financial situation

[Hockeyguy]

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YOU are part of the problem if that's what you REALLY did.

Short selling the market and select equities has NOTHING to do with the recent decline in equities. Comments to the contrary are false. People who took short positions and then started false rumors about companies that plumment are doing something illegal. Thats a reverse pump-and-dump. In fact when a company has a large porpotion of its stock shorted (10-15%) it usually goes up. Its called a short squeeze.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_squeeze

I see nothing at all wrong with short selling and I do it often - I rode BZH down from 35 to 5. Your not causing a company go down or doing anything to drive it down.You just profit as it falls. Did any one not know the housing market was unwinding? Why not profit from it by shorting an overpriced housing stock? You profit when google or whatever other compay goes up and your long. Why is un-American or greedy to make money when it goes down. I have been trading stocks regulary for 12 years - if your not shorting every now and then your missing out on some great oppurtunities. Don't feel bad about it because your doing nothing wrong. Management should feel bad for tanking their companies with stupid descions.

 

[urge]

A retired anesthesiologist is coming back to practice since his 401k is running low. The guy is about 70. Still in good shape though. I wish he doesn't have to take call.

I'm afraid retirement will be a thing of the past. We'll probably work until we die. Think about it. For the first 30yrs of our lives we don't make any money. Then when you start making some, you buy a house, pay off debt, pay school for your kids and put some money away for retirement. Let's say you work 35 yrs and retire at 65y/o. Let's say you saved 15% of your salary. That's not a lot of money considering you might still have another 20 or 30 more to go. Those last years can get expensive in terms of medications and health care.

🙁

 

[jetproppilot]

A retired anesthesiologist is coming back to practice since his 401k is running low. The guy is about 70. Still in good shape though. I wish he doesn't have to take call.

I'm afraid retirement will be a thing of the past. We'll probably work until we die. Think about it. For the first 30yrs of our lives we don't make any money. Then when you start making some, you buy a house, pay off debt, pay school for your kids and put some money away for retirement. Let's say you work 35 yrs and retire at 65y/o. Let's say you saved 15% of your salary. That's not a lot of money considering you might still have another 20 or 30 more to go. Those last years can get expensive in terms of medications and health care.

🙁

Thats where most "retirement ready" people fall short with planning.

Might be better to work a cuppla day shifts a week in order to retain these benefits.

I agree with you overall, Urge.

TOTAL RETIREMENT unless you have more than five mil of LIQUID assets amassed may be unobtainable.

 

[pgg]

Let's say you work 35 yrs and retire at 65y/o. Let's say you saved 15% of your salary. That's not a lot of money considering you might still have another 20 or 30 more to go.

If you're an anesthesiologist and you can't save enough to retire during a 35 year career, you're a *****.

Honestly, we're not Wal-Mart greeters earning $6/hour. Maybe you don't really need the nightly filet mignon or the $1.3 million home or the Mount Everest expeditions with 63 natives to carry your tent, laundry, and ego.

Forget 15%. Why not save $100K/year for your first 5 years out of residency? For you civilian types, going from earning $50K/year to $250K+/year, why not? Isn't setting aside your first half million to grow for 30 years worth more than a 52" plasma or a week in the suite 75' from the ski lift?


Also - your 70-year-old friend whose 401(k) was hurt by the DOW dropping almost 6000 points since its peak is in a different situation than we are. 35 years from now, we'll probably look back at 2009 or 2010 or 2011 as an excellent time to plow money into the stock market. Most or all of that overvalued market exuberance is gone. Dollar cost averaging over the next decade will probably be great for retirement investors.

 

[pgg]

TOTAL RETIREMENT unless you have more than five mil of LIQUID assets amassed may be unobtainable.

That depends on what kind of retirement you want. Calling retirement unobtainable without $5 million is a bit of a reach unless you expect to be dropping $10K/month in your poker games. 🙂 And I know you're a poker predator so that can't be it.

Starting with $5 million (in very safe investments returning 5%) you could take ~$222K the first year, increasing withdrawals 3%/year to match inflation until you withdrew the last ~$524K in year 30.

Given a paid-off house and no kids to support, do you really need $222K/year in inflation-adjusted dollars to retire? (Some of which will be tax-free depending on how you invested it.) That's 4x or 5x what most people live on while they're paying mortgages and supporting families.

 

[urge]

That depends on what kind of retirement you want. Calling retirement unobtainable without $5 million is a bit of a reach unless you expect to be dropping $10K/month in your poker games. 🙂 And I know you're a poker predator so that can't be it.

Starting with $5 million (in very safe investments returning 5%) you could take ~$222K the first year, increasing withdrawals 3%/year to match inflation until you withdrew the last ~$524K in year 30.

Given a paid-off house and no kids to support, do you really need $222K/year in inflation-adjusted dollars to retire? (Some of which will be tax-free depending on how you invested it.) That's 4x or 5x what most people live on while they're paying mortgages and supporting families.

I hope you are right but we don't have anything to prove you right. 401ks are fairly recent. This is the first generation retiring on them.You can see how well it's working for them. So far our experience with them has been a disaster. It is silly to ignore this might be the outcome for future generations.

 

[jetproppilot]

If you're an anesthesiologist and you can't save enough to retire during a 35 year career, you're a *****.

Honestly, we're not Wal-Mart greeters earning $6/hour. Maybe you don't really need the nightly filet mignon or the $1.3 million home or the Mount Everest expeditions with 63 natives to carry your tent, laundry, and ego.

Forget 15%. Why not save $100K/year for your first 5 years out of residency? For you civilian types, going from earning $50K/year to $250K+/year, why not? Isn't setting aside your first half million to grow for 30 years worth more than a 52" plasma or a week in the suite 75' from the ski lift?


Also - your 70-year-old friend whose 401(k) was hurt by the DOW dropping almost 6000 points since its peak is in a different situation than we are. 35 years from now, we'll probably look back at 2009 or 2010 or 2011 as an excellent time to plow money into the stock market. Most or all of that overvalued market exuberance is gone. Dollar cost averaging over the next decade will probably be great for retirement investors.

Another excellent point.👍

 

[jetproppilot]

That depends on what kind of retirement you want. Calling retirement unobtainable without $5 million is a bit of a reach unless you expect to be dropping $10K/month in your poker games. 🙂 And I know you're a poker predator so that can't be it.

Starting with $5 million (in very safe investments returning 5%) you could take ~$222K the first year, increasing withdrawals 3%/year to match inflation until you withdrew the last ~$524K in year 30.

Given a paid-off house and no kids to support, do you really need $222K/year in inflation-adjusted dollars to retire? (Some of which will be tax-free depending on how you invested it.) That's 4x or 5x what most people live on while they're paying mortgages and supporting families.

Where is that very safe investment, Slim?

I don't feel, in this economic environment, that there is succha thing as a "safe" investment.

Unless you're speaking of stacks and stacks of benjamins accruing between your boxspring and your mattress.

 

[SleepIsGood]

Where is that very safe investment, Slim?

I don't feel, in this economic environment, that there is succha thing as a "safe" investment.

Unless you're speaking of stacks and stacks of benjamins accruing between your boxspring and your mattress.

I feel awful for those attendings of mine that were trying to retire soon and put all their money in "very safe" mutual funds that consisted of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It just goes to show that something thought to be that safe, may actually not be.

I like the boxspring idea. Invest in a few hundred beds and stick them in your attic.

 

[pgg]

401ks are fairly recent. This is the first generation retiring on them.You can see how well it's working for them.

😕 A 401(k) is just a tax-advantaged account.

Where is that very safe investment, Slim?

Obviously there's no zero risk investment, especially your mattress, which is a guaranteed loser to inflation. CDs are generally regarded as safe and today I can get 5.1% at my credit union or 5.35% if I shop around. I own 30-year federal bonds that I bought 7 or 8 years ago fixed at over 6%. Even with banks failing nobody has lost money that was in a CD. In addition, they have some protection via FDIC.

Come on, you well know that even today some investments are going to be rock solid ironclad safe barring insolvency of the federal government or the collapse of western civilization. They just don't return anywhere near the 10% or 15% people grew to expect from stocks or the 759823% they grew to expect from real estate.

When the New Caliphate takes over the world and forces me to wear a man-burka, my retirement accounts will be the least of my worries. 🙂

 

[McSnappy]

A retired anesthesiologist is coming back to practice since his 401k is running low. The guy is about 70. Still in good shape though. I wish he doesn't have to take call.

I'm afraid retirement will be a thing of the past. We'll probably work until we die. Think about it. For the first 30yrs of our lives we don't make any money. Then when you start making some, you buy a house, pay off debt, pay school for your kids and put some money away for retirement. Let's say you work 35 yrs and retire at 65y/o. Let's say you saved 15% of your salary. That's not a lot of money considering you might still have another 20 or 30 more to go. Those last years can get expensive in terms of medications and health care.

🙁

I'm thinking a guy that has to come back at 70 got greedy and tried to ride the wave a little to long. He either wasn't thinking 20 yrs ago, got hosed by an ex- or got greedy. Should have been shifting his "load" into bonds somewhere around 60 and been 'solid' by 65-70 @ 4-6% returns.

 

[urge]

Hospitals See Drop in Paying Patients


In another sign of the economy’s toll on the nation’s health care system, some hospitals say they are seeing fewer paying patients — even as greater numbers of people are showing up at emergency rooms unable to pay their bills.
While the full effects of the downturn are likely to become more evident in coming months as more people lose their jobs and their insurance coverage, some hospitals say they are already experiencing a fall-off in patient admissions.
Some patients with insurance seem to be deferring treatments like knee replacements, hernia repairs and weight-loss surgeries — the kind of procedures that are among the most lucrative to hospitals. Just as consumers are hesitant to make any sort of big financial decision right now, some patients may feel too financially insecure to take time off work or spend what could be thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses for elective treatments...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/business/07hospital.html?pagewanted=1&ref=business

My hospital is in trouble. Anyone else experiencing the same?

 

[LonghornJPS]

Reviving this discussion.

How's it going now in 2010?

 

[IlDestriero]

Reviving this discussion.

How's it going now in 2010?

My hospital had a great year. My investments did well. All is good here, for now. Lots of concern, but no doom and gloom. I can downsize my life if and when Obamacare comes. I'm more worried about the big meltdown. Maybe I'll be an expat by then. The big question is what to do about my kids. If it really looks grim, I'm absolutely taking them abroad for the long haul.

 

[Bertelman]

My hospital had a great year. My investments did well. All is good here, for now. Lots of concern, but no doom and gloom. I can downsize my life if and when Obamacare comes. I'm more worried about the big meltdown. Maybe I'll be an expat by then. The big question is what to do about my kids. If it really looks grim, I'm absolutely taking them abroad for the long haul.

Where? China?

What countries are you considering, and do you believe they will be more stable than America?

 

[IlDestriero]

Where? China?

What countries are you considering, and do you believe they will be more stable than America?

We won't really know until it all goes down. And it won't be any time in the near future, but it might be before my kids are out of college. I can think of a lot of countries without runaway deficit spending and an expanding nanny state. How stable they will be in the future is unclear. It's also unclear how devistating and destabilizing a sinking dollar will be. Greece might even be stable by than. The US could turn itself around over the next decade. It would require real sacrifice, increased taxes, hard choices and real leadership, etc. It won't happen until we're really f'ed, because people have their heads in the sand and no one will vote to support this stuff until it's too late. Hope ain't doing it either. Except my hope for some real leadership.
Follow CA closely. It's a sinking ship now. Arnold laid it all out, he's got nothing to lose. Nobody is going to do anything. Look at who is running for Governor. Brown is a career politician with no clear plans to fix things and his opponent is a billionaire egomaniac. Their election strategy is smoke mirrors and negative ads. The CA legislature is a bunch of corrupt lazy dopes. They're not going to do anything but take the easy way out, obstruct real (hard) solutions, blame the "other" guys and try to get reelected. I hear Illinois is in bad shape as well. I smell more bailouts.

 

[Narcotized]

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[Coastie]

Where? China?

What countries are you considering, and do you believe they will be more stable than America?

qft.

The problem isn't the big downfall...it's the slide into slavery to the govt. They are grabbing more and more by the day and we are worried about dried foods and guns?

I'm all about narcs 6f plan, but apoc book of Eli style isn't the real problem.

Things like an internet kill switch, limting of free speech in public/politics, nationalization of every industry, homeland spying, increase taxes and massive unelected bureaucracies are.

Obama knows what he is doing. He doesn't want to rule over a mad max America. He wants to rule over an east germany-style amerika.

 

[dhb]

Where? China?

What countries are you considering, and do you believe they will be more stable than America?

Norway clearly tops the list, Switzerland maybe Australia and any deserted island in the Pacific.