Saturday, August 20, 2011

More Ugh

My taxable account has reached an unpleasant low today. The balance hasn't been this low since October of 2010. So almost a year of growth wiped out in a week or so. This market really requires a stomach of iron.

One thing that hasn't crashed and seems to be moving along nicely is my Lending Club account. Making me think I should invest more in there and lower my stock positions even more. I'm already like 60/40 investments/cash. Maybe I'll start taking more of the investment money and put it into loans. I like the idea of investing in people.


Sunday, August 14, 2011

O-M-G

Everything was moving along nicely. My balances kept increasing. My savings were paying off. We all know what happened to that story this week. Ugh. I've lost on paper about 20K. Which is better than the start of the week when it was more like 30K. Of course, I'll just be patient and wait it out and hope that my balances reach what they were in July again at some point. I'm just getting tired of waiting. My taxable account is filled with index funds that I bought in 2003. I'm starting to doubt the buy and hold strategy. It's been 8 years, and I don't feel like there's any consistent growth. There are some points when the market is high, but I don't have a lot of confidence that this money will consistently keep growing. I'm tiring of hearing the financial advisers dole out advice to buy and hold. I am a disciplined, patient investor. I would never sell when low. But I'm starting to think of putting parameters in place. Stop losses and gains. So that my shares automatically sell when they've risen a certain amount. 10%? 15% Of course that incurs transaction fees and then there is the challenge of trying to find places to put the money once I sell. We'll see.

I had such confidence that I would finish the year (pre-bonus) with a net worth of 400K. I got complacent, forgetting the market can nose dive at any minute and wipe out months if not longer of growth.