Re: Economic Devestation

sissel · ‎08-13-2010

Great time to buy a house or refinance yes got some stocks, relax yes next week maybe go down more and I upset (yes) calm down I am not jumping out of windows or killing myself. I pay my bills hope to find the food I need or make do, relax. Learn how to deal at this point it will go up if we figure this out. I think it will get worse then calm down by August.

winamac1 · ‎12-29-2010

This is all very concerning to me. Of course, the #1 priority is peoples' safety. Number 2 is the financial duress this is causing. I am nearing retirement age, and my portfolio , as others, has substantially dropped. I am diversified, but it's still gone down quite a bit. This concerns me as it's only going to drop more.

The worst is yet to come, and none of us were prepared for the gravity of this situation.

I shouldn't have looked at my 401 K and I did. I realize time will help, but those nearing retirement don't have the time to earn back what they lost.

"friends don't let friends drink white zinfandel"

Tukey · ‎03-10-2010

I work for a major finance company (401Ks, etc). Needless to say things are not good at this time with the markets going belly up. I have real concern of being laid off/furloughed if things don't turn around. It is scary. Just like everything else with this pandemic - things change every day. I feel bad for food servers/hostesses/bartenders/tattoo artists/stylists a lot of those businesses are shut down in my area. My neighbor is a car dealer and he has been home this whole time. I guess no one is buying cars. Yeah there is unemployment insurance, but it never pays what you normally make. If I lost my job I couldn't even fall back on Uber or something like that - less people are moving around and I really don't want an infected person in my car.

Nuttmeg · ‎03-09-2010

@sissel wrote:
Great time to buy a house or refinance yes got some stocks, relax yes next week maybe go down more and I upset (yes) calm down I am not jumping out of windows or killing myself. I pay my bills hope to find the food I need or make do, relax. Learn how to deal at this point it will go up if we figure this out. I think it will get worse then calm down by August.

@sissel
I agree. The market has to find a floor and start to come back.

It is a great time to refinance or buy a home for cash.

silkyk · ‎03-03-2011

Just hope your drivers lic. isn't due for renewal. Mine is next month and I called the DMV....2 months to get an appointment (!!!???) and I MUST go in....40+years driving...1 ticket in all that time and I have to go in (every other time online renewal because of good driving record) and so no ID for a month since my license will be expired by them. DMV has to change the rules during this horrible time. People NEED their id for medical appointments/prescription pickup etc and need to drive to get there!. Now I have to go in (if we are still alive) and deal with them in 2 months.I guess they don't want to deal with all those unlicensed/no insurance folks clogging up the road and instead hassle good drivers. Easier I guess. Hope your license is good for the next year!

Isobel Archer · ‎04-04-2015

@Foxxee wrote:
I knew two couples in their mid 60's who lost 50% in the stock market in 2008. They, too, had to continue working. One until 75. Another at 84 was still working.

The stock market is too risky for older people who can't afford to lose any of their money.

It's not just the stock market. If businesses go under and we end up in a depression - what do you think that will do the other assets - such as houses etc.?

If the government keeps printing money - how much will it be worth?

I know I know - we are told we have to do this because 'Millions will die" otherwise.

And yet - here we are - real people are already suffering financially - and soon it will be much much worse if we continue the shutdown.

And we are at 155 deaths - you know the comparisons, I won't repeat them again.

Kalli · ‎03-11-2010

@silkyk wrote:
Just hope your drivers lic. isn't due for renewal. Mine is next month and I called the DMV....2 months to get an appointment (!!!???) and I MUST go in....40+years driving...1 ticket in all that time and I have to go in (every other time online renewal because of good driving record) and so no ID for a month since my license will be expired by them. DMV has to change the rules during this horrible time. People NEED their id for medical appointments/prescription pickup etc and need to drive to get there!. Now I have to go in (if we are still alive) and deal with them in 2 months.I guess they don't want to deal with all those unlicensed/no insurance folks clogging up the road and instead hassle good drivers. Easier I guess. Hope your license is good for the next year!

@silkyk I wasn't thinking about a possible problem renewing my license. DH's is due this summer, mine is due in the fall. We were going to get the Real ID but don't have to since our passports are current for another 5 years.

All the little things that we're not thinking of yet, stuff we take for granted like being able to renew our licenses, are going to complicate this situation much more. Ugh.

Trinity11 · ‎11-16-2014

@Tinkrbl44 wrote:
@Trinity11 wrote:
@Tinkrbl44 wrote:
@Reever

Perhaps others are different, but I know very few people who haven't had to deal, one way or another, with financial loss. Housing prices can drop, stocks can drop, earthquakes, hurricanes and tornados ruin property, etc.

You simply cannot anticipate some things. Who saw 9/11 coming & prepared for it? Who saw a coronavirus pandemic coming?

Your BIL still has 75% and can put it in CDs if he's afraid stocks will drop more. Stocks can go back up in the next 3 years .... they aren't permanently down! Or, they can re-strategize how they want their retirement to be.

If no one's dead, you can still always make new choices and adapt. Nobody has a crystal ball.
Actually there was an article "Is China Ground Zero for a future Pandemic" in Smithsonian Magazine, November 2017.

@Trinity11

Really? How interesting. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have read that issue.