[smoothy]

Seems Cyprus depositors could be getting more than a haircut, somewhere in the neighborhood of 40% of their savings. That's no haircut.

I pulled my Euros out and had them converted to gold... sure gold might go down... but they can't take 40% of it if they tried in Europe..

[talaniman]

How much did your 401k lose during the financial meltdown?

[tomder55]

How much did your 401k lose during the financial meltdown?

can't speak for anyone else. Nothing... I shifted to a bond /money market account that had a guaranteed return about a year before the collapse. I thought that the stocks were irrationally over valued. That has been good for a while ;but as bond funds have dropped ,the guaranteed yields have been dropping . So I've slowly converted my 401 K to a lifestyle fund.
However ,had you been totally invested in stocks ;you portfolio temporarily took a hit . But in 4 years ,it has more than recovered (although I thing that the stock market is again becoming over valued... ) . Had I been in the lifestyle fund in 2008 ;and I left the money in it until now .The financial collapse would not be a factor in my portfolio performance.

[talaniman]

That my friend was a great strategy, and no doubt a few of us thought the same way after negative growth from 1996 to 98. Rollit over to a guaranteed return. One question though was what made you wait?

[smoothy]

How much did your 401k lose during the financial meltdown?

I don't watch it every day... stocks go up... stocks go down... a 401K is a long term investment... and not a day trade situation.

[tomder55]

I was not in a position to manage my money until after 2000 . Before that I was in a profit share plan.Once in the 401-K I got aggressive for a few years and then got gun shy... I don't like peaks .I actually would've gone back into the market in 2009 except the guaranteed funds were paying out above 4 % returns (based on old bond prices... once they started maturing ,new bonds did not match the rate of return) .

I'm thinking that I'll let the lifestyle fund manage it now because I'm getting closer to retirement age and am becoming risk adverse. But there are other ways for us to take advantage. 1st the match by the employer increases the actual rate of return ;and 2nd the deferred income. I'm guessing you are about my age more or less. I am now using the "catch up" provisions . The 401-K has really become my primary saving mechanism since the Fed decided that Americans shouldn't save.

[talaniman]

I never had a matching fund but even in the late nineties it was obvious it would take decades past my retirement targets to be in a position to leave my job. The markets were just not that strong for lower level investors.

But the rollover worked better for me. I am 59 now and was feeling the daily physical grind even back then. That was the biggest factor in my thinking back then. To be honest though I am still leery of any market investments because of the losses my friends took. Sure they are rebuilding now, but many of their grand plans were destroyed at the time.

They are in a holding pattern running out of gas.

[paraclete]

The safest pattern Tal is to place investments in well managed interest bearing deposits otherwise market volatility will mean you won't sleep at night over several years you may find the returns similar to the allegedly higher earning investments

[tomder55]

Depends on your age.If you adopted a strategy like Smooty when you are young ;then you pick good performing stocks ,and ride the waves. It all dollar cost averages in the long run .Yes as we get older ,shifting to less risky investments is prudent. That's another reason why I opted for the guaranteed return that invested in long term bond instruments . But now the yields are going down as the old bonds mature so that is why I'm shifting out of them .
Bottom line is that 401-Ks are very popular ,and lots of money is sitting in them making the Dems drool . Look for them to make a play on 401-K plans . After all ,the government has proven they are much better money managers

[smoothy]

I also didn't mention in my post above... Is that money wasn't part of my 401K... but money I've had in a Euro account for a number of years... and being that country is on the list of those likely to pull that stunt... it didn't make sense to take the hit I would take on a currency exchange to get it where Obamas cronies could screw with it... particularly since the yields in banks overseas is way higher than those here thanks to the FED printing money like there is no tomorrow.


And no... I'm not rich by a longshot... they are fairly modest size accounts... and they aren't tied to a US ID #. Less risk than stock... way higher gain than Money markets... CD's or saving accounts here.

[paraclete]

What I know is this I have only suffered loss since 2000 because men are stuffing about

[tomder55]

Guess who else managed to grab their loot before the ship sunk... politicans ,Commies and unions... no surprise there .
These are the people dedicated to public service ,justice ,and equality .
ekathimerini.com | Cypriot banks 'forgave' loans to firms, MPs

[paraclete]

What do you expect in that part of the world, the fix is always in

[tomder55]

what do you expect in that part of the world, the fix is always in

Sort of like the scewing of bond holders of GM . That was another theft of property by the government ,and transfer to the unions.

[paraclete]

When you are bankrupt you wind up under new management, it's the way capitalism works

[talaniman]

Come on Tom, everyone knows the unions agreed to concessions in pay, and benefits.

GM union swallows cost-cutting concessions - May. 29, 2009

Seventy-four percent of UAW members voted for the contract, which will allow the company to cut costs and "eliminate the wage and benefit gap" with competitors, according to the UAW president and a statement from GM.

[tomder55]

Obama
The U.S. government got 60 percent of the new GM (;the Canadian government got 12.5 percent, the UAW health care fund got 17.5 percent, and bondholders got the leftover 10 percent. In traditional bankruptcy ;the bondholder would've been the first considered ;not an afterthought.

[talaniman]

So that's the rub huh, the rich guy didn't make as much profit off the top from bankruptcy like he always does.

Bummer. All those workers still working and retirees getting pensions stops the investors from profits. Why didn't they invest in making the company healthy?

[paraclete]

Bummer. All those workers still working and retirees getting pensions stops the investors from profits. Why didn't they invest in making the company healthy?

Tal do you realise you are talking socialism. Workers owning part of the company, investors having to face up to losses

[tomder55]

So you would destroy all the existing bankruptcy laws to achieve your utopian visions ?