social insecurity

i've just spent the last hour analyzing my retirement account and now my head is swimming.

i wish i had a financial counselor to help me wade through the confusing world of stocks, bonds, funds and indexes. as it is, i just glance at the charts on the vanguard website (anything longer than a glance makes my eyes cross), then i take their little questionnaires and do some best-guessing on which investments are most likely to provide me with a posh retirement.

the quiz i took tonight suggested i place 50% of my investment in stock funds and 50% in bond funds. i have no idea if that's really a good idea or not. i just took their word for it.

it's kind of scary, actually, thinking that my luck (this optimistic stab in the dark) could enable me to enjoy my retirement by travelling the world while sipping fruity umbrella drinks, or my ignorance (a pessimistic stab in the dark) will be causing me to live in rat-infested windowless squalor, eating tepid ramen noodles until i die of a sodium overdose.

taking vanguard's 50/50 advice, i moved some of my investments around online (like i know what i'm doing) and invested in a new stock fund. i picked the one that had a higher long-term rate of return than all the others. of course... i mean, who on earth would choose one with a lower yield? maybe i'm missing something.

i feel lost.

money has always made me feel dumb, small and scared.

Posted by xta at November 8, 2004 10:46 PM | TrackBack