How are your investments doing?

[RSKY]

Wife and I could easily live off our pensions and SS. The IRAs, 401Ks, etc. are backup and security for us and our families. Generational wealth that was passed on to us and will be passed on to our daughters. I am working on the oldest grand now, trying to teach her how to save and what it means to have the security and peace of mind that comes from having a cash reserve.

I am now making two car payments. I bought a new vehicle in April of 2024 and took the money out of investments to pay cash. Dumba$$ move. Fund was down when I pulled the money out and started back up the next month. Made the vehicle cost a lot more than it should have. Look at it this way, the fund I sold out of had dropped to $28/share when I pulled the money out. Thirty days later it was around $34/share. Arrggghhhh, what a dummy! So my oldest liked my new vehicle so much I bought her one to even up some inheritance issues. (Youngest bought land and house from my wife and her sister at a bargain price). And I make payments on that vehicle. That fund has now climbed to the upper $40/share range. So I made a good choice. Recently I loaned the money to oldest grand to purchase a vehicle. I'm gonna make payments on that one too rather than pull the money out. That one will end up costing me no matter which way I go BUT she has sat down with me and discussed money issues. It will be worthwhile if I can get it in her head how to manage her money. Her mom has good money sense but her dad still likes to buy the newest fad. He is coming around but I still haven't got him to be a tightwad like me.

RSKY

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I added all my retirement accounts up again yesterday.

From 9/25/25 to 11/3/25 I'm up a little over 4.5% That is huge!

I occasionally add them up and keep the tallies in a book. The closest I have to a year on the random dates I pulled was 12/10/2024 to 11/3/2025 and I'm up 23.6% in that time! We have been blessed so far.

 

[WM75Guy]

Tech bubble burst today.

 

[scootr]

Tech bubble burst today.

Down today up tomorrow...just don't look at it today.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

It's down less than 1%. That's not a bubble burst.

Let's go back to 2008 for some context.

Can you imagine the melt down people would have today if they saw those losses?

 

[drssg]

It's easy to overreact to market fluctuations. I would have sworn that the market downturn in 2020 was a pretty big deal, but from a historical perspective, it was a little blip.

 

[ponytug]

Perspective is (almost) everything.

All the best, Peter

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Compound interest is fascinating. Someone mentioned the S&P500 at 10% for the last century. Here's $1,000 invested in 1925 then adding $100/month reinvesting dividends and capital gains. After so many years adding $100/month doesn't have much effect but notice what happens after about years 80...the rocket launches.
So it goes from 100s to 1,000s eventually $Millions/year in gains. This explains the "old money" wealthy families. As my Grandfather once said if someone invested properly, leaving it to heirs, within the 2nd-3rd generation no one would ever have to work again.

 

[RSKY]

Compound interest is fascinating. Someone mentioned the S&P500 at 10% for the last century. Here's $1,000 invested in 1925 then adding $100/month reinvesting dividends and capital gains. After so many years adding $100/month doesn't have much effect but notice what happens after about years 80...the rocket launches.
So it goes from 100s to 1,000s eventually $Millions/year in gains. This explains the "old money" wealthy families. As my Grandfather once said if someone invested properly, leaving it to heirs, within the 2nd-3rd generation no one would ever have to work again. View attachment 4332153

The secret to building wealth is to invest early and don't touch your investments until you retire.

You can make up a spreadsheet to show how different interest rates will change the outcome over a number of years. Granddaughter came over today and I just didn't have time to set her down and show her.

IF my formula is correct and using your figure of $100/month at 10% return the first million would be at age 66. That is with a total of $56400 invested. Change it to 11% and the first million would hit at age 63. At 12% it would be 60. After that each 1% return added drops the age one million dollars achieved by about two years. Each year earlier drops the total invested by $1200. Dream on about that actually happening but it is theoretically possible.

The Fidelity index fund tracking the S&P 500 is currently sitting at 14.62% for the past ten years. That would give you $1.1 million with a total investment of $43200 at age 55. THAT will never happen because the S&P 500 will not keep up that level of return.

Spreadsheets can show what is possible, but not probable.

RSKY

 

[RSKY]

Tech bubble burst today.

I lost half as much today as I did in April. It will come back unless there is some Earth shattering event happening. I am looking 10-20 years ahead when we are not around any more. I expect the market to climb for the next eleven or twelve years with some corrections when it overvalues. But no major drop and stay down.