Basically whatever money you've set aside and decided to invest--what sort of annual returns are you getting on it? And if you've had it for a while, how do today's rates compare to what you were used to getting?
sweet holy balls dudeThe return from mid 2009 to the end was really good but I'm still down about $15,000 in that account from it's high and that's with 2 years of contributions on top of that so I'm sure it is really down over $35,000+ from its' high.
sweet holy balls dude
I learned from my investment classes that cost average is dangerous. One of the bank manager in the bank that I invested in lost $400K of his wife inheritance on cost average, and my brother lost $90K on cost average with Nortel.Like a good soldier (or dumbass one), I kept the course and kept putting my money in every month like I was told to...dollar cost average and it will all work out. I watched it drop nearly 60% of it's value in just over 1 year. I nearly pulled it out and said fuck it at the VERY low point in March of 2009. It came back to within $4,000 of it's high at one point but even that was with the 2 years contributions.
Pretty sad....even for the long term guys.
My boss of the time, age 60, lost over $400,000. He should have had much more in bonds/guaranteed funds. He has made up some of that but at his age, unless he's willing to wait and HOPE that the market returns, he's basically been fucked.
I learned from my investment classes that cost average is dangerous. One of the bank manager in the bank that I invested in lost $400K of his wife inheritance on cost average, and my brother lost $90K on cost average with Nortel.
I did the smart thing and called it a lost with Nvidia during the crash (purchased at $22 a share at 1000 shares, and sold just under $12 a share). Purchase TCK.B just above $5, sold 1.2 at $17, and still holding 600 shares of TCK.B @ $35.90 CAD currently. I bought GCD & GCE with the money that I made from selling TCK.B, and since then they have appreciates almost 300%.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away, know when to run
You never count your money, when you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin', when the dealin's done.
I just opened up my account to take a look. I got hired in 2008 and started contributing right before the market REALLY tanked. The timing worked out pretty well, the value of my fund is about 40% higher than my contributions. I've been eligible for a 25% employer match for the last year so that accounts for part of it, but even without that it's doing ok.
Like I said my self-direct investment account is up 71%.I'm not talking about individual stocks, I'm talking about a basket of mutual funds including international, S&P500, mid cap, small cap and bond funds. Didn't matter.....all of them took a big ole bath.
I remember having returns that were similar (almost) like that during the first few years and also after the crash between 2001-2003. Overall though, it's been down lately. Generally speaking, you got in at a good time but only time will tell.
Im getting fucked now. 2yrs ago i was getting $1800 a month from my Chase stock. Now it is like $800 or some shit like that.
I really don't know how much I've put in but I've been putting money in since 1995. At the low of 2009, I had lost money on the entire amount. To be honest, I'm not sure how much I'm up at this point (assuming I am) because my former company switched 401k providers 3 times and I lost track of how much I had actually put in.
It's almost a 404-Gain not found type of situation. I know many people who got in after me (around 1999-2000) at the same place and they are still underwater after 10 years of investing (mix of bond and stock funds for those guys - mostly stocks).
The return from mid 2009 to the end was really good but I'm still down about $15,000 in that account from it's high and that's with 2 years of contributions on top of that so I'm sure it is really down over $35,000+ from its' high.