The Emotional Side of Investing
I didn’t want to look, but I did it anyway…
My 401k is $8,000 less than it was one week ago when I calculated my September net worth. Do you know how long it took me to save $8,000? FOURTEEN MONTHS! Then to lose it in ONE WEEK. Ouch. I literally felt a pain in my stomach. I think I’m going to be sick.
Update: Due to a few emails I’ve received about this post, I feel it is necessary to let you all know that I am not pulling out of the market and I am not moving any money around. I will continue to invest. Although the dollars are decreasing, the number of shares I own are increasing. So that means I’m buying more of what I want - on clearance!
However, if I decide to change anything (which I haven’t yet), it may be a temporary adjustment to the asset allocation of future contributions. Until then, the reality is, my retirement account balance is $8k less than it was one week ago. And who knows what it will be at the end of the day, but I’m not looking anymore…this month. LOL
~*~*~*~*~*~Work to achieve, not to acquire.
And always, BE FABULOUS!
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It took me weeks to have the nerve to look at one of my accounts. I’ve lost about 50% of its worth in the past few months. I felt the same pain that you did, for a few seconds, I thought that I was going to be sick. We can only hope that it will eventually get better from here. Have a nice weekend.
Well, historically the market eventually recovers. Keep saying to yourself “I’m a long term investor, I’m a long term investor”. Remember, people like Warren Buffet go shopping now for bargains.
Stay strong.
I feel your pain. I finally mustered up the strength to check mine and it was down 36% and that was two weeks ago. I shudder to think about what it looks like now. :: sigh:: and it took me A LONG TIME to make that too.
I think percentage-wise, I was down about 33% as of Monday or Tuesday… I promised myself not to look again until the next time I need to calculate my net worth. This downturn has wiped out 4 years of growth, my company match, and has started chomping on my direct contributions.
The Dalai Lama once said (and I’m paraphrasing)… What is the point of worrying? If it is something you can do something about, do it, and stop worrying. If you can’t do anything about it, stop worrying about it, because you can’t change the outcome.
I feel your pain Ma.. I checked mine when I received a notice and said that I couldnt move any of my funds WTF Either way I haven’t looked since then and I don’t plan to for a min.. I got some time before I retire so I will recover.. *think positive think positive* lol
Girls, you sure have the staying power in this free fall
I moved all my leftover money to money market for now, I did not loos much, mainly my contributions, but you are right about being sick- three years ago my 401K was 13-15% annual return at least
I understand - I still haven’t checked my balance yet. Be of good courage, Single Ma!
Shoot….I wish I *only* lost 8k in the past week. It’s too horrifying to think about what has happeened to all of our hard earned money.
Thank goodness most of us seem to be years away from retiring.
Single Ma,
Think about doing the opposite of what you’ve planned. Protect some of what you’ve put in, but don’t get conservative with future contributions…so you can buy low.
There’s nothing I can do to protect what I’ve already put in. The damage is done. If I move any of it now, I would, in essence, lock in the losses - which aren’t permanent until you sell. However, *if* I adjust my asset allocation for future contributions (and that’s a big if), it won’t be a drastic change. I will still have a percentage in the market to buy low, but it will slightly reduce my exposure and appease my emotions. [-SM]
The last time I checked, I was down 32% - it was the first time my losses were greater than my contributions and company match. Well, that’s my 401k - the amounts I rolled over from my last job and my post-tax contributions aren’t doing too bad. Thank God that’s where over 75% of my funds reside. I did change my future contributions in my 401k to something more stable.
question for the readers - I was recently laid off and my 401K lost $21K recently. I use to work for a large mortgage/banking company. Do you think it would be wise to move my money to a ROTH IRA? With all the issues going on with the banks, I’m concerned that I will wind up with nothing. Or should I just ride it out? If you were in my shoes what would you do.
Ouch is right.
I think you’re right not to move the money around. I was thinking about it (as you saw in one of my posts), but then I thought about exactly what you mentioned — buying more shares real cheap. I decided to just stay put. So, when the market roars back (and it will, just not ANY TIME soon) I’ll be in a nice place… I hope!
I feel your pain. I was not sick at seeing our family investments and 401(k)’s dive. I guess I was mentally prepared for that reality. But when I checked LittleMan’s 529 college savings account…boy, that hurt. I don’t know why, but seeing his college fund retreat like that hurt my feelings.
I totally understand. I have lost 2,000 in just the last two days. I feel like someone socked me in my stomach. It is hard to swallow. Every financial person I’ve heard speak says hold on. I’m holding on but man on man this is a ride. I hope that in a year or so we can all say we made a lot of money from the bounce back. I’m going to continue to contribute and try not to look. I don’t know if I can go with the rest of the month. I know it will probably drop again tonight so at least I won’t look until Monday LOL!
Painful eh?
I am kind of happy I halted all retirement savings while I aggressively cleared my debt… Just in time.