Retirement delayed and broke anyway

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

90. I'm going to guess that your money did not go to zero.

Yes, it may have dropped a lot, but hanging in there meant that your money recovered.

I honestly have little patience with those who talk about supposedly losing everything in 2008. Everything? Really? Ummm, if you had just hung on, you'd have long since recovered.

So did you go from whatever to zero in 2008? I suspect not. Whatever your loss was, it wasn't 100%.

Here's the thing about being in the market long term: You learn that it goes up, it goes down, it goes up and it goes up. Over the long run the market increases. Actually at nearly 10% each year. Really. Do a bit of research. Panicking and selling when the market is down is truly stupid. Hang in there. Things will get better.

I happen to have a wonderful financial guy. I've been with him about 20years, and am very confident in his advice. He got me to buy a couple of annuities some years back, and I'm taking income from them these days. Right now, their current value is less than what I paid for them, but I'm still getting that income. Hooray!

If you'd held on to your investments back in 2008, the should have more than recovered in recent years. It's the panic selling when things go bad that's such a problem. Hanging in there is what you should do.

Here's the thing. Over time, the stock market gives about 10% returns. Obviously, that varies a lot, year to year. So figure 8%, or better yet 6% to calculate what you might earn over time. Here's a useful link: https://www.calcxml.com/do/how-long-will-my-money-last I frequently look at this to figure out if my money will last for me. And I always calculate a 6% return, below the historic record of 8%.