My 401K has lost 19.8% this year..... FUCK!

[scheming daemons]

Thank God I'm only 41 years old.


1/5 of my retirement savings wiped out in 9 months.


I know this election isn't about "me", per se... but dammit.

[quiet.american]

1. That's horrid. Sorry to hear that. nt

[scheming daemons]

3. This is why Obama is going to win in a landslide... people looking at their 401K statements on Oct 1

[Major Hogwash]

24. If they even have the guts to open up their mail.

When my notices come from my stock broker, I just toss them.
I don't even bother to open them anymore.
The market has been so fucked up for the last 4 years, that I don't even take the time to see how much value my stock has lost.

You're fairly lucky to only have a 19% loss.
Mine is only worth 42% of what it was in 2000.

And we don't even want to talk about the people who were invested with Enron in 2001.
A lot of Texans were totally wiped out when they went down.

[AZ Criminal JD]

31. Are people so stupid they can't use the internet?

Anyone can look at their 401 everyday. They don't have to wait for Oct 1 or any other day. They also can change stocks and mutual funds they are invested in. They don't have to just sit there and look at their investments go down.

[Major Hogwash]

44. Yeah, sure, they can go ahead and look.

If people want to go to the internet and see how much value they've lost, they can do that.

Or, they can watch tv and watch it circle the drain, just as well.
Because 401K plans are based on the companies' stock market performance.

[question everything]

39. You really should, so that you can catch any mistakes

and fees.


I check our IRAs and 401Ks weekly for that.

I've heard of individuals whose small companies would keep their contributions a bit longer for general funds, and things got worse and they never transferred them to the employees' accounts. By the time they were caught, it was too late.

[Major Hogwash]

43. Naw, it's not worth my time.

I could make a really long post here about why the economy is in the toilet now, but it isn't worth my time.

[tblue]

2. I can't even bear to look.

[budkin]

4. I'm not looking... I figure I'll wait until things rebound under Obama

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. The Dow And S & P Are Down By About That Much

People forget there have been near twenty year periods between a new low and new high: 1928-1948 and 1964-1982...

[WeDidIt]

6. My 401K has turned into a 100.25Z n/t

[AlCzervik]

7. i'm not looking, not today at least.

[DevonRex]

8. I liquidated everything last year because the market just wasn't

making ANY sense at all. When it doesn't behave like it ever has before, I get suspicious. And when so much tweaking has to be done of interest rates and all that, I get scared.

[phleshdef]

9. You are wrong. It IS about you and the problem you are having...

You and the rest of us Americans who are having the same issues.

At 28 years old, I was just about to start an IRA and a 401k... now I'm not so sure I don't want to hold onto my money and invest it in something else.

And to beat all, the people responsible for this want to stick our social security dollars in the same gambling machine.

This is about you and me and the rest of the middle class. All we want is security and a piece of prosperity in our old days. 4 more years of the same failed economic policies and we would be lucky to even get half of what we deserve when the time comes to have it.

I hope things pick up and you see that money come back. But we have to put the economic adults back in the White House first.

[NoSheep]

21. They want to put our social security in there so there's MORE capital for

them to invest in projects that make the Carlyle group rich

[maseman]

10. Dollar cost averaging though is good at our age

I'm in my thirties and lost quite a bit in my 401K also this year. However, when we pay in monthly or paycheck to paycheck we're buying more shares for the cost which in the long-run is usually even better.

I feel bad for retired fixed-income folks who are now living off of interest.

[Birthmark]

11. Honestly, it's lost nothing.

It's only theoretical at this point, isn't it? I mean, you're not cashing out or selling.

[Zenmaster]

12. Maybe we should run Social Security the same way.

[Abacus]

13. 24% here, but I'm 30 so I have time

Obama will turn this thing around.

[Bill219]

14. My wife and I have lost $20,000 this year so far

We are both freaking out right now:puke:

[high density]

15. So has mine

Yesterday I bought some shares in my IRA, to help offset the losses.

[bethling]

16. I feel your pain :-/

20.4% for me. Crap.

[NYC_SKP]

17. My home was worth $500,000, now maybe $250,000.....

I live in the hardest hit city in the US, foreclosure-wise.

[WinkyDink]

20. In fairness, it is "worth", and always was, whatever someone is willing to pay.

Same as any other object.
Take a look at the tulips planted in ordinary gardens.

BTW---I'm not disinterested. Had I sold our property in Cape Coral 15 mos ago, I'd have made $90,000. Today? Can't give it away, and the Piper wants paid for the future sewage line.

[NotThisTime]

27. What he said was 2 years ago it could have gone for 500, now just 250, Mine has been for sale for a

year... 1 year ago, valued at 580, my last offer? 435, my highest offer? 453... Can't even build it for that....

[NYC_SKP]

30. In nearby Merced, CA, there are 1 yr old homes selling for 1/2 price...

or, more accurately, not selling.

[slackmaster]

34. If he'd sold it for 500 two years ago, whoever bought it would be stuck with negative equity

We're all in this together.

[WinkyDink]

18. Try being 58 and 67, like my husband and I.

[scheming daemons]

22. I feel for you, seriously..... I hope you moved most to bonds....

When I get into my 50s, I'm moving almmost everything to bonds indexed against inflation.

[scheming daemons]

23. I feel for you, seriously..... I hope you moved most to bonds....

When I get into my 50s, I'm moving almmost everything to bonds indexed against inflation.

[RebelOne]

29. Try being 69 like me.

I'm still working full-time because I don't have enough in retirement funds. I just cashed in an old 401K and put it into my savings because I was losing money. It lost $4,000 in the past year, so I think for the time being it will be safe. At least, I won't lose any more. I have an IRA that is losing money by the day, so I am going to pull that while there is something left.

[NotThisTime]

19. Ours is the same, last go round it lost 40% in '01/'02 - it's taken all this time to come back and

make 35% for the entire time period.... now that's all wiped away... Oh well, guess we wait another 8 years to maybe see a profit... I'll just be glad if we don't lose 40% of our principle again.

Ok, I just looked, if we pull the money out now we keep our principal, all the gains of the last 6 years are gone.... I don't know what to do...

[GreenPartyVoter]

25. I'm sorry. We don't have a retirement plan other than to never retire, but

I hate to see anyone who does have one get burned like that. :(

[Born_A_Truman]

26. I'm 62 and don't have time to recover from this BS

Nobody looking to bail out my retirement savings due to this administration. It has sucked since Clinton left office. I'll be lucky to retire at all.

[calmblueocean]

28. It's really a shame that the 60+ crowd is tilted toward voting McCain. They need real help the most.

You have to wonder how someone who says, "I'm always in favor of less regulation" like McCain is ever going to create or sign into law the kind of regulatory oversight we need here.

[spanone]

32. welcome to the party....meanwhile our tax dollars are bailing out the criminals

[petersjo02]

33. I retired in 2003, just as the Bush admin. was affecting

the markets. I had to retire (health reasons) with my fund 25% below what it was on election day 2000. Then I had to buy my own insurance for the time between when I retired and I was 65 and could apply for Medicare. Spent well over $6,000 to insure only myself for 18 months because I didn't dare let coverage lap.

[JPZenger]

35. My kids' college fund - down $1,400 in one week

It is painful to work to save, and then see it disappear. My kids' college funds are down $1,400 in one week, even though they are in a conservative stock/bond mutual fund.

My church relies upon income from its investments to pay 25% of operating expenses. This year, we are going to have dig deep into the shrunken principal.

The professionals keep telling us everything is cyclical. I purposefully put money into retirement and college accounts over the summer because I thought things had bottomed out. And then the situation keeps getting worse.

[nini]

36. When the dickhead was 're-elected' in 2004

I put all my 401k money in conservative retirement savings funds only. I knew this was going to happen eventually and I'm damned glad I did now. I've lost a couple hundred dollars because of all this crap, but NOTHING like it could have been.

Of course this election is about YOU. It's about all of us and how we are getting screwed up one side and down the other for the failed republican policies.


You have my sympathies. I know how hard it is to see that happen.

[question everything]

37. Keep contributiong, though. You have a chance to "buy low"

and make sure you are diversified. Loan on bonds and cash.

And, as you say, you are only 41 and this will turn around.

Yesterday on CNN a 62 year old woman called with concerns about hers and a woman on the panel said that, yes, some people may have to delay their retirement and then she said: 10 or 20 years... and I thought - she was telling this to a 62 year old???

(CNN changed the format of the show and the website so I have no way of contacting someone there to see the transcript and to ask..)

[Born_A_Truman]

40. Can't contribute

I rolled my 401K into retirement funds when I left my company in 2000. I wish I could contribute each month, but with this economy we've been lucky to pay the bills and cover salaries with our small business.

If Obama doesn't win I'm thinking about moving to Mexico to retire. Once my husband retires we won't be able to afford to live in California if this continues.

[GrizzlyMan]

45. This is how I see it, an immense opportunity

I hate that our seniors and workers near retirement are getting hit hard, but never before have I had the kind of buying power I have now when it comes to investments. The wife and I are pouring all we can into our 401k's and other funds to try to maximize our benefit for the long term. The market will recover, but it's ugly sailing for some who need the money soon.

[question everything]

46. If this is 401K (and not IRA) and if you work for a small company

watch out. If not enough employees participate, especially at the lower salary level, you may be limited in how much you can contribute and all of a sudden, at the end of the year, some will be returned to you.

[Meshuga]

38. I'm scared to check my 401k statement

I will not look and not obsess about it because it is just going to drive me crazy. I'm 35 so I am going long anyway. But it is still upsetting.

[KayLaw]

41. Lost college funds.

In the '90's, my father invested $8,000 in a USAA fund for my son who started college last month. It had dropped way down at one point but made it up to $5,000 last year. It's probably way back down again.

[jillan]

42. SD - consider yourself lucky.

Mine has lost 40%, and I am no longer working :(

It sucks beyond belief.

I know - I should quit whining.

[TheDonkey]

47. My stock portfolio has been DEVESTATED. Thanks McClown and Co.

[my3boyz]

48. I'm too worried to even look at my husband's account. nt