Lost $150k to Investment, Where to go?

[imported_Lothar]

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.

It is quite possible for one to assemble "150k of hard earned cash".
I am only 23 and I'm 100% sure that I can have that before I turn 27.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Put more money into it. When the I/T stocks crashed awhile back they reovered within a year.

Shens.

 

[KingGheedora]

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: Beattie
Unless you are going to retire soon don't worry about it. In 5 years you will barely remember this happened.

Bullshit.
I remember losing my money in the dot com crash.
Capital Preservation FTW.

how did you lose it? did you sell during that time, actualizing your loses? or have you held onto the investments until now?

Also, what was your portfolio like? individual stocks, etf's, mutual funds,?

 

[Sho'Nuff]

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?

How old are you? You can look at the downturn as a tragedy, or as an opportunity. If you have a long term time horizon, and have confidence in your investment strategy, I would say to stay in what you are in, and buy buy buy!

 

[wwswimming]

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?

http://www.tickerforum.org/cgi-ticker/akcs-www
maybe.

my financial losses in 2000 turned out to have a silver lining. i lost $30K, then found out a friend lost about $90K on a BMW parts business. so in telling him about the juicy details of my $30K loss, he cheered up quite considerably.

i think investing involves stress management. As Qui Gon says in Phantom Menace, "your focus determines your reality". if you're ALWAYS WORRYING about your money - i'm not saying you are, but even if you're worrying part of the time about your money, that's not good.

as far as what to do re. stocks at this point, that depends on what you think the market will do in the next few years.

i suggest taking small chunks out of your stock investment portfolio, selling on the upticks (translation - not today), then putting them in more solid investments, aka the "flight to safety". then double & triple & quadruple checking your assumptions about what is "solid". e.g., probably not, California bonds. i.e. to reduce your exposure to the stock market cycles, so you can concentrate on your work & profession & family stuff.

seems like some of the discussion forums where people are realistic about the economy (which involves admitting not knowing what is going to happen) are full of silver & gold advertisements. as opposed to grand statements that "this is a bear market bottom".

 

[halik]

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?

Get a professional to manage your portfolio?

I'm amazed that people with very little background in finance think they can actively manage their assets on par or better than professionals money managers. If this is your retirement account, you should have been diversified across all asset classes and still be heavy in equity (you're young I assume).

In any case, you are expected to take losses from time to time... that's why the expected return is more than risk free rate.

 

[Elbryn]

Originally posted by: halik

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?

Get a professional to manage your portfolio?

I'm amazed that people with very little background in finance think they can actively manage their assets on par or better than professionals money managers. If this is your retirement account, you should have been diversified across all asset classes and still be heavy in equity (you're young I assume).

In any case, you are expected to take losses from time to time... that's why the expected return is more than risk free rate.

it doesnt take a professional to manage your portfolio. it does take interest and active participation upfront to learn the options and create a plan. once that is done, its a yearly/bi yearly effort to come back and see where things are, rebalace/reallocate according to plan. check out bogleheads.org, dont bother trying to beat the market, learn to follow it as cheaply as possible. i do agree that trying to be an active money manager is a losing game. as consumer's we're at the end of the information cycle, the market and all of the higher tier players have already responded to new information far faster than we can. i've probably lost 40% this year also.. but i'm 29 and i do have a plan. all this downturn means is that i buy more shares with my dollars. if i had my way, i'd leave this downturn last a good 5-10 years, get even more blood out on the street.. meanwhile i keep buying.

 

[lightstar]

try MSN Money. they have great articles and a forum

 

[Engineer]

Cry. It helps quite a bit. Do it more than once though as one time just isn't enough (seriously from someone who has been/is there).

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Sphexi
Well, you've been working for 5 years, if you got out of college at 22 then you're only 27. That's a solid 35+ years to retirement. It'll bounce back by then, I wouldn't worry too much. I'd go speak to a financial adviser maybe, and honestly I'd maybe start investing in some of the stocks that are low or stagnant now, and will very likely be here for years to come yet. No better time to buy than when it's at the bottom.

That's what they say Warren Buffett is doing. Buying stocks now, figuring they are a good play now. He picks stocks he understands, figuring they're for sure going to be around (he's no day trader), and that they are solid and going to be profitable. If he isn't the richest guy in the world, he's close to it.

There are stock investment newsgroups, in particular I know of misc.invest.stocks

I subscribe to a listserve that is based on the "CANSLIM" stock investment strategies of William J. O'Neill. It's a little sporadic these days. If you're curious about CANSLIM, Google CANSLIM. If you want to investigate the listserve, Google canslim@mailman.xmission.com

The philosphy of CANSLIM is explained in O'Neill's book How to Make Money in Stocks, and some later books.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Invest in the next bank that's on the verge of failing. Then sell once they get bought out by a bigger bank.

But you need a crystal ball to know who's going to be bought. You might just as easily see that kind of investment go up in smoke. That's serious speculation. Speculation can really work, but you have to know what you're doing.

Edit: Some very good posts in this thread (in particular by Mark R and mshan). Don't pay attention to the warts who dump on you for asking advice here. It may not be where you should be doing your investment research, but it can be a good starting place. And I like that advice not to worry yourself over the money you lost but to think of what to do with the money you have now and in the future. Good luck!

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Rudee
Until you sell your position, you haven't lost a dime.

This isn't true. Some stocks never come back. You lose your money as you watch your stocks go down. Or if you don't watch, they lost their value while your back was turned.