Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

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ahmadcpa
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Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by ahmadcpa »

Hello,

I've been around for about a year on this forum. I am wondering what the tone was in 2008! Was it hold hold hold or was it like crap, this isn't working!
mwm158
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by mwm158 »

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John3754
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by John3754 »

I've only been around here for a few years too, but I've seen links to a few threads from during the crash that discussed a so called "Plan B". This basically boiled down to previously die hard buy and hold stay the course investors proclaiming "I've sustained all the loses I can take and am selling all my stocks"...

Not particularly encouraging stuff.
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White Coat Investor
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by White Coat Investor »

Most stayed the course. A few started talking about "Plan B". A couple actually bailed out of their stocks, either in a minor way or a big way.

This thread will give you a good idea of the general sentiment here near market bottom:

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32623
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ahmadcpa
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by ahmadcpa »

Interesting that Bogle himself was recommending a sell off (if you can't afford it)

http://www.cnbc.com/id/27083747/
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by John3754 »

ahmadcpa wrote:Interesting that Bogle himself was recommending a sell off (if you can't afford it)

http://www.cnbc.com/id/27083747/
I think this is the important take home point of this interview:

"He said if investors had stuck to an age-related retirement formula, in which your bond position equals your age, investors could have avoided much of the pain...So if people had done their job of asset allocation and diversification, they shouldn’t be in that situation.”
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by DualIncomeNoDebt »

I was a big-time lurker throughout the housing and stock market crash. In my opinion, the tone was measured by some, and apocalyptic by others.

I second the "Plan B" reference, you should look at the posts from that time. Eye-opening and revelatory. Every single day, it seemed, another investment bank was blowing up, and AIG and potentially other derivative insurers were bankrupt or about to be, months of 500,000 job losses, and huge point drops in the DOW, S&P, and the QQQ, coupled with people literally walking away from their homes, leaving keys in the mailbox. Europe was imploding. Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Greece, France -- enormous financial problems. Every single article spoke of "contagion." The fear was palpable.

What I learned was this: don't accept at face value people saying they can ride out extreme volatility. You have to live it, experience it, see fifty percent of your balance sheet disappear and taste real fear everything could implode, to truly know whether you can stomach losing years, if not decades, of hard work in a market meltdown. I always question those who triumphantly proclaim they are "100% stocks," or want significant exposure to small caps, or mortgage REITs, or some other poorly-though-out plan. Let's see how that works out during the next Lehman-AIG-Citigroup-Countrywide-Merrill-WaMU-New Century-GM-GE avalanche.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by sambb »

This is why i like LS or target retirement funds - the allocation is rebalanced outside of you.
If you are in a 3 fund, but don't rebalance because of fears, then it can be an issue. Determine an allocation and stick with it perhaps.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by jebmke »

DualIncomeNoDebt wrote:What I learned was this: don't accept at face value people saying they can ride out extreme volatility. You have to live it, experience it, see fifty percent of your balance sheet disappear and taste real fear everything could implode, to truly know whether you can stomach losing years, if not decades, of hard work in a market meltdown.
For the younger players, 2008-09 was the first test of their risk tolerance. Those who had been investing through the 80s, 90s and through the 2001-3 downturn had seem much of this before -- although the systemic financial crisis was a new twist.
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by TPS_Reports »

I am new to the site also, and thankfully learned about asset allocation, and sold many, many, mutual funds to set up a new balanced portfolio. I stayed all in (mostly growth funds) back in 2008, but I choose not to take that risk again - 6 years closer to retirement.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by Johm221122 »

Rebalance into stocks aggressively, unfortunately not at bottom :happy

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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by Lynette »

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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by b42 »

I started saving for retirement via a Roth IRA in July of 2009, so I was fortunate to have started investing at a market bottom. And from there I continued on investing.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by Ignatious P. Daily »

ahmadcpa wrote:Hello,

I've been around for about a year on this forum. I am wondering what the tone was in 2008! Was it hold hold hold or was it like crap, this isn't working!
I stopped watching the news and refused to check my accounts. I left my contributions at the same level as prior to the crash. At the time I was 100% equities so there was no rebalancing opportunities.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by 22twain »

I kept my main retirement account on autopilot, with the same monthly contributions, and no rebalancing. This post describes the outcome.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by Dandy »

I just retired in 2008 timing couldn't have been worse and a daughter's wedding to boot. Was basically staying the course until Harry Reid said a large insurance company was going bankrupt. I had my pension, health insurance and most of my 401k in a Stable Value fund with a large insurance company. Companies were falling like dominos at the time.

Moved my 401k to Vanguard's Admiral Money Fund. In about a month I started to make large dollar cost averaging moves into equities. When it started to stabilize I would sometimes add more to the automated DCA amount. At the time I knew I was trading long term gains to preserve assets that were barely enough to fund my retirement. It was also 2 years away from early SS and 5 years from a pension.

I learned that my risk tolerance in retirement was different than in the accumulation stage. Changed equity allocation from 55% to about 45% in 2008-09. No regrets.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by nisiprius »

Lynette wrote:I am also new here. I hoped my job was secure.
Turned out that mine wasn't.

What my wife and I "did" was feel a good deal of fear, and do nothing. It was more like "deer caught in the headlights" than "stayed the course," but we did nothing. One reason we were able to do nothing is that as it turns out, we had an accurate, not overconfident appraisal of our own existing risk tolerance and went into 2008-2009 with an asset allocation that many would have judged to be "too timid." I had been wondering whether I was too much of a fraidycat and was considering nudging my stock allocation upward, but fortunately it takes me a good long time to decide to do something like that. In 2008-2009 I found that I had gauged my risk tolerance pretty well and we really close to our upper limit, our breaking point, our "GMO" (Get Me Out!) level. But we held. Not everyone did, not even experienced financial professionals.

What is important to understand is that while it is happening, dips are not just numbers. During normal times you say "these fluctuations are what I expect, and I feel that I am taking a calculated risk." During 2008-2009, it was "this is not what anyone expects, this is uncharted territory, this is no calculated risk, this is an incalculable risk."

Usually, it is like driving down a major highway with nothing but two yellow lines between you and the oncoming cars. Most of the time, even though the clearance between you and the oncoming cars varies, and even though your car tips in the wind semi going 65 mph four feet away, it is not a "near miss." In 2008-2009 it was like seeing a semi coming toward you, slightly over the centerline and weaving, while a car was passing on your right and what looks like a cardboard box ahead in your lane.

On TV I sensed fear in the body language and tone of voice in people like Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson, and I know I was not just projecting, because Henry Paulson has acknowledged it.

Remember the nature of the 2008 crisis. It was not just one big thing... it was one big thing after another. After another. After another. After another. After another. After another. After another. As Stephen King likes to say in his horror novels when things are really going badly, "the hits just keep on coming." The sheer number of monumental, solid, household-name firms that collapsed was astonishing. (The fact that the Merrill Lynch name has been revived is one of many things that helps us forget the severity of the crisis. However, I feel a little "gnoingggggg!"-cold-prickly every time I find myself typing the words Barclay's Aggregate Index. I still want to say "Lehman Brothers." How can there not be a Lehman Brothers? Impossible.)
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by thenextguy »

I went mostly cash in February 2008. I then starting buying back as the market kept falling.

I'm not sure if I would ever do something like that again. I guess I'd have to see the circumstances.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by bluejello »

nisiprius wrote:Remember the nature of the 2008 crisis. It was not just one big thing... it was one big thing after another. After another. After another. After another. After another. After another. After another. As Stephen King likes to say in his horror novels when things are really going badly, "the hits just keep on coming." The sheer number of monumental, solid, household-name firms that collapsed was astonishing. (The fact that the Merrill Lynch name has been revived is one of many things that helps us forget the severity of the crisis. However, I feel a little "gnoingggggg!"-cold-prickly every time I find myself typing the words Barclay's Aggregate Index. I still want to say "Lehman Brothers." How can there not be a Lehman Brothers? Impossible.)
Beautifully said. What did I do in 2008? I panicked and sold all my holdings, which at the time were some combination of individual stocks, REITS, and actively managed stock mutual funds. Then over the course of 2009 and 2010, I slowly crept back into the market with my tail between my legs, eventually ending up at a 60/40 stock bond allocation. This time I was smarter and set it up all in index funds. 60/40 is definitely considered conservative for my age (I am only in my 30's now), but I neither need nor have the stomach to take on additional risk.

What I learned in 2008 is that your personal risk tolerance is a VERY important thing to understand. There is a huge difference between understanding why it's important to stay the course and being able to actually do it. I consider myself to be a pretty rational person, I have a degree in Economics from a top 5 university, and I understand as well as anyone that stocks outperform bonds in the long run. All of these things were true in 2008 too. But even so, I couldn't handle watching my portfolio plummet by 50% while the headlines were screaming apocalypse and friends were being laid off left and right (including from Lehman Brothers).

I see so many newbie investors these days posting on Bogleheads with desired asset allocation 90/10 or even 100% equities and saying things like "I'm not worried about risk, I'm invested for the long-term". I sincerely wish them all the best, but I also really wish they would take me as a cautionary tale. It's easy to cheerfully say that you would "buy more if stocks go down" when you're taking a Vanguard risk questionnaire — everyone knows that's the right answer — but quite another thing to actually do it when the sky seems to be falling.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by feh »

I didn't do anything in 2008/09. Would've rebalanced, but was 100% equities.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by chaz »

mwm158 wrote:I moved into my fallout shelter. Let me know when it's over so I can come out.
A good plan.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by Wagnerjb »

ahmadcpa wrote:Hello,

I've been around for about a year on this forum. I am wondering what the tone was in 2008! Was it hold hold hold or was it like crap, this isn't working!
Here is a thread from March 2, 2009 - which was within a week of the market bottom. Several of us were rebalancing, but there were a fair number of people who were conflicted.

Over the years (I have been investing for 35+ years) I found that some people are not emotionally capable of rebalancing. For those people, I honestly think an advisor will add value. To be a do-it-yourselfer it takes a fair amount of understanding of markets as well as discipline.

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... eit#416307

Best wishes.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by fposte »

I was protected by my ignorance and detachment, since I hadn't yet become actively involved in my own investing and didn't really think of the money as mine. Ignorance won't help me any more, but I'm hoping I can still muster the detachment when needed.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by subham »

Excellent thread.

Having valiantly answered Vanguard questionnaire I got a risk score of 70/30 and I went with 40/60 as a first step with a plan to DCA into 60/40. Even then I got my 1st taste of what its like to lose 50k in the last month. Its a small % compared to my whole portfolio but 50k is still a huge number. In a way this is an eye opener for me. Now i am humbled about claiming I can sustain 25% loss for my 60-40 portfolio. I also got my first lesson on doing my 2nd DCA last friday when i was very reluctant to pull the trigger as I felt I should postpone it by a month to let market fall more. The wise guys here asked me to stay the course and I did. I am glad to see my % loss has gone down now that I have new money added at a discounted price. Of curse tomorrow I may feel different.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by dpc »

I did nothing because I really didn't know what to do. I had gone through implementing (mostly) a financial plan from Vanguard, so I was at about 60/40 before the stock market crashed. I was "automatically re-balanced" down so something like 45/55 and now I'm back to about 60/40. Don't overestimate your pain tolerance, especially as you approach retirement age. I was happy to have the bond funds.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by paulsiu »

I followed the plan and rebalanced as a result:
1. Bonds were sold as a high and purchase stock at bargin prices.
2. Funds continue to pour into portfolio, buying up shares at bargain price.

After a while, the portfolio recovered.

Paul
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by flyingaway »

I did not have time to care about my 401(k) and was busy at my work in 2008/09. So I absolutely stayed the course, unintentionally. This time, I have not sold anything yet, but reduced my emergency funds and used that money to buy total market index funds (although not at the bottom). As I mentioned before, I do not have any bonds, so I have to use cash to buy index funds.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by tennisplyr »

I stayed the course and made no changes. I was working then and doing 401k so I stayed the course. One thing I didn't do was to constantly look at my portfolio. I figured if I was in trouble there were millions more out there in trouble too. 🙈🙉🙊
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by Crow Hunter »

feh wrote:I didn't do anything in 2008/09. Would've rebalanced, but was 100% equities.
Same for me.

When I finally recovered back to my pre-crash levels I found this site and switched my AA to 80/20.

I wish I had done it in 2007 when I rolled my 401k over to Vanguard, when I wanted to put it in Target Retirement 2040 but instead, I listened to the Vanguard "advisor" who told me to be in all stocks including an active fund (Diversified Equity). :oops:

I did continue to contribute to my 401k and make Roth/tIRA contributions during this time though.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by Lynette »

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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by Go Blue 99 »

I was 100% equity at that point and made no changes. I just rarely looked at my balances :)
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by Leif »

Rebalanced for a while into stocks. At about 30% down got tired of catching the falling knife. I did contine to tax loss harvest, however, which turned out to be very important.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by FelixTheCat »

Go Blue 99 wrote:I was 100% equity at that point and made no changes. I just rarely looked at my balances :)
I wish I had your skills. :D

I realized in the 2008/09 crash that I was too risky for my asset allocation. I dialed it back and now I sleep well.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by nisiprius »

Lynette wrote:...Nisi, sorry you lost your job...
Thanks, wasn't so bad. But it is important in understanding the context of 2008-2009. When you are afraid you might lose your job, it doesn't make you MORE risk-tolerant in your investing. (Nor does being afraid you might lose your house, not a factor in my case).

And forget the "is your human capital correlated with the stock market" stuff; believe me, my job had nothing to do with finances or the stock market.

One reason I lost my job is that I'd negotiated semi-retirement the year before and was working half-time. I know it sounds masochistic to say you aren't angry at your employer, but I'm not. Sales dropped 70% from one month to the next, and I was part of a group of software engineers, three full-time and one half-time. I was eligible for Social Security. I don't know the factors that led to my being picked to be let go, but I'd been my boss, I'd have picked me.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by letsgobobby »

In January 2008 I was 30% stocks; by May 2009 almost 70% stocks. I follow a PE10 (valuation) based allocation, and had been as low as 0% stocks in 2000. I bought substantial blocks in January 2008, July 2008, October 2008, February 2009, and May 2009.

I sold 80% of my VGPMX in July 2008, after holding it since May 2001. I closed out my BEARX (prudent bear mutual fund) position in October 2008, which I originally purchased in April 2002. I bought VIPSX and closed end muni bond funds in October 2008.

I moved my Fidelity charitable gift fund, which had been 100% in bonds, to 100% US stocks around February 21, 2009.

Since September 2009 when I found this board I abandoned nearly all my market-timing and sector investing, and have lived at 55-60% stocks ever since with hardly any changes. I reserve the right to change my mind when stocks next get absurdly cheap or expensive.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by HomerJ »

This was my first crash where we actually had a lot of money to lose. We were 60/40 stocks/bonds...

When the DOW dropped below 10,000... I did rebalance once, selling bonds and buying stocks...

But I never did get the courage to rebalance again. At the time we had a $200k mortgage, I think, and $300k in bonds, and I decided I wanted to keep enough to pay off the mortgage and have $100k left-over in our "safe" money.

I was very worried... but I never really thought about selling (it was harder to convince my wife), and all new contributions went into 100% stock... Interestingly, it was very easy to put NEW money into stocks (even though it immediately went down), but I couldn't bear to rebalance any more old money.

My wife and I were very lucky... Both kept our jobs, we even got bonuses... But it was a very scary time. I really thought the Great Depression II was quite possible. I am very glad I was 60/40 and not 100% equities... That $300k in bonds kept me sane, because it was enough to keep the family fed and housed for a long time if necessary. If I was 100% equities, I'm sure at some point I would have sold some to create a buffer "just in case"... But I already had that buffer, so I didn't have to sell stocks at a low price in a panic.

I am now 50/50 based on that experience, and will go to 40/60 stocks/bonds when we retire in 10 years.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by HomerJ »

letsgobobby wrote: I follow a PE10 (valuation) based allocation, and had been as low as 0% stocks in 2000.
Shouldn't you have been near 0% stocks long before 2000? Like 1996 or 1997?
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by letsgobobby »

HomerJ wrote:
letsgobobby wrote: I follow a PE10 (valuation) based allocation, and had been as low as 0% stocks in 2000.
Shouldn't you have been near 0% stocks long before 2000? Like 1996 or 1997?
Oh, I was. But I had 0 money, too... I didn't graduate medical school until 1999.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by Lynette »

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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by Fallible »

ahmadcpa wrote:Hello,

I've been around for about a year on this forum. I am wondering what the tone was in 2008! Was it hold hold hold or was it like crap, this isn't working!
In 2008, I was retired, had been investing in the market for some 20 years and pretty much stayed the course through the '87 crash, LTCM in ' 98, the tech crash/recession/bear market, 9/11 fallout, mutual fund scandals, etc. The '08 crisis, especially the credit crunch, still scared me, but every bit of that investing experience had helped me determine my risk tolerance - although it's important to admit that I couldn't be certain it had until an '08 crisis actually happened. In the end, the biggest surprise for me was not the extraordinary events of '08, but the market's quick comeback in '09.

And now on to the next crisis.
"Yes, investing is simple. But it is not easy, for it requires discipline, patience, steadfastness, and that most uncommon of all gifts, common sense." ~Jack Bogle
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by thenextguy »

letsgobobby wrote:
HomerJ wrote:
letsgobobby wrote: I follow a PE10 (valuation) based allocation, and had been as low as 0% stocks in 2000.
Shouldn't you have been near 0% stocks long before 2000? Like 1996 or 1997?
Oh, I was. But I had 0 money, too... I didn't graduate medical school until 1999.
Haha. That's one way to sound like a genius! :happy

I was 0% stocks in March 2000!*

*Of course, I was 0% everything else, too.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by ruralavalon »

We sold Treasury bonds to buy stock index funds.

Also used new contributions to buy stock index funds.

This worked out great :D .
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by JW-Retired »

ahmadcpa wrote: Was it hold hold hold or was it like crap, this isn't working!
I've always followed hold hold hold onto your bonds. Our 60/40 AA rebalance bands are +5%/-never.....i.e., never sell any bonds to rebalance. That boils down to a zero need for any bear market trigger pulling decisions, and that eliminates worrying/losing sleep over it. At least this works very well for DW and I.

In 2008/09/10 we did put the new money into stocks so the bottom equity AA was about 48/52. The new money and the market got us back up to 55% stocks some time in 2010. We hit the +5% band on stocks in late 2013 so we finally got to rebalance....... down to 60/40.
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Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by Milano »

fposte wrote:I was protected by my ignorance and detachment, since I hadn't yet become actively involved in my own investing and didn't really think of the money as mine. Ignorance won't help me any more, but I'm hoping I can still muster the detachment when needed.
Same for me, lost my job February 2009, was unemployed for one year, found a new job for close to half the salary, all this forced me to be actively involved with my investments.
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JonnyDVM
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Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by JonnyDVM »

I had just started working and kept putting a higher percentage into my retirement fund. It was weird because I remember my boss asking if I wanted to decrease my contribution percentage since I started making more in salary. Obviously, I told him no. I have noticed while the "stay the course, stay the course" mantra prevails throughout this forum whenever the market drops like 1% in a day the negative "sky is falling" threads spring up like mushrooms and get the most hits. It doesn't surprise me that some people bailed at the bottom back then. Reading through the negative threads daily you find that some of the people always make a pretty confident argument that the US is on the verge of complete financial oblivion and we should all be in CD's and cash. That's on down days. On the 1% up days those who think we should all be 100% in equities come out to post and explain why anyone who holds any bonds is a square. On middling market days the threads mostly alternate between arguments regarding international allocation and proclaiming how cheap toilet paper is at Costco.
I’d trade it all for a little more | -C Montgomery Burns
cashinstinct
Posts: 59
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:55 pm

Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by cashinstinct »

I stayed the course mostly.

I did keep my stock investments (started in 2006 while I was in University) and I kept adding $X per week, same pace... I did some extra purchases in 2009 with scholarship money.

I did some tax-loss harvesting, but I did overall keep my stock allocation. What I sold was to purchase similar index at a lower cost-base.

In insight, I probably did not invest "enough" based on my increased income in 2009 compared to years before, but I kept money for future cashdown on house so I did not know how much I should invest in markets Vs keep for cashdown.
MnD
Posts: 5194
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:41 am

Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by MnD »

Rebalanced twice into equities, once in late 2008 and once again in early 2009 when re-balancing points were exceeded again.
Tax loss harvesting.
Increased 401-K contributions to both maxed out.
We also increased spending and consumption - we happened to have a lot of funds in "spending" accounts for home improvements and prior to the great recession were unhappy with bids and lack of response from contractors, so it had built up. The deals you could get in late 2008-2010 were amazing. And boy did they answer the phone when you called.
HD-TV and surround speaker system, wood stove, kitchen remodel, hardwood floors refinish, new hybrid car were the biggies.....
70/30 AA for life, Global market cap equity. Rebalance if fixed income <25% or >35%. Weighted ER< .10%. 5% of annual portfolio balance SWR, Proportional (to AA) withdrawals.
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Clearly_Irrational
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Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:43 pm

Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by Clearly_Irrational »

I was short on the way down. I still got nervous when they were talking about a money market collapse. I was just a few days away from yanking all my cash out of the bank ahead of the anticipated bank run / holiday when they announced they were going to backstop the money market funds and bailout the banks. Before I committed to giving up active trading and switching to a passive portfolio I did a ton of research on risk management so that I could put together a portfolio I'd be comfortable with when things were falling apart.
technovelist
Posts: 3611
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:02 pm

Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by technovelist »

nisiprius wrote:
Lynette wrote:...Nisi, sorry you lost your job...
Thanks, wasn't so bad. But it is important in understanding the context of 2008-2009. When you are afraid you might lose your job, it doesn't make you MORE risk-tolerant in your investing. (Nor does being afraid you might lose your house, not a factor in my case).

And forget the "is your human capital correlated with the stock market" stuff; believe me, my job had nothing to do with finances or the stock market.

One reason I lost my job is that I'd negotiated semi-retirement the year before and was working half-time. I know it sounds masochistic to say you aren't angry at your employer, but I'm not. Sales dropped 70% from one month to the next, and I was part of a group of software engineers, three full-time and one half-time. I was eligible for Social Security. I don't know the factors that led to my being picked to be let go, but I'd been my boss, I'd have picked me.
Sounds like your job still had correlation with the stock market even though it wasn't directly related.
Which is just another reason not to go 100% stocks...
In theory, theory and practice are identical. In practice, they often differ.
technovelist
Posts: 3611
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:02 pm

Re: Relatively new here. What did you do in 2008/09

Post by technovelist »

JonnyDVM wrote:I had just started working and kept putting a higher percentage into my retirement fund. It was weird because I remember my boss asking if I wanted to decrease my contribution percentage since I started making more in salary. Obviously, I told him no. I have noticed while the "stay the course, stay the course" mantra prevails throughout this forum whenever the market drops like 1% in a day the negative "sky is falling" threads spring up like mushrooms and get the most hits. It doesn't surprise me that some people bailed at the bottom back then. Reading through the negative threads daily you find that some of the people always make a pretty confident argument that the US is on the verge of complete financial oblivion and we should all be in CD's and cash. That's on down days. On the 1% up days those who think we should all be 100% in equities come out to post and explain why anyone who holds any bonds is a square. On middling market days the threads mostly alternate between arguments regarding international allocation and proclaiming how cheap toilet paper is at Costco.
They should make this a sticky at the top of the forum. It would eliminate the necessity to read about 2/3rds of the threads. :sharebeer
In theory, theory and practice are identical. In practice, they often differ.
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