Posted on 12/16/2008 7:17:43 AM PST by Red Badger
A lifelong New Jersey resident, Bette Greenfield (left) retired in March and moved to Florida in July.
I'm not from a wealthy family living on a big estate in Palm Beach or in an Upper East Side apartment. I'm 71. I've worked hard and lived a quiet life - and have just lost my retire ment savings in the blink of an eye, thanks to Bernie Madoff.
When my brother told me the news, I said, "I guess I'm going to have to live in a refrigerator box now."
I made jokes because it was the only thing I could do to not burst into tears.
How did this happen?
My father, a CPA, was smart and an extremely knowledgeable financial ad viser. As he aged, he wanted to have something where he could put his savings and live off the interest.
He was told by one of his wealthy Palm Beach friends that Bernie Madoff was a miracle worker with invest ments, and that he could pull strings to get Dad into a trust fund with Madoff Securities.
It was less than $400,000 - not a large amount by Madoff standards - but his friend helped him get into a fund. Dad was sure that he had made a wise investment and that he and his wife could be comfortable for the rest of their lives.
For 10 years, he did live off the interest and totally believed in the way the money was increasing.
Dad told me, "Bernie Madoff is brilliant. When I pass away, keep the money with him, and you and your brothers will always have something to fall back on."
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Smart and knowledgeable financial people don't put their entire retirement into one single fund. I had friends who did this with Enron.
A government of “pull”..............Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand.......
The ones that come along and say "I told you so" and "fugettaboutit" on the BC issue/threads make me sick.
Time now to bailout the business genius’s in the big 3.
WE can afford it!
So a portion of your retirement funds should always be allocated to investments with a 20+ year time horizon. This portion should diminish over time as a retiree ages and needs to become more concerned about safety than growth potential, but good financial advisors will often have their clients keep a small portion of their money in high-risk investments even into their 90s.
Aren't miracles too good to be true?
Bette Greenfield.....you are a sacred minority...you will get ALL your dad’s money back and then some. You have POWERFUL REPS and SENATORS who will see to it. Doesn’t matter that some hillbilly living in a shack will pay for this....whatever.
Your Hedge Funds ARE NOT GUARNATEED....but don’t worry....they will be.
I really gotta disagree with you on that one. See #105.
“Exactly what have you done with your money to make it grow, bury it in the backyard?”
Yes, the money trees sprouted up nicely ... as to what I did with my money, it’s safe earning less than the promised 15% - beyond that, it’s none of your business.
Enron, MCI, Madoff, it never ends.........
The woman's dad left her nothing! He might as well have thrown his money in a river for the absolute lack of caution and due diligence his investment with Madoff shows.
He put all the eggs in one basket. Then he threw that basket over the cliff.
Given that a person, a daughter especially, has to respect her Dad, I can't help but feel terrible for her, what a sad situation! But she never had anything == the saddest part of this is what her Dad DID leave to her. Aggravation, a false sense of security, a bitter, devastating surprise.
I disagree. You never risk your retirement. You alter your lifestyle to reflect what you have put away. If you didn't sacrifice for the day you would retire then you live with the consequences.
What a great point!
The only way we should help them is to act as the bank for the debtor in possession.
No, the government will not. And I’m just ashamed of the people here who have no empathy for people like this woman who did the right thing..lived modestly and invested her money with someone who was highly regarded. $400,000 is not that much and now...she has nothing.
Hard assets baby!
So it was her money then? Another poster said it was her fathers.
It doesn't matter though as someone lost the money
Well maybe not 40% but I did buy 600 shares of GE about a month ago @ $12.64 ... within a dime of it's 52 week low. Today it's in the $17.35 range and has been as high as $18.00 in recent days. My prediction, GE will be in the $23.00 range by the end of the first quarter 2009.
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