OT - Dow plunges 1,175 - worst point decline in history

[kppolich]

My pandemic purchases of CCL, XOM, BA, and QQQ are sitting pretty right now. I'll ride it through this Santa Claus rally and then pare down some positions.

[Ken Robb]

Hmmm, I'll have to click on a different site to see how TESLA fared today after the news about the huge recall. I think the problem may be cured via on-line updates but PR damage and its effect on lawsuits may be a real problem.

[deluz]

I am the worlds worst investor.
I had all of my 401K in cash.
I was told by a financial planner I should have some in the market.
So I put 40% into one of the mutual funds on my plan on July 20 of this year.
That was the peak of the market and then it took a dive. Now it is back to where it was, even slightly higher. I am tempted to put it back into cash but I read a lot experts are saying the market could go up 5 - 10% next year so maybe I should leave it. I have some savings in Marcus account earning over 4%, unfortunately we don't have an option like in my 401K plan, just crappy ones.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by deluz

I am the worlds worst investor.
I had all of my 401K in cash.
I was told by a financial planner I should have some in the market.
So I put 40% into one of the mutual funds on my plan on July 20 of this year.
That was the peak of the market and then it took a dive. Now it is back to where it was, even slightly higher. I am tempted to put it back into cash but I read a lot experts are saying the market could go up 5 - 10% next year so maybe I should leave it. I have some savings in Marcus account earning over 4%, unfortunately we don't have an option like in my 401K plan, just crappy ones.

Please don't keep your 401k in cash. Also, please don't consider what the market will do in any given year--you should be forming expectations on a much longer time horizon.

[deluz]

Originally Posted by prototoast

Please don't keep your 401k in cash. Also, please don't consider what the market will do in any given year--you should be forming expectations on a much longer time horizon.

Forgot to mention I am 66 and will be transitioning to working part time Jan 1 and start drawing Social Security. So my time horizon is not super long.
My wife has a good pension so our income will not drop as long as I am working part time. Even when I stop working she can start getting Social Security and our income will about the same. Hopefully we will not have dip into 401K for a long time unless we spend a lot more on things like vacations and home improvements.

[Tony T]

Originally Posted by deluz

I am the worlds worst investor.
I had all of my 401K in cash.
I was told by a financial planner I should have some in the market.
So I put 40% into one of the mutual funds on my plan on July 20 of this year.
That was the peak of the market and then it took a dive. Now it is back to where it was, even slightly higher....

"The world's worst investor" sold when it took a dive. (not me)

[bigbill]

I like what's happening with my IRA. Election years are historically good for the market so I hope the upward trend continues. I retired last year at 57 and a year from now, I can draw on my IRA if needed. I retired from the military after 27 years then worked another 10 years as an engineer. I can pay all our bills and support our bike and horse habits with pensions. The IRA will be for stuff like travel and tractors.

My son is 24 and attending flight school as a Marine. I had a Coverdell fund for his college and then he recieved an appointment to Annapolis. His Coverdell rolled into mutual funds with Edward Jones.

[MikeD]

At least with interest rates where thay are, you can get a decent, relatively risk free return in money markets, CD's, T-bills, etc. The worst investments I've made were in bond mutual funds. Not going to go there again. Interest rates tick up a tiny bit and the fund value falls by a lot, plus the yield sucks.

[Tony T]

Originally Posted by MikeD

At least with interest rates where thay are, you can get a decent, relatively risk free return in money markets, CD's, T-bills, etc. The worst investments I've made were in bond mutual funds. Not going to go there again. Interest rates tick up a tiny bit and the fund value falls by a lot, plus the yield sucks.

Been buying 2 or 5 year treasuries monthly for about a year now.
Some at a low rate, some at a high rate (average of ~4¼%)
I will hold these to maturity.

[likebikes]

another ATH for the DJIA

[echappist]

An actual benchmark was surpassed https://wapo.st/49wWILIyesterday, yet no discussion of it here?

[HTupolev]

Originally Posted by echappist

An actual benchmark was surpassed

We saw an increase to the most significant digit of an arbitrarily-scaled number when represented in a numeric base derived from the median number of spindly appendages that humans have sticking off of their hands!