Be Honest, How Much Did You Lose in Stocks Last Year?

[Ron Douglas]

You're not alone. Just about everyone has taken a beaten in the past 14 months. I just met a guy who lost $50k of his retirement.

I was lucky enough to sell my mutual funds in Jan 2008 and I probably avoided losing at least $90k. But, my wife and I have longer term 401k plans that are now 201k plans.

I could have outsourced a lot of traffic generation with that money :-(.

How about you, how much did you lose in stocks?

Did you sell or are you holding on for hope of a recovery?

[ryanman]

I didn't lose any money overall because I just followed one simple concept- "Don't keep all your eggs in one basket"...And that's exactly what I did.

[YseUp]

Don't own any stocks, just precious metals, they are up.

Also my parents sold their house at the top of the UK house bubble in 2007.

Unlike the 'experts' on UK TV we saw the crash coming miles away.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Ron, honestly, I haven't lost a dime.

I don't own any stocks.

And it's a darn good thing too.

[Marhelper]

Believe it or not, I made money. Day trading is alive and well with all the volatility in the intra day, esp. a few months back.

[Mark Brian]

I only lost about $50 on paper. I only invested a minimum amount (to test the waters) and I'm glad I did.

[Michael Mayo]

Stock Losses: None
401K losses: 30k+

Money spent on beer after I realized it "can't remember"

Have a Great Day!
Michael

[Amy Bass]

I never trusted the stock market. I would rather invest in online virtual real estate and build my portfolio there. So thankfully, I have lost nothing in the stock market.

[Eric Stanley]

Originally Posted by Marhelper

Believe it or not, I made money. Day trading is alive and well with all the volatility in the intra day, esp. a few months back.

Same here. Trading options and futures. Most people are under the impression that when the market tanks, people are losing money ONLY. This is so far from the truth as people make BOATLOADS on the ride down if they are net short or are trading intraday moves to the long and short sides..

[Adam Bshero]

Why invest in stocks of corporations when you could invest in your own business and you succeed and fail by your own means.

I lost zero because I chose to invest in someone that actually cares about my business as opposed to the CEO's of major corporations who are there to make a quick buck and head out.

[Paul Buckley]

As a former stockbroker ( I was a General Principal with an branch office of my own and thirty brokers under me) this kind of thinking irks me.

If you didn't panic-sell and you still own the shares, you haven't lost a thing.

The 'bulls' make money. The 'bears' make money. The 'pigs' usually get slaughtered.

Few people really understand the difference between wealth and money. If you own a piece of real estate, you have wealth. If you own a piece of a business, you have wealth. If you own some gold, you have wealth. If you trade any of these things for currncy or a bookkeeping entry, what you have left is money. Money is not wealth. It's a consumable commodity.

Money has no intrinsic value. Wealth does. Someone smirked that the value of his precious metals was up. WRONG! The 'price' is up but the 'value' of an ounce of gold has remained roughly the same for thousands of years.

Its value is what you can trade it for and an ounce of gold trades for the same as it always has. For instance, a good mans suit today costs about $700-$900 and that's the price range of an ounce of gold. A hundred years ago, a good mans suit could be bought with a one ounce~ $20 gold coin. The 'price' has changed but not the 'value'.

Your shares of stock can be sold for a 'price' but they also represent a percentage of ownership in an underlying, presumably brick-and-mortar, business with land, physical plant, inventory, raw materials, contracts etc which all have value. If you trade the 'value' for a 'price' that is too low, you lose. If you retain ownership in a company with good prospects, you win. Get it?

[hbsjcd3]

Originally Posted by Ron Douglas

You're not alone. Just about everyone has taken a beaten in the past 14 months. I just met a guy who lost $50k of his retirement.

I was lucky enough to sell my mutual funds in Jan 2008 and I probably avoided losing at least $90k. But, my wife and I have longer term 401k plans that are now 201k plans.

I could have outsourced a lot of traffic generation with that money :-(.

How about you, how much did you lose in stocks?

Did you sell or are you holding on for hope of a recovery?

On my 401K I lost $16000, but its only a "paper loss" since can't touch that money for another 30 years or so. It should recover in 30 years ...I hope.

[derrickp]

Maybe I am crazy but I have been buying. Up until this month I was buying EDV bought at 107 sold at 141. I am also putting more in my other investments.

[derekwong28]

I lost well over 100K within a few months for my stocks and mutual funds. I cannot even guess to the nearest 100K I stand to lose on properties because of the October shock. To add to that, my business suffered a massive blow at the same time. It is all adding up to a pretty scary year for me.

[bobmcalister]

well...it has been a shock for a lot of people , but a lot of people havent lost a cent ...those with indexed annuities may hve eeven made a little...these are not the variable annuities you read about and hear about on tv ..

I dont sell any of them , just doing research for a guy

[Lance K]

Paul, you saved me a bunch of typing. Thanks!

[Fabian Tan]

Originally Posted by hbsjcd3

On my 401K I lost $16000, but its only a "paper loss" since can't touch that money for another 30 years or so. It should recover in 30 years ...I hope.

Ouch!! Where did the money go

Fabian

[matthewd]

Personally I have not lost a whole lot. I used to have a decent amount in stocks but took it out and put it into CDs a few years ago so it would be more stable to be my college fund... got lucky on that move!

I still have a Roth IRA but it just has a few thousand in it, so no big deal.

BUT I have watched my parents lose a ton. I haven't had the guts to ask them, but my estimate is that they have lost $500k+... it's sad to see something that people worked so hard for just disappear so much, especially so fast.'

I really like your points though Paul, that was a great post.

[winebuddy]

I didn't lose any money - however, the value of my investments in terms of dollars is down almost $500k. That would include stocks, bonds, and real estate. I don't plan on selling anything soon thank God and can still buy gas and groceries from online earnings.

I also own a Real Estate Company which has seen earnings go to ZERO for the last 7 months. We still do business but it;s very little and most months we are in the hole. Occasionally, we make a little money and we can catch back up but this is one hell of an interesting time in history.

Right now it's just hang on, put up more sites, and wait for everything to recover.

[SeanSupplee]

Lost a few thousand but making it all back and more online now Everyone losing their jobs is creating a massive flow of new internet marketers. Perfect for the business I am set up in

[philbowman]

Ron, did not loose anything. (Heard the radio show with you and Willie...
better than stocks.)

[TimG]

Most of my investments are in retirement accounts so I truthfully haven't lost anything because I didn't sell any of my stocks or funds. However my paper losses totaled over 100K. What I'm doing right now is actually buying more investments because when the market recovers (and it will) I intend to benefit from the investing I am doing now.

Tim