[Ken07AOVette]

Originally Posted by HyperMOA

Ken I think you are misinterpreting what the guys are trying to tell you.

If your buddies were invested in mutual funds, like a vast majority of other Joe blow Canadians when the crash of 08 struck you only “lose” that money on paper. If you wait out the crash like most/many investors do the market has recovered and exceeded 08 levels so we are actually much further ahead now; even having experienced the same/similar “loss” on paper. Now if your buddies decided to get out or sell their mutual funds while they were dropping or down, they turned that paper loss into a real loss as they now cashed out. This is what others called a misjudgement. They say this because as the markets swing you never actually experience a loss (or gain for that matter) until you sell and take it in cash. Had your buddies rode it out they would be ahead today like the rest of us that saw the huge drop and big recovery.

Now, the father is who I truly feel for. In my opinion somebody in or nearing retirement should never have a large portion of their savings in the stock market as they may not have time to ride out a down-swing. That was very poor advice.

Now if their money truly just went to zero there is only a few explanations. They were robbed by a shyster, or they weren’t in a MF but possibly one stock that went bankrupt. This is a poorly educated guess mind you.

Not sure what to say.

I just watched the fallout with these guys and their families. The Dad was set to retire yes, and then he was not.

I simply said that these 3 guys lost, and am being told I am wrong.

I called one of them yesterday, and told him according to AO the money is still there, or it was his fault because he did something wrong.

Their money was/is gone.

I'm done with this one, but appreciate your insight HyperMOA.