Comments on: Party Like It’s 1999! 10 Takeaways From This Recession

By: nursing schools

nursing schools — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 12:15:46 +0000

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By: Another Fellow Blogger Roundup » JoeTaxpayer

Another Fellow Blogger Roundup » JoeTaxpayer — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:06:30 +0000

[...] Samurai offers a cleverly titled Party Like It’s 1999! 10 Takeaways From This Recession, a very thoughtful post on what he learned not just in the past 18 months but over the decade for [...]

By: Samurai Reflections of October & Goals for November | Financial Samurai

Samurai Reflections of October & Goals for November | Financial Samurai — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:01:15 +0000

[...] “Party Like It’s 1999! 10 Key Takeaways From This Recession” – The recession is officially over as we grew 3.5% year over year (YoY) in 3Q09. As we move into 4Q09 and 1Q10 results season, earnings will see a material YoY pick up partly due to low comparables from 3Q08 and 1Q09 levels. Accepting the economic recovery is one thing, but investing new money in the markets at these levels is another. I’m staying very defensive as I believe November is going to be another volatile month, vulnerable to a pullback. [...]

By: admin

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:24:11 +0000

Roger – Haha, nice. Then we are fellow McDonald employee alumni! I worked for $3.3/hr cooking Egg McMuffins. I was a master!

It’s good you’re young, and don’t have much invested. “The Less You Have The Less You Lose” was a title of one of my posts. This downturn should be a boon to people your age, and to a lesser extent people the next decade up as well!

By: Roger

Roger — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:13:14 +0000

Well, these past 18 months have comprised my entire investing life, so I got the lessons that (a) stocks are volatile and can shoot up or drop down in the short term, (b) home prices can go DOWN, at least in the short run, in spite of what everyone will try to tell you, and (c) in short, the short run most equity investments can be very, very volatile, and you’d be a fool to not have some money in less volatile vehicles to serve as a buffer.

As for where I am compared to ten years ago, well, in 1999, I was sixteen, working part-time at McDonald’s, and more worried about my GPA than my net worth. So, probably much better off ;)

By: fs

fs — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:52:33 +0000

Hey Joe – S&P 1,500 would be nice, but I don’t think we’re going to get there for at least another 2 years.

Savings = 8X your annual net income is huge! I think because you are older and have had more time to accumulate wealth, your ratio is higher. 10 years ago, for example, I was just starting out my career, so my ratio would have been less than 1X. In my early 30′s now, my ratio is closer to 3.5X, and I’m thinking by 40-40, the ratio should increase to 7-8X as well.

You’ll have to read my posts on Net Worth at some point, which basically says I’m a none believer. (http://www.financialsamurai.com/category/net-worth/)

You’re right though, even though the stock market hasn’t gone anywhere in 10 years, the large majority of people have made progressed quite well!

Nice comment!

By: JoeTaxpayer

JoeTaxpayer — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:24:00 +0000

Interest post. The other day when the D10K tweets (for those who are on Twitter) I started thinking about this more. It’s not I’m immune to index mania, just that I follow the S&P and I want to get back to 1500.
What I would offer after ten years is that both indexes ignore dividends. So 10K today isn’t the same 10K of 1999.
I look at savings as a multiple of income, (Yes, I’m refining this thought for a future post) and with an end goal of 20X so 4% withdrawal means 80% of current income gets replaced, looking this way actually puts things in perspective for me.
In 1999, we had 3.90X our annual income in savings. “Savings” is our net worth minus the full value of our house as we don’t plan to move upon retiring. Our current number is 8.01X. This is from a combination of aggressive savings, pushing 25%, a company match on our 401(k)s, and aggressive mortgage payments. Most years, when I dig in, I see we’ve gotten a return of S&P minus .1% give or take. As we get closer to retirement I’ll move the mix from nearly full up invested to 60/40 which I believe ideal for us.

I am curious how others’ balance sheets compare to 10 years ago.

By: admin

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:52:59 +0000

Charlie – I agree. Being appreciative is so true, and now so much more common. The downturn has been a wake up call! FS

By: charlie

charlie — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:35:19 +0000

even though it’s been a rough 12 months, I think there are plenty of good things that have come out of this. People are more appreciative for what they have and I think generally people spent more time with family, sticking it through the tough times together. People are more Green aware then a year ago and are less wasteful, saving money and doing more to save the environment. Reduse, reuse, recyle!

By: You’re Rich & I’m Rich, OK! You’re Still Rich & I’m Not As Rich, Not OK! | Financial Samurai

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:38:39 +0000

[...] Not OK! October 16th, 2009 admin Leave a comment Go to comments One of the points I wrote in “Party Like It’s 1999 – 10 Takeaways From This Recession” is that people have short memories. Back in the first quarter of 2009, there was massive populist [...]

By: Larry L, New York

Larry L, New York — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:03:00 +0000

@admin Yea that's having enough reserves and/or cash flow to get you through the bad times, so you are not forced to sell.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:37:39 +0000

@Larry L, New York I really like your last line btw of "selling on your terms and not be forced to sell in bad times." That is spot on b/c frankly, you want to avoid vultures who'll shred you up to get to the bone. FS

By: admin

admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:03:49 +0000

Hey Larry, the Freedom Fund money gets locked away in 10-25k, 5 year CD increments at a blended rate of 3.625% for now. Pretty boring, but very stable.

The Freedom Fund is not to show performance, it’s just to keep track of savings. FS

By: Larry L, New York

Larry L, New York — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:06:17 +0000

@admin Where exactly are you putting your "The Freedom Fund" into? Inquiring minds want to know. At least for me putting that amount into "cash like" investments leads to other risks.

By: John DeFlumeri Jr

John DeFlumeri Jr — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:32:11 +0000

Money is incredibly mental, that is so true.