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Ask Dr. LJ: Stocks.
I have some money lying around in several separate retirement accounts, from my variously salaried past. Because I work for myself now, and expect to continue doing so for the foreseeable future, I'd like to consolidate these various into one IRA basket.
Right now, my IRA has a couple of CDs in it. I think they've earned maybe $1,000 total over the last six years. Whoopie ding-dong. I don't see them doing much better than that, no matter the weather.
One of my accounts is made entirely of an index fund, and like everyone else's, it's been tanking lately. So I am thinking: let's see if I can't roll that into an IRA, and then reassign all the other retirement money I have into it too. Because, hey, cheap stocks, woo! The market will recover eventually, right?
Is this dumb?
Right now, my IRA has a couple of CDs in it. I think they've earned maybe $1,000 total over the last six years. Whoopie ding-dong. I don't see them doing much better than that, no matter the weather.
One of my accounts is made entirely of an index fund, and like everyone else's, it's been tanking lately. So I am thinking: let's see if I can't roll that into an IRA, and then reassign all the other retirement money I have into it too. Because, hey, cheap stocks, woo! The market will recover eventually, right?
Is this dumb?
no subject
I would suggest you not be investing in individual stocks at this point except with a small section of your money. Certainly GE is looking pretty spiffy, but its hard to tell who is going to succeed and who isn't at this point. Its not even clear what sectors to invest in. If you want to gamble on a few companies go for it, but consider it a gamble.
Instead, dollar cost averaging into index funds may be a better bet. The market will go up again. Not clear when. My brother who is a financial reporter thinks there is still a lot of downside. I have no idea.
Personally, I am sitting with about half of my accounts in cash and money markets right now. I don't know where the bottom is, but it won't happen before Obama gets his act together on the (seemingly endless) bailouts. The other half is in the index funds it was in two years ago, down a lot but, invested long term.