surprising reaction
I gave in to temptation and looked at my balance over the weekend. My IRA is down 27% because of the bear market. That’s over a quarter. That’s almost a third. My initial reaction was anger.
And then, surprisingly, I was calm.
I just finished increasing my Emergency Fund to another landmark. So now that that task its done, I am inspired by my IRA balance to start contributing again. I had stopped contributing because I had met the minimum amount necessary to get the money out of a money market fund and into a mutual fund. I then turned my attention to working on the Emergency Fund, but now I’m done with that for now. I need to get back to building my IRA. I am nowhere near this year’s contribution limit, anyway. Now I haven’t given up the idea of continuing to increase the My Own Home fund. But with my Emergency Fund task completed for now, I feel more comfortable with splitting up my non-expense money between both goals of savings and retirement. The thought of buying more shares while I still can and the getting is cheaper has been nagging me for at least a week now. I’m going to do it!
It’s gonna be alright. I’m going to own more shares. I’m going to have more savings. I’m going to get a job. I’m going to get a home of my own, which is a retirement goal in and of itself. And Everything Is Going To Be Alright.
Congrats on reaching your e-fund goal! You’re making great strides.
Thanks!
Comment by GeckoGirl — October 13, 2008 @ 10:11 am
Congrats on the e-fund goals. Setting and reach goals is motivation in and of itself.
Thanks!
Comment by tiredofbeingbroke — October 13, 2008 @ 1:08 pm
Your progress is great!
So is yours!
Comment by S23 — October 13, 2008 @ 1:35 pm
That’s awesome you can make your goals even more ambitious. Have you started looking at houses yet? Also are you saving for a wedding?
The house and the wedding are both on my radar, as is finding a new gig.
Comment by Sallie's Niece — October 13, 2008 @ 9:17 pm
You know, I had the same reaction, more exasperation than anger, followed by calm. I think I’ve lost about the same percentage as you have but it’s long-term, and we have other goals we can more effectively target in the meantime since we can’t exactly fix the market.
There really is a, “Whaddaya gonna do?” about the whole thing to this. You make the best decisions you can given the information you have, and hope for the best. I do expect my shares to be worth more someday, so in the meantime, I’m just going to buy some more.
Comment by Revanche — October 13, 2008 @ 11:37 pm