The last three days have been pretty scary. I am watching sizeable chunks of my 401K retirement accounts being eaten away and tomorrow I need to act to stop the losses before it is too late. Years ago I woud have said to myself to just ride it out as there are many years until retirement. If this is as bad as the pundits say I don't think anyone can wait.
Why am I writing this here on a DI related blog? I am not sure. Of the several blogs I maintain, DI and non-DI related, I guess it is here I have spoken the most personally. I grew up in a house where my father changed jobs pretty often as the sales force always got laid off when times were tough and while we never really went without anything there were times when we knew it was months between my dad securing a new job. And you get accustomed to worrying about money.
After all the IVF attempts and other financial miscues we don't have a huge nest egg we can tap into if this market collapses. My job is not tied directly to the financial markets but most people don't realize how tied together everything is and I am a bit stressed right now. My greatest fear, at this moment, would be losing this apartment and not knowing where to go.
Sorry for the non-DI tangent but needed to get his out before I screamed and woke everyone up.
You know, I always remember what my mom told me (born in 1928), that her parents told her (they actually lived through the Depression as adults) -- it is not a loss until you withdraw it, and the stock market always comes back. I am going to trust that advice and not panic, because I do have time before retirement. Even though I am sad to see my balances go down, especially in accounts in which I'm no longer contributing, but I'm looking at it as an opportunity to buy at a lower price.
ReplyDeleteYes, some scary stuff happening. Hope you weren't/aren't hit too hard.
ReplyDeleteBea