Little to gain by market watching
As you already know, the stock market resembles a roller coaster ride these days. So much so that they’ve renamed the 401-K program. It’s now called the 201-K investment savings plan because your money is worth now about half of what it was originally. That rather inane joke is meant to be humorous. But investors in the stock market are not finding any reason to smile.
For those who plan on cashing in their 401-K balances this year for retirement, the stock market plunge is a cruel blow. Anyone who has the option of putting off retirement another year or so may be wise to do so if they are depending on stock market investments.
However, even the experts have been wrong, time and again, when attempting to predict stock market trends. There’s always the possibility that the stock market could drop even lower in the months ahead. Just how much lower is the question.
Americans are heavily invested into the stock market, much more so than at any period in history.
I recall seeing some statistics that reported nearly 50 percent of the employed population has money tied up in 401-K or similar retirement/investment plans that depend on the stock market.
There are safeguards in place now that will prevent another massive crash of the market such as occurred in 1929. That’s some comfort to those of us who are almost afraid to check the balances of our retirement investment funds at the end of each stock market day.
Last week the market roared back, but the prosperity lasted only one day. Doom and gloom returned the next day when the stock indexes showed losses.
During the high-flying days of the ’90s, investors eagerly awaited each stock market report.
Quarterly earnings showed double digit gains in many cases. We seem to be getting payback now for all of that money we didn’t do anything to earn 10 years ago.
Nowadays Las Vegas doesn’t have anything to brag about. The stock market seems to be as much of a gamble as the slot machines.
A search on the Internet produced a report which stated that investors have pulled billions of dollars out of the stock market in an effort to wait out the downward trend of recent months.
Everyone is waiting to see when the market will hit rock bottom.
The only problem is that no one seems to know where rock bottom is. If you listen to the experts on the TV talk shows, you will hear just about any opinion you could imagine.
The author of a book which offers advice on how to become a millionaire said anyone who has an emotional attachment to money can never accumulate wealth. Money must be seen as a tool to make more money, not to buy a shiny new car, impress your neighbors or build a mansion on the hill, the financial expert says.
Maybe that philosophy can be applied to the stock market. Is it money, $5, $10 bills, that we see in our retirement accounts? Or do we see percentage figures which show a plus or a minus.
Whether we view it as dollars or mathematical units doesn’t matter in the final outcome, except that it will drive you nuts if you worry constantly about all the “money” you’re losing in the stock market.
There are more important things than money, but it’s difficult to convince anyone of that while they watch their investments drop in a downward tail spin.
Mike Ellis is editor of the Herald-Standard. E-mail: mellis@heraldstandard.com.