So, what's everybody doing to ride out this economic storm?

We're just barely holding on right now as it is and this mess has me more than a little worried.

Because of some previous financial setbacks, we only have a modest 401k left. I saw my meager mutual funds disappear after 9/11 and Enron - I don't want to see the 401k go too. It hasn't been doing all that well for the last few quarters anyway (like the rest of the market), but I don't want to move it to something even riskier.

What to do?

I'm 45. My wife and I have resigned ourselves to not retiring at the usual 63, 65, 68. Unless I have some wealthy relative somewhere that I don't know about, I sort of expect to have to work (even if it's for minimum wage) for a long time.

how do you feel your investments will look in 15-20 years (or more). In traditional view, now is actually a very bad time to panic and pull out, since you've got 15 years or so to ride out the downturn.

Unless you think that what is coming is so bad, that it will still be bad when you're 65. I myself think what's coming might possibly be that bad, on the other hand I haven't taken any of my IRA or 401k out of the market. So you can see how I'm betting so far.

That was fun.


In a weird way.

Whether we wanted one or not.

But then again, I've been penny-pinching and doomsaying for a while. Growing veggies, stockpiling food, not going out, cutting corners everywhere, etc etc. Credit cards are totally gone. I'm killing my student loans and my land loan as soon as I can, throwing money at them like crazy every month.

so if you pull out you have no chance of regaining any of the part you lost, plus the taxes and fees.

and if I did pull it all out I would put it in something very safe like FDIC insured savings accounts or other item not tied to the market

People are worried now that there is not enough money in FDIC to cover bank losses, because Feds have been giving our money away to the losers in the market.

Google FDIC worries...plenty of stories about it past few days.

there is nothing really winnable to do, except to pay off debt. Every dollar of debt paid off is much better than saving a dollar at the measly 2% interest.

on the house note.

check

It's all a crap shoot. 2 years ago I bought some metals. They go up when my stocks go down, and so on and so forth. After I retired I started to move more and more into CDs. Inflation could eat those up fast.

ends meet and stockpiling extra cash and firewood.

Who can know what to do to weather this?

The only thing I can see to do is try to spend as little as possible, try to be self-reliant in all ways possible (garden, firewood, cooking), and hunker down?

started making my own single serving frozen dinners. (My kid has two lunches and two dinners ... growth spurt ... and is eating me out of house and home, and my husband works evenings so has dinner at 11:00 p.m. or later.)

Last night I made cheezy scalloped potatoes with ham to freeze in individual servings.. Tonight, I'm making yellow rice and chicken, plus Spanish rice to freeze in individual servings.

This weekend, I'll make spaghetti and a legume (navy beans, chick peas, black eyed peas, tomato, and ham) dish I've adapted. And if I get ambitious, I'll make a couple of other things.

Even with having had to buy freezer containers for the entrees, I'll save money AND my kid will be eating better quality foods.

Don't get me started. I try to eat healthy (I'm hypoglycemic) but that's an expensive task sometimes. Grrr :grr:

Luckily, most of my retirement is in pensions, not 401Ks. So I'll be fine until states start to go bankrupt -- and then I'll be in the same boat as the rest of the country.

The only thing that's safe are precious metals and energy stocks. Since the dollar is going to get creamed in the long run, the best bet right now is to invest in gold & silver. Energy is also going to continue to climb, so companies that deal with things like oil, natural gas, and propane are ones to look out for. Anything else will probably be junk in four years.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

That's what I've been thinking. Not that I have much money to do anything about it with.....

European bonds (a dollar-euro play) and gemstones (they're portable, untraceable, unregulated by governments, suitable for barter, and have both intrinsic and aesthetic value). I've started converting the bonds to gold.

OUTLOOK: I expect the economy to sink further under the weight of derivative resets coming at the end of this quarter. In fact, I'm convinced we have only seen the tip of a GIGANTIC iceberg, the impact of which has yet to be realized. The full weight of the Federal government pales in comparison to the current financial exposure to the downside. Cash is at risk due to the dollar's devaluation and outlook. Money market funds are beginning to lose value. T-Bill are at risk as the Feds over-commit to absorb debt potentially far greater than the total Federal deficit. The FDIC has $50 billion to cover $1 trillion in deposits. More banks will fail. Wamu can single handedly sink the FDIC. The global price of oil is falling below the spring speculation bubble, a leading indicator of slackening demand and global retraction in economic activity. The equity markets are shrinking in value, acting more as a lagging than leading indicator for lack of alternatives. The debt markets are drowning in red with the likelihood of defaults far outweighing prospective returns. While I anticipated the inflation spike near-term, overall, the global debt-to-equity condition is enormously out of balance with deflation and depression looming largest on the horizon. Regarding unemployment, the real rate (including all those "discouraged workers" who apparently eschew work for poverty or are independently wealthy) has been far greater than officially reported for years now. As a lagging indicator, I expect unemployment to accelerate as the debt/equity imbalance impacts business maintenance in contracting markets (forget about business expansion!). The snowball is rolling down the mountain, folks. Get out of the way NOW!

Good luck, everyone.

how do you go about buying gemstones and ensuring you get a good price for the quality? What types and sizes are best. (Not that I really have money to do this, you understand....!)

RULE #1 - Clarity: VVS, VVS-IF, IF, and Loupe Clean only.

RULE #2 - Never buy "treated" gemstones (heated is OK but try to find unheated and untreated)

RULE #3A - Minimum size: rubies, sapphires, spinels, zircons. beryls: 5 carats

RULE #3B - Minimum size, quartzes (amethyst, ametrine, citrine, etc.): 10 carats

RULE #4 - Unless you are an expert, avoid opals and diamonds (diamonds are too regulated).

RULE #5 - Avoid the exotic gemstones. If you've never heard of a stone, buyers in general won't have a clue either.

RULE #6 - Expect to be ripped-off. Factor in 20% losses due to fraudulent/misrepresented stones in your purchase price.

RULE #7 - Research, research, research. You can learn all you can about gemstones on-line, including current market pricing.

Sources:
RISK/REWARD - HIGH
Estate sales
Internet sellers
eBay, online auctions
gem shows
gemologists
jewelers
Risk/Reward - LOW

GIA Certification: certification that verifies gemstone type, clarity, size, color, and treatments (or lack thereof) are good but don't pay more than $50 for such certification. Valuation appraisals aren't worth it. The bottom line is a gemstone is worth what you can sell it for. You can survey Internet sites to track current values and get a better handle on current real world values. That said, its best to have your gems GIA certified (not appraised) before you offer them for sale.

On bright note: jewelers used to purchase most of their inventory needs via wholesale gem shows. No more. More and more, jewelers are now buying as needed on-line and avoiding gem shows all together.

Where to sell:
HIGHEST RETURN
Build a web site
booth at gem shows
eBay
gem dealers
jewelers
LOWEST RETURN

While one of the great pleasures of gemstone investing is enjoying the beauty, NEVER become attached to any one gemstone, whether buying or selling. You'll pay too much, or never find a buyer. Also, don't forget that gemstones are NOT a liquid investment so don't jump in with funds you might need to convert to cash quickly. Gemstone investing should be regarded as a mid to long term investment. My time horizon to hold is 4 to 10 years.

You might want to make this an OP. I appreciate it greatly, and am bookmarking it.

Certainly a bad time to get out of the market... might be a good time to get into parts of it.

Since the government said they were NOT going to bail out AIG and other finiancials I decided that the best thing to do would to become more liquid. So I sold some stocks that I really liked like USB and ExxonMobil because cash would be king. Well then the3y flipped arounf and said they would prop up AIG after I just dumped my better stocks attempting to keep more cash. It's bad enough they screwed up Freddie Mac but now they say one thing and do another.

The government is spending money it does not have. We will get a temporary break from inflation since oil is down. I give it 6-8 months and it's going to start moving up again. I thought commodities and oil were a sucker play for the last 6 months, but if the government is going to print money, maybe not.

I even bought a 1000 shares of AIG yesterday, what the heck. If they have a lot of assets and can sell them or retire them in an orderly fashion and don't have to worry about cash, I figured it was worth the risk.

I missed out on some of the run-up, but I'm way ahead with the drops. My 401k is fine.

Under the FAA's current pay freeze for controllers, my income isn't keeping up with inflation. I feel a little more pinched, but not dangerously so.

I have some physical silver, and I wish I had the money to buy more last week.

I retire in 7 1/2 years (at 48 years old), and my retirement is indexed to inflation so I'll be fine once I retire.


In the meanwhile, I'm just cutting back a bit.