I disagree about the average working guy,,,

You don’t have to be a market guru to make money

All you need is an account

Buy the entire market every month

Back in the day,,it was a mutual fund,,,today it’s an etf(spy),,,,,yes there’s other options

Continue/hold for 25/30 years

It’s not that hard

I as many have do manage our investments through our finanical planners considering our ages and needs, current and long time. Just a thought however if the market drops by say 15% it takes nearly a 20% increase to just get back to the original principal. As to how long do downward trends last? Much depends upon if they are political and emotional versus economic. At this point I am very uncertain as to how our current situation will play out. If we want tariffs around long enough so we can build more manufacturing here and they are up and running that can take several years, depending upon which type we are wanting to build for.

Bryce

So what should be the financial plan for us retirees?

No denying it,,,,If you don’t have time on your side,,,,,it tough

Time in the market is key

Guess what is coming back thanks to Trump. QE. There go those fixed investment opportunities again. While the FED didn't lower interest rates last time, they did slow QT way down. Money supply about to start increasing again. If the economy tanks, interest rates back to zero and bond buying by the FED.

A strange market now administration flip flops to make much sense of it.
Seems like decisions are made on a whim fire and lay off employees hire them back. Fire staff hire new ones, tariffs on then off. You have to wonder why there are tariffs place on McDonald and Heard Islands in the pacific with no inhabitants except sea birds and penguins. Tariffs on coffee with no exemptions maybe we can start coffee plantations in Florida to grow are own. Not sure Hawaii is going to produce enough to fill our cups.

Anyone who thought curing this economic situation would be painless was fooling themselves.

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Guess what is coming back thanks to Trump. QE. There go those fixed investment opportunities again. While the FED didn't lower interest rates last time, they did slow QT way down. Money supply about to start increasing again. If the economy tanks, interest rates back to zero and bond buying by the FED.
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And retirees catching in the shorts

I don't drink coffee

Dirt I agree, there is a real threat of more QE. It's what has come to be expected

What does QE stand for? Quit Eating?

It stands for stealing our children's future

But all this current hardship is supposed to be “for future generations”

Just took advantage of this buying opportunity but still holding some in reserve. Trying to time a volatile market too finely is bad business. I'm happy with my positions.

fox paw I agree but think I'm an average guy with 3 kids and put in more hours at work than most , travel and gone from home days at a time 5 so far this week. on top of taking care of a farm. I'm no finance rock star but come a long way in short time with just a little self education and asking questions of people smarter than me Like white 17.

What's the differences between me and the guys you refer to. #1 I got lucky and realized I needed to take care of my financial future. Ran the #' and figured out what I needed and worked backwards to form a plan. Then started reading up on it and learning. Any yep I make a lot of mistakes and I have never had any thing I plan work as planed but even if I hit 50% of the plan. I will be light years above where I would have been. Heck Currently I'm way ahead of where I was just this time last year. Felt great paying off that mortgage and getting to debt free.
Where do I find the time? I don't slep much and I don't spend it watching sports or playing golf. Trapper man is my largest unproductive time spent. But that's not truly unproductive. I learn a lot from the deep knowledge base here even if it's things I disagree with I'm learning the other side of that position IF it's articulated with data reasion and logic instead of the emotional argument based on feelings with nothing to back the stance. Even then I'm learning more about the human condition and in that also myself.

The time will be found and made for what people value. They also need to know what they want and whare thay want to be. Then figure out how am I going to get there. That's different for each person.

Been my plan. Have not checked but sure I got more JEPQ today. watching others

Smartest thing you have ever said. Every one goals are different. How they get there are up to each individual

It's not going to be painless if we hope to shift the course we were on.

"Von Mises on Free Trade
Ludwig von Mises was a strong advocate for free trade. He believed that the free flow of people, goods, and capital were essential components of the ideal international system.
According to von Mises, free trade promotes peace and prosperity, as it allows for the exchange of ideas and productivity, which can help avoid demands for colonialism and lebensraum that can lead to wars.
He also argued that free trade leads to more efficient outcomes, as it reflects true supply and demand dynamics based on the preferences and available information of individual market participants."

The course we were wasn't gonna be painless before long either!

Trump happened. Dropped like a rock