Do you expect to lose any money in the markets today?

[Dionne]

CNN.com has the question posted on the opening page. "Do you expect to lose any money in the markets today"? Meanwhile it's around 10:30 EST and the Dow is down 287. I laughed. How quickly everyone forgot the tech bubble burst! Several years ago most of us knew the real estate market was about to go belly up. Now everyone is acting surprised.

The answer is NO. I won't lose a dime. WorldCom, Enron, Fibernet and Global 360 already got all our market money.

$5.08 a gallon gas doesn't even make a difference for us.....it just doesn't matter anymore.

[Stephanie]

For today, I'm sure that my 401K lost money. It's in it for the long hall though and that goes for my IRA.

I sold off my last mutual fund a few months back and now it's all invested in ING Direct and their cd's. I don't want to lose anymore. I need something safe for now.

[Jinkers]

I'm sure my 401K lost money too, but I'm not going to be using it for a loong time, so by then it should be fine-lol

[somethingfunny]

We'll see. It depends on if alot of Domino's Pizza customers in Denison are heavily invested in financials.

[angelwing]

Got my 401K statement over the weekend and have lost 8%...have to call to switch things around.

[coriolis]

About 6 months ago I took out a large loan on my 401k and "invested" in a new energy efficient refrigerator (electric bills are noticably less), paid off some bills, & etc. Now I'm glad I did that because that portion is now earning a guaranteed 6% as I pay it back. Otherwise my contributions are about offsetting the losses, and those contributions are buying more shares at a cheaper price.

My ultimate retirement plan though, is to move in with one of my kids. At least one out of the four should turn out ok.

[Dionne]

Ya know when I posted this thread I never considered 401k people. So I panicked and called my wife. Not knowing how funds were being invested. Fortunately she is very conservative. Everything is in money market deposits. So then I asked her how much was in her 401k. I could eat a sh*t sandwich and still this morning!

[fasterdisaster]

Another huge drop in the stocks today.

[MGC]

I have not lost a penny. About a year ago I shifted all of my 401K monies into cash. I had a bad feeling about the direction the economy was headed and made the move. Now I am waiting on the right time to get back in.....MGC

[Stephanie]

Ironically, now is the best time to invest in stocks because many are considered "on sale". You need to do your homework as to the stability of the company, etc. However, that's easier said than done for most in today's market. If you need to have access to your investment (i.e. savings for that rainy day) and don't want to lose what you've put in, do not invest in the market at this time. You have to look at the long term.

If you're not going to be retiring anytime soon, your 401k will bounce back - eventually. The key word is DIVERSITY. Cash, bonds and stock and different types of stocks such as real estate, international, etc. This will help to lessen the blow for any hit to one of these markets. IRA's are the same thing. If you are not going to retire anytime soon, just make sure the mix of investments are suitable for the level of risk you are willing to take. They will come back, eventually. I doubt we'll be seeing returns like we had been seeing for quite some time.