Just got my annual statement for my retirement savings

[ThomWV]

Amazing. My retirement savings went down just over $41,000 last year and even though I am retired I never withdrew a dime. Ain't life grand? It takes your entire life to save up a little bit and you don't even get to spend it and it still goes away.

[Winterblues]

1. There are a bunch of very wealthy people enjoying that money right about now.

Don't complain they are very happy..You don't want "Class Warfare" now do you?

[MattBaggins]

2. Rick Santelli wants you to quit yer bitchin

something about he gets to piss in the water and your only good enough to drink it or something like that. Us peons don't contribute to the GDP in his opinion and should be allowed to fail so he can come in and get our houses and property at dust bin values.

[Warpy]

3. Lovely, isn't it?

I inherited being middle class for the first time in my life, and two and a half years later the rug gets pulled out again.

I know how to be poor, I was just hoping I wouldn't have to do it again quite so soon.

And no, I never touched the principal, just the income.

[TWiley]

4. McStupid said "This is only a mental recession"

hmm, I wonder why he and Sara are not procreating in the white house.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

5. Same thing's happening to my parents, and they're not even retired yet.

As for me, I just don't plan on retiring. It's a luxury my grandfather could afford but not me.

[Journeyman]

8. Tracy Chapman had it right in "Mountains O'Things" . . .

"The life I've always wanted
I guess I'll never have
I'll be working for somebody else
Until I'm in my grave."

[HelenWheels]

6. Me too

I've lost half my retirement money. I am already retired so I am no longer putting any money in my fund. Pretty hard to take.

[tjwash]

12. I cashed out one of my retirement accounts and took the tax hit.

It's just getting ridiculous. My credit card payments have tripled since November, so I crunched the numbers and figured the taking into account how loss the tax hit was way less than the interest I was paying.

[SheilaT]

7. Several years ago I as talking

to an investment adviser, and one of the questions he asked me was what was my biggest fear about my money. I said, having it all go away before I get to enjoy it. Fortunately several years ago we did a major family trip to Australia and spent a bunch of money on that. And last May I did a driving trip from Kansas to the east coast and was on the road for about a month. I spent a lot of money on that. I'm very glad I did. My investments are down a good 40%, just like everyone else. But I had those trips, for which I'm very grateful.

[TahitiNut]

9. Well, that's what happens when labor is squeezed too hard for too long.

No customers and no blood left. Executive management has been skimming and selling out for a long time. If the MBA programs were all closed down, it'd be the best thing that happened for business.
:shrug:

As I've said before, the 'floor' is in the low 6,000s.

[petersjo02]

10. I retired in 2003, during Bush's early downturn.

Ended up losing about 25% of my investment. I suspect losses these days are larger, percentage-wise.

[taught_me_patience]

11. You should use percentages

because if you had $10mm, then $41k would be nothing. If you had 100k and lost 41k, then you've got a major loss. I'm sorry about the hardship this may be causing you.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. Think how much you saved on taxes .....