I would have posted this for Halloween, if i’d had the time as there are scary things lurking about.
ONE. The prospect of rioting or terroristic activity following the election outcome, or worse, an unclear presidential election outcome that causes the process to drag on even longer. I don’t need to explain why that is scary. Stay safe people.
I am SO OVER this election!!! I cannot wait for it to be over. Please make it stop! Calgon take me away!
Sigh. Did I mention that I want this election cycle to end already?
TWO. The prospect of an election day/post-election stock market freak out. Let’s hope that US and global markets stay relatively calm over the next few weeks, and those of us with meager investments don’t suffer any massive losses.
THREE. The prospect of low stock market returns for the next 10-20 years.
The party of sky high double digit returns is over, some reports say. Welcome to the hangover. According to some market analysts and other financial prognosticators, the US market will likely take it’s aspirin in the form of returns between 4-6% (not counting inflation, broker fees, etc.). After everything is taken out, we might be left with 2%-4% of actual gain. What?!
Crap! Thanks to my stupid debt, and/or financial cluelessness over the past 7 years, I missed almost ALL of that golden bull market gain. Now that I finally have the ability to start saving something for retirement, I’m learning that those big gains might not be back until I’m in my 60’s!? This is terrifying.
How many people have been using 7% estimated returns for their retirement calculations?! So much for early retirement. So much for retirement period! It’s all speculation of course and no one can predict the future, but if it is true… Eeek! Scary!
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A Good Thing!
On a positive note, I stumbled across a blog called Struggling to Be Debt Free. It is written by single, thirty-something, woman lawyer in northern Florida. She has paid off over $100,000 of debt, including student loan and credit card debt, all while putting up with co-workers that put ZJ’s sleeping colleague to shame. (At least the sleeping colleague manages to show up to the office.) I’ve read through the entire blog and was happy for her when she paid off her last student loan early this year. While she still has a mortgage, she is in saving and wealth building mode now. Go over and follow her story.
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“Debtor’s prison is real, and opportunity cost is a bitch.” (DDSW) [All posts on one page]
Double Debt Single Woman 
I’m constantly being inspired by you and your debt free journey! I checked out Struggling to Be Debt Free’s blog as well, and she’s pretty awesome too. Keep up the awesome work!
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Thank you!
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Thanks for the shout out for DDSW on your blog. That’s so cool that you’re living in S Korea! It’s on my list of places I’d like to visit. I’ve given thought in the past to running far away with my passport and teaching English abroad somewhere. It’s good to see that you share your likes and dislikes of living there.
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You’re more than welcome. Your posts and journey keeps me inspired to stay on track. I also apology in advance for the tl,dr comment I left below.
Oh, dear. I just saw this reply. So sorry for the late response! It’s planning English Camp time here, so I’ve been swamped with teacher homework (ie making ppts and lesson plans). Anyways, living in S. Korea definitely has its ups and downs, but I don’t regret my decision to move here for one minute. The only reason why I went to college was so I could move out of the country for a year or two. Along the way, I took out loans to pay for school and saw it as a necessary evil in order to achieve my dreams.
However, when I graduated, I got sidetracked off my plan and moved back home. I jumped right into the workforce and eventually ended up in a cushy office job. Two years went by and things were comfortable. Until I took a promotion. One day, I’m sitting in my cubicle, despising my new job (taking that promotion was a huge mistake), and thinking I can’t frickin quit this job because of my student loan debt. Then it hit me, the only reason why I went to college in the first place and this damn debt was so I could move abroad, so what the heck am I still doing here? Why don’t I figure out a way to move abroad and still pay off my debt? After a bit of research, S. Korea was the clear winner for places I could easily (ish) move abroad, get a job, and still have enough left over to annihilate my debt. Within a month, I started the paper work and process to move here. Haven’t looked back since. 🙂
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Cool! I’m one of those people that would love to be able to do that, but feel that I can’t for a variety of reasons. Had I known about teaching abroad 10 years ago, I would have been all over it. But now, things are more difficult. Sigh. It’s still on my list as a possibility.
Heh! Yeah I can relate to having times where I’m sitting in my cubicle all day with a sour frown. While most promotions are good things, some promotions are like those doors that are left ajar in horror movies. I want to yell to the person ‘Don’t do it! It’s a trap!’ Bad promotions are ways to end up with much more stress for NOT much more pay. I’m glad you got out of there!
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Ooh man, I did not get this link notification. I’m sorry I’m so behind in reading. I’m with you on worry about these results and what it means for future investing and living environments.
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Yeah I saw another article just today, repeating the concern about below average (5%) net returns over the next 10 years or so. I hope that prediction is wrong.
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