I'm strangely at peace as dow takes a nose dive and my 401K vanishes before my eyes...

up until today, I was freaking out, but then I thought to myself, "self, you always knew you would die at your desk, so what's the point of freaking out?"

"Hmmm", I said, "I have a point" and I smiled.

it's all a matter of perspective. :rofl:

a syringe or scalpel anymore. Then I'll just tell them to give me a dose of the big blue syringe.

How many 5 mg valiums would you have to swipe to make the BFEE tolerable? :shrug: :P

:)

:hug:
:grouphug:

But I don't have a huge attachment to money either.

You can't miss what you don't have.

I don't have to learn how to 'get by.' I've been doing that all my life. And it's going to get harder.
Oh well. I always said I wanted to live in a tent. ;)

Get the barter system going, 'cause we're gonna need it!

It is all a matter of perspective!

I just know I'm gonna lose my job while all my money is gone too.

If things work out like they usually do, there will be a rally off of these lows, when we finally hit the bottom.

interesting voice. But I will stick with mine for a while longer.

Just depends on whether you need that money now or 10 / 20 / 30 years down the road. Generally, what goes up, will come down; what goes down, well, will come up.

that don't have any.

That is the crime here.

Older people are screwed, though.

My employer will always exist, so the pension is in no risk of going *poof* like all of the other retirement plans are. Maybe after the election and the market stabilizes I may look into something else, but I just didn't trust the market when I was hired here (2003) and I'm feeling pretty okay about that now!

Before here, I'd never worked anywhere with pensions. If the market should ever recover and I felt comfortable doing so, my employer offers a once in a career chance to roll over the amount they've contributed into a 401 and go that route for the rest of my career.

Crises do tend to improve ones perspective on life and what's valuable.

May I add you to the prayers and healing requests list in our group here on DU?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=245x77029

Just wanted to ask first.

Just a minor Basel Cell Carcinoma that's been removed. The stitches come out tomorrow.

Prayers would be better directed for the sufferers around the world who can't afford even a rather simple surgical procedure.

Again, thank-you, for asking.

I just know this means layoffs, or the death of the small market where she works . . . I'm trying to keep my perspective. It's not like we didn't know things were getting bad, since 2004.

and 401k's?? I haven't had any 'savings' since 1999.

they are worried almost to death about this!!

and the stock market at this point gives me too much stress. So I choose to listen to my inner voice. :)

Its the ones who will freeze or starve to death in the streets we need to worry about.

Don

I think I should go back to volunteering my time again.

C'mon, can we get one last "it's all a trap!!" thing going here?

Still funny, right? Ha? haha?

Shit!

i was going to lower my exposure, but it seems that the market has taken care of that already....

I worry less and still am in it for the long haul. Plan to keep it there and buy some of the firesale stocks out there.

is the fact that we're all going through this together.

My wife and I have talked about it at length, and we're both on the same page re cutting expenses. That's important.

But maybe it will recover some before you retire. I have no retirement either. I'm pretty much committed to working till I drop.

pulled my money, took a big hit and kept the remainder in cd's. I am happy. I didn't lose all of it by listening to my broker.

All of my 401(k) went into the Stable Value Fund in March.

The last time it cratered in 2001 I was a basket case. This time, I honestly feel that the crisis is necessary in order to wrestle the power form the grip of the fascists. Nothing is worth anything as long as they are in charge. Their entire motivation is to turn all of us into a hopelessly indebted underclass.

If we can pull this off, we can rebuild a society that will work for all of us, and in doing that, out "201Ks" will gradually return to their value.

The amounts looked roughly equal at that point. Not anymore.

I've always assumed I would just keep working (or otherwise scrabbling around somehow for survival) until I die, probably painfully, probably in some way that enhances my humiliation and degradation right up until the very last moment of my consciousness, so it's not like I can say I'm shocked at losing all my "retirement savings". It still stings a bit, though.

There may be some controls placed on this economy that generates some long term gains.

worry about.

I'm broke now with too much house and 2 teen-aged sons still at home, but I've had the time to stir my own shit and decide where I go from here. I'm hoping that the time for introspection me gives a head start.

Service and barter I'm thinking and 3-4 part time jobs. I'm thinking that relying on my own resources might be a good thing...in the way that I look at myself, the way that I respond and the confidence that I will have a roof and that I will eat. Everything else is fluff...really.

I'm truly grateful that MY hair is not on fire. Any truly passionate reaction to those things over which we have no control is based on FEAR (of loss). Ironic that you're expected to invest in and provide taxable income for the machine that generates that fear.

like I'm not retiring anytime soon. If this happened 3 years ago, I would be panicking

by next fall.

My husband's 65..:cry: