What Should I Do With My Retirement Money?.......

[global1]

During the last market crash I was in pretty good shape. I pulled the bulk of my money in mutual/stock funds and put it in money market funds and saved the bulk of my principle. I did this because I was deathly afraid at the time that BushCo was going to go and attack Iran. I thought if that happened the stock market would tank. I did the right thing for the wrong reason because not to soon after I made the change to money markets - the stock market crashed and a lot of people that were in stock funds lost most of their money.

Now we are facing this debt ceiling crisis and the Repugs are firmly implanted to not give in. They want to inflict massive cuts on social programs and on the backs of the poor; sick; middle class; students and cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. They don't want to raise taxes at all - no way - no how.

I'm now getting that same feeling I had back when I made my above decision and am wondering if I should do the same again.

My question is what is the thinking out there as to what people like myself should do to protect their retirement nest egg?

If the debt ceiling is not raised - are we headed for another crash of epic proportions? What are the money people doing? Are they going to remain in the market or are they just pushing it up so as to lull us into a sense of security only to bail and leave us holding the bag again?

Help!!!!!!!

[N7Shepard]

1. For the most part, you're better off if you just leave the money in the whole time

Use fun money if you want to time the market, your retirement isn't something to play around with.

[Turbineguy]

10. I had mine professionally managed

until it was about 60 percent gone. Now I run it myself and I'm slowly getting ahead while living off it (and working part-time).

[DURHAM D]

2. Buy farm land.

[DrDan]

3. diversify

[hobbit709]

4. My retirement money might buy me a night out on the town.

[Big Blue Marble]

5. I would not recommend DU for financial advice.

We live in very uncertain times. The downside risks are far greater right now than the upside ones.
As far I can see, we are all staring in to the abyss. I do suspect that the financial powers will ultimately step
in and make sure we do not default as they have far more in the game than we do.

They will only do this when the Pubs have squeezed as many concessions as possible from the Dems.

[valerief]

6. I wanna know, too. Empty out the portfolio and move to a civilized country, maybe? nt

[girl gone mad]

7. Pay attention to the treasury auctions.

If the 'money people' lose faith in the credit worthiness of US debt, rates will start to rise. Right now, T-bills up to 4 weeks are trading for a premium of 0.000%. In other words, the professionals think there is absolutely no risk of loss on this short-term government paper, despite the fact that the August 2nd potential default falls within the time frame for repayment.

[bvar22]

8. I can't presume to tell you what to do,

but THIS is what we did.

In 2006, we cashed out, sold everything,
bought (free & clear) a small piece of Bubble Proof land in the rural South (Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas)
surrounded by National Forest with an on property spring.
The water that most people buy in the stores comes straight out of the ground here.
It is crystal clear and cold.
We drink it daily, and use it to irrigate our gardens.


After 5 years of work,
We have a decent cabin,
a BIG Veggie Garden,
Fruit Trees, many different kinds of Berries, Grapes,
Chickens, and HoneyBee Hives.

We have a very low "taxable income",
and property taxes are extremely low here.
We have no debt, no mortgage, no credit cards,
and Wall Street can live or die without our money or concern.

We buy almost nothing new.
What we can't make ourselves,
we buy 2nd hand or salvage, and make it work,
or do without.
Our focus has become local Humanitarian Issues,
and finding new ways to deny funds to Washington.
Very little of our money/sweat is used to make BOMBS, fund Tax Cuts for the Rich, or Bail Out Wall Street Banks.

It is not for everybody.
My wife & I are both healthy & strong,
have no dependents,
and have a complimentary set of skills that makes this fun most of the time.
We are grateful everyday for the fates that made this possible.
So far, so good.

LESS is More!
:hippie:

[BOG PERSON]

9. BUY GOLD + SILVER

THE SKY IS FALLING

[ThomWV]

11. If you think they are going to default, buy gold. Longer term, invest in Brazil.

[Raine]

12. My cousin moved to Panama

though that's fine for him because he has mucho bucks that he's stashing. :yoiks:

[DURHAM D]

19. Is he retired military?

Panama is good for them.

[metalbot]

13. When do you plan to retire?

You should be taking very different investment strategies at 40 than you should at 60.

[global1]

14. I'm 62 And Am Thinking Of Pushing Retirement Out As Far As Possible.......

but who knows what is in store for me and if I may be forced to retire sooner. As you can see - I believe I need to be more cautious with my funds now then ever before. I can't afford to have those cut down so close to actual retirement. It happened to some of my friends in the last market turn down and they are still hurting and will never recover.

[snot]

18. There are no great options,

but i.m.h.o., you should at least diversify -- at your age, I'd expect something like half of your savings to be in high-quality bonds. These will lose value if inflation rises, but at least you can't lose your principal. On the other hand, if we see deflation, which seems possible if conservatives' austerity measures are pushed through, bonds should appreciate.

There's a lot of uncertainty re- metals now, both bec. they've already risen so high and also bec. of distrust as to whether you actually get what you think you've purchased it -- i.e., there are many who say there are a lot more paper certificates of ownership that have been issued than can be supported by the amounts of metals known to exist. There's probably a way to get address the latter concern, but make sure you know what you're doing if you go that route.

Personally, I wish I were in the market for real estate, since, if it's well-located, it can't crash quite the way the market can, and it should hold its value if there's inflation. However, it's not liquid, which is a problem if you're old enough that you might need the money in the foreseeable future.

I haven't trusted the market for years, although that's hurt me -- but stocks have seemed way higher than justified for years, and since the market's known to be manipulated in ways the little guys can't keep up with (google "high frequency trading" and the "Plunge Protection Team"), investing in it has seemed too much like rolling the dice. I wouldn't say no stocks at all, but these concerns are among the reasons why I think diversification is so important.

All that said, I'm no expert on this stuff.

[bemildred]

15. Cash is king.

I've been in cash since June 2008. It sucks to watch things go up and think you are "missing out", but a dollar now will still pay one dollars worth of your rent or mortgage later on, and there is nothing else that you can rely on for that.

If the government were to ever start governing again, as opposed to trying to save our ersatz empire, I might reconsider.

[RagAss]

16. Bet the dog races.

[Taverner]

17. Give it all to Haliburton. That way it will save you a lot of red tape.

[HopeHoops]

20. I accept checks.