Planning for the future in the shadow of corona

[grump]

One of the real tragedies of this mess is the damage done to retirement accounts by the drop in the market. Where can one invest to try to recoup some of the loss. It crossed my mind today that with the liquor stores still open, people working at home and no live sports on tv to distract us I imagine it will be a rather busy Christmas/New Year season in maternity wards across America. Can one get deals now on the makers of disposable diapers, wipes, car seats, strollers, those putrid strained apricots and such like? That may be a real opportunity. And WNY, I’m not being flip. Imagine the blizzard baby phenomenon that followed the Blizzard of ‘77 writ large across America.

[WNYresident]

I'm already figuring out the best way to fully fund my 2020 IRA and what I can do with my sep once the market starts to climb again. THe day it started to drop I was thinking about moving everything into a cash reserve account but didn't. My fault. I second guessed myself.

Go check out and buy popular baby items.

https://amzn.to/2U2UKif

[grump]

I got caught in the dotcom bubble in the late 90’s. Had money in UTMA accounts for my kids and I waited to pull it because I kept listening to the talking heads. Thankfully, I didn’t lose any contributions but I flushed away a lot of gain by not looking seriously at what was in front of me.

[sharky]

Luckily I have enough years left to ride this out. Once it starts rebounding I'm going to do some buying

[WNYresident]

You won't know who I am talking about so I can say this.

Someone I know for a long time lost over $1,000,000 dollars from his portfolio. He is in his 80's and as this point still has more money that most people reading speakup. It bothers him but he's still buying stocks.

He said the market will come back over time. Maybe not quick enough for him seeing he is in his 80's.

Another person is down over $140k which for him is a chunk but he was in some pretty aggressive stocks. He's starting to panic because he has never been through a drop like this. He is in his 40's. He should be ok because of the make up of his portfolio. Should climb back once this is over.

Another client was just repeating that he lost quite a bit. He made a point that it was a lot. I saw the stress in his face because he is in his 60's. It will definitely cut into his lifestyle.

[grump]

Actually, buying may not be a bad idea even now. Dollar cost averaging is a fairly sound strategy. But when one has had big gains it’s never a bad idea to pull out some winnings and squirrel it away where it’s safe, even if it costs you a bit in further gains. I once saw an interview with a guy whose whole investment strategy was summed up by his statement that he got rich by selling too soon.

[WNYresident]

I sold this early... SHOP could have kicked myself a couple of months ago. Still made a profit. I wanted to get back in if it touched below $300. I see it's having a good day today.



https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SHOP?ltr=1


This hurt

Fidelity Contrafund Fund (FCNTX)