FYI: Steven S. in Sylvania, Ohio, just hit one of his lifetime savings goals, and now he’s freaking out.
You’d think it would be a big celebration, reaching a big round savings number ahead of the rule-of-thumb schedules for being able to retire comfortably.
Instead, Steven’s freak-out is that he’s worried about breaking the benchmark — which in his case was amassing $500,000 in retirement savings — in the wrong direction the next time the market heads south.
“I’m excited to have reached $500,000, and before I reached age 50,” Steven said in an email, “but I’m terrified that if we have a bear market I’ll be way behind again. So I’m thinking of protecting what I’ve got by taking most of it out of the market.”
Regards,
Ted
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/investors-next-challenge-is-holding-on/
Comments
- “I’m terrified that if we have a bear market I’ll be way behind again.”
- “Right now, every time the market loses a few points, I’m more nervous than I’ve been in years,” he said.
- “... the market’s recent volatility has bounced him around. Sometimes he checks his portfolio and it has been below his benchmark, other times it has him smiling.”
Sounds to me like this fella has a serious problem. But it’s not the market. He’s way too fixated on money. It’s obviously impacting his ability to enjoy life. Maybe Dr. Phil could help?
(Thanks @Ted for the 2 excellent links at the bottom of your article relating to the 737 MAX story. I’ve added them to the ongoing 737 Max thread in the interest of continuity.)