How's your portfolio?

[gonefishie]

Just looked at my 403b and it's rather depressing. For the last quarter of FY09, my rate of return is a negative 11%, only bonds make a tiny gain and all stocks took a dump. Maybe it's time for my employer to picks a different investment company.

 

[jonesg]

Re: How's your portfolio?

Mine is down to zero, IRA.
My chrysler stock is wallpaper.
Doesn't bother me in the least, we're buying a beachfront home in the philippines for less than $10K. We can live nicely on US social security checks.

 

[Philip_G]

Re: How's your portfolio?

my TSP is terrible. But I'm young and putting all this $$ in now when it's low should pay off in the end.
I did buy some BP stock at the low and I'm hoping it continues to go up

 

[mike243]

Re: How's your portfolio?

id buy into BP if i was young enuff,folks look at it being owned by another country but the name came from us,gulf oil is the real name & for a reason,just another company that lost the american owners ,still it employs a lot of us & it will rebound.it was bound to happen here & they were the unlucky company ,prayers sent to all affected,mike243

 

[Tyme2fish]

Re: How's your portfolio?

It's not bad enough to make me go back to work!!!! It keeps going down because I keep spending from it.

Most of my funds are in Municipal and State (not CA or IL) bonds.

 

[Philip_G]

Re: How's your portfolio?

I know my retired parents got HAMMERED. Things are pretty tough right now with their investments I'm afraid.

 

[Brent S]

Re: How's your portfolio?

my portfolio is in great, almost like-new condition, of course it's also empty

 

[eaglejim]

Re: How's your portfolio?

Last time I looked I had to laugh to hold back the tears,so I decided not to look for about 5 more years that way know matter what it will look good

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: How's your portfolio?

Mine has actually been doing pretty well. But part of the reason is that my company stock has done really well. Prior to the collapse my company's stock was around $49 per share, I transfered all of that balance to a stable value fund when everything started tanking. During the real bad periods I was gaining around 4% on stable value. When my companies stock started an upswing I transferred the stable value balance back to my company's stock when it was at $22 bucks per share. Now the value is back up into the high $40's and peaked at $52 per share a couple weeks ago.

I'm not saying this to brag....trust me I know NOTHING about investing. I just took a calculated gamble and put trust in the company I worked for. The gamble was the bet that the market conditions were going to be worse than the measly 4% return on stable value funds. It could have easily cost me a bundle had I been wrong.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: How's your portfolio?

Dang, WTG pirate95! you gotta love it when the gamble works. I have a cousin who bought a boat load of Ford stocks when they hit bottom. Needless to say, he's doing well.

 

[aspeck]

Re: How's your portfolio?

I have done a WHOLE lot better, but I have done worse, also. You are young, so keep looking at long term and not the day to day, or month to month, or even year to year. You want to keep putting money in now that it is low to average down and when it goes up again, and it will, eventually, you will be in much better shape than you were.

I have made millions on the market, and I have lost millions. But in the end, I have still made a bit more than I lost. So it is all good.

 

[PGFISHER]

Re: How's your portfolio?

Lost 80g's when the economy took a fall. Held on and kept buying at reduced prices. Starting to come back now, but need to hold on a little longer.
Just hope I can live long enough to recoup; or even come out ahead.

 

[Philip_G]

Re: How's your portfolio?

Dang, WTG pirate95! you gotta love it when the gamble works. I have a cousin who bought a boat load of Ford stocks when they hit bottom. Needless to say, he's doing well.

coulda woulda shoulda, I thought about it and didn't. Oh well.
I sold my BP today too, took the money and ran (about $4 a share profit)

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: How's your portfolio?

Mine is down to zero, IRA.
My chrysler stock is wallpaper.
Doesn't bother me in the least, we're buying a beachfront home in the philippines for less than $10K. We can live nicely on US social security checks.

Is this still in the planning/thinking stage or have you progressed further.
I ask as a handful of us 'blokes' here are leaning in the same direction.

Lindsay has been going back-forward to Thailand for maybe 2 yrs now,(Hua Hin, Prachuap Kyrkan Prov) and has leased a house there.
We were all together at dinner last night, hence I delayed asking you what you are up to until afterwards.

I am really interested in what you may be up to if you have the time.

Cheers
Phillip

 

[57whitehouse]

Re: How's your portfolio?

I'm into life settlements. Double digit average annual rate of return with no market risk. (actual average rate is 16%)

 

[gonefishie]

Re: How's your portfolio?

What is life settlements?

 

[marlboro180]

Re: How's your portfolio?

YEAH I want 16% too....

 

[trendsetter240]

Re: How's your portfolio?

I'm into life settlements. Double digit average annual rate of return with no market risk. (actual average rate is 16%)

No "market" risk but there must be some risk. No offense, but there is no such thing as a 16% returning investment with zero risk.

 

[57whitehouse]

Re: How's your portfolio?

I get that a lot. I didn't say no risk, I said no market risk. Life settlements is a secondary market for life insurance policies for those who do not need or want their life insurance policies.

Ed McMahan was broke and sick. Couldn't pay bills. He sold one of his life insurance policies to my company and they gave him many times the money the insurance company would have given him to sell it back to them. He then had enough money to live comfortably, including paying the premium on his other insurance policies.

My company then sells fractional interests to individuals like you and me ($50k and up). When the insurance policy matures, you get your money. A person who puts in $100k in a 4 year policy gets on average $168k back. The risk is if the insured lives longer than his maximum life expectancy. Each year he lives past, your yearly average return goes down. After 9-10 years past max life exp., you pretty much break even.

The life expectancy is very accurate, but some run a little long and some go shorter than expected (which means your return goes way up). No body has ever lost money with the company I use. They are VERY conservative.