Stock markets down, FTSE and Dow Jones hitting the floor, global crash in share prices. No idea what any of it means but the financial pundits on the news channels seem to be getting quite worked up about it all.
Gordon Brown seems to be sitting back in his big chair and lighting a cigar as he shrugs it all off and tells us that the UK economy is going to ride it out so if he is not worried about it I'm not going to.
According to the people who do get paid to worry about these type of things, it is those with pensions, shares and mortgages who should be eyeing the window ledge because if anyone, they are the ones who will be squeezed until they squeak.
For many years i have been told to get my pension sorted out and i always said yeah ok and did exactly what i have done for the past 38 years and that was nothing until the next time i was harassed about it when i would promise to sort it out again. And then do nothing until the next time and etc etc.
My plan is to somehow land myself a fortune within the next 22 years and retire to an island somewhere in the Pacific, possibly buying it, i haven't decided yet.
I rent and have no stocks or shares so i haven't paid particular attention to the laptop wielding commenter's and their spiky graphs predicting all sorts of crashes, ripples and downturns.
Maybe i should be more concerned but i get a strange satisfaction of knowing that the lazy and probably irresponsible ones like me are the ones sitting pretty at the moment and not grasping handfuls of our own hair.
17 comments:
I think i'm in the same situation as you, Lucy. No pension, no stocks, no shares, no mortgage... no problem?
Hmm, unlikely. :/
A tale of two perspectives:
1) Me: Not worried at all because I still have two to three decades of working ahead of me (maybe four the way things are going), and while I don't really have any investments, I do have a 401(k) - which has a significant stock component. But of all the immutable truths the one you can always trust is the stock market always goes up over time (measured in decades).
2) My MIL: She will retire this year, and has a considerable 401(k) portfolio. The volatile stock market is giving her ulcers, because every day the effect on her 401(k) amount is tangible and significant. She has to decide what to do with her balances so as to protect her retirement fund as best she can. Of all the immutable truths the one you can always trust is the stock market is a bad bet and incredibly risky over the short term (measured in months or shorter).
And Bush wanted to have everyone's retirement plans doled out in stocks.
Ook ook
This is probably our only chance to walk about looking smug for being slackers imuslim so we have to enjoy it while we can.
Apparently this is the best time to buy shares (or stocks whatever the difference between them is) so got any tips Fez? My retirement fund depends on something that won't cost much now but should peak when i hit 60.
Banking stocks like Citigroup (C) are at rock bottom ATM Lucy - a good buy IMO.
Remember the folks who didn't panic in the crash of '28 and held their stocks became incredibly wealthy in the long run.
There is a lot of irrational panic around - people seem to like bad news.
"i get a strange satisfaction of knowing that the lazy and probably irresponsible ones like me are the ones sitting pretty at the moment and not grasping handfuls of our own hair."
Finally a topic I can speak about. Even after this months downturn, my clients are still up very nicely over the last 12 months etc. Lucy, you must get started ASAP to secure your future, it's actually very easy, and what the Fez monkey said is right, you can count on stocks in the long run. Don't pick a sector, pick an indicie, and Fez, the closer you get to retirement, the less you should have in stocks compared to your 20-40's. That's why Bush wanted people to have the OPTION to invest over decades. I still think it's a good idea.
Here is my wisdom having spent the majority of my working life on Wall Street.
1.Markets go up and markets go down, but over time asset allocation will avoid the cycle of the wrong sector, as well as overexposure.
2. Treat your stocks like your employees, not your children. Be ready to fire them when they steal from you.
3. Bulls make money, bears make money, and pigs get slaughtered.
4.The trend is your friend.
5.Don't try to catch a falling knife.
6. The market will go up. level off, and then drop a little, just not in that exact order.
7.Greed is good.
8. We are due for a dead cat bounce.
9. We are only in the 6th inning of this expansion
10. It's a dog with fleas
11.Follow the Vix
12. An 1/8th of a point has killed more *%"s than (fill in mass murder here)
13. Don't buy C until Pandit breaks up the joint
Unless you have access to inside information or were born with a lucky streak, give shares a miss.
Bricks and mortar are always potentially worth more than bits of share script.
The best move? Find a rich husband, Imuslim and Lucy. Cheers.
I read an interesting article about the predicament this morning....
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7852
I think his diagnosis of the problem (and what has caused it) is spot on... whereas, on the other hand, I think his proposed solution (that strange old 'social credit' idea) is a bit mad...
But still, the first half is well worth reading! :)
Bricks and Mortar? Well we all know how Real Estate has been as an asset class here in the short term. (not that I don't like it in the long term, but EVERY asset class has it's cycle)Lucy, my point is that whatever happens, you still have steps to take whether you like it or not. Please set yourself up with a small account, and an autodraft for whatever you can afford, and just get an inexpensive FTSE or S&P 500 fund to start. There is no better time than the present to start planning for the future. As to the rich husband thing, unlike Daniel, I happen to think your a little better than that. Get started on the rest of your life. Good Luck
I will look at Citigroup ruth and a few others people have mentioned to me and keep an eye on them for a few weeks and see what is happening. Only wish i knew what i was actually looking for though!
Thank you for your help Cody but you will have to spell it out to me with pictures and words of less than 2 syllables or even better, shout at imuslim and I, "BUY SHARES IN (enter Co here) BECAUSE IT IS ABOUT TO GO THROUGH THE ROOF!!!"
The problems with bricks and mortor daniel is they cost a fortune to buy in the first place. The housing market here is way out of my meagre means. As for the rich husband, I am still sending the letters to Bill Gates.
As for the rich husband, I am still sending the letters to Bill Gates.
Why? Has he turned Mormon/Muslim and prepared to take on some optional extras? Or are you going to threaten his wife and boil his bunny? ;)
Shares are great for that spare money you don't mind losing, Lucy. Bricks and mortar are substantial - they actually exist and can be lived in or rented or improved.
Of course with all investments it's the 'having multiple eggs in the basket' trick: some real estate, some super, some shares, some antiques, etc.
How about you try Richard Branson? He seems to be your style!
I thought if i am going after a rich man imuslim, i may as well go after the richest. Why settle for any old mutli-billionaire when there is a multi-mutli-multi-gazillionaire just waiting to have his bunny simmered on gas mark 4.
Property prices here Daniel are out of most peoples league unless we are talking a tent on the common.
Lucy, figure whatever you can contribute on a monthly basis, set up an account at Cavendish, Interactive Brokerage, or Fidelity U.K. Invest half the money in a FTSE fund, and the other half in a S&P 500 fund (U.S Large companies)Don't touch for 25 years, and retire a well propertied women. E-mail me with any more questions
"market crunch" makes it sound...yummy.
the more i read and learn about the roots of the current economic meltdown, the less i have faith in lending institutions of any sort. but that's just me.
I'm putting me money in a box under the bed.
I've always fancied a 'well-propertied' woman, myself! About 45-25-40. Her hair colour is not important because that can be changed. Come to think of it, these days, most other things can be changed as well!
P.S. And what's wrong with a stout tent on the common, Lucy? Many an hour of violent, throbbing passion has been consummated there.
Post a Comment