company stock doubled in the next few years, which was a massive improvement over what the Dow or S&P did. In many ways, my wages going exponential plus the crash in 2008 helped put us solidly on the path to financial independence. I was too busy traveling around the world trying to clean up my little corner of megaCorp to really notice what had happened.
unclemick
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
15th year of ER having been ballpark 60/40, Boglehead convert for a long time AND having gone more or less full auto via Target Retirement index fund in 2006 I 'stayed the course'.
heh heh heh - investor since 1966 I stayed calm Right? Nope. Gervous and Nerky I lurked on Bogleheads, here and other other forums, piddled with a few good stocks and watched football. Thus stalling my way to victory. Love the smell of full auto index funds. 
heh heh heh - investor since 1966 I stayed calm Right? Nope. Gervous and Nerky I lurked on Bogleheads, here and other other forums, piddled with a few good stocks and watched football.
Thus stalling my way to victory. Love the smell of full auto index funds. 
slowsaver
Recycles dryer sheets
Where was I in Sept 2008? I was getting married and on my honeymoon, starting September 6th. We had no clue what was going on.
Business owner in mostly new construction work. Had been 18 years at that point. I had trained a superitendent in all facets of the business. Was getting very close to selling the business to him. I can't remember if if it was Jan of '07 or '08 but everything ground to a halt. Probably '08. ADC loans (development of bare ground) and home sales cratered. So not only was nothing selling but there wasn't anything in the pipeline (ADC). By June I had to lay him off. Then most of the crew got laid off. We had 17 trucks in 3 markets. During the worst of the crash we would have 1 or 2 trucks working some days.
At that point the name of the game was cash flow. I cut our salaries 3 different times. We stopped contributions to our Vanguard accounts. Sold off trucks. Contractor would call with a remodel project and I'd say I'll be right over. (LOL) I was really questioning if the business was even viable. But...what else am I qualified to do? Nothing. All I knew is construction. Looked briefly at driving a school bus. But that would have conflicted with answering the few calls that came in.
Very scary time. WoScrapr & I came to be much closer as we hunkered down together. Lots of long walks in the evening as I tried to figure things out. Later in '08 I think we hooked up with a company doing foreclosure clean outs. Loan servicer would foreclose and the owners would leave stuff in the house or property. We went in and cleaned it up. Saddest vision I have was a home where the wedding dress was draped over a stair case. It looked like it was one of those last minute decisions...do i take or do I leave? Brutal
That provided at least a bit of cash flow. Rates to do the work were low and the work was sometimes nasty. But it was a tiny bit of cash flow. We did that for 4 or 5 years as construction came back.
At that point the name of the game was cash flow. I cut our salaries 3 different times. We stopped contributions to our Vanguard accounts. Sold off trucks. Contractor would call with a remodel project and I'd say I'll be right over. (LOL) I was really questioning if the business was even viable. But...what else am I qualified to do? Nothing. All I knew is construction. Looked briefly at driving a school bus. But that would have conflicted with answering the few calls that came in.
Very scary time. WoScrapr & I came to be much closer as we hunkered down together. Lots of long walks in the evening as I tried to figure things out. Later in '08 I think we hooked up with a company doing foreclosure clean outs. Loan servicer would foreclose and the owners would leave stuff in the house or property. We went in and cleaned it up. Saddest vision I have was a home where the wedding dress was draped over a stair case. It looked like it was one of those last minute decisions...do i take or do I leave? Brutal
That provided at least a bit of cash flow. Rates to do the work were low and the work was sometimes nasty. But it was a tiny bit of cash flow. We did that for 4 or 5 years as construction came back.
I'm impressed that most of the posters were not fazed, although Scrapr's post reflects the microeconomic reality at the ground level.
I had a secure job. But I had experienced the beginning of the Southwest Savings and Loan Crash in '90, then moved back to Houston from Cali just before the Cali real estate "recession" in the late 80's/90's, so my own experience in '96 was to suspect, oh, sh** this could be a national Real Estate crisis. So I reduced stock mutuals from 95% to 60% from '05 to early '08, buying intermediate treasury funds and cash gradually, and with stock mutual gains. The gains were such that I had to keep buying bonds/cash even though I didn't really want them.
I was also about to turn 50 so that also was a huge factor.
Did I feel good when the crash that I feared actually happened?
No, but it did diminish the damage--significantly. I also rebalanced back into stock funds in late '08, '09, and early 10, not so much with the cash but more with new contributions.
Basically, actions before '08 and buying in late '09 and '10 paved the way for semi-retirement in '15.
It was a brutal time, and much more for the lower income workers in the US, many of whom never recovered.
I was lucky. I'm not sure if the stock "boom" had continued for another year or two if I would have persisted in what seemed a rather severe reallocation I started in late '05 and continued through '07 (I sold stock mutual gains gradually.)
My wife worked for Dynegy in the early 2000s during the Enron bust, so that also factored. In her case, all matching 401k contributions had to be in company stock that she couldn't sell (this is an important point that was changed post-Enron), and I watched helplessly through the Enron bust (Dynegy bought Enron's pipeline and was dragged down into bankruptcy as well.) I had told her we should buy options against her stock while it was in the rocket to the moon mode. It was an important lesson in risk assessment and diversification.
I have been scrupulously scraping gains over the last 3 years, even though I don't think conditions are anywhere similar to '07 or '00 (tech).
Just keeping the allocation and enough cash to maintain through a correction until SS kicks in.
I had a secure job. But I had experienced the beginning of the Southwest Savings and Loan Crash in '90, then moved back to Houston from Cali just before the Cali real estate "recession" in the late 80's/90's, so my own experience in '96 was to suspect, oh, sh** this could be a national Real Estate crisis. So I reduced stock mutuals from 95% to 60% from '05 to early '08, buying intermediate treasury funds and cash gradually, and with stock mutual gains. The gains were such that I had to keep buying bonds/cash even though I didn't really want them.
I was also about to turn 50 so that also was a huge factor.
Did I feel good when the crash that I feared actually happened?
No, but it did diminish the damage--significantly. I also rebalanced back into stock funds in late '08, '09, and early 10, not so much with the cash but more with new contributions.
Basically, actions before '08 and buying in late '09 and '10 paved the way for semi-retirement in '15.
It was a brutal time, and much more for the lower income workers in the US, many of whom never recovered.
I was lucky. I'm not sure if the stock "boom" had continued for another year or two if I would have persisted in what seemed a rather severe reallocation I started in late '05 and continued through '07 (I sold stock mutual gains gradually.)
My wife worked for Dynegy in the early 2000s during the Enron bust, so that also factored. In her case, all matching 401k contributions had to be in company stock that she couldn't sell (this is an important point that was changed post-Enron), and I watched helplessly through the Enron bust (Dynegy bought Enron's pipeline and was dragged down into bankruptcy as well.) I had told her we should buy options against her stock while it was in the rocket to the moon mode. It was an important lesson in risk assessment and diversification.
I have been scrupulously scraping gains over the last 3 years, even though I don't think conditions are anywhere similar to '07 or '00 (tech).
Just keeping the allocation and enough cash to maintain through a correction until SS kicks in.
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In September '08 we were working in Louisiana, 16 months out from planned retirement. We didn't do anything different, just kept putting the max into our 401k's and kept the same AA which was around 60/40 at the time as we were so close to retirement.
Over the following year half the production units were mothballed (Chemical site) no employees were laid off, but plenty of contractors. Skilled operators from mothballed units did guard duty, janitorial services, painting, documentation updates etc. No annual bonus for the next 2 years but so grateful to the company for staying the course and being ready for the economic upturn when it came. My wife's chemical company followed the same course of action. We retired as planned in January 2010 and later that year I received an unexpected 20% bonus check on my 2009 salary.
Over the following year half the production units were mothballed (Chemical site) no employees were laid off, but plenty of contractors. Skilled operators from mothballed units did guard duty, janitorial services, painting, documentation updates etc. No annual bonus for the next 2 years but so grateful to the company for staying the course and being ready for the economic upturn when it came. My wife's chemical company followed the same course of action. We retired as planned in January 2010 and later that year I received an unexpected 20% bonus check on my 2009 salary.
Impressed by the many who didn't wet the bed!
I was/am in the commercial real estate business back then, self employed with 4 kids and a SAHW with an 80/20 AA then so yes, I did wet the bed! Frankly, I felt completely paralyzed at the time. I watched my portfolio take 7 figure paper losses for a period of time and then did hit the sell button with about 25% of my dough. The only good news is I shortly thereafter came to my senses and bought back in on no other reason at the time other than I figured I would tie my wagon to Uncle Sam... if we fall into the Dark Ages, I will have allot of company, right!
Fast forward, I feel like I learned a valuable lesson about staying the course. That being said, I cannot help but be somewhat concerned of a big correction the day I launch (end of 2019).
I was/am in the commercial real estate business back then, self employed with 4 kids and a SAHW with an 80/20 AA then so yes, I did wet the bed! Frankly, I felt completely paralyzed at the time. I watched my portfolio take 7 figure paper losses for a period of time and then did hit the sell button with about 25% of my dough. The only good news is I shortly thereafter came to my senses and bought back in on no other reason at the time other than I figured I would tie my wagon to Uncle Sam... if we fall into the Dark Ages, I will have allot of company, right!
Fast forward, I feel like I learned a valuable lesson about staying the course. That being said, I cannot help but be somewhat concerned of a big correction the day I launch (end of 2019).
I was working with a group of 6, myself being the second youngest.45% of my 401K was evaporated during that meltdown.As I watched the older group pull what remained of their 401's into cash, I maxed mine and went all in.Made an incredible amount of money in 2009, stayed the course and signed my retirement papers last week.
As Warren said:
"Be greedy when others are fearful"
As Warren said:
"Be greedy when others are fearful"
My employer saw the eminent bankruptcy in their future and offered buy-outs to everyone close to retirement age. I was only 52 then and the deal was not sweet enough without other income. I contacted the company who had offered me a job in January 2008, and which had not yet been filled, but they saw the impending doom too and had decided to not bring on additional employees.
So I had to stay at a company which, for the next two years, would randomly send Security Personnel into working departments to escort individuals to their cars with a single box of personal property. Anything more than one box would be packaged by the Supervisor and shipped to the employee's home.
Pensions were significantly cut for those with under 30 years of service (I had 30-1/2 years). Some co-workers with only a couple years less service than me lost 35% of their future pensions!
I stuck it out for four more years, endured two rounds of age dependent forced lay-offs, saw my pension frozen and replaced with a defined contribution only plan, learned my name was at the top of the list for the third forced retirement program because of my seniority, so I resigned via their retirement program and got another job, taking my frozen pension with me.
So I had to stay at a company which, for the next two years, would randomly send Security Personnel into working departments to escort individuals to their cars with a single box of personal property. Anything more than one box would be packaged by the Supervisor and shipped to the employee's home.
Pensions were significantly cut for those with under 30 years of service (I had 30-1/2 years). Some co-workers with only a couple years less service than me lost 35% of their future pensions!
I stuck it out for four more years, endured two rounds of age dependent forced lay-offs, saw my pension frozen and replaced with a defined contribution only plan, learned my name was at the top of the list for the third forced retirement program because of my seniority, so I resigned via their retirement program and got another job, taking my frozen pension with me.
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JoeWras
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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In the middle of two things:
- BIG layoff at work and warnings to us that everything will change. Boy how it did! Many reasons apply to the fact that my base wage at Megacorp today is only %2.5 higher than then. After bonus, it is lower in real terms.
- Buying a car! DW needed one badly. Car companies were dealing because the problems were working their way into these kinds of purchases. Recall also $4 to $5 gasoline just a few months before! I figured, what the hell, let's get the car. It at least is a hard asset of sorts and won't go to 0 which is apparently what my investments will do.
The one thing I remember from that September is the look on Bush's face during the legislation discussions. It looked like he saw a ghost.
BTW, I was fazed. Oh yeah. Luckily, I didn't liquidate or anything. I stayed the course. I was not ballsy enough to buy real estate like some of the confident posters here. No bragging from me, I was worried. It ultimately did delay my ER mostly out of fear.
- BIG layoff at work and warnings to us that everything will change. Boy how it did! Many reasons apply to the fact that my base wage at Megacorp today is only %2.5 higher than then. After bonus, it is lower in real terms.
- Buying a car! DW needed one badly. Car companies were dealing because the problems were working their way into these kinds of purchases. Recall also $4 to $5 gasoline just a few months before! I figured, what the hell, let's get the car. It at least is a hard asset of sorts and won't go to 0 which is apparently what my investments will do.
The one thing I remember from that September is the look on Bush's face during the legislation discussions. It looked like he saw a ghost.
BTW, I was fazed. Oh yeah. Luckily, I didn't liquidate or anything. I stayed the course. I was not ballsy enough to buy real estate like some of the confident posters here. No bragging from me, I was worried. It ultimately did delay my ER mostly out of fear.
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Bamaman
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I spent every week traveling extensively for work--working megahours. Little did I know every 30 year/55 year old employee was going to be sent home with an ER termination package. Megacorp overreacted to the economic times of 2008.
Now they are running a $15 billion company with people with little or no experience and many jobs subcontracted out. The forced ERs was the best thing to happen for the employees.
Now they are running a $15 billion company with people with little or no experience and many jobs subcontracted out. The forced ERs was the best thing to happen for the employees.
atmsmshr
Full time employment: Posting here.
At the time, 47 with 2 kids at home and DW started having severe heath problems and could no longer work.
I had a very good job but was stretched to meet the lifestyle we built, especially with medical issues. (Stress and money)
401k was 100% equities - so I felt like yakking on my shoes for about 2 years. Stayed the course and kept contributions up. Glad I did not sell like some coworkers.
A bit of a news hound, and watched with horrid fascination the dominos start fall to what looked like the collapse of capitalism.
One great example is cars - we had just upgraded to a newer used car with loan when the credit markets began freezing up and no one could get a loan. National talk about letting the big three go under. Ford motor stock hovered around $2 and if I had a few spare nickels I would have bought in.
Friends began losing jobs and stopped paying mortgages.
Unfortunately- history repeats itself.
I had a very good job but was stretched to meet the lifestyle we built, especially with medical issues. (Stress and money)
401k was 100% equities - so I felt like yakking on my shoes for about 2 years. Stayed the course and kept contributions up. Glad I did not sell like some coworkers.
A bit of a news hound, and watched with horrid fascination the dominos start fall to what looked like the collapse of capitalism.
One great example is cars - we had just upgraded to a newer used car with loan when the credit markets began freezing up and no one could get a loan. National talk about letting the big three go under. Ford motor stock hovered around $2 and if I had a few spare nickels I would have bought in.
Friends began losing jobs and stopped paying mortgages.
Unfortunately- history repeats itself.
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