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What is wrong with this ****ing website. Haven't you people heard of US ****inT
And as for this piece of shit phone. UA ****ING T
How odd. I could have sworn this forum used to have an Edit post function...
ho hum
I'm 45 this year but my finances are a bit of a mess so although I want to retire it's not going to happen any time soon (short of a lottery win). That said, it's strangely comforting to read just how bad other ppl in their 40's finances are!
I've been paying into a pension for 15 years (mostly in high risk funds which hasn't paid out as well I'd hoped :p ) but also need to remortgage this year (pay off some debts and fix up the house), I'll need at least a 17 year mortgage so I'm screwed for retiring early. I could be due a decent inheritance but I'm trying to convince my dad to enjoy his last few years and blow the lot but seems he doesn't want to - I guess it could allow me to retire early or at least pay off the mortgage and change to a 3 or 4 day week but I'm not counting on it (in case he does finally discover coke and hookers).
>How odd. I could have sworn this forum used to have an Edit post function…
You only get 5 minutes not rather than 15.
I have to edit every post to remove all the crap formatting html garbage which it auto inserts.
Start thinking about what would happen if your portfolio shrank 35%. What circumstances would make you a forced seller.
If my portfolio shrank by 35% then I would be purchasing as much as possible at a discounted rate. Selling because something has become cheaper is the opposite to what should be done, but panic is panic, and this is what happens. Unfortunately for the hand wringers amongst us "the time to buy is when there's blood in the streets".
The issue is if your retirement date coincides with a crash, such as in 2008. Still, however, if you followed the 4% rule for cashing out each year, you'd have still been golden going forwards.
>Unfortunately for the hand wringers amongst us “the time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets”.
The time to buy is now. You can't predict the ups and downs and when the crash comes, you're unlikely to suddenly find yourself cash rich. Pretty much everyone just buys every month at whatever the market rate is via their monthly pension contribution, which is pretty sensible. Even if you hoarded your cash, you're unlikely to pick the bottom correctly as it is only defined by the recovery which follows it, after which it's too late as you'll have missed the largest gain (which normally comes at the start of the upturn).
You should probably spend less time hanging around on stock picking forums listening to Walter Mitty wannabe Gordon Gecko types....
You can’t predict the ups and downs and when the crash comes, you’re unlikely to suddenly find yourself cash rich. Pretty much everyone just buys every month at whatever the market rate is via their monthly pension contribution, which is pretty sensible.
I totally agree. The question was asked: What would you do if the market tanked by 35%. I responded accordingly. Generally it's sensible to contribute as much as you can as regularly as you can, plan for the long term, and ride out the short term noise. Trying to time the market is a mugs game.
You should probably spend less time hanging around on stock picking forums
I've recommended one forum, Bogleheads, and to describe this as filled with wannabe Gordon Gecko types is both amusing and utterly wrong. Go have a look.
A Boglehead is someone who follows the investment strategy of one John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard and Godfather of index investing, who is the polar opposite of what you describe.
I own one ETF, VWRD, which I add to quarterly, and I haven't checked my account since the last time I deposited before Christmas.
What's weird is that low cost investment in passive funds is the most conservative and buttoned up approach to investing money, yet it's seen as high stakes gambling.
+1 to all that. great relief to see sane advice when so many seem to think they can "beat the market". Just trickle in your money regularly, as much as you can sensibly afford, and the long-term will see you right. Unless we are on the verge of something spectacularly bad in which case tins of beans and a bunker is probably the way to go 🙂