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Last Updated: 10/6/2008
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It’s being called the greatest shock to the U.S. financial system since the Great Depression. With major brokerage houses and insurers going under and Wall Street gyrating wildly, many are wondering if there is any safe place to put their money and what, if any, investment moves they should make. In a survey of investment advice being given in the wake of the recent financial turmoil, ElderLawAnswers found that investment strategists are counseling calm and not recommending shopping for mattresses. Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com, told the Baltimore Sun that his advice is no different today than it was “last week, a year ago or 10 years ago. This really doesn’t change the long-term game plan for consumers, such as saving for retirement, college education or other goals,” McBride said. Treasury bills and bonds are among the safest investments, provided you hold them until they mature, he said. Many investors consider the three-month Treasury bond to be the safest investment available. The yield on the three-month bill rose to 0.22 percent on September 18 after flirting with its 68-year low of 0.02 percent earlier in the session. You can also put money in bank accounts, “but this should really only be done with short-term investments,” McBride said. “The comparatively low return on bank accounts will not grow the buying power of your nest egg.” Also, make sure that the bank is FDIC-insured and that your accounts do not exceed FDIC’s insurance limits. (Find them at FDIC.gov) In an article titled “How Worried Should You Be?, Newsweek advised that “Money-market mutual funds are reportedly safe . . . But since some money funds do own corporate debt, like that of Lehman Brothers, it makes sense to be absolutely certain. Stick with government-backed money-market funds or bank money-market deposit accounts. Right now, interest rates in all of these accounts remain so low that it isn’t worth taking extra risks to be in an unsecured commercial money-market fund.” Jeffrey R. Kosnett, a senior editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, suggested that readers might look into U.S. corporate bonds outside the financial sector, but selectively, and that the decline in Treasury yields has enhanced the attractiveness of tax-exempt municipal bonds. What About the Stock Market? Commentators believe that the market hasn’t hit bottom yet, but that it’s close, and that there are some bargains to be had for those with the stomach for riding the market at this time. “Please don’t pull out [of your 401(k)],” financial expert Louis Barajas told CBS News.com. “In fact, what an opportunity to add more money to your portfolio right now.” “The more things go down, the better future returns will be in the long term,” Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management Stone, told CNNMoney.com. “If your eventual goal is building wealth that outpaces inflation, odds are in your favor if you invest in stocks, even though that’s taking longer now than we would have liked.” Noting that 10-year Treasury bonds were yielding 3.5 percent, less than the rate of inflation, Kiplinger’s Kosnett said that “with Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index now trading at 12.5 times projected 2009 earnings, stocks don’t seem anywhere near as risky as long-term bonds (even allowing for the likelihood that earnings estimates will come down).” Now more than ever, “people need to make sure they are diversified broadly, in the U.S. and global markets,” said Erik Davidson, senior director of investments with Wells Fargo Private Bank, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Make sure you have some commodities, which are looking cheaper now.” Not everyone is bullish on the market, however. David Tice, manager of the Prudent Bear fund, told Kiplinger’s that investors “should sell stocks, buy gold, save money and cut expenses.” Gold prices rose $70 an ounce on September 17, the largest one-day jump in history. Retirees Hit Hard The stakes are higher for those nearing retirement or who are already there and trying to get by on a dwindling nest egg. Unlike younger workers, they don’t necessarily have years to wait for the markets to rebound. “For those nearing retirement, you definitely need to keep a large portion of your assets in cash,” finance expert David Bate told CBS News.com. Shrinking investment returns are forcing many retirees to trim household expenses, the Los Angeles Times reports. Others are postponing retirement or getting jobs to make ends meet. Today’s retirees have less money in savings, longer life expectancies and greater exposure to market risk than any retirees since World War II, the New York Times reports. “There’s a terrified older population out there,” said Alicia H. Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. “If you’re 45 and the market goes down, it bothers you, but it comes back. But if you’re retired or about to retire, you might have to sell your assets before they have a chance to recover. And people don’t have the luxury of being in bonds because they don’t yield enough for how long we live.” |
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