.

I for the life of me do not understand this drop. There doesn’t seem to be any real fundamental news that has been negative.

Maybe it’s just more buying opportunities but this drop is ridiculous IMO.
 
I for the life of me do not understand this drop. There doesn’t seem to be any real fundamental news that has been negative.

Maybe it’s just more buying opportunities but this drop is ridiculous IMO.

The current PE ratio of the S&P 500 is 27.8.

That's... basically its third highest point in history.

Highest was in 2009 (when earnings crashed even more than prices).

Second highest was late in the "dot com" situation.

Some slow cooling off to bring prices down to a more reasonable level (to buy in) isn't an awful thing.
 
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The current PE ratio of the S&P 500 is 27.8.

That's... basically its third highest point in history.

Highest was in 2009 (when earnings crashed even more than prices).

Second highest was late in the "dot com" situation.

Some slow cooling off to bring prices down to a more reasonable level (to buy in) isn't an awful thing.
I guess I haven’t done much actual analysis lately but aren’t those calculating off of recent quarterly earnings? Unless I’m misremembering where they calculate it from I’d expect really high P/E ratios right now. Not because stuff is expensive but because the P/E ratio is using funky data.
 
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I guess I haven’t done much actual analysis lately but aren’t those calculating off of recent quarterly earnings? Unless I’m misremembering where they calculate it from I’d expect really high P/E ratios right now. Not because stuff is expensive but because the P/E ratio is using funky data.

Yes, stock prices soared while earnings expectations plummeted. Houston we have a problem.

Now, clearly some were wrong on the earnings expectations of some tech stocks because of everyone having to go online. I think it's caused some real confusion now in the markets. That was a temporary thing and when combined with a $1 trillion dollar stimulus directly to the people really has papered over this crisis.
 
Question for the group, do you guys do traditional 401K's or Roth 401K's? My new job has a roth version, I signed up for the regular out of habit, but now I am thinking the Roth is better. Yes my take home will be lower, but $19.5K/yr in a Roth 401k is worth ~25% more than a traditional since it is already taxed.

I guess the flip side is, if I invest the tax savings from a traditional it is probably a wash in the end? Does this make sense?
 
I like the idea of splitting it and having money in both. You can never have too many options. As to when to put it into those options and when to take it out gets the usual "it depends".
 
"It depends" is right. The general answer is that Roth is better when the money will sit in the account longer because the growth does not get taxed. But, as noted, you pay the tax on it this year.

My general plan is to split accounts as well. Employer subsidized 401k account that will be the less aggressive investment account, Roth IRA for higher risk/volatility, HSA for healthcare, extra brokerage account for what gets saved above the contribution limits of the aforementioned accounts.
 
Question for the group, do you guys do traditional 401K's or Roth 401K's? My new job has a roth version, I signed up for the regular out of habit, but now I am thinking the Roth is better. Yes my take home will be lower, but $19.5K/yr in a Roth 401k is worth ~25% more than a traditional since it is already taxed.

I guess the flip side is, if I invest the tax savings from a traditional it is probably a wash in the end? Does this make sense?

I had a 401k and then switched to a Roth 401k earlier this year. I figured if I could pay taxes now i should -one less thing to deal with when i'm older, plus the roth 401k has no required minimum distribution age AND you can roll it over into a non-401k roth (which i already have)
 
Agree with "it depends". That is a decision that can be made when you're withdrawing money and you'll be happy to have two buckets to pull from. Need to take out a lot in a single year for something? Pull it from the Roth and keep your taxable income down. Need to take lots of little chunks to pay for regular things? Pull it from your traditional and pay your taxes on it. Not something you need to worry about today, but will be an option to help you save some money when you're retired.
 
My plan is to invest in both a Roth and Traditional 401k. I only recently had a job that offered a Roth option, so I am fully putting money in to the Roth account in order to get it caught up to the Traditional account balance. Once I get there, I will probably invest evenly between the two.

The challenge here is knowing what taxes will be like when you retire. If you can pay a lower tax rate today than you will in the future, you will want to do the Roth option. But you never know what the future holds, so going between the two is somewhat of a hedge.
 
Question for the group, do you guys do traditional 401K's or Roth 401K's? My new job has a roth version, I signed up for the regular out of habit, but now I am thinking the Roth is better. Yes my take home will be lower, but $19.5K/yr in a Roth 401k is worth ~25% more than a traditional since it is already taxed.

I guess the flip side is, if I invest the tax savings from a traditional it is probably a wash in the end? Does this make sense?
Im all about the “now” so we max traditionals to lower our tax bill. No idea if that is right or wrong but works for us.
 
Question for the group, do you guys do traditional 401K's or Roth 401K's? My new job has a roth version, I signed up for the regular out of habit, but now I am thinking the Roth is better. Yes my take home will be lower, but $19.5K/yr in a Roth 401k is worth ~25% more than a traditional since it is already taxed.

I guess the flip side is, if I invest the tax savings from a traditional it is probably a wash in the end? Does this make sense?

I do a mix that's heavily front loaded in the year. My industry is known for the quick layoff or bankruptcy. I get the $$ in there as quickly as possible

What is really interesting (to me) is a legacy Roth IRA I have. It includes all of the contributions made during my first 7 years out of school. It's worth more than my entire pre-tax earnings from those years combined.

Roth or not.....time value of money is one powerful tool. The only mistake you can make is not to invest
 
I hope it never gets that low because a very large % of my portfolio is already in there. I don't see it getting that low, frankly.

That's just not a very good idea. I don't mind having concentrated portfolios but a big chunk in one stock is just not the right way to go. Look at it this way, Apple is already the Largest Company in the world by market cap. It's already on top, and that leaves really only one way to go. Sure it can stay there for a long time but there's no more room to move up.

I suppose I should disclose that I do own a couple $81 Apple put options as a speculative play/hedge this fall.
 
I hope it never gets that low because a very large % of my portfolio is already in there. I don't see it getting that low, frankly.

Ya I think you right. If it was at $100 I would even think about getting crazy. As it stands I’m going to buy in next week at some point with 20k and just let it sit forever and ever.
 
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That's just not a very good idea. I don't mind having concentrated portfolios but a big chunk in one stock is just not the right way to go. Look at it this way, Apple is already the Largest Company in the world by market cap. It's already on top, and that leaves really only one way to go. Sure it can stay there for a long time but there's no more room to move up.

I suppose I should disclose that I do own a couple $81 Apple put options as a speculative play/hedge this fall.
I know but I've made a ton of money (for me) and have stop lossed the whole time. My more diverse side of the portfolio has made less and that's after Apple's recent decline. It's a calculated risk that keeps me nervous enough to provide constant blood flow. :) I'm not recommending it...just doing it.
 
Question for the group, do you guys do traditional 401K's or Roth 401K's? My new job has a roth version, I signed up for the regular out of habit, but now I am thinking the Roth is better. Yes my take home will be lower, but $19.5K/yr in a Roth 401k is worth ~25% more than a traditional since it is already taxed.

I guess the flip side is, if I invest the tax savings from a traditional it is probably a wash in the end? Does this make sense?

I would go Roth. Taxes will only be going up.
 
Question for the group, do you guys do traditional 401K's or Roth 401K's? My new job has a roth version, I signed up for the regular out of habit, but now I am thinking the Roth is better. Yes my take home will be lower, but $19.5K/yr in a Roth 401k is worth ~25% more than a traditional since it is already taxed.

I guess the flip side is, if I invest the tax savings from a traditional it is probably a wash in the end? Does this make sense?

You essentially either tax the money you put in or tax the growth. Unless you are near retirement, your growth will likely far outweigh your contributions, and you would therefore want to tax your contributions vs your growth.

Yes, in theory you could invest the tax savings and over time that would help close the gap.
 

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