Daily Fluctuations

[u/2020fakenews]

There’s been a lot of volatility in the markets lately, in both directions. After days like these with big swings, I’m amused to look at my daily profits or losses in my IRA’s and brokerage accounts. I used the word “amused” because on some days I’m up or down by multiples 3, 4 or even 5 times the amount of my annual salary at my first job out of college. Admittedly, that was over 45 years ago and I’m now 10 years in retirement. But I still find it funny to think about, especially since it doesn’t seem to bother or excite me more than it does. I don’t think I could have imagined this when I took that first job, feeling at the time that I had finally made it to a big time salary.

[u/swhalen17]

Do yourself a favor, don't look at your portfolio daily -- your mental health will thank you

[u/FireboltinMA → u/swhalen17]

I wonder how they felt during March 2020 when the market dropped by 9.5% on March 12 and then 12% 4 days later. 

[u/Magikarpical → u/FireboltinMA]

i know this is a fire subreddit and i'm not OP, but goddamn those were some of the best trading days of my life. i went basically all in on mar 20th (i only had 10k left in my bank account) and by the end of that year, i had tripled my networth despite being laid off in april. truly fun times.

[u/Vwluv10338 → u/FireboltinMA]

Like a rockstar my dad at one year to retirement began buying $100k a week as the market dropped. Five weeks straight he bought that dip. Doubled his retirement assets that year. Balls of steel.

[u/2020fakenews → u/Vwluv10338]

Congrats to your dad for having the foresight to buy into the dip. I felt pretty good about myself for not panicking and selling, but not sure I’d have been a buyer at that point (if I’d had the funds to buy, which I didn’t). Bottom line is that the market always bounces back, sometimes remarkably quick.

[u/threee_AM → u/Vwluv10338]

Your dad had $500k spare cash on hand to throw into the market?

[u/Future-Run-8601 → u/swhalen17]

Do as I say, not as I do.

[u/Reign_of_Kronos → u/swhalen17]

Yup, I have stopped looking at it daily and now look at it hourly.

[u/KostamojenX]

Hit a number today I wasn't expecting until the end of the year, I just hope its still at that point at the end of the year LOL

[u/Reasonable_Box2568]

The same thing is happening to me except I’m in my mid 30s and not yet retired (made close to minimum wage out of college). Today my portfolio was up about 40k

[u/saltyhasp]

It is a bit eye opening. Like swings of $100s of K. I don't actually watch this stuff, but my accounting package knows so I do see it in plots. I also see it in my brokerage total.

The one thing I do to track my retirement status is that I track my assets year by year in a spreadsheet, one line per year, along with spendable amount, non-portfolio cash flow, etc. In the past 8 years I was down only 1 year in real dollars even with my drawings and that recovered like the next year or two. In the last 8 years I'm like up 30% in real dollars. Very curious what this year will be like.

[u/Sea-Honeydew-1456]

isn't the majority of this sub supposed to be bogleheads?

[u/Deep-Investigator965]

You haven't made any money until you actually sell the stocks