We will continue to provide insights on the economy and markets and please NEVER hesitate to ask anything. Remember, there are no bad questions.

Not knowing your personal situation, but based upon what you share I would offer the following points:

1. What are your other assets and liabilities?

2. Are you secure in meeting your monthly expenses based upon your employment?

3. Do you have a cushion in savings away from these funds in case of emergencies, such as job loss, health situations and the like?

4. What is your age and time horizon for employment?

5. Are you building a retirment fund elsewhere?

6. What is your risk profile?

7. Are you losing sleep over these funds and their returns? I will say that if you have lost 10k on an initial investment of 60k, then that 16% loss over the last two quarters is not bad and reflective of what is most likely a balanced portfolio (balanced meaning split probably between equities which were down app 35-40%, bonds that were down anywhere from 0-20%, and some short term funds that were probably flat).

8. How has the portfolio done in the first ten days of this year. If it is balanced it may actually be up 1-2% because certain parts of the bond market have been improving.

9. Ultimately you need to address your short term needs along with your long term goals in the context of your comfort with risk.

Your advisor should be able to address all of these questions with you so that the answer with what to do and how to do it becomes more apparent.

Does this make sense as opposed to making a quick knee jerk reaction?

Let me know what you think and I will try to provide more insights.

Of all the people who were supposed to “know” money and understand the economy, none have been given a bigger free pass than the Fed itself. That’s what should be nationalized. As a private entity, it has sacrificed national well-being for private profit and this peasant wants their heads on pikes.

Oops, sorry LD. Here I am preaching revolution again in your thread! But speaking of pikes, that judge was completely wrong about Madoff posing no threat to the public. His freedom under these circumstances is an affront to all the people in this country who expect that WE live under the rule of law, and if WE stole $50B, WE KNOW our arses would be in the slammer. The public perception of the state of corruption and decay continues to grow. All that liquidity jammed into the treasury phone booth doesn’t want to come out until that changes.

RGE Lead Analysts | Jan 13, 2009

http://www.rgemonitor.com/roubini-monitor/255009/rge_monitor_-_2009_us_economic_outlook

Regarding your current tome, I think we need to come to the understanding that there are ups and downs and a firm should not necessarily be punished for them.
What we need to concentrate on (and punish) is the fraud that exists in the financial industry. As simple example is those mortgage loan officers and borrowing applicants who misrepresented their financil positions with stated and not verified income. That extends to banks that have vast Special Purpose Entities designed to take money off the bank balance sheet minimizing their need for adequate reserves. These need to be examined for fraud or incompetence. The result is the same, however the fraud needs to be recognized and accounted for in a punitive fashion so the free market lesson is learned.

The Federalists believed that the elite should govern because they knew better than “the rabble” who were too ignorant to govern themselves. The Republicans of that day (Jefferson) believed in agrarian self-sufficiency. They did not support the growth of industry in the United States.

Hamilton (a Federalist) came up with a scheme where the upper classes (merchants and business men) could retain the upper hand without upsetting the masses. Hamilton proposed the formation of the Bank of the United States, and the assumption of state debts.

This action would link “the interest of the State in an intimate connection with those of the rich individuals belonging to it.” (Letter to Robert Morris.)

From the get go, politics and finance have been braided together – in effect, inseparable.

I just read Chernow’s “Alexander Hamilton” and am now reading Schlesinger’s “The Age of Jackson.”

Interesting to see how Jefferson’s idea of an agrarian arcadia changed over time.

if there was a similar crisis in any other industry people would demand accountability and major changes. if bridges and buildings started falling down all over the place, nobody would support blindly throwing billions of dollars at civil engineering firms, without any accountability, or any guarantees that appropriate changes would be made to improve outcomes in the future.

the whole “financial crisis” right now is nothing more than a massive fraudulent ponzi scheme (in many areas of gov’t and business) being exposed. the crooks at the top killed the goose that laid their golden egg when they sqeezed those at the bottom too tight. now they want us to cough up even more money, so that they can continue living in the manner they’ve become accustomed to.