K5 wrote:
Dumb is insufficient to describe you.
If the value of your holdings drops $50k, you have lost money. Period. Not when you "realize" the loss by selling your investment.
Effin third graders understand this.
Why can't you?
Joe and Frank each start with $100,000.
Joe is convinced that the market is going to tank so he stays out of the market.
Frank thinks that you should just ride out the ups and downs and stays in.
Market gains 25%. Joe is at $100,00 but is fine and thinks that he has not lost anything, just imaginary 'opportunity costs'.
Frank is at $125,000 and feels pretty good.
The market then tanks 20%. Joe is at $100,000 and is patting himself on the back for avoiding 'real' losses.
Frank is at $100,000 and has indeed experienced real losses.
Joe thinks that he is very smart for never having lost anything and that Frank is pretty dumb for having experienced 'real' losses.
Funny how those real losses and those imaginary losses have gotten Joe and Frank to exactly the same place from exactly the same place.