Is anyone else personally happy about this bear market?

I feel for retirees...

I am recently retired and am glad to see this correction. There are too many bubbles in the market, zombie companies and general bullshit. Corrections weed that out, and it is a necessary process. And if that process is delayed for too long very, very bad things can happen.

However, this is more complex than you may realize.

Corrections and recessions can happen separately, but they often come together. Then the people who suffer are not the ones with a declining brokerage account, but the ones who are unemployed. Out of work, no one hiring, house under water and no end in sight. That part of this process I fear, even though it will no longer impact me directly.

In terms of investing, it is almost always a mistake to look at an investment portfolio as one simple number. (The exception is one that consists of investment grade bonds/Treasuries that are going to be held to maturity). I see three numbers when I look at mine; current value, the most recent peak and the most recent peak minus a 40% market correction. I assume that the recovery from that correction will take 8 years. Pick your own numbers, the point being that unless you sell it all today a portfolio always exists as a range of possibilities.

My final suggestion is to pay attention to what is and will be getting hammered. This is where the bleeding edge tech companies with no earnings, the companies running on debt and the high fliers of last year [ARKK] crash and burn. Keep that in mind when investing during the next bull market.

Best of luck.

/r/investing Thread