# 401K question



## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

Anyone else notice their 401K take a dump as soon as Biden took over? More of a standstill than a dump i guess. But when i go from a 15 -30% return to less than 5% i call that a dump.

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## mach1cj (Apr 11, 2004)

You're invested in the wrong thing then...market is up over 3,000 pts. since the election.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Okay...I'll bite. (in before the lock)
15-30% per month? no way
5% per month = 60% annual
I haven't noticed any difference.


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## TRIPLE-J (Sep 18, 2006)

mines doing just as good as it has for the last 8 years
maybe try another investment, 401 k usually offer more than one stock to invest in


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## TheKing (Apr 15, 2004)

"chillin" said:


> Anyone else notice their 401K take a dump as soon as Biden took over? More of a standstill than a dump i guess. But when i go from a 15 -30% return to less than 5% i call that a dump.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A516V using Tapatalk


Market has been stable and on the rise since November. Not sure about low risk funds.


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

Ours is still going up and up and up and up....


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## ya13ya03 (Sep 21, 2010)

I'm at 6% growth for the year. Not bad seeing as we're not even past first quarter. I usually see a 20% growth year to year. So I'm right on track. Mine is spread out over a large diverse market. Your in the wrong market or something.


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## TheKing (Apr 15, 2004)

We're refinancing mortgage from 5% to 2.25% from 23 to 15 years. Lower payment by a couple hundred, and a MUCH bigger part of payments are to principle. The real estate market value is way up.


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## bowhunter1487 (Aug 13, 2014)

Negative. No fan of the Peoples Republic of the USA party but if I could sustain my rate of return over the last year I would be Warren Buffet wealthy by 2030. The President doesn't have as much influence on the markets as the MSM wants us to believe and what influence there is, is a delayed reaction.


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## 1basshunter (Mar 27, 2011)

Some stocks have been down just a bit. I’ll give you a couple examples Walmart is down is that due to the new president I don’t think so I believe it is more that they are now in competition with Amazon. And starting that up plus advertisement It’s going to be a learning curve for them when I sell my stock in that company!! Absolutely no when this pandemic is over people will be buying and spending money like we haven’t seen in long time. And there stock will go back up.
as far as interest rates on housing go you’ve been able to get 2.5 for over seven months in fact three years ago when I bought my house I got it at 2.75 on a 15 year note.There are other socks that are down example cruise lines are way down in my opinion now would be the time to buy some!!!!! Most people don’t know what their 401(k) is invested in if they go down a little bit they scream the sky is falling. And if you’re worried about that you have the option to find out what they invest in and invest in higher yield/Moderate yield or some just play it safe and go the no risk stocks, it just amazes me how some people don’t pay attention to their retirement especially since They have worked all their life to be able to retire and do stuff!! But yet they are too Lazy to learn about the stock market to any degree. Sorry if I offended anybody that is just my opinion


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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

crappiedude said:


> Okay...I'll bite. (in before the lock)
> 15-30% per month? no way
> 5% per month = 60% annual
> I haven't noticed any difference.


Yeah. Closer to 30. Pretty much for the last 2 years straight. So yeah i kinda was. I've been making tons of money. For a 401K.























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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

So thats 30% on the year then...not sure why you'd be at O so far this year...all I can say is it's not the presidents fault...


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## bad luck (Apr 9, 2009)

Not a time to be on sidelines ....

Weed stocks been great!! Also very volatile......


Feel like OGF needs to set up our version of Reddit’s Wall Street bets for daily discussions among us normal folks ....


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

30% annual return isn't the same as 15-30% per month.
All I can say is it's not political. Enjoy the good years and stay focused on the bad years. When it time to retire you'll be in great shape to enjoy the rest of your life.


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## burnsj5 (Jan 30, 2014)

If no one ever explains to you how your retirement works it's a failure of the company and ourselves for not learning. I had started a new job, was never explained to me, asked coworkers questions and got small amounts of information only to find out I spent the first 6 years in the most conservative and safe plan auto enrolled when started and barely made any money during that time. Over the years I've corrected that and on multiple occasions changed where my money is going and the money already accumulated is invested. I have encouraged and helped many of my coworkers do the same, the company has since changed how new employees have their retirements invested. 
If you were getting decent returns the last 2 I'm surprised it's off to a rough start but it might be worth looking at other options where you want that money invested. I was curious and so far this year the options available to me range from roughly -1% to 3%. 
This is one of those things I look back on and wish they could teach in school. Most people have no idea how much they should be putting away, if their companies match and how much, roth vs traditional, how much to put in one or the other, and how to invest leading up to your goal retirement age. I am guilty of this too, I eventually took the time to try and educate myself and still am figuring it out to this day.


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## JamesF (May 20, 2016)

It depends on if you have any control of your 401K. Many companies offer one,but on their terms. If your company is ok with the workers having one,then you would need to set one up, without the companies involvement.


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## FOWL BRAWL (Feb 13, 2020)

I am still a few years away from retiring. I have been using the last few years to slowly roll my traditional 401k over to the roth 401k.
My earnings have helped with taxes........the way i see it taxes are only going to go up,so why wait to pay them


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## bad luck (Apr 9, 2009)

Uh


burnsj5 said:


> If no one ever explains to you how your retirement works it's a failure of the company and ourselves for not learning. I had started a new job, was never explained to me, asked coworkers questions and got small amounts of information only to find out I spent the first 6 years in the most conservative and safe plan auto enrolled when started and barely made any money during that time. Over the years I've corrected that and on multiple occasions changed where my money is going and the money already accumulated is invested. I have encouraged and helped many of my coworkers do the same, the company has since changed how new employees have their retirements invested.
> If you were getting decent returns the last 2 I'm surprised it's off to a rough start but it might be worth looking at other options where you want that money invested. I was curious and so far this year the options available to me range from roughly -1% to 3%.
> This is one of those things I look back on and wish they could teach in school. Most people have no idea how much they should be putting away, if their companies match and how much, roth vs traditional, how much to put in one or the other, and how to invest leading up to your goal retirement age. I am guilty of this too, I eventually took the time to try and educate myself and still am figuring it out to this day.



PLEASE READ....you are being offered free money ....

Nearly ALL people spend more time planning their next single vacation or hunting/fishing trip than hours spent doing financial planning over their entire lives. The amount of money LEFT AT YOUR TABLE, is life changing, from now-day you retire (unless your only a couple years out)....

You were able to find your way to this website, so your web savvy enough to do a little research and buy a book or 2 on it. So long as you can use your smart phone, you can do it. 

Think if your boss offered you a 25% raise until the day you retire. Or you were offered to increase your hunt/fish results by 25% by simply spending minimum time to educate yourself.......

I wasted some years procrastinating that “this is for the smart financial sort of guys”, 
“I’ll just put my head down and work hard every day (I still do, even harder now than when I was younger...) ”, “it’ll all work out”...then about 10 years later, I started playing around with learning this....and I sure left a lot of money on life’s table, but have also positioned myself SO Much better with frankly minimal work/time on learning about this.


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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

This was not a political post. Let me rephrase. Just wondering if anyone noticed a steep drop since the beginning of the year. 
I will check next week and move money if need be. Thanks.

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## FOWL BRAWL (Feb 13, 2020)

As stated depending on what you're in on it's been up and it's been down.....Some of my best producers have been trading sideways lately.
In the end, when you bought 11 months ago your gains should be substantial.


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## Junebug2320 (Apr 23, 2010)

Twenty five years ago I Started a new job. The company didnt match until 12-24 months of service, so I didnt start the 401k. Lucky for me. Divorce started and since I wasnt vested the B didnt get a sniff of my 401k or pension. Since the drop last year I move everything into Large Cap and company stock. I made everything back that I lost and am up 3% this early year. My Ameriprise guy suggested that I diversify. Isn’t that their token phrase??? Thats probably coming soon. Like to retire 5-8years. 


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## partlyable (Mar 2, 2005)

bad luck said:


> Not a time to be on sidelines ....
> 
> Weed stocks been great!! Also very volatile......
> 
> ...


I would love to have a running thread talking about the stock market. 


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## JamesF (May 20, 2016)

If your company matches your 401k then you are making free money on their contributions. Also if you can add some more to it then you are getting a better return.


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## One guy and a boat (Aug 8, 2018)

Company matches can be a bad thing in some people's mind. My company matches 100% up to 4%. Over the years I've heard numerous co workers comment that they lost 5-20% but it's okay because of the match. I get that concept but hello you're still losing money. What is now you're money.

Kip


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## TheKing (Apr 15, 2004)

Most of my friends can choose from 3 or 4 risk levels on their 401K form. Guidelines usually go according to the estimated retirement year. High risk over the long term well known to be in the 10% or higher range. A doubling time of 7 years. With employer matching this seems like a decent program since it returns 20% and doubles in 3.5 years.


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## fvogel67 (Nov 15, 2010)

My company matches dollar for dollar up to 7%. I pay Fidelity a fee to manage my account.
I put 8% in the traditional 401K and 7% into a Roth 401K


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

I'm been retired for 5 years. The only reason I was able to retire was because of my 401k, my wife's 401k and a couple of Roth IRA's I opened on my own. My company would match 30%-50% of whatever the employees contributed on my plan. Usually around 30% was the norm.
Most folks would do themselves a favor to at least take some time to learn what kind of funds you're investing in. What types of risks you're taking and what is a good mix of those risks are as you age. Also it's normal for stocks to have both good and bad runs so stay the course when/if the markets make a down turn.
Having a portion of your retirement savings set up in a Roth IRA or Roth 401k is really good idea as it affords you the ability to possibly keep your taxable income low and avoid paying taxes in retirement if you have the right strategy.

As someone mentioned it would be nice if companies would teach their employees about your plan options, that will probably never happen but you shouldn't let that stop you from learning. With all the information available on the internet it's easy enough to review your fund options and work out a plan for yourself.


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## bdawg (Apr 14, 2009)

If you don't keep track of your retirement money and choose good investments, you won't be able to retire. At least not the way you want to.

I checked my retirement funds after reading this. Small Cap has done great the last year. Foreign stocks have been 2nd best. Large Caps were okay. Bonds were crap! Last year, I kept at least 50% in bonds because I thought the market would crash. It helped me a great deal at the beginning of the pandemic. Once the market started rising again, I transferred more from bonds to the other index funds. Still had 15% in bonds as of today, so I missed out on some earnings this year. I think right now, the marked is in a pause until the next stimulus is passed. Then it will go up again. 

If you were in oil & gas stocks the last 3 months, you did great! Oil has quietly gone up with the OPEC cuts. It shot up more last week with the refineries being shut down. I was finally able to make a profit on my loser Oil & Gas stock I bought through my IRA 3 years ago. Only reason it turned to a winner is because I bought more a year ago at a very cheap price. I'm not going to talk about my other 2 Oil & Gas stocks that tanked. Let's just say I need to do better research and pick safer stocks.


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## SemperFi (Mar 10, 2014)

The market is moving way to fast! It has to stablize, or it will take a big decline. Unemployment is high and the big question is: What is driving this market? The answer is more people are investing because your banks aren't paying any interest. I see a big decline coming!!!!!!


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## burnsj5 (Jan 30, 2014)

SemperFi said:


> The market is moving way to fast! It has to stablize, or it will take a big decline. Unemployment is high and the big question is: What is driving this market? The answer is more people are investing because your banks aren't paying any interest. I see a big decline coming!!!!!!


People have been saying that for awhile now and it hasn't happened yet, you could very well be correct. I just think no one really knows, even professionals who told people to take money out a year ago for that same drop that we are still waiting on. 
If you're working for another 20+ years hopefully it bounces back and you make up that difference, if you're closer to retirement or retired, then hopefully that money is in more secure and safe accounts that wouldn't be as badly hurt by such a decline. 
Ive looked at my retirement options and even when the market was down say in 2008, certain accounts still rebounded considerable making up that difference. I could only hope for the same if it happened again.


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## SemperFi (Mar 10, 2014)

burnsj5 said:


> People have been saying that for awhile now and it hasn't happened yet, you could very well be correct. I just think no one really knows, even professionals who told people to take money out a year ago for that same drop that we are still waiting on.
> If you're working for another 20+ years hopefully it bounces back and you make up that difference, if you're closer to retirement or retired, then hopefully that money is in more secure and safe accounts that wouldn't be as badly hurt by such a decline.
> Ive looked at my retirement options and even when the market was down say in 2008, certain accounts still rebounded considerable making up that difference. I could only hope for the same if it happened again.


I worked for a company back in 2008. There stock was $8.00 a share. The same company 3 weeks ago was $543.00 a share, it's been dropping slow but steady pace. The market had a steady growth for the past 4 years. It's bound to happen and crash!


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## partlyable (Mar 2, 2005)

I completely think a drop is coming in the next year, but I am unwilling to pull my money out right now and miss some of the gains in the mean time. Look up something called the buffet indicator. It’s a comparison to the us total market cap vs gdp. It seems to have been a good indicator over the last 20 years of returns. I just have a hard time thinking some of the recovery stocks are not going to make some money this year, but it seems like a lot of red flags At least for a correction. So as others have said if your close to retirement maybe it’s not the time to stay in as a loss could be bad news for you. I am young so I plan to stay on my aggressive portfolio unless something happens that I have to back off somewhat.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

People are better off using an age appropriate mix of stock & bond funds in their portfolios rather than trying to time the market when it come to retirement planning. Even in retirement you still need some growth to keep up with inflation.
In all the history of the stock market, a drop in stock values is followed by a period of a rise.
Look up a 100 history of the DOW.
Retirement saving is a long, long process. Just keep adding that weekly money and you'll buy at all stages of growth & decline.
In my working life I managed a smaller steel company. I usually sat down with all new employees and encouraged them to get in the 401k. Of all the people who worked for me I had 1 guy who always stood out. He started working for me at age 19, he's a welder/fabricator. Not the highest paying profession. He had no idea what a 401K was, he had no idea how to access or move funds. I do know he didn't graduate high school. His logic for joining "he was simply following the advice of the old guys who were smarter than he was". He put 15% of his income into a mix of stock mutual funds. He never moved or changed anything. Just kept adding his 15%. Most time he had no idea how much money he had, he ignored his statements for years on end. He told me he didn't understand them.
Now it's 25 years later and I'm ready to retire and this guy comes up to me and thanks me for helping him get set up in the 401k. He's now in his mid 40's. He's is the guy who is the envy of all the other guys in the shop because "he is rich".
He will do well in retirement.


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## bdawg (Apr 14, 2009)

Man, I wish I could have saved 15% in a 401k from the start of my career! Having 3 kids and a wife that didn't work for 10 years really hindered that. I still contributed 2-3% though to get the company match. I'm in my mid-40s and just starting to get to the point that I can think about contributing more to retirement!


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## ress (Jan 1, 2008)

Mine made 18% last year. Wife's made 27%. She has been rubbing it in my face for a month!

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## Misdirection (Jul 16, 2012)

I have been with the same company for over 31 years. Started when I was 18 and they offered a 401K a few years later. I signed up then and have been maxing it out for over the past 2 decades. They had a good match of 6% up intil the crash in '08 and lowered it to 5% then and kept it there. Company was acquired by a publicly traded company along the way who then spun us off. For a long time they added 2% of our annual salary to our 401k in company stock on top of the match. I'm 49 now, could probably retire today if I had to. But plan to work another seven to 10 years. I never sold during a downturn and largely have stayed in target date or index funds. You can accumulate alot of money slowly by contributing as much as you can as early as you can. Heck, I still have all my statements and my first contributions were $12.50 per pay and they matched that. So $25 a pay to start and ill be retiring early.

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## mach1cj (Apr 11, 2004)

I used to advise all the younger guys in my workplace to take advantage of the 401k program and most would say that "they couldn't afford to" I always replied "you can't afford NOT to."


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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

How are those retirement plans doing now? Mine has been pretty stagnant for months.

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## JamesF (May 20, 2016)

My wife has a 401k at work with a full match.
So whatever she decides to put in is matched up to eight percent or what the company will allow according to family status. This is usually based upon the persons tax status, which prevents someone from over extending their financial burden. My wife had started a direct deposit transfer of $75.00 per paycheck, getting paid twice a month. In short order she has 30k invested. Not bad. I can tell you that many people spend much more than that as disposable income, snacks, cigarettes and alcohol, or hobbies,especially fishing gear.


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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

JamesF said:


> My wife has a 401k at work with a full match.
> So whatever she decides to put in is matched up to eight percent or what the company will allow according to family status. This is usually based upon the persons tax status, which prevents someone from over extending their financial burden. My wife had started a direct deposit transfer of $75.00 per paycheck, getting paid twice a month. In short order she has 30k invested. Not bad. I can tell you that many people spend much more than that as disposable income, snacks, cigarettes and alcohol, or hobbies,especially fishing gear.


So how are her investments performing?

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## SemperFi (Mar 10, 2014)

My 401K is going crazy! Hope keeps on going.


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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

SemperFi said:


> My 401K is going crazy! Hope keeps on going.


Lol! PROVE IT!!!!! 

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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

Not saying it isn't, but out of 8 of my coworkers the general consensus is that they haven't done as well this year. Its irritating when the only money that seems to go in is what you are contributing. I guess i just got spoiled with the huge returns i was getting.

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## Redheads (Jun 9, 2008)

"chillin" said:


> Not saying it isn't, but out of 8 of my coworkers the general consensus is that they haven't done as well this year. Its irritating when the only money that seems to go in is what you are contributing. I guess i just got spoiled with the huge returns i was getting.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A516V using Tapatalk


As times change so should your investments......you shouldn't be breaking even right now


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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

Redheads said:


> As times change so should your investments......you shouldn't be breaking even right now


Any suggestions?

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## Misdirection (Jul 16, 2012)

"chillin" said:


> Any suggestions?
> 
> Sent from my SM-A516V using Tapatalk


Consult a financial advisor for financial advise and not a fishing forum. Lol...

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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

Misdirection said:


> Consult a financial advisor for financial advise and not a fishing forum. Lol...
> 
> Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk


I'm sorry. Am i ruining your day by having a conversation with Redheads?

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## Stars-n-Stripers (Nov 15, 2007)

It's not rocket science. You can easily access all funds available to you to invest in. If it's not doing well move them to funds that are performing well. 

Vanguard, the company mine is with, has PLENTY of funds that are up year to date. I'm sure Fidelity and all the other heavy hitters do as well.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Historically Small Cap will out perform Mid Cap. Mid Cap will outperform Large Cap. Large Cap will out perform High Yield Bonds. High Yield Bonds will outperform Bonds. Bonds will outperform Money Market.
What is your planning horizon? Longer it is, the more risk you can take. What is your risk tolerance? How well can you sleep when the market goes down 20% in a week?


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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

I have a fairly balanced portfolio i think. But im far from an expert. I believe i have about 40% in a Vanguard large growth fund. I would have to look to see what the others are. Recently I've thought about just going with a target retirement date and using the investments they suggest. But for a few years i was doing really well with the things i currently have selected. 

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## Misdirection (Jul 16, 2012)

"chillin" said:


> I'm sorry. Am i ruining your day by having a conversation with Redheads?
> 
> Sent from my SM-A516V using Tapatalk


My day is going along just fine, as it usually is. Just answering your question posted on an open forum.

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## ress (Jan 1, 2008)

Mine gained 15% last yr. 9.3% so far this yr. 

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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

Misdirection said:


> My day is going along jjst fine, as it usually is. Just answering your question posted on an open forum.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk


The question was not directed at you sir. Enjoy your day.

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## Ben Fishing (Aug 2, 2010)

I’ve been contributing into my 401k for the past 12 months (after going back to work for the “Man”) split amongst two highly aggressive growth funds. My current rate of return is 30% since I started. I’ll be 50 soon thus I contribute $1k per month. I was self employed previously thus trying to make up time.


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## One guy and a boat (Aug 8, 2018)

Oh Lord. Anyways mine's been hovering between 4 and 5% this year. I've been lazy and just let it ride especially with the 30% Plus returns the last several years. That is something I need to address here shortly though.

Kip


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

I’m just going to add my 2 cents saying what misdirection said was actually good advice. Why not seek professional advice? My line of work is pension systems and I can assure you these big funds hire many professionals and the theme I see from working around these people who manage billions of dollars is that they are mostly focused on the right ‘asset allocation’. They do not attempt to time the market either. These funds have to support people who have already retired as well as the future needs of those still working. Their asset allocation will not be best for you or me. The only way to know your proper asset allocation based on your plans is through a professional money advisor. I do not purport to have the knowledge to directly answer your question, but am around people who do manage billions with good returns. They do it by hiring multiple advisors and allocating their cash by asset classes, where the asset classes available to them are much broader than the choices we as small investors have available. Pension funds do stuff like hedge funds, rare art, owning and operating construction companies etc. 


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## burnsj5 (Jan 30, 2014)

Rate of return last 12 months is 62.54%, 2021 so far is 11.6%
My own personal "for fun account" is pretty much the same as I put in so far this year. Some weeks I make money some I lose, it's all been a wash. Great example maybe to leave it to the pros but it's been fun at times and learned along the way


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## TODD64 (May 7, 2015)

YTD little over 6 %. Changes % fairly often as the market goes

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## Stars-n-Stripers (Nov 15, 2007)

"chillin" said:


> I have a fairly balanced portfolio i think. But im far from an expert. I believe i have about 40% in a Vanguard large growth fund. I would have to look to see what the others are. Recently I've thought about just going with a* target retirement date *and using the investments they suggest. But for a few years i was doing really well with the things i currently have selected.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A516V using Tapatalk


Exactly, that's one of the funds mine is currently in, Target Retirement 2025. 

The farther out your retirement date the riskier it's going to be due to the stocks they invest it in, but this might also earn you better returns. Shorter retirement date, lower risk, as there's going to be less time to make up losses that may occur.

Sadly the market today isn't as understandable or predictable as it was years ago, Elon Musk lets a fart and Bitcoin goes up $300, why?


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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

Stars-n-Stripers said:


> Exactly, that's one of the funds mine is currently in, Target Retirement 2025.
> 
> The farther out your retirement date the riskier it's going to be due to the stocks they invest it in, but this might also earn you better returns. Shorter retirement date, lower risk, as there's going to be less time to make up losses that may occur.
> 
> Sadly the market today isn't as understandable or predictable as it was years ago, Elon Musk lets a fart and Bitcoin goes up $300, why?


Lol. This is great. I had a decent amount of money wrapped up in crypto but pulled it all because of that guy. I wish he would just shut up.

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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

"chillin" said:


> Lol. This is great. I had a decent amount of money wrapped up in crypto but pulled it all because of that guy. I wish he would just shut up.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A516V using Tapatalk


A friend of mine held about 2000 shares of Tesla from 2016 to 2019. Every time Elon tweeted, his position would get hammered. He finally gave up and sold it because of that and now it’s the biggest regret of his life that he sold. 


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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

dgfidler said:


> A friend of mine held about 2000 shares of Tesla from 2016 to 2019. Every time Elon tweeted, his position would get hammered. He finally gave up and sold it because of that and now it’s the biggest regret of his life that he sold.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Ouch.

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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

dgfidler said:


> A friend of mine held about 2000 shares of Tesla from 2016 to 2019. Every time Elon tweeted, his position would get hammered. He finally gave up and sold it because of that and now it’s the biggest regret of his life that he sold.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Paper hands...


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## Redheads (Jun 9, 2008)

"chillin" said:


> Any suggestions?
> 
> Sent from my SM-A516V using Tapatalk


I think all the advice given in this thread has been spot on..............not knowing what your retirement plan / comfort level is its best to talk to a professional.

The advice i was given a long time ago was to invest what you can in a high risk account and never look at your statements. 

over the past 30 years, I have never regretted following that advise on those types of investments. 

Stay diversified


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## Ben Fishing (Aug 2, 2010)

Also, save until it hurts; you’ll be rewarded later for your efforts.


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## Redheads (Jun 9, 2008)

One last thing

depending on your situation you may want tp look at the 401k roth and see if thats right for you

I don't see taxes going down


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Redheads said:


> depending on your situation you may want tp look at the 401k roth and see if thats right for you


Very good advice. 
I've been retired for 6 years. For the most part I've been able to keep my taxable income low and have avoided paying any taxes for the last 6 years. Now the situation is changing because of my age and I'll have to start increasing my distribution in taxable assets. 
I had a 401k while working but we didn't have the option to go with a Roth 401k. Had I had that option I not only would been able to stay tax free for the rest of my life, any assets left when we are gone would pass on to the kids tax free.



Ben Fishing said:


> Also, save until it hurts; you’ll be rewarded later for your efforts.


My wife hated how much money I was saving while we were working. Now that we're retired she has said multiple times she's glad I had the vision, her plan was to work until we died. Since we had the assets we were able to retire a few years earlier than our "full retirement" age.


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## partlyable (Mar 2, 2005)

dgfidler said:


> I’m just going to add my 2 cents saying what misdirection said was actually good advice. Why not seek professional advice? My line of work is pension systems and I can assure you these big funds hire many professionals and the theme I see from working around these people who manage billions of dollars is that they are mostly focused on the right ‘asset allocation’. They do not attempt to time the market either. These funds have to support people who have already retired as well as the future needs of those still working. Their asset allocation will not be best for you or me. The only way to know your proper asset allocation based on your plans is through a professional money advisor. I do not purport to have the knowledge to directly answer your question, but am around people who do manage billions with good returns. They do it by hiring multiple advisors and allocating their cash by asset classes, where the asset classes available to them are much broader than the choices we as small investors have available. Pension funds do stuff like hedge funds, rare art, owning and operating construction companies etc.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


If you want to be hands off on your retirement accounts this is probably good advice but for me I think of it as these financial advisors get you into special funds that cost 2percent to be in and the financial advisor takes another 1 percent each year. That 3 percent compounded annually is millions of dollars. Which in good years those funds will more than make up for their 3 percent but if they have a bad year and lose money and you lose another 3 percent on top. I would rather take my chances watching everything I can and managing it all myself, or doing a low cost index fund that mirrors the s&p 500 and still averages 8-9 percent. 


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

My self-directed IRA portfolio is in individual Large Cap Growth stocks. Not well balanced but semi diversified among industries. Std deviation of portfolio is 17.32% ( according to Charles Schwab analysis) which is pretty high (very aggressive) but I'm willing to accept the risk to obtain the reward. Up 14.93% this year, 42% last year with some big winners in Roku, AMD, Microsoft and Apple. 35+% average last 5 years.
Costco Eaton and McDonalds help to balance the portfolio a little.

And zero fees, zero commissions.

Just added some Intuit today so we'll see how that goes.


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## sliprig (Apr 6, 2004)

I retired at 59 1/2. Mixture of rollover IRA, 2 self directed IRA's and 2 self directed Roth IRA's. Now under one umbrella at Merrill Lynch. Throws off twice my old salary in income and dividends, the principal is growing annually. We saved a long time to get to this point, if you get in the habit of saving from day one you don't really miss it. People tell us we are lucky, we made are own luck. Life is good.

Slip


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## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

“Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe.”

We worked (& saved) in order to retire. I drove trucks & The Bride was a secretary. It took some self-discipline, but the key was routinely putting money into a retirement account AND leaving it there.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

cincinnati said:


> AND leaving it there.


that is a very big part of having a successful retirement plan.
Too many people use their 401k accounts as an emergency fund.


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## Dovans (Nov 15, 2011)

crappiedude said:


> that is a very big part of having a successful retirement plan.
> Too many people use their 401k accounts as an emergency fund.


Sometimes Emergency's do pop up though. Seems like nowadays it is a lot easier to get loans then it was in the past. Maybe thats a sign too.(?) I have used my 401 couple times for loan. Interest at the time was way too high and the interest on self loan through 401 was low. End result is your paying yourself back. Have to keep in mind the interest of your money growing as opposed to interest on borrowing money from a bank.


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## sliprig (Apr 6, 2004)

Except for a few big ticket items, house etc. It's as simple as don't buy things you can't pay for.

Slip


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Snakecharmer said:


> My self-directed IRA portfolio is in individual Large Cap Growth stocks. Not well balanced but semi diversified among industries. Std deviation of portfolio is 17.32% ( according to Charles Schwab analysis) which is pretty high (very aggressive) but I'm willing to accept the risk to obtain the reward. Up 14.93% this year, 42% last year with some big winners in Roku, AMD, Microsoft and Apple. 35+% average last 5 years.
> Costco Eaton and McDonalds help to balance the portfolio a little.
> 
> And zero fees, zero commissions.
> ...


INTU Up 14% in 2 months 554 from 486.


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## 1more (Jan 10, 2015)

Snakecharmer said:


> INTU Up 14% in 2 months 554 from 486.


We’ll what’s everyone’s thought now with the interest rates going up, inflation at a all time high and what’s going on in Ukraine and the possibility of a recession? Only have 2 more years max before I retire, and my 401K is mostly low risk? It happened to me in 08-09 and that really hurt and don’t look forward to it happening again?
Thanks in advance!


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## Dovans (Nov 15, 2011)

My Advisor said to get out of bonds.. Didnt say much more though. My 401 is mostly Kroger stock, and, they are kicking ass, why I dont know. I worked there and I really dont see how the stock can support itself at that price. But for now my 401 because of the kroger stock has grown 30 percent in three months. I have another retirement stock and its falling much more then my 401 has risen... Gotta be patient.. The people who got hurt the most in the 07-09 fiasco were the people who sold. Its not a loss till you say sell. Everyone I know who sold in those years would have been WAY WAY ahead today if they had hung on. A good financial advisor is your best bet. Its hard to predict in this trying time. Look at long term. If your 401 is low risk you shouldnt be affected that much.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Don't focus on the short term. Retirement planning and 401k's are long term investment strategies. While the up's and down's are just part of investing, they do add a bit of anxiety to any plan. Lot's of folks bring up the loss of the 2008 market down turn but whenever we have a down turn like that, it's followed by a very vigorous rebound. (it's funny no one ever mentions the rebounds) 
This is just a normal market pattern, a loss followed by a rebound.
With 2 years left before you retire it's time to focus on a plan. If you don't have an advisor and you aren't confident in managing your money, it's time to start interviewing some. There is a big difference in a lot of companies so it's good to look, especially look at the fees they charge. A 1/2% in increased fees adds up over the long haul.
If you're comfortable with the amount of savings you have, that's great. If you're not, maybe consider working an extra year or 2. I was going to retire at 62 but decided to wait until I was 64 because it just made more sense. 

Get ready to enjoy a great part of your life. The last thing you want to do is worry every time the market drops a few points. Have fun.


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## Shake-n-Bake (Sep 16, 2011)

I try to keep in mind that my 401K may be down "when I retire", but I won't be pulling all of my money out when I retire. That investment will need to last over 20+ years....so what the market is doing at the exact time I retire isn't that critical....I will have many years, I hope based on life expectancy, to make it back up/


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## Lazy 8 (May 21, 2010)

1more said:


> We’ll what’s everyone’s thought now with the interest rates going up, inflation at a all time high and what’s going on in Ukraine and the possibility of a recession? Only have 2 more years max before I retire, and my 401K is mostly low risk? It happened to me in 08-09 and that really hurt and don’t look forward to it happening again?
> Thanks in advance!


I transferred my 401K to an IRA at my credit union for a few reasons. I was approaching my retirement age and with talks of a recession and who know else I thought it was safer. Also the fact that your 401K is not federally insured. Actually not insured at all. Remember Enron? There were retired senior people who lost all their retirement and had to rejoin the work force.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Lazy 8 said:


> Remember Enron?


But Enron is a single stock, no one should be invested 100% in a single stock especially as you near or are in retirement.
Being diversified is important with ETF's and mutuals funds a better choice for most people.
I'm not expert by any means but I again suggest shopping for an advisor. You'd be amazed at how some of these advisors get compensated. One well known and advertised retirement firm offers sales incentives (sales contests for a clearer term) to its advisers for pushing certain investments to its clients. I certainly don't want my advisor selecting my investments as part of a sales contest.


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## DH56 (Dec 31, 2012)

If you go the adviser way, select a Licensed Financial adviser that is a Fiduciary. They have the clients best interest in mind as a priority and are paid accordingly. Some just charge only a fee, usually no more then 1%. Commissioned based advisers usually sell you what makes them the most money along with getting "paid" by companies selling their funds etc.

Always interview and do your due diligence in selecting one that you feel comfortable with if you go that route.


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## Lazy 8 (May 21, 2010)

crappiedude said:


> But Enron is a single stock, no one should be invested 100% in a single stock especially as you near or are in retirement.
> Being diversified is important with ETF's and mutuals funds a better choice for most people.
> I'm not expert by any means but I again suggest shopping for an advisor. You'd be amazed at how some of these advisors get compensated. One well known and advertised retirement firm offers sales incentives (sales contests for a clearer term) to its advisers for pushing certain investments to its clients. I certainly don't want my advisor selecting my investments as part of a sales contest.


I guess I didn't state things well. What if the company you have your 401K thru...folds up like Enron? Goes out of business? 
Didn't Enron take their employee's 401K plan down with them?


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Lazy 8 said:


> I guess I didn't state things well. What if the company you have your 401K thru...folds up like Enron? Goes out of business?
> Didn't Enron take their employee's 401K plan down with them?


Does it really matter what single company stock you hold? Enron is a different situation than most because of the way it was creating companies inside of companies inside of other companies and creating false profits by selling to each other and charging the inflated prices to the consumer while reporting false profits within their own company.
I understood what you were saying perfectly but I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket no matter who it was. P&G, GE, Apple, Kroger's are all great but (especially on the short term) at any time they can lay an egg too. 
I'm more into a little more diversification. Maybe temper the gains for a little less risk on your portfolio.
Once you retire, who wants to go back to work?.....NO ONE


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## Misdirection (Jul 16, 2012)

Lazy 8 said:


> I guess I didn't state things well. What if the company you have your 401K thru...folds up like Enron? Goes out of business?
> Didn't Enron take their employee's 401K plan down with them?


Enron didn't hold the 401k's, that would have been thru a third party like Fidelity or Vanguard. The issue with Enron, is they required a good portion of that 401k holdings be in Enron stock...so when the company went under, that stock was worthless.

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## Misdirection (Jul 16, 2012)

Here was the deal with Enron's 401K. They were also switching 401k providers at the time which made it so employees couldn't sell the stock as it was going under.










The Post-Enron 401(k)


Employees must make more decisions, so they need more employer-provided advice.




www.forbes.com





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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

How’s it lookin now fellas? I hope you’re all doing well. You’ll need to cash out to put gas in your trucks. Lol.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

If looking for an investment( growing fast, and soon to be WAY UP there!), be sure to look into anything even minutely related to “batteries, chargers, and all-electric vehicles”.(Elon, Bill, and Warren Are!) The next Big Thing is going to be “robotically driven, long haul, trucking”! Wishing I had available cash to get in on some of this growth but my Annuity is not managed by me!


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