John H wrote:
On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 22:22:54 GMT, "Jim," wrote:


John H wrote:

On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 21:06:20 GMT, "Jim," wrote:




He recorded all the payroll taxes he paid into the system (including the
matching amount from his employer), tracked down the return the Social
Security Trust Fund earned for each of the 45 years, and then compared
the result with what he would have gotten had he been able to invest the
same amount of payroll tax money over the same period in the Dow Jones
Industrial Average (including dividends).


Which explains why one should never put all their investment eggs in one basket.
Even the Thrift Savings Plan allows diversification.

We can all find examples which would give a return less than the social security
return.


John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

The Dow is composed of 10 companies supposedly representing a cross
section of American industry (loosely defined of late) and is updated
periodically -- so go back to 1950 and see just how many companies he
invested in. I believe the Dow is a good measure of the economy, and
lists the type of large cap conservative company one should invest in
for their retirement.


Go here and read up:

http://www.djindexes.com/mdsidx/inde... &sitemapid=20

I'm wondering what happened to the other twenty companies that made up the Dow
Jones Industrial Average up to about 10 minutes ago.

Your investment beliefs may not be all that wise.


John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."
Yes I mistyped -- Dow 30 (in the beginning it was 12)-- BUT how many
companies have been represented since 1950?

Find a list here
http://www.djindexes.com/mdsidx/down..._Hist_Comp.pdf
Some of the companies no longer exist, but were the strong companies of
their time.

All in all I'd consider them reasonably good investments for the long haul.

See
http://www.finfacts.com/Private/cure...erformance.htm

For the returns from 1939 to 2004


The Social Security Act was signed by FDR on 8/14/35. Taxes were
collected for the first time in January 1937 and the first one-time,
lump-sum payments were made that same month. Regular ongoing monthly
benefits started in January 1940.