US Loses AAA Credit Rating After S&P Downgrade

[Armistead]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Then what do we have? IRA that companies do not offer. Pension plans? Not one the table anymore. However, companies will sponsor a 401k retirement program. So never meant to be a retirement program means nothing. It has become one! Either way the potential to loose any gains is present. Even the potential to loose the original investment. It is unfortunate the USA allows this type of risk taking on a retirement plan but provides very little help to the individual when the market goes belly up. We get an answer of better smarter investing next time. As for me, my portfolio is set up for conservative investing and monies spread over several options and a few in foreign funds. In short, diversified. This helps in situations like this but I still take some what of a beating. I think I might start hiding cash in the mattress!

Your cash has just as much value in the mattress as it does the bank so why not.

That's the danger of stocks, stocks aren't real value. Last downfall they say we lost trillions, so where did the money go, no where, it was the assumed value at the time, nothing real.

The danger of most 401's are workers are forced into options and usually can only change that option a few times a year. That really sucks, factors show the market is gonna fail and you can't sell when needed. All you can hope is the ones investing for you do the right thing, but more than not they take high risk, because it's your money.

[Winston]

I fear Armistead that when currency is treated as a commodity then it to fluctuates in value just like anything else. If you were to take a hundred Dollar bill and walk in to the fed you could not exchange it for it's value in gold. The only thing backing the currency is the fact that by law 'This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.' If you wanted to buy a cake from McDonalds say, they can not refuse your money even though it's fiat currency. Remember the Fractional reserve system I talked about previously. Take out the cash from the bank and put it in a suitcase, say $1,000,000. Well there still just bank notes, paper. Those same bank notes are affected by inflation just like the trillions upon trillions of digital Dollars that are floating around the system.
The financial system as a whole needs to be rethought.
Ron Paul talks about going back to a gold standard, that by basing the Dollars value on gold reserves it would give it stability. No doubt it would but gold can be manipulated to. Another solution I hear is for the government to issue money so that it matches the size of the economy. Each year 'x' amount of Dollars to match 'y' the size of the economy as reported by private industry, government expenditure etc...
I have no idea if ether will work or if there is another solution to attain stable money. I just know it would be nice if people were not having to worry about there savings disappearing down a hole.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Armistead

Your cash has just as much value in the mattress as it does the bank so why not.

That's the danger of stocks, stocks aren't real value. Last downfall they say we lost trillions, so where did the money go, no where, it was the assumed value at the time, nothing real.

The danger of most 401's are workers are forced into options and usually can only change that option a few times a year. That really sucks, factors show the market is gonna fail and you can't sell when needed. All you can hope is the ones investing for you do the right thing, but more than not they take high risk, because it's your money.

In a sense, yes, it was only a paper loss concerning stocks. As far as forced, I do not have to contribute to my 401K but knowing myself I do not have the discipline to do it on my own. Therefore I elect to have money taken each week. My portfolio is handled by folks that specialize in 401K. They are paid for their service. I get monthly reports and any switching of funds. All of my stocks are conservative in nature. Aggressive stocks and aggressively grow or aggressively lose as well.

[AVGWarhawk]

WTH? Now the market swings upward 425 points.

[Winston]

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/09/tech...riot/index.htm

Even with the fall of civilisation there's always some one making a profit