Worst time to retire since 2008?

[FD1000]

I retired during the market lows of 2022 and stayed 100% invested in equities because I was prepared for the possibility that markets can be low when retirement begins.
No regrets.

I know many retirees, some with big portfolios.
The only ones in 100% stocks are the ones with pension + SS that cover all expenses and more.

 

[Onda]

I know many retirees, some with big portfolios.
The only ones in 100% stocks are the ones with pension + SS that cover all expenses and more.

I have no pension, and retiring at 57 means no Social Security yet.

 

[Original Wally]

@ sdawson: **She likes having me around the house.*

CHORES!! LOL

 

[FlyingCircus]

I am not one of those with multi-millions saved, so I am navigating this carefully

Anybody not ready to brace for such stock market crashes should refrain from investing in stocks

Aware of the point Lynch was making years ago, an alternative view from former chief investment strategist at Raymond James:
Making up losses is much harder than reinvesting stored capital once a clearer picture emerges. - Jeff Saut (2015)

If you manage the downside, the upside will take care of itself. - Saut Strategy

 

[RetiredHappy]

I know many retirees, some with big portfolios.
The only ones in 100% stocks are the ones with pension + SS that cover all expenses and more.

We have no pension and we are 100% stocks, except for a small amount in MYGAs. SS only covers a small portion of our expenses.

 

[griffithee]

My last day is April 17, 2026. That virtually guarantees WW3, stock market to 0 and money markets breaking the buck.

Hopefully not, but those that retired in 2008-2010 have come out ok. HODL on!

Thank you for this. I got some cash waiting to buy some deals. Congratulations on your retirement.

 

[griffithee]

Sure, markets go up, markets have corrections, markets have recessions.

Does our current economy herald a 2008 debacle? Time will tell but I struggle to see any connection. Delay one's early retirement, especially with a serious health concern?

As several here, myself included have noted, even those retiring directly into the jaws of 2008 didn't have a notable long term impact.

"The worst time to retire since 2008?" There's always something going on personally or globally that makes it "a really bad time to retire".

This has always perplexed me. People that frequent these boards and go through exhaustive analysis of retirement planning are the types of people who will “deal with whatever happens”.

Okay so the market went to pot and your plan was a little hit affected. You pick up a part time job selling waffle cones at the local Dairy Queen and don’t to Barbados this year.

Like someone else said, you never see a post where someone wished they retired later.

 

[Dtail]

This has always perplexed me. People that frequent these boards and go through exhaustive analysis of retirement planning are the types of people who will “deal with whatever happens”.

Okay so the market went to pot and your plan was a little hit affected. You pick up a part time job selling waffle cones at the local Dairy Queen and don’t to Barbados this year.

Like someone else said, you never see a post where someone wished they retired later.

Yup, I stated the last sentence.
I would never even think of selling waffle cones or taking on some menial job. The whole point of trusting the retirement calculators is that it accounts for corrections, bear markets, SORR.

 

[ClippedWings]

I appreciate all of the comments! My target retirement age was always 60 and then we got my diagnosis which was dire and now more hopeful (likely another 6-8 good years and could be much more as treatments evolve).

Blessed I was able to get the last 2 years of work in (I did take a couple of medical leaves) as we weren’t ready for retirement in any way (monetarily, emotionally, etc).

Now we are ready on all fronts and fighting not the OMY syndrome, but OMM syndrome.

We just paid cash for a new home and are trying to sell our townhome (paid for) to replenish our liquidity. Since my monthly earnings are significant, it’s come down to May, June or early July as my exit dates.

Each month I work lets us pay cash for the usual things you need for a new construction house until we sell. I also get nice lump
Sum retirement bonuses and deferred compensation payouts on retirement.

All of your comments are therefore very helpful.

 

[dobig]

Best of luck! Please give updates if you feel like it.

 

[FD1000]

We have no pension and we are 100% stocks, except for a small amount in MYGAs. SS only covers a small portion of our expenses.

You must have millions. While I have too, I'm not willing to lose a lot because I don't need to.
But, if you can stomach the volatility, your portfolio will be much bigger. That's what the many IT billionaires do.
There is/was a retiree on another site with a $10 million portfolio, mostly in stocks. In 2020 and other bear markets, his portfolio was down by over 20-35%; he didn't care; his portfolio is much higher now.

There are not many rich investors that don't mind high volatility.
Good for you!

 

[RetiredHappy]

You must have millions. While I have too, I'm not willing to lose a lot because I don't need to.
But, if you can stomach the volatility, your portfolio will be much bigger. That's what the many IT billionaires do.
There is/was a retiree on another site with a $10 million portfolio, mostly in stocks. In 2020 and other bear markets, his portfolio was down by over 20-35%; he didn't care; his portfolio is much higher now.

There are not many rich investors that don't mind high volatility.
Good for you!

We don't mind high volatility. What goes up must come down, what goes down must go back up, eventually. While we are down 4+% YTD, we are still up 15% from 1 year ago.

 

[marko]

You must have millions. While I have too, I'm not willing to lose a lot because I don't need to.
But, if you can stomach the volatility, your portfolio will be much bigger. That's what the many IT billionaires do.
There is/was a retiree on another site with a $10 million portfolio, mostly in stocks. In 2020 and other bear markets, his portfolio was down by over 20-35%; he didn't care; his portfolio is much higher now.

There are not many rich investors that don't mind high volatility.
Good for you!

A large-ish portfolio sends you one of two directions.

Either you cut back your risk and enjoy smaller, but sufficient returns or, you embrace the risk/volatility because your cushion is large enough that you "can't get hurt" and have the "just a little bit more" mentality.

 

[FD1000]

A large-ish portfolio sends you one of two directions.

Either you cut back your risk and enjoy smaller, but sufficient returns or, you embrace the risk/volatility because your cushion is large enough that you "can't get hurt" and have the "just a little bit more" mentality.

Why not achieve both?
I was able to cut my portfolio volatility substantially (never lost more than 1% from any last top) and have a very good performance.
Since retirement in 01/01/2018, my portfolio has made 11.55% annually using 97% bond OEFs and good trading/timing.
This means I beat a diversified stock portfolio of SPY, SC, and international. My goals and intention were just to beat a portfolio with 50-60% in stocks, but it happened anyway.

Below is a direct copy from my Schwab where we have over 99% of all our money everywhere.
As of 3/28/2026.

 

[Dtail]

A large-ish portfolio sends you one of two directions.

Either you cut back your risk and enjoy smaller, but sufficient returns or, you embrace the risk/volatility because your cushion is large enough that you "can't get hurt" and have the "just a little bit more" mentality.

I wonder where the majority of posters here stand on this issue. I am unfortunately not in that category of "won the game".
However if I reached that concept, I believe I would be in the won the game, don't wish to play anymore (stocks) category.

 

[Onda]

I wonder where the majority of posters here stand on this issue. I am unfortunately not in that category of "won the game".
However if I reached that concept, I believe I would be in the won the game, don't wish to play anymore (stocks) category.

I have a large portfolio, but I also view stocks as the safest long-term investment. For me, the real risk is sitting too heavily in assets that lose purchasing power while inflation and time keep moving.

 

[austinbound]

I retired in October 2007 at age 58. DW was 54. By March 2008 our investments were down almost 36%. I was too paralyzed to do anything which, in retrospect, was the precisely correct thing to do. Almost 19 years later, we're doing fine. Had it not been for the chaos in the markets in the past 34 days we'd be within spittin' distance of the what we had at retirement.

 

[ClippedWings]

Quick update - settled on 7/6 as I get paid holidays the week prior for the 4th.

There may also be a chance I could get a severance package on top of standard retirement benefits which would be awesome. Should know that by May. Would add about a year’s worth of salary so accepting prayers for that to happen.

 

[Rusa]

DH retired the week Trump started our surprise little war. Life’s full of irony lol.

 

[Jeb-NY]

Retired at 57 in 2005. My severance ran out in December 2006. 2008 was fun, but with proper balancing before I retired it was not a big problem and I have been happily retired for over 20 years and have twice as much in investments now than I did when I walked out the door and a bigger house.

 

[HMMY]

If you have 25x expenses and enough fixed income to weather bad years, you probably have more income than health ahead of you.

 

[indiajust]

I went into 08 with about 400k networth, half in house/mortgage, the other half split between IRA/taxable. I rode the money print right into the covid moneybomb. There are ways to invest through crises.

The question is one of certainty, desired spending, likely returns, risks you choose to run... Weighed against time value of life itself.

I was all long equity in 08, after much contemplation I have shifted my allocations dramatically since my second crunch (01 was first experience). Cash/gold/crypto/income with a equity mix of what I hope is both indexed anchors and countercyclical. But time will tell.

 

[Koolau]

I went into 08 with about 400k networth, half in house/mortgage, the other half split between IRA/taxable. I rode the money print right into the covid moneybomb. There are ways to invest through crises.

The question is one of certainty, desired spending, likely returns, risks you choose to run... Weighed against time value of life itself.

I was all long equity in 08, after much contemplation I have shifted my allocations dramatically since my second crunch (01 was first experience). Cash/gold/crypto/income with a equity mix of what I hope is both indexed anchors and countercyclical. But time will tell.

If you survived '08 with a 400K NW - were you w*rking still? Big difference if w*rking vs fully retired. Just curious.

In any case, it sounds like you have managed the bumps in the road. Congrats!

 

[indiajust]

If you survived '08 with a 400K NW - were you w*rking still? Big difference if w*rking vs fully retired. Just curious.

In any case, it sounds like you have managed the bumps in the road. Congrats!

I got my last layoff in August of 08. Thought I was unemployed, turns out I was retired!

 

[Fliegers]

Honestly, if your timeline’s locked and health is part of the equation, I’d stick with it - just maybe keep a bit more cash buffer so you’re not stressing market swings early on.