With the stock market plunging. . .

[Panina]

I think you should be in stocks because the interest rates are so low. Actually, the interest rates are so low your money doesn’t keep up with inflation.

However, as you near retirement, liquidate some of your portfolio to meet 2 years into a cash account. That way, you aren’t stuck and have to sell in bad times.

Younger folks can have less cash and more investments. Cash though is nice for when stocks get cheap.

I certainly would say differently if rates were at the 20 percent level like they were in 1982. I loved those long gone days as I am a saver.

You are bang on about diversifying.


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I have money in stocks but can afford to wait for them to go up again. I will just not do the extras I was planning on doing such as building a deck or finishing my basement. I will also shift some fixed money into them as they go down.

I hesitate saying this because many will suffer because of this virus to pay their bills but being realistic, for those that can ride this downturn there is an opportunity to be better off financially.

For our younger Tugger.... Put all you are allowed to in your IRAs and 401ks. I did. Friends say I am so lucky I could retire early. I wasn’t lucky. I worked three jobs and saved while they were blowing their money. I am not rich but saving and investing in my younger years afforded me the opportunity to retire early and to be comfortable. I do not have to worry about paying my bills now.

 

[Fredflintstone]

I have money in stocks but can afford to wait for them to go up again. I will just not do the extras I was planning on doing such as building a deck or finishing my basement. I will also shift some fixed money into them as they go down.

I hesitate saying this because many will suffer because of this virus to pay their bills but being realistic, for those that can ride this downturn there is an opportunity to be better off financially.

For our younger Tugger.... Put all you are allowed to in your IRAs and 401ks. I did. Friends say I am so lucky I could retire early. I wasn’t lucky. I worked three jobs and saved while they were blowing their money. I am not rich but saving and investing in my younger years afforded me the opportunity to retire early and to be comfortable. I do not have to worry about paying my bills now.

Great advice!

Live BELOW your means. Save monthly and automatically. Max out those retirement accounts. The earlier you do it, the better you will be in retirement. @Panina is a smart lady (and a hard working one to boot!)


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[DancingWaters]

I had my money into a diversified account with 44% bonds. I changed it to a more conservative account today in hopes of slowing down the loss. We have sold 2 rentals this month and hope to close on both soon. Any good SAFE tips on where to put $300,000?

 

[Fredflintstone]

I had my money into a diversified account with 44% bonds. I changed it to a more conservative account today in hopes of slowing down the loss. We have sold 2 rentals this month and hope to close on both soon. Any good SAFE tips on where to put $300,000?

Oh my. Your diversified account was best IMO. I think this is just a blip. In a bit it will solve itself out. It least past epidemic scares turned out that way.

Maybe look around and find a money market account. Investment accounts I find are best.

10 Best Money Market Mutual Funds Of March 2024

If you put $70,000 in a money market fund today, after 12 months, you could earn an extra $3,413.29 in interest compared to most savings accounts. That's because the 100 largest money market mutual funds offers investors a 5.20% average yield, while the average savings account yields only 0.46%.

www.forbes.com

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[bluehende]

I had my money into a diversified account with 44% bonds. I changed it to a more conservative account today in hopes of slowing down the loss. We have sold 2 rentals this month and hope to close on both soon. Any good SAFE tips on where to put $300,000?

real estate

 

[DancingWaters]

Great Idea!!! That’s the type of income we want to replace and my husband won’t have to plunge one toilet to earn it!!! They were tremendous income producers

 

[CO skier]

I mean volatility-wise... I think things will return to normal ups+downs in about two weeks.
Drop a stone in a pond and the waves emanating are largest at the center, less so on shore.
That is, absent more high winds... which I 'spose is possible. For now, I'm along for the ride.

.

Not sure that volatility-wise means anything. The volatility of the Q4 2008 stock market morphed into a low-volatility, slow grind much lower into Q1 2009, until the market bottomed in March, 2009.

 

[Talent312]

Not sure that volatility-wise means anything. The volatility of the Q4 2008 stock market morphed into a low-volatility, slow grind much lower into Q1 2009, until the market bottomed in March, 2009.

True... My metaphor about a roller coaster says nothing about the outcome.

 

[dagger1]

There’s always excellent, common sense advice here on TUG. And really great folks!

 

[geekette]

I had my money into a diversified account with 44% bonds. I changed it to a more conservative account today in hopes of slowing down the loss. We have sold 2 rentals this month and hope to close on both soon. Any good SAFE tips on where to put $300,000?

congrats on your sales!

I would first stop by my credit union to see what they have going on. I might play some of the bank games, like collect $600 for keeping a balance of X for 3 months... Keep under FDIC coverage. I'd otherwise go money market, probably the one attached to my brokerage but check rates locally and national (bankrate.com)

CDs aren't going to move for a while and were already low. I don't see the point of locking money up there. Treasuries and TIPS, just not feeling it. Money market, sure money on your money. Go with the one that compounds the most frequently. Daily better than weekly better than monthly. Then the one most convenient to get your money out of without generating fees.

Good luck!

 

[Brett]

I had my money into a diversified account with 44% bonds. I changed it to a more conservative account today in hopes of slowing down the loss. We have sold 2 rentals this month and hope to close on both soon. Any good SAFE tips on where to put $300,000?

good SAFE tips ?
wait until the stock market is at the absolute lowest point ..... then buy

 

[Fredflintstone]

good SAFE tips ?
wait until the stock market is at the absolute lowest point ..... then buy

I wish I knew where the bottom is. I suppose wait until at least 3 up days? I would think the bottom is when the virus issue is solved.


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[geekette]

I wish I knew where the bottom is. I suppose wait until at least 3 up days? I would think the bottom is when the virus issue is solved.

I am not much for trying to call it, but my gut is that the bottom is 3 weeks after we hit peak virus. There is going to be more fear, more uncertainty, we haven't bottomed. Last I looked, most of my companies hadn't dipped below their 52 week low yet.

If I were deploying cash, I would do so every week.

 

[DancingWaters]

Thank you, we are excited for a new adventure other than rental property. We have a condo at Lake Erie that we have been too busy to use much. Sometimes, we think we would like to flip a condo at the lake and make a quick sale. We still have real estate interests in our blood! Thank you on tips for the $$$ from out sales. We have a FA but you know what they would want to do with it and we just need some time to invest wisely

 

[Fredflintstone]

I am not much for trying to call it, but my gut is that the bottom is 3 weeks after we hit peak virus. There is going to be more fear, more uncertainty, we haven't bottomed. Last I looked, most of my companies hadn't dipped below their 52 week low yet.

If I were deploying cash, I would do so every week.

Dollar cost averaging is always smart. It takes the emotions out of the equation. I have 2 FAs handle the bulk and I only manage 250 k. You know, I worry more about the 250 k than the bulk because I manage it .


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[geekette]

Dollar cost averaging is always smart. It takes the emotions out of the equation. I have 2 FAs handle the bulk and I only manage 250 k. You know, I worry more about the 250 k than the bulk because I manage it .


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The way I look at it is, I got myself this far, and if it all somehow goes POOF, I'll be ok. I'm not a rules-follower, I do my own thing, and got interested back in 8th grade. I am mostly immune to fear and greed as I am in it to float my old butt to the finish line, not to maximize every dime or have more than someone else. I am in it for the businesses, not the market. I'm an owner, not a trader. I don't play What If games, I make a decision and I Do That. I had to choose between Lowe's and HD. I chose HD and have not looked at how Lowe's has done because I don't care, I own HD, and it has done great. I don't have emotions tied up in it and it actually puzzles me that people do, but I think I have a different mindset and relationship with money. It's just not The Thing for me. I don't measure myself by it.

With each company I buy, I ask myself if I believe it can live at least 50 years. I only sloughed off on that twice, to buy some specs, last of the money to be deployed after filling portfolio with titans. Mixed results on that, so admonished self for breaking my own rules and moved on. I could lose half my companies and still be fine. These crashes haven't cost me anything, I still have all the shares I had.

People can talk about being wiped out or capital destruction or whatnot but that's just talk. I own companies that continue doing business. I'm not interested in "playing" the stock market but don't care what other people do. When I want to play with money, I go to the casino and leave when my "to play" money is gone from my pocket, and hopefully my "winning" pocket is bulging. It has never made sense to me that "you'll lose everything in the stock market" as that is clearly not true, but it is very easy to Lose Everything in a casino very quickly.

 

[Passepartout]

I have lightened my exposure to equities and am hanging onto the income producing bonds. I feel that we haven't reached a 'bottom' yet, and when we start getting some more positive news- like available testing and possibly treatment, it'll recover quickly and I'll be well positioned to dollar-cost-average back into equities, but for now, my sleep is worth more than the possible gain I might miss.

 

[Fredflintstone]

I have lightened my exposure to equities and am hanging onto the income producing bonds. I feel that we haven't reached a 'bottom' yet, and when we start getting some more positive news- like available testing and possibly treatment, it'll recover quickly and I'll be well positioned to dollar-cost-average back into equities, but for now, my sleep is worth more than the possible gain I might miss.

Agree.

Bulls make money
Bears make money
Pigs get slaughtered.


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[VacationForever]

As I have mentioned that our investments are managed, not by us. I looked at the activities history and see that they are selling bonds ETF etc and picking up stocks related positions. I guess they are making use of the crash to pick up lower price stocks, or to position back to stock-fixed income ratio. Since we don't need withdrawals until another year out, except RMD, we are not worried about what our portfolio looks like.

 

[Talent312]

We were 50-50 bonds to stock before the recent troubles.
I haven't had the guts to look recently.
I check in again, in about 2 weeks, to see where we stand.

 

[VacationForever]

Right now we are down 14 percent from end of 2019. Our FA sent us a material prepared by the firm about the current state of the stock market. Nothing that we don't know already. I am glad that I decided to buy deferred income annuities 4 years ago to hedge our bets. Unfortunately we made a couple of large purchases end of last year and this year. Our cash in the bank is supposed to last until 2022 but now our next withdraw will need to happen middle of next year. It is not huge dollars but still, we don't like to sell when the market is down. We figure by then things should have been stablized.

 

[Fredflintstone]

Right now we are down 14 percent from end of 2019. Our FA sent us a material prepared by the firm about the current state of the stock market. Nothing that we don't know already. I am glad that I decided to buy deferred income annuities 4 years ago to hedge our bets. Unfortunately we made a couple of large purchases this end of last year and this year. Our cash in the bank is supposed to last until 2022 but now our next withdraw will need to happen middle of next year. It is not huge dollars but still, we don't like to sell when the market is down. We figure by then things should have been stablized.

I notice the Dow surge while President Trump was speaking. It ended at 1950 points up. I see a vaccine or treatment very soon that will end the crisis. Red tape was eliminated so that will speed things up considerably. Hang tight. I still see this as a blip. It may take 2 quarters to sift out but in the end I think your accounts will be in fine shape.


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[Rjbeach2003]

My wife and I are fortunate to each have SS and State retirement. Our IRA's and other funds are invested in a diverse portfolio by a qualified money manager. With the few stocks owned outside that, they are and were buy and hold. One B of A over the past 20 years has ranged from a high of $50 or so to a low of $ to today around $20, with a high this year of $30+. I'm glad I don't have to count on IRA for constant income. Everything is fixed, with CofLiving adjustments.

 

[Bucky]

We bailed after the big drop Thursday. Even though we had a balanced portfolio the volatility finally got to us. We will get back in, just like we did when the last major volatility ended (during the Mueller investigation). Made great money on that move. Market dropped 10% giving us a great buying opportunity again.

I feel the same way about this volatility. There will be another great buying opportunity, I just don’t see it happening in the short term. Bad enough that it’s an election year which can rattle markets now we have a major pandemic that most of us have never seen before. I think the next buying opportunity will be when an antidote for Covid-19 is announced or some other type of major positive announcement.

Until then we will probably remain in cash, just in case. Would rather miss some of the eventual bounce than continue to play the up and down game and watch all of our previous gains disappear. Everything will smooth out again someday, just hope it’s in my lifetime.

 

[geekette]

19 divs in so far this month. No cuts, no suspensions. Value isn't down enough for concern, most haven't even dropped below 52 week low, which is in most cases higher than the highs in past years! Will I have 19 payments between June 1 and June 13? I don't know, but I'm not changing anything. I haven't lost a company yet and don't expect it in 2020, but nobody knows what can't be known, so I'll sit tight. I own a lot of consumer staples, and we know nobody is going without TP or food and I'm pretty sure that Clorox will come through unscathed.