At least for my poor 401k.

"Overall, the last 10 years were the worst on record for U.S. stocks, dating all the way back to 1820s. Stocks on the New York Stock Exchange fell on average 0.5% annually. The S&P 500 was even worse, losing an average of 3.3% a year. And the Nasdaq, after eclipsing 5,000 in the first quarter of 2000, lost about half its value throughout the decade."

good riddance to the '00s. history suggests things will be better over next ten years: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance

In response, being the stubborn fool that I am, 401k contributions have been increased to 10%. If the ship is sinking, simply bail faster. Let's hope the next decade treats the average invester a bit more kindly.

I'm making more money now than ever before.

The 00's were pretty good from where I'm sittin'...

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Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings...

Very much depends on were your sitting.
You are in the entertainment business, which has done very well in the last 10 years - as has electronics.
However if you were involved in virtually any manufacturing field you would feel differently. I could sit here a name off a long list of industries that have suffered dearly during the years of excess.

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I have absolutely no idea what my generation did to improve our democracy. We dropped the ball. We entered a period of complacency and closed our eyes to the public corruption of our democracy.
Wynton Marsalis

That could all be true, but I have made WAY more money since 2000 than I ever did before.

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Shoot! I wish I knew how to get into the stock market! I've been interested in technology stocks for a while now. I know that that is one field where progress is steady!

Go to a full service bank, set up a brokerage account and start buying and selling.

Hope this helps.

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Like, which one! Please don't mention Bank Of America! I want one where they didn't need or want government bailouts! Thanks for the advice though!

I'd say the '00's sucked pretty hard. Seems we were at war most of the time. We lost thousands of civilians to terrorists attacks. We lived through sham elections, sham legislation and watched our leaders fail us one after another. And this steaming turd of a health care bill is the final kick in the groin to finish it off.

Me too. But (and this isn't directed at you), I'm not looking at how I did the last ten years ... I'm looking at the overall picture. This has been a crappy decade in general. Remember, one financial catastrophe can kick us back down a few notches.

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Anti-Racist Action | Anti-Fascist Network | The Oppressed and Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP)

• If you enjoy having weekends off, thank a socialist.
• If you appreciate the eight-hour work day, thank a socialist.
• If you approve of minimum wage, thank a socialist.

A few stocks that did well for me:

Ap Pharma (APPA) - 101.8% increase: bought at .57, trading at 1.15
Enterra (ENT) - 154.2% increase: bought .66, trading at 1.67
Huntsman Corp (HUN) - 254.2% increase: bought 3.19, trading at 11.30
Rite Aid (RAD) - 270.7%: bought .41, trading at 1.52

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Anti-Racist Action | Anti-Fascist Network | The Oppressed and Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP)

• If you enjoy having weekends off, thank a socialist.
• If you appreciate the eight-hour work day, thank a socialist.
• If you approve of minimum wage, thank a socialist.

I'm in absolute agreement.

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Anti-Racist Action | Anti-Fascist Network | The Oppressed and Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP)

• If you enjoy having weekends off, thank a socialist.
• If you appreciate the eight-hour work day, thank a socialist.
• If you approve of minimum wage, thank a socialist.

This thread demonstrates the difference between statistics and anecdotes.
The statistical evidence shows that most Americans saw their fortunes decline in the last ten years, but there are millions of anecdotes about people who did very well.
That's because people like talking about stuff that makes them feel good, you really don't see a lot of people who will come out in conversation and say, "geez, my stock portfolio evaporated, my kid's on drugs, my wife left me, and I got laid off 3 years ago and haven't been able to find work since", because it makes it a lot harder to get a date...........

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“ The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

Adam Smith , The Wealth of Nations 1776

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics"
FDR's second Inaugural Address

To be clear, the "it sucked" comments was limited to overall market performance Jan 2000 to Dec 2009. Personally, my retirement would look rosier if they had performed better - it sucked. My planning is based on an 8% return, something that should not have been unrealistic given the market's historic (over the last 150+ years) performance. Now I am not so sure. Fortunatly, I still have 20 years to go, and am saving at a pretty decent clip.

I have been fortunate enough to make make one investment (in the company I work for) that did very well. Since inception about 10 years ago, it has grown 700%. What was supposed to be just a small piece of the pie - perhaps 20% - has grown to well over half. Lots of eggs in this basket, but the 401k basket seems to have holes in it. Its been spinning off 10%/year dividend for the last couple of years to boot. The IRS will be happy when they see the next 1040ES.

IMO, the majority of folks are going to be in for a shock come retirement. If you haven't done any planning, do yourself a favor and start. A person could start by googling "retirement calculator" and spend an honest 30 minutes running some calcs (I like the Monty Carlo type analysis, there are some free ones out there). If your work offers a 401k, and especially if they still offer some matching, you are a fool to not to take advantage of this. Diversify. And start young - compounding is amazing.

FWIT, RRAHH, tech stocks can be good, but there are no gaurantees. NASDAQ is heavy into the techs from what I understand, and have has a bad decade:

"And the Nasdaq, after eclipsing 5,000 in the first quarter of 2000, lost about half its value throughout the decade."

Perhaps its due for a rebound, perhaps not. My crystal ball is cloudy on this (and everything else as well).

I hope everyone (even you naughty ones - the coal getters) a Merry Christmas and a great new year.

OK, enough of this sappy shit, back to my old rude and sarcastic self.

I am always amazed that many otherwise smart people do not take the basic step of planning for retirement or their financial future.

Some simple steps
Get rid of all debt. Never go into debt for consumables (trips etc) that are over before you finish paying for them. Only borrow for durable goods that will still have some life left when the debt is retired (houses and cars) or for things that will generate an income (starting a business etc.) Pay these debts off as fact as is practicable (considering other options for your cash)

Have some savings. A six month cash (or other liquid asset) reserve is desirable. If you lose your job you can survive until the new paycheques come in, it also works for a rainy day fund should an unexpected major expense arise.

Learn financial terms, if nothing else one of the For dummies or complete idiot guides will be a great help. ( They do a good job of explaining things from the assumption that you do not know anything about the topic.)

Get savvy with some financial calculation methods. Know how to calculate interest rates, payments etc. The built in functions in Excel are great, know how to use and understand the results from them. Play around with the payment function for your home mortgage. See how little it increases for a reduction in the amortization period from 25 or 30 years to 15 0r 20.

Live well within your means, you should put away 10% or so before you start spending and budgeting so that you pay yourself first.

Don’t get excited over minor deviations in the stock market. It will always vary greatly over the short term abut historically equity has been the best place for long term savings. I lost several hundred thousand dollars last year, most if it has returned and none of it was a real loss as I still have mostly the same stocks as I positioned myself in companies that had good long term growth potential, they are now starting to realize it.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, diversify a bit, it spreads out the risk and volatility of your investments.

Never buy a stock based on one person’s hot tip. Do at least some basic research on what the company does, how well it is managed and how well its position is protected.( A company that is hot with a product that is not copyrighted or patented can be eclipsed soon as competition enters the market, look for companies whose core profit making capability cannot be easily duplicated.)

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I always find it strange that only reasonable people agree with me.

yes, agreed as well.....

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"The captain has turned off the `No Dubbing' sign. You are free to speak any language you choose."

Bis interimitur qui suis armis perit...