Earth to Public: Investments Carry Risk

Maybe I’m the only one who reads the fine print or listens to the hushed fast talking at the end of radio and television commercials, but I’m pretty certain that every single financial advertisement says something like, “Remember that investments are subject to risk, including possible loss of principal,” or “Before investing, consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses.”

Even those goofy Franklin Mint commemorative coin commercials mention that the value of their “limited edition” painted coins is NOT guaranteed to increase.

Never any mention of something like, “Don’t worry, if you lose your shirt, the goverment will buy you a new one.”

A woman at work today mentioned that she was worried because of all of these people who do have savings lost them.

I did my best to explain to her that they didn’t lose their savings — they risked their savings — with the hopes that their savings would grow. It just didn’t work out this week — but in the long run, it probably will…

Now, sure, there are obviously some folks out there close to retirement that lost a ton of money. They were risky. As they neared retirement, they should have moved most of their savings towards lower risk investments. They lost their shirts, and honestly, they kinda sorta deserved it.

My own 401k investments shows me that my limited low risk investments haven’t been hammered over the past few months.

And, again, look at the markets today… There’s some value out there, and there is some money out there (though the news would have you think otherwise), and look what’s happening… Things are going up already.

The markets are working.

I’m hoping that everyone takes a chill pill and that Congress passes nothing.

But that’s just me…