I am generally sitting tight. I might do a little shifting and balancing if my advisor recommends it, but so far they have not and I am not inclined to want to. I do have some pretty big paper losses but they are only losses when you actually sell, just like they weren't actually profits when the stocks peaked and there was no sale. I resist even calculating what those "losses" are. I remember arguing with my brother in the past when he said how he had lost X number of dollars and was obsessing over it during a big downturn (2007-2008). He didn't agree with me at all that it was all just paper until you sold and it would work out in the long run. I said that since he didn't need to cash out any time soon he should just count his blessings and wait the market out. That was good advice at the time and probably is now.
Definitely. We don't have minor children, but are dealing with the complexities of needing a trust for an adult child with disabilities and zero money sense. We can't expect the other daughter to manage this should something happen to Professor Dr. SWMBO and I. There is exactly one organization in PA that specializes in this kind of thing and they are enormously hard to meet with and get information from simply because they are understaffed. Setting up the trust is easy and our own attorney can do that, but managing it, including dealing with SSDI, SSI and some other things is a nightmare.
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
I feel for you, Jim. That must be a permanent load on you.
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Cautiously buying. So far, so good!
Always use a good estate planning lawyer, every states laws are different and don't always make sense. We just set up a trust for our estate after my wife spent 2 years as co-executor on her fathers estate, had to go to court 4 times due to him not being specific on how to divide 50 acres of farm ground between 7 children.One hell of a fight, learned
a lot about human nature and greed. Our stuff is in the market in stocks and mutual funds, down about 500k now,but looking at putting about 200k back in over the next few weeks.
Jim feel your frustration for such serious matters. I was quite fortunate to have found an estate attorney who specializes in dementia patients (my mom) and retired or disabled vets ( my dad is both.) She worked things out where my mom will be taken care of regardless of what happens to my dad.
Interesting how this has evolved into a bit of an estate planning thread, if this market keeps going I won't have much of an "estate" to plan for.
Dennis
Sitting tight with a little tax loss harvesting. Might as well try to get something in return for the paper losses.
This is a good thread.
1) sitting although I notice some of our fearless leaders are not so fearless.
2) three shots a day sounds like a good thing to try.
3) we have two adult children also with disabilities and zero money sense but we spent a lot of time setting up trust accounts and going through the estate planning thing so are in good shape there.
4) I think we are getting ready to start buying soon. I usually like dividend paying utility stocks.
Last edited by Thomas L Carpenter; 03-21-2020 at 4:27 PM.
I have accumulated cash over the last year or so and am waiting for prices to go down further before buying. I predict the market will get worse before it gets better. I still have a lot of stock and I have no intention of selling any of it. Why would I want to sell and lock in losses?
I bought a small position in an Index 500 ETF as the market fell badly last Wednesday. I sold it Thursday for a modest gain because the whole situation just got so frightening. Everyone says stocks will recover. Maybe, even probable, but I have a theory about why the decades long run up in stock prices may dampen in the future. Hope I'm wrong
My three favorite things are the Oxford comma, irony and missed opportunities
The problem with humanity is: we have paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and God-like technology. Edward O. Wilson
Just read this rather dire outlook;
It also comes after a senior Federal Reserve executive warned unemployment in the United States could hit 30 per cent, worse than during the Great Depression and three times the level during the global financial crisis.
That could lead to an unprecedented 50 per cent drop in GDP or a $US2.5 trillion hit to the world's largest economy with the hope it would recover in the next quarter.
“But when you're talking about that level of unemployment, you've got to hope that the social fabric of society holds up because there’s going to be a whole lot of economic pain,” Mr Weston said.
He says the knock-on effect of plunging stocks will drag on other asset classes such as housing as investors are forced to liquidate.
“The more that these financial markets continue to tighten, the more people are going to feel less wealthy,” Mr Weston said.
“The people who lose their jobs are clearly not going to go out spending, and the people who have got a job are going to feel less wealthy because the markets continue to crash by significant amounts every day.”
https://www.news.com.au/finance/mark...161a437f6d6e43