Do you have a retirement account? Is it through a 401K at your work, or do you have something separate? I'm curious, with the way the market tanked today, how everyone is faring and what they think the future holds.
I have a 401K at work and I invest 8% of my pay and my employer matches I believe 3%. My husband has a job that doesn't have a 401K so he has an IRA set up and gets money withdrawn from our bank account once a month. I am going to continue to invest, and hoping that in the next few years or so that the market will slowly work it's way back up. I am only 24 and have a loooong way to retirement so I'm not worried much at this point.
I think my father invested some money in my name when I was a kid, which I still have.
Once I have my wedding and pay off my credit card debt with my wedding present money, my fiance (soon to be husband) and I will be able to finally really SAVE significant sums of money each month and I intend to look into some investing options. My father worked on Wall Street for decades, so I will probably ask him for some advice and then we'll see from there. But right now, it is a whole wall of knowledge that I am completely in the dark about.
I have a 401K through work. It's not doing too well. My company is moving to a different state and I have decided not to go with them. It's not a huge amount of money but I'm seriously considering just taking the cash. At the current rate that it's losing, I'll end up with more money if I go ahead pay the taxes and penalties. Originally, I wanted to roll it into an IRA, but I'm just nervous about the whole system right now. I have a hunch that things may start to turn around after the election but it's going to be a slow rebuilding.
I'm self employed, so I don't have a 401K. I do max out my IRA every year.
Honestly, it's all cyclical. It'll be down some years and up others. The trick is to not freak out during the down years. Easier said than done, I know. But I've been through the highs and lows before and I know that it will roll back up again.
I have a Roth IRA.
I'm out of debt (except my car) so I'm able to put more in a savings account at 3.0, which is pretty ok in today's market. I'm 23 and I realize the importance of saving early on.
I'd like to get into stocks, but the economy is so unstable right now I'm too scared. Maybe in a few years.
PhotoChick - what do you do? I'd love to be self employed. I'll guess you do photography
I have an old 401k from my previous employer. I've lost about $25,000 in the past 6 or 8 months on that one. Ugh. I have a small stock fund with one investment company that stays pretty steady--no huge gains or losses. I have a larger investment with Merrill Lynch. I'm not too worried. BofA bought out Countrywide, with whom I have 2 separate mortgages, and I have seen no change whatsoever with that buyout. I also have a small 401k with my current employer--my advisor on that is the same as with Merrill Lynch and I see steady, if not huge, gains. I also have several CDs that earn me a constant income which I simply reinvest as they mature.
I have a 401k that actually has been doing fairly well. I also have some investments but they are all long term so the market can do its thing and I'm not really worried.
Also, I don't really have any interest in putting any money into the market for a few years. I think the housing market has a great effect on the investment market and I also think its going to be bad for a few years. I may start watching some of my favorite stocks though to see if they get to an acceptable level for me to buy in.
PhotoChick - what do you do? I'd love to be self employed. I'll guess you do photography
Yup!
I really do love my job, but there are times that being self employed is not all that. The slowing economy is really hitting small luxury business like mine really hard. People are less willing to spend money on non-essentials. And portraits and photography is seen as non-essential by most people.
But, like I said, I've been through the ups and downs before, so I just gotta hunker down and weather this. It'll come around again.
I'm Canadian, we dont have 401Ks here, but I do invest. I work for a bank and have bank stock and it tanked earlier today! But it's typical of the markets and they'll bounce back...eventually. The stock was already up a few cents before closing today.
I have a 401K and a IRA. It is hard to not get a bit freaked out when the market crashes like this. Especially whith all the other bad economic conditions that exist today.
History says that this is temporary and it is the best opportunity to buy...so I just hang on tight and ride it out! And BUY BUY BUY!!!!
I have a 401K and a Roth. I'm just so glad that I have lots of time before I retire! The key is to just hang in there and be in it for the long haul. Like djay said!
I have something comparable to a 401K. Even though I contribute and my employer matches (to a point), its basically been at the same amount for the past 4-6 months. But I'm 28, so I have a while before I will retire and I plan on upping my contributions after things start going up.
Do you invest?
