Triumphrat

Dan in Cibolo

With the economy the way it is (since about last Aug.), I check my IRA status about every three days.

I find myself getting angry looking at my losses:, and comparing those numbers to what I'd like to have bought for my Bonneville.

For starts, I could pay off the loan, and still buy a new windscreen, saddle bags, luggage rack, tank bag, some decent metric tools, a torque wrench, motorcycle lift, new jacket and gloves, some leathers, a dozen or so "Triumph" logo shirts and jackets, quality rain gear (that I wouldn't want to wear), some fancy hardware for the Bonneville, a D9 bracket and a tach to go with it, a side car:, blah, blah, blah ... you get the picture!

My last hope now, it seems, is to crack the "Lotto" wide open. My 10 + year old set of numbers doesn't seem to working very well, though.
:

koifarm

Long about ten/twelve years ago, I had a long interesting talk with a friend who is a financial wizard. Bottom line was put your money into gold coin/bars or silver or platinum, keep them out of a bank and you should be just fine. Along with that, he advised Yahoo as a stock investment. I bought a large number of shares when on April 12, 1996, it had it's initial public offering at $13 a share. Yahoo! stock doubled in price in the last month of 1999. On January 3, 2000 Yahoo! stocks closed at an all-time high of $118.75. On my friends advice I sold and converted to Krugerrands. Yahoo did go up some but eventually the dotcom bubble popped and it started a downward trend, eventually dropping to around $4 a share.
I am still living on that money today. Haven't been back in the market and likely never will. Almost like winning the lottery, it was the luck of the time and I doubt if I'll ever do that again but really don't have to. If you're interested, look at the trend for gold lately, I'm getting more interest than if it were in a bank, IRA or mutual fund. Thank god I wasn't in the stock market.
Just goes to show you sometimes a hole in the ground is better than any bank or market.

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Sitting on a cornflake waiting for the van to come!

Baltobonneville

I haven't actually figured my numbers, too depressing. I do know that I'm putting 30% of my part-time job income into a 403b retirement account mutual fund, and in spite of all that money being put in every two weeks, my last quarterly balance was smaller than the previous quarterly balance. I am literally throwing money into a black hole.

I used to have no faith in capitalism at all when I was a young socialist. I've now seen it rebound so many times that I think it will eventually turn around and run off on one of its insane, unsustainable growth binges again, and that is when I hope to bail out.

In the meantime, I adjusted my allocation.

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Marty
2005 Bonneville Blue 790cc, AI removed, Staintunes RC, Unifilter, no snorkel, 118/40/Thrux needle/1 shim/3 turns, tachometer, Ikon 7610s in back, Ricor Intiminators in front, Pirelli Sport Demons, D9 gauge panel.

Lee

With the losses I had I would have been able to buy several motorcycles...one of which could have been an Indian.

I hear 85 is the new 65....instead of a watch you will get a gold plated walker.

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Four Iron Butt Rides Todate....Will Be Working On Longer Ones In The Upcoming Year...Jersey Born and Raised........Texas run 1000 in 24 hours in April 2012

coldnight

What is the tagline? "Long as there is gas, the road empty, I am wealthy" or something like that... I see it so often I am failing to read it.

propforward

That's one of Lawrence of Arabias.

I think Sal Paradise has it as his signature at the moment.

"So long as the roads are tarred blue and straight...and empty and dry, so long am I rich"

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Rule 1: Cardio

Rustic Road Progress

reddirtjoe

I got tired of my 401k losing money...... so I took out a max loan from it and bought my new to me bonnie. Maybe not the smartest thing to do BUT it is fun. Heck, if my money is being lost/wasted why shouldn't I be doing part of it?

coldnight

"depreciation" or market losses - hummm - of course, once you make your Bonnie really yours, you'll never want to part with her.

Nickwiz

Wealth? Whats that? I've never had it.

When ever you feel hard done by just look around the planet there are millions far worse off than probably any of us on here. We live a luxury life in comparison to most human beings. I count myself lucky to have food, a roof, drinking water, and health. Anything else is a bonus. Might sound a bit pompous but have this outlook and I reckon we would all feel much better when things look grim.

Baltobonneville

Thanks, Nick, for putting that in perspective. I always try to remind myself, especially in my travels to other countries, how fortunate I am.

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Marty
2005 Bonneville Blue 790cc, AI removed, Staintunes RC, Unifilter, no snorkel, 118/40/Thrux needle/1 shim/3 turns, tachometer, Ikon 7610s in back, Ricor Intiminators in front, Pirelli Sport Demons, D9 gauge panel.