Anyone else looking at their retirement savings linked to stocks/funds and see a loss for the year?

[itsrobert]

I cant be the only one.

So much winning. But annual statements will come out in time for Trump/GOP to blame it on the new Democrat House.

[redstatebluegirl]

1. No you are not alone.

We have a friend who is a financial planner she helps us move thing when she thinks we should or we ask her to. When he was elected we started watching more closely and moved some money when she thought we should. I think it saved us huge losses but who really knows. We took such a beating in at the end of Bush's reign and we never totally recovered from that one.

I think people are also going to be surprised when they do their taxes this time and find out they owe. It was all smoke and mirrors.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. Yep. I am where we were July 2017.

[spooky3]

3. Yes. S&P down for the year; global stocks and bond funds doing even worse. nt

[NoMoreRepugs]

4. A bloodletting the last 3-4 months.

[Laurian]

5. Scared to death.

We are retired and won’t have the recovery time needed to get it back. My husband has serious health issues and we’ve been very careful about drawing on the IRA should it be need for his care.

Now what?

I knew as soon as that asshole was elected that financial concerns would arise.

[CaptainTruth]

6. Yep. Same thing happened to me under GW Bush.

Every time Republicans take control it means I'll have to work a few more years before I can afford to retire.

If people keep voting for "voodoo economics" I'll never be able to retire.

This weekend I really have to look at moving my investments around.

[progree]

7. Just about everyone is "down" for the year

Here is what it is for the year to date through Wednesday 12/12/18 close. These are Vanguard index funds and the returns cited included reinvested dividends and other distributions:

a 0.3% gain for Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX),

a 12.3% decline for Total International Stock Index (VGTSX),

and a 1.2% drop for Total Bond Market Index (VBMFX)

Since Wednesday, the S&P 500 is down another 1.3% so the Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX) would be at about -1.0% for the year. (Actually -1.74% per Morningstar -- scroll down to Trailing Total Returns -- these are through Friday 12/14)
http://performance.morningstar.com/fund/performance-return.action?t=VTSMX®ion=usa&culture=en_US

It's noteworthy that bond funds were not a safe haven this year, so far.

For those, like me, who believe in having a diverse portfolio that includes international stocks, we are quite a lot more down. I've been lagging the S&P 500 for several years now.

[Yonnie3]

8. Down around 2.5%

I made some withdrawals early in the year which serve to make the YTD loss less than otherwise. My allocation is towards the conservative end of a balanced allocation. I am above 10% over ten years.

I don't know what 2019 will bring, but so far this is not so bad compared to what I saw in 2008.

[doc03]

9. As of now this is the first year my IRA has lost principle since 2008 nt

[DavidDvorkin]

10. God, yes.

[LakeSuperiorView]

11. My year to date rate of return on my 401K is 8.35%

I started the year stock heavy and decided to move away from stocks near the high point. I still have some stock exposure but a positive 8.35% year to date, when the markets are flat or negative year to date can't be complained about...

Before anyone asks, this does not include any contributions into the account this year.

[genxlib]

12. Yes...but

I have noticed that the dividends and long term capital gains have started coming in within the last week and they seem much higher than normal. I need to wait till after the new year to check for sure but it looks like a decent percentage by itself.

Would not be a huge surprise with the huge tax gift that companies got this year.

[GulfCoast66]

13. I moved out of most stocks in January.

I’m ok. But I made a shit ton under President Obama’s presidency.

[D_Master81]

14. Ours

is slightly up, something like .5% for the year. But when it went up 26% last year thats over 13% average for the 2 years, and being in my 30s I dont worry about it like my parents would. We do have an inherited IRA that we have 3 years to finish withdrawing the funds from that will be tough deciding what to do with it.

[safeinOhio]

15. Still up over 300% of original investment.

Have been thru 3 major downturns and it has always came back plus.

[cbdo2007]

16. Annual returns don't matter

What is your last 3, 5, 10 years look like??

At the end of 30 years or so you should only reasonably expect an 8-10 percent annual return on average, so you should expect some bad years in there.

[progree]

17. Here's how the Vanguard S&P 500 Index fund did thru Friday's close, YTD, 3y, 5y, 10y per Morningstar

1st number is average annualized return (except YTD which is actual percent change from 12/31/17 close)

2nd number is what a dollar invested at beginning of period would be worth today.

Includes reinvested dividends and other distributions

-0.95% , $0.9905 # YTD
10.96% , $1.366 # 3 years
10.14% , $1.620 # 5 years
13.82% , $3.650 # 10 years

https://www.morningstar.com/funds/XNAS/vfiax/quote.html

The 10 year is very much enhanced because it is comparing Friday to 12/14/08, just 4 months from the Great Recession's market bottom.

In case anyone has YTD, 3y, 5y, 10y info on their accounts to compare to a common benchmark, the S&P 500 (which is 75-80% of the U.S. stock market by capitalization). I use VFIAX (the Vanguard 500 index fund) because it includes reinvested distributions and expenses, so is not some theoretical thing.