MIne has been flat all year. It would be showing negative growth, but my contributions have offset the downturn. I am "hanging in there".
BTS
401K, do you still have one?
by DJK 22 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
Simon
Now is the time to be buying or at least carry on buying with a regular monthly investment.
By putting away a set amount each month you benefit from "pound / dollar cost averaging" which automatically makes you buy more of something when the price is lower and less when it is higher - it removes the need for you to 'time' the market.
Here is an explanation / example: http://www.rrsp.org/dca.htm
Yes, most people are likely looking at a loss right now but the reality is that if they carry on investing as normal then what they are buying now are probably the things that are going to make the money.
When everyone is raving about how high stocks are and how much money they are making ... it is typically a bad time to invest.
People often overestimate how much money or savings they need at different stages of their life to be "doing well". This is an interesting read:
http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/Investing/CanadianBusiness/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=5957256 -
still_in74
my RRSP (CDN equivilant) is down 50%
so in answer to your question.... just barely.
-
Quirky1
I and my wife lost 3) 401k's when we were unemployed and cashed them in to survive....
-
Elsewhere
If someone is investing for the long-term, 401k's are an incredible investment that one should take full advantage of.
Yes, right now they are down (so is mine), but those who stick it out and keep contributing while the market is down will get a massive windfall when the markets come back. I have actually increased my contributions due to the market crash. (Lots of GREAT stocks and mutual funds out there for cheep)
If you don't have a 401k or IRA, now is the time to open one!
-
hillbilly
401 Ks since the Reagan years. You cannot look at the balance daily... suicides happen over less.
We have has a couple of bad market corrections over the years... you could see the value drop 1/3 or more in a bad week... but when it's low you get more units for the price paid. I will be tossing cash into mine while this market is down... worked the last several slow downs.
Like many other investment products you only lose money if you cash out when value is low. All stock market products will make money if you stay in long enough.
Hill
-
SloppyJoe
Yes I do. Here is the REAL low down on 401ks, 457s, and all the other plans that there are. Just putting your money in and letting it sit there is NOT the way to manage these accounts. This is the common information that the "experts" will tell you and I because we generally listen to whatever they tell us. This concept became very popular in the 90s when the stock market just kept going up and up and all you had to do was let your money sit there. This is also when many people started getting into the stock market because it was so easy. The truth of the matter is the "professional" traders NEED us to leave our money sit there and take the losses and gains so that they are able to manipulate the markets in the directions that they want them to go. Professional traders make money in markets that go up and markets that go down. Our retirement plans are set up to only make a lot of money in markets that go up. In reality this is YOUR money and it is YOUR responsibility to manage it. NO ONE cares about your money other than YOU. Generally these plans have different options to invest your money so that no matter what market condition you are in you can still be making money. The strategy of dollar/pound cost averaging works in a market that is trending higher but we are in a VERY delicate economy which could VERY well end up in a depression. If that happens these markets will continue to fall. Your dollar/pound cost averaging will only lose more money. This is not over yet. Also the stock market will be the last to recover, its the first to fall but the last to go back up. How does someone manage their own money who generally has no idea or time? Well that is me and I have been successful with it. First every 3 months review what you are investing in and make sure you are in the highest yielding returns available to your plan. Also you must educate yourself on what mutual funds are and what each mutual fund you are invested in is actually investing YOUR money in. I can tell you that the time to move your money out of the market was not JULY of 2008 but November/December of 2007. How would someone like you and I know how to do this? Well if you paid at least some attention to the markets the forecast was there. Using Google you can find out a lot of information on future market predictions as I was able to move my money to an interest bearing account in December of 2007 against the advice of every "expert" out there. What were the results? Well had I listened to them I would be down 40-50% in my account. Presently I am up 4% in my account for the year. Not to shabby for a non expert in my opinion. So what do you do if you didn't move your money out? At this point you have to decide if you are willing to accept that there is the possibility of additional losses from 20-40% more in your account. If a depression happens than this is very likely and could be even more than that amount. If you can't accept that I would advise moving your money into an interest bearing account. As you must understand the money you lost in your account IS LOST. People will tell you it is only a loss if your account is cashed out, but you'll never get that money back unless the market goes back up which in cases like our economy can take many YEARS. What should I do with my money now then? If I were you and you really aren't sure what you are doing with your retirement plan I would advise instead of contributing money into your account to stop doing that and use that money to pay off your home mortgage as that is actually going to be of some benefit to you. At least it is accomplishing something using it in that way. Our economies will not be rebounding in 2009 nor 2010. The stock market will not be rebounding anytime soon.
-
jaguarbass
I cashed out of the market when the dingbat stole the election 8 years ago.
The economy is based on emotion.
And a stupid president does not inspire any good emotions, except bears, shorts, downturns and loss.
The market went south also when the dingbats father was president.
Now here's something for your crystal ball the ding bat has another brother who is going to be running for president 4 to 8 years from now.
If this economy recovers in the next 8 years and Jeb gets elected because suddenly America has more stupid people again. And stupid people can not stand prosperity, like the Bill Clinton years.
They want everyone to be biblically miserable and pure. No blxw jobs or abortions but its ok to blow the shxt out of other countries by accident, bad intelligence.
That would be the time to go to cash, gold, war stocks, like Halburton and energy stocks.
-
stillajwexelder
yes but it is mnot worth much - I figured I will have to work for the next 20 years until I am past 70
-
sammielee24
So what do you do if you didn't move your money out? At this point you have to decide if you are willing to accept that there is the possibility of additional losses from 20-40% more in your account. If a depression happens than this is very likely and could be even more than that amount. If you can't accept that I would advise moving your money into an interest bearing account. As you must understand the money you lost in your account IS LOST. People will tell you it is only a loss if your account is cashed out, but you'll never get that money back unless the market goes back up which in cases like our economy can take many YEARS. What should I do with my money now then? If I were you and you really aren't sure what you are doing with your retirement plan I would advise instead of contributing money into your
I know people who have had major losses and wish they had of collapsed their plans early on. The markets will rebound - but people have to use common sense in their investments and look at all the factors in their lives. First you should have cash savings to equal approximately 6 months' worth of living expenses aka your emergency fund, then, you need to look at how old you are. The markets aren't going to rebound for years and if you've lost 50-60% you are not going to make that up and then increase your percentage for quite possible 15 or so years. That means that if you are 45 or under, you could still benefit from an upswing if you leave your funds there - if you are older, chances are you won't see the same return ever. People should never invest money they may need in 5 years is the general rule of thumb. A lot of people are very cash poor - I'm starting to think some people don't have a clue what cash looks like! sammieswife.