Who else is retired, and losing sleep, eating too much, biting your nails, and still in that dazed, this-can't-be-happening-because-I-did-everything-right mode? Doesn't it feel like a bad dream that you usually wake up from? (When the people who are responsible for the whole mess have so much money, they don't HAVE to worry! ) Will tomorrow be better, will it get worse, where will it all end? Yikes ... no one can answer you!

Don't panic. As long as your retirement fund is well diversified, you are going to be just fine. Look at it this way: If you had bought stocks the day before the crash of 1929, and just ridden it through and not panicked then exactly 12 months later your stocks would have been worth 171 percent of what they were the day you bought them. Again, in 1987, if you had bought stocks the day before the crash and just held for 12 months, those stocks would have been worth a little over 100 percent of what you bought them for. This has been the same pattern for the small slips along the way as well.

While it is possible that this crash will be different, history has shown that it is pretty unlikely.

Yes, I am nervous about tomorrow. However, I take comfort in the belief that history will repeat itself. Also, if you were paying attention, the big mutual fund managers started buying again this past Friday. Sure, the market closed down -- but WHO started buying again is a big clue that they think many stocks are under-priced and we are almost at the bottom of this thing.

Thank god I am not retired or close to it! I really feel for those that are! A 40% or more loss in savings, when you are doing all the "right" things that everyone advises? Ugh! I know two people who were about to retire at the end of this year, and now they have re-thought their plans, and will probably stay working for another year or two. At the moment, what DH and I have are "unrealized" losses, so we aren't doing anything about it--on paper only.

But how long before those losses turn around and start being gains again?

It's scary out there now!

Schumeany, I can't tell you how much I hope you're right but many experts don't agree with your optimism. modcatt, it is really infuriating to have done all the right things and still find yourself losing a bundle, and not seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I do have faith that things will get better again but how long will it take? That's the worry for those of us retired, and dependent on 401K's that are quickly evaporating! We don't have 20 years to get it all back!

Don't just sit and watch CNBC. They will make ANYONE think the sky is falling in. Remember: All the big news stations retain viewers by making everything worst case scenario.

I know, as a retiree, it has got to be scary -- my husband and I have at least twenty years before we retire so we can ride this out OK. However, I run a Charitable Foundation for children with special needs, and I have watched our million dollar endowment almost halved in the last four weeks. It is definitely awful and gut wrenching.

I just find that looking at past history on this issue helps me stay grounded. Hang in there!

My MIL and FIL are heartsick. They are in their 80's and had hoped to leave a nice fund to their children. It just is not going to work out that way and we all feel like they should not worry, but they scrimped and saved and invested their whole lives to now have this happen.

Me, I am responding like my mom always did in hard times. I am hoarding food. I did not realize that I was stockpiling food until there just was no more room in the pantry and the boxes of stuff began overflowing the kitchen. I took up canning, freezing and drying this year like I have not done in 30 years!

I am afraid of a serious crash with lots of people hungry and desperate. I would like to hide my head in the sand, but I just don't want to be that way. I see enough homeless and hungry people to know that the margins between food security and home security are narrowing and people are beginning to suffer. I think this is real. We live in an economically depressed area and people cannot afford gas. I see people hitching to work every day. I have a friend at work who shops once a month for food now, rather than twice because she cannot afford that one extra tank of gas.
Sheri

While this first day of recovery may be a little TOO enthusiastic so we may see a drop off, etc. I stand by my statement that history is likely to repeat.

11 percent one day rebound must be making you feel a little better.

I'm sorry babe that you are feeling the pinch. The market has its ups and downs and this one was long coming. A couple years ago, my husband moved most of his 401k to bonds. Last year, I moved half of my 401k to bonds. Both of us knew the market was going to fall, we just didn't know when.

With the markets downs, it always has ups. It may mean tightening of belts for retirees but in a few years, things should start bouncing back.

the dreading must have worked...today was the single largest one day gain in wall street history!!

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...aspx?GT1=33009

Experts be damned.

Look at this history here. This has happened over and over and over again in our short economic history and we always *always* come out of it. It might not be an easy recovery, but those who stick it out and don't panic will be ok.

I truly truly believe that. But then I'm an historian by education and I tend to trust in historical evidence.

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Today was great ... it's just one day, but it was a good one! We are well-diversified, and not going to starve. But I don't want to lose too much of what we worked so long and hard for. For years, you look forward to doing certain things when you retire ... travel, spoil grandkids, splurge on tickets for this and that. For people already retired, you have very little time for things to correct themselves. I would not brood about it if I were 34, but when you're 64, it's a different scenario ... Good luck to everyone here, young and old!

Yep, that's the thing. The market will return. Those hard hit on this roller coaster are the ones (like me) close to retirement. We lost a bundle in '98 were just starting to recover when this hit. We've had to put off retirement yet again.

Not sure who will have it worse - us or those of you who will be paying off this trillion dollar debt we've amassed for years and years to come.