The economy is so crappy that I’m beginning to think my dad will run short on new parallels between the early 80s and present day. It’s the pits. It really is. And, as pictures are worth 500 words (sorry, it’s the economy), I’ll give you a snapshot of percentage losses in my non-exotic, domestic, very small portfolio.

 

Somewhere between the bottom and the top.

That bottom number is the aggregate of my portfolio. Since I’m 40 years or so away from taking distributions, these numbers mean nothing to me. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll ride it all the way down to the bottom. It feels like an arcade game of sorts–and I’m really bad at videogames of any kind.

The only commentary I have is concerning people of retirement age. I fear for those who have seen losses like mine that fully intended to retire–and to retire well–on what was a very nice balance not even 18 months ago. However, it was foolish to be so deep into equities so late in the game. Again, it is yet another cautionary tale for me and my friends. Slow and steady wins the race, but you have to cross the finish line sometime (i.e. take your gains and hold them).