Lost $150k to Investment, Where to go?

[AccruedExpenditure]

It sounds like you were 100 percent in stocks w/ no bonds. At that level of investment you're dealing with real money and your portfolio should reflect your appetite for risk. Even though you're far from retirement you sound like you have a low tolerance for risk which is understandable. Whoever you were talking to at Fidelity is an idiot for not suggesting you invest across industries and asset classes.

After I graduated from college I worked at a major dot com in San Jose and was granted a pretty sizable option grant when I came on as well as the opportunity to invest further in the company through an employee stock program. The first thing I did when I vested my first 50 percent was sell on a stock run up. The way I see it you're already investing in the company by working there and collecting a paycheck. It makes little sense to continue to pour or keep money in the company unless you're absolutely sure the stock will continue to move up. It's easy to do this when you're working at a company that's no longer the IT company but harder to do when your stock is red hot. I stressed this to friends, some headed the advice divested, others didn't and are hurting for it now.

Feel free to PM and I can link you to some resources I've found handy
-AE

 

[RbSX]

Originally posted by: Kenji4861
Well I've been working for the last 5 years.. and as advised, I've been talking to Fidelity, friends, listening to media, etc. about what to invest in and look where it got me.

Been closing my eyes on how my investments were doing this year because I didn't want to panic sell. Yesterday I finally opened my portfolio to find I'm down over $150k from the amount I've invested. That's $150k of my hard earned cash, not something I've gained from investments

It hurts and instead of talking to the few around me and reading stupid articles that the media releases, I want to find a good discussion forum that discusses investments.
(seriously the media would repeatedly having something that states "market looking to recover", "market fails, recession gloom ahead", and keeps swapping back and forth)

Anyone have a suggestion on a discussion forum?

I don't know what you were thinking 'closing your eyes' and ignoring things.

 

[mshan]

If OP doesn't want to take time to educate himself about investing in general, and mutual funds specifically, http://www.mutualfundstore.com offers retirement fund check-ups for a fee and will manage 401Ks for a rather hefty fee of 1.5% - 0.75% of assets ($50,000 minimum). It's an added layer of fees on top of fees already incorporated into mutual fund returns, but he gives you weekly hand holding on his radio show, and there should be a local investment advisor that you would be working with directly and in person.

I am guessing long term returns will be about market average (because of double layer of fees), but he will keep you from making (stupid and obvious) costly mistakes that really should be easily avoidable by any educated investor.

Good Luck!


edit #1: Adam Bold (Mutual Fund Store) 401k check-up service here: http://www.smart401k.com/ ($59 per quarter; $200 per year)

edit #2: market as a whole is down 24% this year (market close Friday October 3), so even if you rode Washington Mutual down to zero, your whole portfolio may still be only modestly underperforming the market as a whole.

edit #3: If, over the long term, stocks as a class return say 8%, intermediate term bonds 5%, and cash equivalents 2% (I am not sure how accurate those numbers are, they are just for illustration), and difference between market and really good or typical market lagging mutual fund is only 1 - 2 % per annum compound average annual return (above or below the market as a whole, respectively), you can see that difference between asset class is probably going to be more significant that actual investment choice (doesn't mean you should ignore details of any specific investment, though). Intermediate term bonds historically zig when stocks zag, so overall portfolio volatility goes down, though amount of dollars you have in end is significantly less. Cash cushion is there for times like these when markets temporarily fall apart completely. But you are in accumulation phase, not distribution phase, so bonds and cash are really only there to allow you to sleep at night, not because you know you will have to take money out at regular intervals to live on. Intermediate term bonds are typically introduced into a 100% stock mutual fund portfolio at age 50 or so. Enter 3% into a compound interest calculator, enter say 20 or 30 years, and amount of principal you want to divert from stock mutual funds to "safe" investments and see how much money that you might really be leaving on the table...

 

[JS80]

Originally posted by: ICRS
You should have invested your money in MRB PAC bonds. These are safe and secure. Right now they demand a high interest rate from investors so you should be abe to get atleast 6% after tax. Because they are PAC bonds they are safer than other paper.

QF Idiot

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure
It sounds like you were 100 percent in stocks w/ no bonds. At that level of investment you're dealing with real money and your portfolio should reflect your appetite for risk. Even though you're far from retirement you sound like you have a low tolerance for risk which is understandable. Whoever you were talking to at Fidelity is an idiot for not suggesting you invest across industries and asset classes.

After I graduated from college I worked at a major dot com in San Jose and was granted a pretty sizable option grant when I came on as well as the opportunity to invest further in the company through an employee stock program. The first thing I did when I vested my first 50 percent was sell on a stock run up. The way I see it you're already investing in the company by working there and collecting a paycheck. It makes little sense to continue to pour or keep money in the company unless you're absolutely sure the stock will continue to move up. It's easy to do this when you're working at a company that's no longer the IT company but harder to do when your stock is red hot. I stressed this to friends, some headed the advice divested, others didn't and are hurting for it now.

Feel free to PM and I can link you to some resources I've found handy
-AE

What you did was very astute in most of the advisor's programs I've noticed. They very rarely advise in keeping your retirement in the same company as employs you.
Well done.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: mshan
There is a big difference between an individual stock and quality diversified stock mutual fund (even a so so mutual fund that lags the market by a point or two per year is probably going to outperform bonds as a class over time because stocks >> bonds > cash).

And if his 401K mutual fund choices are Fidelity funds, those are probably just quasi-index funds that make contrarian sector bets to slightly outperform market as a whole by overweighting sectors they think will do better than average going forward, and underweighting sectors that they think will tank for the foreseeable future (they have so many billions of dollars of assets under management that really that's all they can do). Will Danoff of Fidelity Contrafund I think is skilled at managing those tens of billions of dollars in FCNTX, but I don't know what other options are in his 401K; I doubt any of them have a risk of going to zero unless the U. S. is about to enter a new medieval Dark Ages.

And there is also a big difference between beta (stock market volatility) and true risk (permanent loss of capital).

Not being 100% portfolio of quality, diversified stock mutual funds at his age, if building wealth for retirement, and not getting rich quickly is his goal, being scared into too conservative a strategic asset allocation means possibly leaving a lot of money on the table down the road (he just doesn't know it yet)...

Fixed
But you also don't risk the complete loss of your basic funds either. This is not a disadvantage when compared to having to start over again later in life.

 

[Rudee]

Until you sell your position, you haven't lost a dime.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Originally posted by: ICRS
You should have invested your money in MRB PAC bonds. These are safe and secure. Right now they demand a high interest rate from investors so you should be abe to get atleast 6% after tax. Because they are PAC bonds they are safer than other paper.

A lot of your comments are pretty ridiculous, but now I know for sure that you're a complete idiot.

 

[ICRS]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo

Originally posted by: ICRS
You should have invested your money in MRB PAC bonds. These are safe and secure. Right now they demand a high interest rate from investors so you should be abe to get atleast 6% after tax. Because they are PAC bonds they are safer than other paper.

A lot of your comments are pretty ridiculous, but now I know for sure that you're a complete idiot.

MRB are safe and secure, expecially ones that have a PAC schedule. Your money should be diversified, with both stocks and bonds. A good bond is a MRB. There has never been a default on a MRB. Your clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

MRB = Mortgage Revenue Bonds.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
I'm confused. Are you 5 years into the workforce? So you're...what, 27? And you had 150k in there (at least)? That means you were putting in an average of 30 grand a year.

Either A)

You mentioned having worked for the past 5 years because you were retired/out of work for an extended period of time, and recently went back to work, which means you're thinking of retiring again soon. in this case, you need a financial advisor IMMEDIATELY, not a bunch of ATOT helpful hints.

or B)

You're actually 27, in which case, bullshit, fuck off and die. Enjoy playing headgames with the staggering % of ATOTers who somehow believe the ludicrous claims people here make about how much money they're making in their mid 20's. Likely they only do it so no one will call BS on THEM when they claim to have made 200 grand at the age of 17, but still. Get a life and stop jerking us around.

He just multiplied everything by 10.

Assuming 50% matching by employer to 6% it's still a staggering amount for most 27yo's to be putting away even ASSUMING this dude is living at home.

 

[AccruedExpenditure]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
I'm confused. Are you 5 years into the workforce? So you're...what, 27? And you had 150k in there (at least)? That means you were putting in an average of 30 grand a year.

Either A)

You mentioned having worked for the past 5 years because you were retired/out of work for an extended period of time, and recently went back to work, which means you're thinking of retiring again soon. in this case, you need a financial advisor IMMEDIATELY, not a bunch of ATOT helpful hints.

or B)

You're actually 27, in which case, bullshit, fuck off and die. Enjoy playing headgames with the staggering % of ATOTers who somehow believe the ludicrous claims people here make about how much money they're making in their mid 20's. Likely they only do it so no one will call BS on THEM when they claim to have made 200 grand at the age of 17, but still. Get a life and stop jerking us around.

He just multiplied everything by 10.

Assuming 50% matching by employer to 6% it's still a staggering amount for most 27yo's to be putting away even ASSUMING this dude is living at home.

It's already been established he works for Google and probably amassed his six digit nest egg in the form of stock options.

 

[Agentbolt]

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
I'm confused. Are you 5 years into the workforce? So you're...what, 27? And you had 150k in there (at least)? That means you were putting in an average of 30 grand a year.

Either A)

You mentioned having worked for the past 5 years because you were retired/out of work for an extended period of time, and recently went back to work, which means you're thinking of retiring again soon. in this case, you need a financial advisor IMMEDIATELY, not a bunch of ATOT helpful hints.

or B)

You're actually 27, in which case, bullshit, fuck off and die. Enjoy playing headgames with the staggering % of ATOTers who somehow believe the ludicrous claims people here make about how much money they're making in their mid 20's. Likely they only do it so no one will call BS on THEM when they claim to have made 200 grand at the age of 17, but still. Get a life and stop jerking us around.

He just multiplied everything by 10.

Assuming 50% matching by employer to 6% it's still a staggering amount for most 27yo's to be putting away even ASSUMING this dude is living at home.

It's already been established he works for Google and probably amassed his six digit nest egg in the form of stock options.

Why are you assuming this? His OP specifically said this was "150k of hard earned cash".

Look, if the OP shows some irrefutable proof that he's not full of shit, I'll take my lumps and exit the thread stage left. It's not going to happen though, because the OP IS FULL OF SHIT.

It's staggering how many of you are delusional enough to believe, with no evidence, that this 27 year old kid has earned so much money he was able to sock away 150 grand of liquid assets. Again, this is not capital gains, or stock options he's lost, he's specifically claiming he lost 150 grand of hard earned cash.

Again, I'm sure next time some ATOTer in his 20s claims he independently invented long division, or claims he lost one of multiple palatial estates to some random forest fire, the OP will be the first to validate it.

 

[goog40]

You're being very close-minded to think that it's impossible he has $300k invested in the stock market at this point in his career. Is this common? Definitely not, but there certainly are people who have achieved that and more at an early age through a combination of hard work and good fortune.

 

[BuckNaked]

Your going to lose a lot more this week....

Edit: I didn't mean for this post to make light of your situation... just stating an opinion based on what the Asian markets are doing (down around 4-4 1/2 % as I edit this) and expect the European and US markets to follow suit, along with the troubling news about the European economy...

 

[Juked07]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
I'm confused. Are you 5 years into the workforce? So you're...what, 27? And you had 150k in there (at least)? That means you were putting in an average of 30 grand a year.

Either A)

You mentioned having worked for the past 5 years because you were retired/out of work for an extended period of time, and recently went back to work, which means you're thinking of retiring again soon. in this case, you need a financial advisor IMMEDIATELY, not a bunch of ATOT helpful hints.

or B)

You're actually 27, in which case, bullshit, fuck off and die. Enjoy playing headgames with the staggering % of ATOTers who somehow believe the ludicrous claims people here make about how much money they're making in their mid 20's. Likely they only do it so no one will call BS on THEM when they claim to have made 200 grand at the age of 17, but still. Get a life and stop jerking us around.

He just multiplied everything by 10.

Assuming 50% matching by employer to 6% it's still a staggering amount for most 27yo's to be putting away even ASSUMING this dude is living at home.

It's already been established he works for Google and probably amassed his six digit nest egg in the form of stock options.

Why are you assuming this? His OP specifically said this was "150k of hard earned cash".

Look, if the OP shows some irrefutable proof that he's not full of shit, I'll take my lumps and exit the thread stage left. It's not going to happen though, because the OP IS FULL OF SHIT.

It's staggering how many of you are delusional enough to believe, with no evidence, that this 27 year old kid has earned so much money he was able to sock away 150 grand of liquid assets. Again, this is not capital gains, or stock options he's lost, he's specifically claiming he lost 150 grand of hard earned cash.

Again, I'm sure next time some ATOTer in his 20s claims he independently invented long division, or claims he lost one of multiple palatial estates to some random forest fire, the OP will be the first to validate it.

5 years working could mean a lot of things.. He could be in his low 30s after completing med school which was paid for by parents or an inheritance and working for 5 years. Saving 300k in 5 years making close to 200k a year supporting a single guy should be very very doable.

The same concept applies if he went through law school, got an MBA, or many other routes.

 

[Epic Fail]

Originally posted by: Juked07

Originally posted by: Agentbolt

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
I'm confused. Are you 5 years into the workforce? So you're...what, 27? And you had 150k in there (at least)? That means you were putting in an average of 30 grand a year.

Either A)

You mentioned having worked for the past 5 years because you were retired/out of work for an extended period of time, and recently went back to work, which means you're thinking of retiring again soon. in this case, you need a financial advisor IMMEDIATELY, not a bunch of ATOT helpful hints.

or B)

You're actually 27, in which case, bullshit, fuck off and die. Enjoy playing headgames with the staggering % of ATOTers who somehow believe the ludicrous claims people here make about how much money they're making in their mid 20's. Likely they only do it so no one will call BS on THEM when they claim to have made 200 grand at the age of 17, but still. Get a life and stop jerking us around.

He just multiplied everything by 10.

Assuming 50% matching by employer to 6% it's still a staggering amount for most 27yo's to be putting away even ASSUMING this dude is living at home.

It's already been established he works for Google and probably amassed his six digit nest egg in the form of stock options.

Why are you assuming this? His OP specifically said this was "150k of hard earned cash".

Look, if the OP shows some irrefutable proof that he's not full of shit, I'll take my lumps and exit the thread stage left. It's not going to happen though, because the OP IS FULL OF SHIT.

It's staggering how many of you are delusional enough to believe, with no evidence, that this 27 year old kid has earned so much money he was able to sock away 150 grand of liquid assets. Again, this is not capital gains, or stock options he's lost, he's specifically claiming he lost 150 grand of hard earned cash.

Again, I'm sure next time some ATOTer in his 20s claims he independently invented long division, or claims he lost one of multiple palatial estates to some random forest fire, the OP will be the first to validate it.

5 years working could mean a lot of things.. He could be in his low 30s after completing med school which was paid for by parents or an inheritance and working for 5 years. Saving 300k in 5 years making close to 200k a year supporting a single guy should be very very doable.

The same concept applies if he went through law school, got an MBA, or many other routes.

Or getting $300,000 bonus working at an ibank 5 years after undergrad pre 2008.

 

[Kenji4861]

Guys, my question was if there is an investment discussion group. Any recommendations?

I did invest mostly in CDs until a year ago.. when I was advised to throw money into riskier things because I'm still young (talk about the worst timing ever)

I have two jobs and no, Google stocks are worth nothing to me because I joined just 2-3 years ago (strike price is just about what the stock price is right now)

This was really just hard earned cash. 🙁

 

[FallenHero]

Originally posted by: Kenji4861
Guys, my question was if there is an investment discussion group. Any recommendations?

I did invest mostly in CDs until a year ago.. when I was advised to throw money into riskier things because I'm still young (talk about the worst timing ever)

I have two jobs and no, Google stocks are worth nothing to me because I joined just 2-3 years ago (strike price is just about what the stock price is right now)

This was really just hard earned cash. 🙁

If you aren't willing to pay attention to the market and have a decent concept of buy/sell, then throw it all into mutual funds after talking with an advisor. Long haul its better. It will go down short term, but in 20-30 years its a huge return. I'm down 15% for the year and still pumping money into my ROTH. I'm not gonna see that money for at least 30 years...you cannot look at it as "money lost" if you never really were going to withdraw it anyway.

 

[SSSnail]

Hmm... wow you're a rich guy. You said you lost $150K off investment within a year, now let's say that $150K is 30% of your portfolio, you must have a great job that pays you about 250K a year. Good job if you can get it...

Mind if I ask what you do for a living and your second job is?

😉

 

[AccruedExpenditure]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
I'm confused. Are you 5 years into the workforce? So you're...what, 27? And you had 150k in there (at least)? That means you were putting in an average of 30 grand a year.

Either A)

You mentioned having worked for the past 5 years because you were retired/out of work for an extended period of time, and recently went back to work, which means you're thinking of retiring again soon. in this case, you need a financial advisor IMMEDIATELY, not a bunch of ATOT helpful hints.

or B)

You're actually 27, in which case, bullshit, fuck off and die. Enjoy playing headgames with the staggering % of ATOTers who somehow believe the ludicrous claims people here make about how much money they're making in their mid 20's. Likely they only do it so no one will call BS on THEM when they claim to have made 200 grand at the age of 17, but still. Get a life and stop jerking us around.

He just multiplied everything by 10.

Assuming 50% matching by employer to 6% it's still a staggering amount for most 27yo's to be putting away even ASSUMING this dude is living at home.

It's already been established he works for Google and probably amassed his six digit nest egg in the form of stock options.

Why are you assuming this? His OP specifically said this was "150k of hard earned cash".

Look, if the OP shows some irrefutable proof that he's not full of shit, I'll take my lumps and exit the thread stage left. It's not going to happen though, because the OP IS FULL OF SHIT.

It's staggering how many of you are delusional enough to believe, with no evidence, that this 27 year old kid has earned so much money he was able to sock away 150 grand of liquid assets. Again, this is not capital gains, or stock options he's lost, he's specifically claiming he lost 150 grand of hard earned cash.

Again, I'm sure next time some ATOTer in his 20s claims he independently invented long division, or claims he lost one of multiple palatial estates to some random forest fire, the OP will be the first to validate it.

I rarely assume. Google his handle
-AE

 

[CTrain]

Its funny how most ATOTers are skeptics.
Yet, a guy say he lost $150K and most people believe him.
I still call shennanigens until I'm prove worng.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: CTrain
Its funny how most ATOTers are skeptics.
Yet, a guy say he lost $150K and most people believe him.
I still call shennanigens until I'm prove worng.

as has been said, google it.

it's very possible to do if you've been living frugally and saving hard, with a good paying job.
op works at google, does web/maintenance work for spoofee, and on top of that, sells hot deals from spoofee to further sell on ebay.
he also seems to be dating a sugar mommy 😉

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Originally posted by: Ns1
long term investing

 

[gorcorps]

It doesn't matter if the OP is full of it or not. The cold hard truth is that if you're asking for financial help in an online forum (especially ATOT) then you've made a lot of bad decisions along the way and you were destined to lose that money regardless. Get smart or fall on your ass OP, your financial situation is none of our concern.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

do not check your portfolio today.
😛