Thursday, January 29, 2009
In Which I Am Suddenly A Lot Poorer
My RRSP statement came in the mail yesterday and I am out nearly $30,000. I've always just let my funds sit while many of my colleagues at work call for portfolio adjustments on a monthly or even weekly basis. I'm wondering if I should be more active in this regard, or whether I should just cash the whole thing and invest it in freeze dried noodles. I could build a whole extra room out of boxes of freeze-dried noodles, board up the windows to my apartment, and hang tight until the recession is over and, presumably, I've eaten my way out of the room.
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6 comments:
Are you in it for the long-term? Then let it sit, short of civilization ending it'll rebound. Jerking around and trying to time the market is a fools errand and will only add to your daily or weekly stress - depending on how active you become.
Well, let's see. If you're a first time homebuyer, you can cash up to $25k to buy a home and not have tto pay tax on it. Once in you r new home, you can renovate and get a $1350 tax credit. And, don't worry cause if you lose youe job, you can get EI for 50 weeks now (if you live in that region).
There. Don't you feel stimulated now?
If you sell now you're following the strategy of buying high and selling low. You want to buy low and sell high. Conventional wisdom is to sit tight till market values recover, as long as you do not need the money for a few years.
But, consult a professional financial adviser.
Never try to beat the market. For every person you know who figured out a way to do it (once or twice), there's 10 who don't talk about their loses.
Work out an investment mix based upon your age and intended retirement target, and look into leaning into index funds. They have low overhead and don't try any fancy predictions.
Now, if I only had $30,000 to lose...
But, consult a professional financial adviser.
Why, his last one lost him $30k.
Percentage-wise how much are you down BCL? Even people who constantly rejigged their portfolios got hammered the last year.
Personally I've taken a drubbing too . . . down nearly 40% over the last year.
As for the noodles, you might be onto something there.
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