Wow so strange he would not know this

A colleague friend of mine worked many years at Fidelity HQ, as an accountant. Told me many stories. Has a Fido money manager. Once asked the Fido mm if he should pay off the college loan early to avoid paying the rent on borrowed money. Fido mm told him absolutely not, not to remove any money from his investment account and instead, stop spending and start saving more any way he could. he is two + years away from retirement as are we. . . rented money is not your friend when on Social security and in good physical shape.

LOL! another former fidelity colleague 20 years younger, just got a call from his fido mm within the last two weeks, recommending investments since the market was down.

Also, he told me the highest turnover was just after annual bonus payout. . . hmmm. . .gotta wonder about motivations with people managing other people's money.

In my November meeting with Fido mm stated that Fido didn't see a recession in the near future, true, but risk can increase very quickly, and especially at high valuations after 40 years of declining interest rates, which do have lower limits. .

Since the time my company started matching my 401K back in the mid 80's (free money is always a good thing), I mostly was in the 'high risk/high reward' crowd. As retirement approached a couple of years ago though and knowing that my children & grandchildren would be OK, that we have enough to do whatever we want, I slowly transitioned to more conventional/conservative options. While the gains didn't mirror the short-term explosive run-ups (and volatility) lately, in the last few months, I don't regret my choices one bit. Lots of constant reading and research (still occurring), made me believe that I was the person most interested in MY money - so have stayed away from any money management "professionals."

The small twang of the fear of missing out during recent run-ups that I've had occasionally after becoming more conservative, have totally went away after the last week or so - and especially after today. What a massacre and I just hope things settle down soon. Actually, now might be a good time to use some play money to get back into a few of the higher risk/reward areas.

That's the ticket. No one has your best interests more than you.

Index funds are an easy solution for those who can set their AA and sit tight. And an index fund almost always performs better than an actively managed account -
from Finra - "In any given year, most actively managed funds do not beat the market. In fact, studies show that very few actively managed funds provide stronger-than-benchmark returns over long periods of time, including those with impressive short term performance records."
So no FA's needed!!!

I am now viewing the local gators as food. Should incorporate well with my rice & beans diet.

When the head gators find this out they will think of you as food also.

In other words run Forrest run.

Things have changed dramatically recently. Commission free trades are readily available.
Long gone is where you need to trade in lots of 100 shares to get the best price. Also, gone for most people are pensions replaced by IRAs, Roth IRAS, 401Ks, 403Bs, I'm sure I missed some.

Would all be rich? In a stock fund, or etf, the broker makes a percentage of the money in the fund. It is the same percentage whether you the investor make money or not.

Far as RICH. Does anyone but me remember that show THE MILLIONARE? The plot was there was an anonymous philanthropist who would give a million to some worthy person and they were set for life. Today, they would take tax out of it at the highest tax rate and what was left, you could buy a home.

The Millionaire was a great show. As I recall, they always said that the guy giving the money paid any taxes due, so the money was not taxable to the recipient. But, the actual income tax rates in the 1950's, when the show aired, were much higher at the million dollar income level than they are today. Although, gifted money is not taxable income anyway. Also, the decision to give money to someone was not based on the recipient of the money being worthy or in need of the money.

As I recall it didnt work out well for most of the recipients

Never had gator. Does it taste like "chicken"?

Good, powder is still dry and waiting for the right time to light it up.

Frogs taste like chicken, gator taste like the other white meat or so I have been told

Technical analysis is your edge. Most trading is algorithms. Any commentator on tv needs the boot when saying I think or it should, etc.. nothing more than a guess.

Since nobody can consistently time the market what else do we have but opinions to go by?

I would rather invest in a basket of stocks picked by someone with a good long term track record.