Because Of The Recession, My Investments Have Lost 25% of their Market Value

[Weatherman2020]

Obama already passed this law and Congress is breaking the law because they can.

Actually Congress quietly overturned that law several months later.

 

[the other mike]

Here's my story (and I'm sticking to it). I have an investment account with Merrill Lynch. It includes my IRA, my wife's IRA, and other savings - enough that the well will never run dry. I'm 73 and my wife is soon-to-be 70. We draw a monthly stipend that is much less than the earnings of the accounts - ignoring asset value fluctuation. That plus SS keeps the wheels turning, and we don't want for nothing.

Every year, they call us in for a meeting where they tell us how their investment experts have created a strategy that is perfectly geared to our situation, where we are in the draw-down phase of life, and no longer looking for speculative gains and whatnot.

But here's the thing: My our portfolio EXACTLY follows the DOW. Not on a day-by-day basis, but certainly month-to-month. The DOW has gone from 35,000 roughly and now it's at about 30,000, and our investments have gone down in EXACTLY that same percentage.

The fees we are charged are buried in the fine print, and I don't even bother looking to see what they are. My broker derives a Taycan, if that means anything to you. We turned over all our money to them about ten years ago, and if we had put it into an index fund we would be in the same place.

Speaking of Social Security did you know benefits are going up about 9% next year.?