I am now broke..

[dondub]

Not sure if actualizing losses due to the pandemic ‘correction’ is a quality investment strategy. And please confirm that none of the portfolio reduction was do to the divorce settlement.

[tallguy]

I'm down about 16% for the year.  I only have a couple of individual stocks and bought those late in my investing career.  I will probably do some more over the next couple years, but that is only because it is basically play money for me now.  Over half of my investments are in index funds, while most of the rest is in other mutual funds, a couple of which I have held for over 35 years.  I am not worried about the downturn, since I don't ever really need to take the money out.  If I find something I really want to spend on, I will.  If not, I will simply convert to Roth and wait. 

There are basically two ways to win the game.  You can either amass enough money to cover all of your needs and wants along with a cushion for safety, or you can keep your expenses low enough that they are easily covered without depending much (or at all) on your investments.  I combined the two.  I may have a lot more than the average person, but my expenses are also very low.  My problem is finding things to spend the money on.  I will guarantee one thing though.  Having no financial stress is better than having a certain amount of money.  The ideal amount is not a number.  The ideal amount is "enough."  
    

[happyhoix]

I’m about 10% down from where I was last year. I was bummed about that, but then I saw that this was a very bad year, and figured most people were right there with me.

I don’t do individual stocks. I had a co-worker who put her entire 401K in our company stock, thinking that all her co-workers were hard workers so they would never let her down. Her co-workers WERE hard workers but the top management were complete fools and we went bankrupt and she lost her whole 401K (I think at that time about 40K). That was a good enough lesson for me - I’m not a dedicated investor who will research all my picks, so instead I leave it in a managed portfolio through my work. Right now I’m in a mass mutual fund that automatically adjusts the bonds/stocks/cash allocations based on how many years you have prior to retirement. Then I try to ignore it.

It was hard to see that 10% chunk melt away.. I have a few more years before I retire and fingers crossed I have the chance to earn some of that back.

[MN-Investor]

Looking back at a summary sheet, 9 years ago, several years before my husband retired, our portfolio was invested 38% in his employer's stock and 19% in my former employer's stock. We knew investment experts would frown at that, but we had a certain conversation a number of times during that period. What we would discuss is Are we on track for DH's retirement if his company stock went to zero? If my company stock went to zero? And every time we agreed that we would be ok if either of those situations occurred. Both of the companies were old, established manufacturing companies which, as my sweetie pointed out, had "break-up value," i.e. the stock would never go to zero because other companies would purchase some of their established businesses.

Investing in diversified index funds with low expense ratios is key to a safe, long-term portfolio. But as long as you are on track with that portion of your portfolio, you can invest the remaining in individual stocks.

[Deleted]

Dec 31, 2022 20:11:50 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I don’t do individual stocks. I had a co-worker who put her entire 401K in our company stock, thinking that all her co-workers were hard workers so they would never let her down. Her co-workers WERE hard workers but the top management were complete fools and we went bankrupt and she lost her whole 401K (I think at that time about 40K). 

Yeah, a lot of million-dollar (on paper) fortunes were lost during the dotcom era.  I was with a GE sub for 3 years till it was sold and had had some GE stock but not a lot.  Gone a long time ago, thank heaven.

One great deal I got was "phantom stock"- you agreed to put a chosen % of your salary into the company stock over 2 years, fixed at the price at that time.  After 2 years your stock (which never existed) was liquidated and you got the proceeds.   You were guaranteed a minimum return- something in the single digits.  I almost didn't buy in and I'm glad I did.  Stock had hit a bottom of $12/share when I signed on (they'd done some dumb things in the subprime mortgage market) and 2 years later it was at $50. I wish I'd put in more even though it was taxed as ordinary income.

[Artemis Windsong]

Long gone and I wish I had bought more. It was when I was looking for dividends. I found one in a China gaming stock. It was paying a $3 dividend on a $3 stock. Since it was foreign, I only invested a small amount. The company later did a stock buy back and turned it private.

I also bought an Asian mutual fund that doubled. My investment advisor was unhappy that I did buy it and was glad I left it. He said I was the only client that bought Asian because of, well you know.

Now my financial home runs are the I-bonds.

[phil5185]

The SP500 Index has a longterm average return of 11%/yr - here is a good reference. (politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2006/12/sp-500-at-your-fingertips)  An 11%/yr return means that your account will double about every 7 years.

Like happyhoix, I avoid individual stocks, here's why. There is no way to predict the future of a single stock - p/e, elliot waves, fibonaci ratios, yada. You cannot predict the future - books have written but none have worked. Conversely, the 500 major stocks in the Market have performed at an 11%/yr rate, for decades.

Personally, I would actualize the $185k, move it into the SP500 Index, and wait - $370k in 7 years, $740k in 14 yrs, $1,480k in 21 years, and so on. When you are age 74 you'll have a million and a half.  Meanwhile retire early, take the SS pension at age 62.
Happy 53rd birthday. And best wishes.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

tesla down over 12% today!

what a roller coaster.....

[jerseygirl]

Jan 3, 2023 21:21:26 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

tesla down over 12% today!

what a roller coaster.....

I also own Tesla Most are still above what I bought at but only $25 now instead of a lot more!

[CCL]

Jan 3, 2023 21:21:26 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

tesla down over 12% today!

what a roller coaster.....

I thought of you today when I saw that. Sorry

[laterbloomer]

Tesla is my gamble stock. I bought some after it went down and it's still down 50% from there. So glad I didn't put a lot in.

[thyme4change]

It seems as if you think you have two options - hold it all and hope it returns to what was probably an over-priced rate, or sell it all and eat all the losses at once. 

I (personally, but don't really know - so many grains of salt here) don't think Tesla will recreate the magic they had a few years ago.  They were very cool, exclusive, yet still attainable, unique and special.  Now, I think people are frustrated with them for their bland offerings and even if you still love Elon, you can't deny his time and attention are split.  I think Tesla is seeing a serious lack of leadership.  I think Tesla will continue to be an important part of the car manufacturing world - but I don't think it will bounce back quickly. They are profitable and have cash flow, so they aren't going to go bankrupt, leaving you holding the bag, but it may take a decade to get back to that $400 price. I know nothing about the other stock.

That all said - maybe you don't hold all of it, or sell all of it. You can diversify slowly - if you see a little uptick on either of the stock, start selling off bits and pieces and getting into less risky propositions. Maybe you can balance your losses with gains in other areas, but still have enough of those two stocks to gain some benefit it they do came back. But also have enough of something else to soften the blow if they flail around where they are for a while.    

[countrygirl2]

Hubs bigger 401k is in Vaguard, we are careful so a good one for us, it's doing fine. A small one is in Principal Funds and it's good. Money in I bonds is going great and we put $100k in a 5 year guaranteed 4.35% for 5 years so that's ok too. We put some money in MM's for now. We still have 4 rentals, though one is dormant until it's fixed and sold, so enough money coming in to do repairs and pay expenses on the properties plus some profit.
We are earning and could live off our SS plus 3 RMD's we get a year and do fine. But we don't. We are happy where we are.

I think we are very fortunate, so sure not complaining.

[minnesotapaintlady]

I was searching for some other info and came across this thread. I can't tag on my phone, so will do it tomorrow.

Just wondering if OP rode out that drop in Tesla and Nvidia?

WannabeWealthy

[swamp]

Jul 19, 2023 22:33:35 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I was searching for some other info and came across this thread. I can't tag on my phone, so will do it tomorrow.

Just wondering if OP rode out that drop in Tesla and Nvidia?

WannabeWealthy

I did. It was ugly for a while

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jul 22, 2023 14:53:20 GMT -5 swamp said:

Jul 19, 2023 22:33:35 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I was searching for some other info and came across this thread. I can't tag on my phone, so will do it tomorrow.

Just wondering if OP rode out that drop in Tesla and Nvidia?

WannabeWealthy

I did. It was ugly for a while

Do you have Tesla and Nvidia too?

I picked up a couple of extra Tesla near the bottom. nvda has a tiny dividend so drip that…hasn’t amounted to much…

[swamp]

I am overweighted in Tesla 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jul 24, 2023 11:26:00 GMT -5 swamp said:

I am overweighted in Tesla 

#teslasister!