Warren Buffet told me yesterday (along with 14,000 other women) that I had nothing to worry about. Seated in the middle of the Long Beach Convention Center's huge arena, I listened to every word the oracle of Omaha had to say. With his down to earth, almost grandfatherly demeanor, he addressed the women's conference with candor, experience and humor.
"Stay in the market. Re-invest," he roared.
"I don't know what the market will do tomorrow or a year from now but I do know this. The country, the system, works."
These were the words I wanted to hear from this kind, old billionaire. But were they to be believed?
I desperately wanted to bring his message home with confidence, telling friends, clients and relatives that their 401ks and IRAs were safe and, unless (of course) they had less than five years before retirement, they should stay one hundred per cent in the game.
"No one can time the market so don't try. Buy into businesses that an idiot could run. Be fearful when people are greedy and greedy when people are fearful."
I furiously wrote down all of the icon's one-liners I could that described his philosophy of investing and of life.
He explained how the beginnings of the economic mess started in 2006 with lenders pushing their 'no money down products' to Americans who believed that home prices would continue to increase in profit year after year. Lenders didn't worry. Banks believed they would profit. And the world leveraged up and up and up.
The bubble burst. Mistrust became widespread. The system froze.
It will be sloppy to fix, he promised, but assured that it is fixable. With 80% of the money decisions made by women, he had an attentive audience. One day later as I watch the market's continual decline, I answered an email from my 23 year old son living in New York. He was worried about his 401K that he recently signed up for at work. I couldn't help laughing. With at least 32 years of financial growth ahead of him, I told him to resist the impulse to stuff it in the mattress and to stay in the game.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing your conference with us. Very useful information.
I also say "stay in the game" and not to rush into anything but to sit tight. The economy will eventually even out - although it may take some time. Continue to ride the wave. Good article.
Post a Comment