Tom Morgan

A woman complained to me the other day. About how much money she lost in the slump of the stock market.

"I lost $60,000," she told me. "I'm just a small investor. I can't afford to lose money like that. These stock market investments are for suckers." I had a feeling there was more to the story. There was.

Turns out the woman invested $10,000 in a fairly aggressive stock mutual fund. She did this in 1983.

Over the years she had done pretty well. The fund enjoyed its ups and suffered its downs. By 1993 her $10,000 had grown to $36,000.

Over the next several years her investment grew like Jack's beanstalk. You remember how the stock market surged.

Midway through 2000 her mutual fund investment stood at $168,000. Yes, her $10,000 investment from 1983 had grown to $168,000 in 17 years. Then calamity struck. The tech stock bubble burst. Recession set in.

The overall market swooned. The NASDAQ took the gas. I am not telling you anything you did not know.

While millions felt the pain this woman saw her investment fall to $107,000. She saw it decline by $61,000. By 2002.

Since then she has shared in the partial recovery of the stock market. Today her mutual fund investment stands at $132,000.

I have to wonder how greedy many of us have become. Traditionally most investors have been pleased if their investments grew by 10 percent per year. Especially if they were not having to do any work with the investments.

Ten per cent per year would have given this woman $55,000 after 18 years. She, of course, had $107,000. Hardly an investment for suckers.

And today, of course, she has regained some of what she lost during the slump. Greed is not her only problem. She also fixated on what she lost during the market's swoon.

I could say to her "Look how much you've made over the years." She would answer "But look how much I've lost in the last few years."

This woman is not alone in her complaints. Millions of Americans "lost" money in their 401k plans. The media dramatized the losses: "Ed Jones worked for two-hundred years for his company. He was set to retire on his nest egg of six-hundred thousand. All his dreams have been dashed now."

Millions complained - still do - about how much money they lost when the market fell down. Some of them had only had money in their retirement plans for a few years. They suffered genuine losses. But most had put money in for 15, 20, 25 years. Most of the money they contributed had grown like topsy.

Sure they lost money. But just as surely they made a lot of money on their contributions. They were disappointed that the market - and their 401ks - took a tumble. But if they worked out their true rate of return the majority of plan members have little to complain about.

The adage is that everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die. Everybody wants their investments to grow like crazy when the stock market rockets. But nobody wants to see them go down when the market declines.

For more columns - and for my radio shows - go to www.tomasinmorgan.com.

From Tom...as in Morgan.