Market going to crash today

stevieraveon

So I guess the DOW futures is down 550 pts already today...so much so that they had to halt trading. This opening is going to be ugly.

Anyone else down a crap load of money? My 401k is now at 65% of my cost basis....I am done investing and instead am going to just gamble on sports, at least I know why I win or lose.

Ms. Haiku

Just for peace of mind - unless you are going to retire soon, no need to look at your 401K, right? I receive monthly statements of course, but I don't plan on retiring for 30-40 years, so my 401K is not the priority right now. By that time, maybe the stocks would be up again. Layoffs will be in place at my job in December. That's is what worries me now. Time to upgrade the resume.

I'm amazed that I have been an adult on my own through 2 major downtimes; dot.com bust and what is going on now. All within the same decade, too. I was laid off then and the unemployment rate at that time was 7-8% where I lived. It's getting up there in that part of the country again. Imagine during the great depression how 1/3 of people were out of work? It completely boggles my mind.

stevieraveon

Ms. Haiku wrote:

unless you are going to retire soon, no need to look at your 401K, right?

You're right, I'm only 32, and I have enough cash in the bank to last at least 2 years if I was let go, but when I update Quicken I have it setup to show my 401k, and seeing 8k losses in a day is driving me mad.

Going to just delete my 401k info from Quicken cause it's driving me mad watching it.

petrocs

stevieraveon wrote:

Going to just delete my 401k info from Quicken cause it's driving me mad watching it.

I dont blame you :(

Flagg

Well, whatever you do, if you are in your 20s, 30s or 40s, don't start pulling money out of your 401k. That just locks your losses in and then you miss out when/if the market rebounds.

DrHeidi41

stevieraveon wrote:

You're right, I'm only 32, and I have enough cash in the bank to last at least 2 years if I was let go, but when I update Quicken I have it setup to show my 401k, and seeing 8k losses in a day is driving me mad.

Going to just delete my 401k info from Quicken cause it's driving me mad watching it.

I know exactly what you mean. I'm 32, too, in the last two years, I really got on my feet financially. I wasn't just trying to make ends meet and pay the bills; I was saving, saving for retirement, etc. We have enough money and I am very fortunate to have a secure job, so I'm not worried about that, but it so frustrating to see all my planning/savings going down the drain.

josevolution

since may i have lost 15k on my 403 i have stopped looking at it ..

Flagg

DrHeidi41 wrote:

I know exactly what you mean. I'm 32, too, in the last two years, I really got on my feet financially. I wasn't just trying to make ends meet and pay the bills; I was saving, saving for retirement, etc. We have enough money and I am very fortunate to have a secure job, so I'm not worried about that, but it so frustrating to see all my planning/savings going down the drain.

Same situation here. Finally got serious about it. Started retirement planningn and college saving. Paid off all my debt (except cars and house). Have a good job. So does the wife.

Just basically want to be left alone and do my job and save my money.

It is frustrating to see forces out of your control do this to you.

decides2dream

i have not even LOOKED at mine, or my husband's, 401Ks. just looking at our own stock accounts is enough. :( :( :( down about 40%.....very sad. when i think what all was *worth* 6 months ago...oh to have the crystal ball and have known. we owned wachovia stock. :mad: it is beyond disappointing, but what can ya do? certainly not going to sell! just have to hang tight and ride it out. was hoping to do some sales in the not-too-distant future, keep some invested...sell some off for some home projects, etc....but it looks like that shall be put on hold indefinitely until the market rebounds. that's really it; as long as you are not retirement age.....all you lose is time. have to wait longer for it to come back up. eh well.....life could be worse. i try to see it as at least we do have investments to lose....don't like it, but at least we have tried to build a nice nest egg.