On pension funds losing $2 trillion in value from stock market plunge...

Perhaps alot of folks care/know about the value of their 401k only on quarterly basis when the statements arrive in the mail. Not so for me. I've gone paperless statement for a while now, and I make a point to login to check the value of my 401k maybe twice a month or more. So, I know how they've been doing, and they haven't been doing well. It's been down more than 20% since the beginning of this year. So, it comes as no surprise when I read today in the news, and then heard on NPR in the evening news, that pension funds like 401k have lost about that much (in percentage) so far, with value of $2 trillion in value.

Not that I need to heed to any financial advisers or analysts' call (since they're mostly just as clueless as everybody else), but I always diversify. I learnt this from my parents who've invested in stock markets and forex for a very long time now. And I always diversify. I have some in US blue chips, some in mid cap growth, some in index funds, some in international and emerging markets, some in forex, and some in cash (for everyday use and cash buffer). The rest goes to the business venture (I don't like excessive borrowing for business needs).

These days, though, things are not looking good from all fronts. Anywhere you turn, it's going down the tube. I don't panic easily. I usually like to top up when the market goes down. I agree with the idea of dollar-averaging the portfolio, as long as you keep rebalancing the portfolio on regular basis.

I practice all these on my own. I don't panic. And when you look at the markets now (as any other turbulent times like the 1987 Black Monday), you realize that the ones who panic are the traders and mostly institutional investors - the ones who are supposed to keep their cool; the ones who are supposed NOT to panic; the ones who are big enough to move and shake the markets. For all those that they're preaching, they did a particular lousy job. And for that (like Fidelity), we pay them handsome management fees on the pension funds.

If it's not for tax purpose, I would not - never - have invested in funds (pension funds, 401k, IRA, and *particularly* mutual funds). I do not trust these so-called fund managers. I find most of them to be mediocre, at best. For the amount of fees that I pay them, I reckon I would have done a better job in managing my own funds.

Lousy.