Looked at my last several 401K statements....

In the final year of Bush's presidency... Jan 20, 2008 to Jan 20, 2009.... my 401K balance went from $147K down to $98K.

Nearly $50,000 in lost value.


In the first 7 months of Obama's presidency... Jan 21, 2009 to now.... my 401K balance went from $98K to $128K.

Gained $30,000 in value.


Daughter's college fund went from $28K down to $16K during Bush's last year... back up to $23K now.



Now.... maybe I'm being selfish.... but those are tangible improvements in my financial situation since Obama took over.


How much did he have to do with it? Well.... Geithner, despite taking a lot of heat, has managed to settle down the markets and walk our financial system back from the brink.

And the stimulus package is showing real progress as companies are starting to rebound in their earnings.

Would McCain have passed the stimulus? Probably not... probably just more tax cuts for those that don't need it and wouldn't spend it.

Would McCain's treasury secretary have skillfully navigated us out of the banking crisis? We'll never know.... but the type of people he would've considered would've been just like those that got us into the mess.




Ronald Reagan won in 1980 by asking the question: "Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago?"

I'm better off now than I was 7 months ago.

GObama.

are permanently stored in different parts of the financial house.

substantive proof of improvement.

That's the kind of stuff that has to be publicized, so that the morons can see it for themselves and try to discredit it.

And who would 'unrecommend' an OP like this, I wonder? That really blows.

K&R................

That is right. From the day George Bush took his oath to the day his eight years ended, the S&P 500 fell by an average 5.92 percent!

My retirement savings grew under his watch, and I was able to completely miss the dot.com bubble and partially miss this last crash by hitting the parachute early. Got back in on Inaugaration Day and enjoyed the run up after the March dip.

I did an analysis for class in which I assumed a professional making $100,000 retired in 2008 at 65 (assuming a typical salary progression curve for the individual from 21 to 65). I assumed that the individual held his/her age in Intermediate and Long Term Treasuries. The portfolio outperformed the 100% equity portfolio by the end of 2008. Since that individual would have rebalanced at the start of 2009 (selling some bonds and buying stock), they would have done pretty well in this latest run up. The variance of the portfolio was much lower.

Diversification is a powerful tool for smoothing investments over time. Now that folks have gotten back a portion of what they lost in equities, I would strongly recommend they consider the advice of Zvi Bodie - don't put your retirement into equities. I don't entirely agree with him because he also has a non-retirement portfolio (all my savings except my emergency fund are in my retirement accounts). I made a decision when TIPS were at 3.2% yield last year in November to go in at 40% of my portfolio, and I have not regretted that decision one bit. Their value has increased more than stocks since that time.

Don't do what my friend did at work. He is 55 and he was 100% in equities. He rode the equity train all the way to the bottom in March and got out. He is still out. Now that I have gotten out, I expect him to get back in. I consider him a counter indicator.

I went through 18 months of losses...from Oct. '07 through March '09. Dare I say I lost more money during that time than most earn during a lifetime. Yes, the bailout has helped restore the investment market...in many ways that money you've gained back comes from tax money that went to prop up your bank or investment house. Personally I can't complain as I've seen a sharp rise in the past 5 months (and still have losses to claim on my taxes or next year)...and some of that is money that was set up for business purposes...ready to invest in the rebuilding of this country when that time comes...and it will.

The problem is those who don't have investments...who live paycheck to paycheck or face economic hardships due to high interest rates and tight credit. Those are areas that have to be addressed by the Administration, but that takes time. We still have no clue how bad things got under the booosh regime and how badly the American people were fleeced. That's where the disconnect is and remains...