OUCH! Corona virus news got serious and bad real fast. By the end of the month, the Dow Jones Industrial average had retreated 10.5%, and as I write this in mid-March it's gotten a whole lot worse! It is a time like this that makes it extremely hard to stay the course and not panic. The experts will tell you historically people who cash out of their investments due to the news of the day normally don't time it right, and more devastingly, don't get back in at a good time either. So they lock in and guarantee their losses. It's hard to do, but I'm staying fully invested, optimistic an end to this pandemic comes sooner rather than later, and the underlying good health of our economy restarts. Take care of your health and the health of your loved ones, we will get through this!
SCORECARD
Our fund, VDADX, was down about 8.9% for the month of February.
Willie had a month end balance of $169,870.17. His monthly benefit check (including the COLA) would be $2,574.05 if he changed his mind and decided to file for benefits at this time.
Irma deposited the $2100 check and withdrew $2520 from her existing account, so her net total is $243,615.28. Her Social Security investment account now has $73,745.11.
Sam used his benefit check to supply $1680 of his monthly expenses. His untouched IRA account sat at $247,184.65.