Anyone fear losing almost all thier retirement account?

[Goldy1]

I get the whole be a long term investor rationale. I get that buying high and selling low is bad. I get that now may be a good time to buy.
I got my ira roth statement today. It went down a little for January. Not big time but a little.
Sometimes I get a random fear about losing all of it. That money in our ira and retirement account means a lot to me. I could have been like some of my friends blowing cash for "whatever" b/c who wants to bother making an effort to care much, but I wasn't. lol

[jIM_Ohio]

The value of your shares decreased. You have the same number of shares (or more) than you did the last time you looked.

When you are accumulating your actions and investment profile will be quite different than when you draw down- so in retirement these fluctuations will be less volatile and less often.

[disneysteve]

Losing it all is likely not a realistic fear unless you've chosen to put 100% of your money in highly speculative investments, and even then it is unlikely that all of them would become worthless.

Keep a well-diversified portfolio and there will certainly be ups and downs but no real risk of losing everything.

[srblanco7]

I work under the assumption that if the value of all my retirement accounts drop to zero - this would be because the world has much bigger issues, such as, a catastrophic failure of worldwide monetary policy. It's just not realistic.

Keep the long term view and buy low.

[frito833]

If you are worried about losing it all, best investments would be canned goods, bottled water, and guns. I lost 40% of my retirement and my worry is not contributing the max this year because my employer took away the match for 09. However, I have a 35 year time frame for retirement.

[cschin4]

I don't think your fear is irrational or unreasonable at all. Look at the vast majority of the world. Many areas of the world live in abject poverty and deplorable conditions. The notion that it "won't happen here" or burying our heads in the sand with some positive mantra that "the market will come back" is just as irrational as your fear. There are no guarantees in life. Most of our industrial complex as been wiped out by the stranglehood of govt control and better oppportunities overseas. What exactly do we produce here on a grand scale in this country? Not much of anything so why do we think the markets "will come back"? I think there is a very real possibility of total financial collapse or at least a collapse that could last for then next 40 yrs. So, I am not buying. For the first time in my life, I have fear of the future. I have a wad of money in a money market and I moved another fund that had lost money into a money market.
As for the "long view", it is nice to think you will actually work until retirement age, but you may not. You could lose your job, get downsized or develop illnesses or conditions that seriously inhibit your ability to work. Life and circumstance change in a heartbeat.

[LuxLiving]

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

If your risk capacity is on the fearful side then you might ought to be investing on the much more conservative side of things.

I try to micro-manage with backwards thinking.

1) If it all goes to the chaos side, what would I think I "HAD-TO" have in place? Paid for home? Maybe for you - that would be priority for me at this point in MY life. Ehhh, but if I had to give it up and move to rental I could do it, but would rather not. Housing though is important no matter which way you slice it.

2)What's next? A way to get those real estate taxes paid every year for the conceivable rest of my life.

3)Then what? Oh yeah, want some eats. Where are the dollars to come from? Can I learn the skill of fresh food gardening?

4) Then? Lights, heat & water? Income to cover those expenses? Or would you want to go off-grid? Dig a well, etc.

5)Hmmm....I might think health care coverage would be next on the have-to-haves and get something in place for that.

6)etc., etc., etc.

I think fear serves a good purpose. IF, that is, you don't let it stop you in your tracks. Use it to spur you on to the planning and execution of the plan to get your life in order.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

My thinking is so like LuxLiving has just described. I do fear much, so it spurs me to make plans and to evaluate what things are most important and to think up alternatives to turn to should something go sour. I think up various worst case scenarios and try to imagine what we could do in that situation and what I can do now to build in flexibility.

Personal economics is a social matter. The quick personal lesson there is to keep up my relationships so that my friends and family can help take care of one another in the worst of times as well as in these better times. (Yes, at this point, I definitely still consider these to be better times.)

DH and I have been very conservative with our investments. We did not lose anything last year. But then, we also did not make as much money in previous years. Conservative investments do not pay as well. We are at a point (close to retirement) where most advisers would have said to switch most investments to conservative means, so we should not have lost much this year following that advice anyway. But it has been do-able to invest conservatively, securely and still be able to retire.

[MonkeyMama]

No, because I am only 30 (many many years to catch up). That being said, I also have money in cash (FDIC insured). I am sure I will be an extremely conservative investor when I am older. For now, not so much.

For now, if I lost everything, I have time to recover... So it's not a huge worry either way.

In the mean time, I diversify as much as possible.

[cschin4]

You really don't know how many years you have to catch up. I know plenty of people who took big personal hits in midlife due to illness, job downsizing and on and on. In reality, we should save some, spend some, and give some away. That is all you can realistically do. Who knows when the next Katrina will come along? Our someone could overthrow our govt and many other scenarios that are beyond our control. So, live for today and plan for tomorrow which could be a rainy day. And, those of us who have lost on the market? Oh well, if it is gone, it's gone. It may come back, it may not. There isn't a thing we can do about what is gone anyway so why worry about it? We all need to keep plodding ahead. But, when you risk you can gain, but you can also lose. There is no right answer as to whether to pull back or to invest at this point.

[Goldy1]

I don't worry about it on a daily basis, just get the thought here and there.
I won't take money out. I have already switched to more moderate portfolio so I guess that was a wise thing to do even given my long time frame.

[GREENBACK]

I look at it like this. If their is a catastrophic worldwide financial and societal collapse why would you worry about investment losses. Money will be essentially useless.

I don't worry a lot about investment accounts. I think it will always recover as long as we're a civilized society. People will do what is neccesary to survive and thrive. Mankind has an incredible history of surviving the worst of times and coming out ahead through invention, innovation and determination. Keep an eye on the money but focus on the future.

[swanson719]

I'm 21, and the best advice anyone has ever given me was my grandfather. I was talking to him a couple weeks ago about buying stock in GM, and he said that in 1971 he had the option of spending $3000 on a new car for the family, or buying $3000 in stock from a door to door salesman selling McDonalds stock. If he had bought the McDonalds stock he'd be a multi-millionaire. The car is in the junk-yard.