God TH, that is awful. And so universal.
I got nervous three years ago and put half our retirement savings in a fixed income annuity earning 3%. We missed a lot of growth in 2006 (half was still in stocks.) Last year we were 2/3 in fixed income, 1/3 in stocks and broke even for the year. The annuity allows rebalancing only once a year and I threw the rest into fixed income in august.
All this said, my husband's got only ten more years of work left in him as a carpenter working outside in cold NE winters and we're scared. The specter of hyperinflation as we enter retirement is not what we planned on. <big NG>
And now for some levity--
February 18, 2009
Invest Another $100 in Madoff (Hammer Included)
By CYRUS SANATI
Victims of the financier Bernard L. Madoff lost billions of dollars in his self-described Ponzi scheme. For another $99.95 or so (plus shipping and handling), they can let off some steam.
That is the going price for the Smash-Me Bernie doll, which was introduced at this year’s American International Toy Fair in New York. The figure, about seven inches tall, features a smiling Mr. Madoff in a red devil suit with a pitchfork. It comes with a gold “commemorative” hammer, for the purpose of pulverizing Mr. Madoff in effigy.
While hardly likely to become the next Tickle Me Elmo or Furby, the doll got a lot of notice at the fair, which ends Wednesday.
The doll is made by Mini-Me ModelWorks, a Phoenix-based company that takes photos sent in by customers and custom-makes dolls out of a tough plastic resin. Graeme Warring, the president, said that he was inspired to make the Bernie Madoff doll after a friend said he lost money investing in a fund that fed cash to Mr. Madoff.
“I made this friend of mine a Bernie doll with a devil body and I sent him a hammer and I said ‘Here, take a whack at this to make you feel better,’ ” Mr. Warring said. “He told some of his mates, and before I knew it I had 50 orders for the thing.” At last count the company had more than 1,000 orders for the doll, Mr. Warring said.
But Mr. Madoff probably won’t be the only Wall Street character in the Mini-Me catalog. The company just received an order for 50 dolls that look like John Thain, the former Merrill Lynch chief executive. The new doll features Mr. Thain sitting on a golden toilet, a reference to the more than $1 million he spent refurbishing his office when he took over. |
