ST. LOUIS — Larry Harris may be retired, but that doesn’t mean he’s lost a routine.
“Oh it’s a scary proposition,” said Harris, a recent retiree, “Especially for a retiree who doesn’t have a long-term perspective”
He’s in a Clayton area coffee shop nearly every day and can afford cups of coffee thanks to his retirement investment portfolio.
“We’ll see how long it lasts,” he said.
Unlike some of his younger coffee connoisseurs, Larry’s money won’t stay in the market long term.
“Hopefully it will be over soon,” said Harris.
Market analyst Juli Niemann says the initial plunge looked terrifying.
“Midday, we were down 1600... well even I broke out with a small bead of sweat on my upper lip,” said Neimann.
Instead of looking at points, she recommends looking at the percentages.
“It was a small drop but they were big numbers because the Dow has gone from 10 thousand a few years ago, to over 20-thousand now,” she said.
National analysts said Monday’s great sell-off was partially prompted by a desire for investors to make a little profit, and partially fear over the Federal Reserve raising interest rates too quickly, thus triggering another economic downturn.
“They are not, they are going to move very slowly on this, but because there is a whiff of inflation out there, they’re probably going to take it back up a few times this year,” said Neimann.
Those impacted most will be those wanting their money out of the market now, like someone trying to retire in the next few months. Juli urges caution.
“If you’re right at the margin or have some debt, do NOT retire,” she said.
As for Larry, he’s prepared to keep his money and his perch near the espresso machine, where they’ve been for years.
“I’m just staying the course,” he said.
