# Getting rich vs. recovery mode - has there been a mental switch?



## sarahboes (Sep 16, 2009)

Hi all,

I'm Sarah Boesveld, a reporter with The Globe and Mail's Life section. I'm working on a story about people ditching the moany groany recession talk and focusing on making more money than they ever have before. Did anybody, in the past couple of months, completely wipe clean or re-jig their portfolios to focus on this kind of task, or make any other efforts to 'get rich'? How about shifts in mentality - anybody tired of that recovery mode kind of thinking? Would love to talk about it for my story.

My deadline is Monday Jan 18th by noon - a chat as soon as possible before then would be great.

Please get in touch,

Sarah

Sarah Boesveld
The Globe and Mail
416-585-5133
[email protected]
www.theglobeandmail.com/life


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## canadianbanks (Jun 5, 2009)

Sarah,

The stock markets are way overpriced in my humble opinion, and there is a high probability that anybody going all-in now (investing aggressively) will be crushed in the next downleg. This is of course only my opinion .


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## dogcom (May 23, 2009)

I am in cash, short term bonds and gold for the most part. Cash pays very little, gold is a little high even though I feel certain it will go higher in the next couple of years and bonds are in danger of rates rising. The US has the huge task of issuing trillions in new debt and rolling over the huge debt it already has. China's real estate is overheating and is now in bubble territory and when China blows it will be bad for Canada not to mention the rest of the world.

You could say that this is the wall of worry markets need to climb, but the thing is people are already very bullish or positive about the market so the worry is not really there. Then there is the demographic issue that has people getting close to or entering retirement that will have them pulling money out of the market to lower risk and needing the money.


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## stinsont (May 29, 2009)

canadianbanks said:


> Sarah,
> 
> The stock markets are way overpriced in my humble opinion, and there is a high probability that anybody going all-in now (investing aggressively) will be crush in the next downleg. This is of course only my opinion .


Geesh I hope not. I just threw my LOC into the market!


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## dogcom (May 23, 2009)

Stinsont I think it is fine to be bullish if that is your view, but I would shy away from using leverage in this market.


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## scomac (Aug 22, 2009)

"More fortunes have been lost to liquor and leverage than to bad markets."

Warren Buffett


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

sarah i am always planning to make more money than i ever have before.
it's just that thing called reality keeps getting in the way.

could you please get the guppie to call you, though, & let us know if he's on crack ...


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## ssimps (Dec 8, 2009)

I view the meltdown of 2008 / early 2009 as positive for 2 reasons. 

1) It gave people that had cash an opportunity to buy at prices that they had not seen for a while, if ever.

2) More importantly, it gave my family a wake-up call regarding our mentality about spending $. It made us realize that the most likely and risk free way to make $ is simply not to spend it and instead save.  We reduced our spending by about 20 - 30% I would say, not because we had to, but because we realized how materialistic and excessive some of our spending patterns had become. All this extra money is now being saved and invested. I hope that we never forget what the crash taught us and we plan on continuing to be frugal whenever we can.

Because of reason 2, I'm glad it happened when we are in our 30's and almost wish it had happened 5 years earlier if anything. The crash was the catalyst for a great mental shift that should serve us well for the rest of our lives.

I hope others got the same out of it, not just making money on stocks, but making us reflect on our values as a whole.


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## stinsont (May 29, 2009)

dogcom said:


> Stinsont I think it is fine to be bullish if that is your view, but I would shy away from using leverage in this market.


Lets hope I'm more right that wrong. I have leveraged 1/2 my LOC into the market as of Dec1st - at prime. So far I have made 2.5% and hoping for a 10% gain over the year.


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

_"I'm working on a story about people ditching the moany groany recession talk and focusing on making more money than they ever have before."_

Sarah, your premise is that the people moaning and groaning about the recession, were not trying to make money from it in the first place, before the recession and during. Obvisously they were, which is why they were moaning and groaning.

I suppose the kind of person you are looking for was sitting in bonds or real estate for years and saw the recession and said "hey, I bet I could make a lot of money buying stocks right now" and sold their other holdings to do just that. I think Warren Buffet did that. Did you try contacting him?

My point is that you are unlikely to find too many that did that, certainly any that did it by anything more than luck. Anyone that understood stocks that well, most likely was already in the stock market, before it went down. They are probably making good money now, but I bet they still have a few moans and groans about the recession.

Good luck to you.


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## osc (Oct 17, 2009)

The best opportunities to get rich quick (or at least to get very high returns) were during the recession, not now that it's over.
My mentality is slowly shifting from all-in and maximum leverage into a more balanced and cautious approach.


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## Dr_V (Oct 27, 2009)

osc said:


> The best opportunities to get rich quick (or at least to get very high returns) were during the recession, not now that it's over.
> My mentality is slowly shifting from all-in and maximum leverage into a more balanced and cautious approach.


Same. In some cases where I've made a tidy profit (as a result of the recovery), I've sold half (or more) of my position, and am holding the cash. 

I would like to allocate the cash, but am just not seeing that many bargain deals at the moment. There are a few "okay-priced" stocks, I find, but nothing that jumps out at me as a "must have".


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

sarahboes said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm Sarah Boesveld, a reporter with The Globe and Mail's Life section. I'm working on a story about people ditching the moany groany recession talk and focusing on making more money than they ever have before. Did anybody, in the past couple of months, completely wipe clean or re-jig their portfolios to focus on this kind of task, or make any other efforts to 'get rich'? How about shifts in mentality - anybody tired of that recovery mode kind of thinking? Would love to talk about it for my story.


Hi Sarah: no 'moany groany recession talk' on my part, but yes, focusing on making new profits & definitely 're-jigged' my portfolio.

Regarding shifts in mentality, absolutely! This crisis was an eye opener & big learning experience for me & I gather for many people as well. I don't have any statistics, but I think a little of this learning has attributed to the rise in DIY investor approach as I see more people reading & interested in what is going on in the economy and in the markets.

Good luck with the article!


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## montyloree (Jan 16, 2010)

Hi Sarah,
I am getting pretty aggressive with marketing...
My thoughts are.. if everybody is worried about the recession, there have got to be some ways to make money.

So.. yeah... I had to give it some thought.. but at the end of the day, I took the stance that this is probably a good time to ramp up operations.

good luck with your article.


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## mogul777 (Jun 2, 2009)

Agree with several of the above thoughts and comments, but particularily the comments of osc and Dr V. Best gains are behind us time to adjust for the long slow recovery that is now well entrenched. Selective stock picking time once again. 

One twist for you though... most of my moaning and groaning came from missed opportunities not past losses. Past losses are great life experiences, learn, respect, and move forward... in investing as in life.

Let us know when to check out the article.


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## Rickson9 (Apr 9, 2009)

I love recessions. It is the best time to get rich. Individuals who wait for things to be 'just right' are just novices pretending to be investors by paying high prices.


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