Have We Hit Bottom Yet?

You know what? This global economy slowdown really needs to end and turn around. Just when I decided to cash out my investments in one account and move them to another account I've been tracking them a little closer. Since I work in an industry that deals with investing, as well as a more significant interest in investment, I've made the decision to start putting the excess amounts of my paycheck into more diversified investment options. I figure it's better than blowing it on video games, pizza, and beer.

Don't worry, though, I'll still definitely do my fair share of buying stupid crap I really don't need, but being the age I am and knowing that in the next 1-8 years I'm going to, no doubt, be buying a house, getting married, buying another car, having kids, and potentially going back to school I will definitely need to have some money put away to cover those things.

I'm no idiot an I've diversified my investments pretty heavily, but across the board and across the world the economy and investing markets have been on a marked decline. This basically makes diversification a moot point if the overall market is in decline. As history shows, it will return to its upward trend, but it's somewhat disheartening to open up my online investment reports and see graphics like the one posted above (which comes from a portion of my portfolio). Heck, I look at my 401k statements and it's extremely depressing because I have my 401k spread across so many funds which leads to a ton of red numbers preceded by "-" signs.

It'll take time, but given enough time my investments will travel back into the green numbers with "+" signs, which is reassuring. It still doesn't satisfy the instant gratification I want to experience when putting my money away like my parents always told me to!