[/caption]Step 1: I decided to look over my investments. Being thoroughly up-to-date, I have everything accessible online. Being thoroughly a coward, I hadn't looked at any of it in... oh, shall we just say, quite a while.
Step 2: Returning from the kitchen, now with a paper bag into which I expect to breathe for some time, I sat down to think. I thought about simplicity. I thought about how much I enjoy my work, and wondered if I will still enjoy it when I am 86.
Step 3: I realized I don't like simplicity all that much. No, I needed facts. An action plan. And thus I began my research.
Step 4: My financial advisor, whom I trust, said it's hard to predict what will happen next and how long recovery will take. NOT GOOD. Like a student seeking her guru, I continued my search.
Step 5: I assumed the major investing publications would help out. What sectors are good? What kind of a time window is needed to recover while staying largely in equities? Should I sell my jewelry on the streets of Springfield? I hoped to find the answers to these and more deep questions.
Step 6: "The answers" I have found
Big Oil: We told you so.
If you can learn from the mistakes of others, now is a great time to be an investor.
Dow 20,000 or 5,000? (Author doesn't know)
I've also learned that I should: use Quicken, keep putting lots of money in my retirement plan (kind of like dumping sand into a big wet hole you've dug on the beach, but okay), and look at exciting vehicles such as whole life insurance (who needs ACCESS to the money when you know it's somewhere out there?)
Step 7: What? I'm taking a nap now. Let me know when I should wake up.
I find it makes for a difficult time listening to or watching news when every night it's a new dip or climb on the Dow roller coaster. Also, nobody seems to know anything about anything so most interviews or articles are limited variations on the same tired theme of: we've never seen this before, we no longer can offer advice, we can only talk about the past, don't sue us for our previous bad advice!!
ReplyDeleteCurrently I'm taking the duck and cover approach, not touching anything, keep on putting in and hoping for the best. However, I somehow get the feeling that in 5 or 10 years, I'll be kicking myself for not buying stock in some of big floundering companies at such a "deal" price.