How are your investments doing?

[DarkBlack]

Company 401K plan... was invested in funds across the board from aggressive (real estate) to very conservative. Lost half of it in 2008. Lost 30% of it again in 2012. Two years before I retired I moved it all to the money market. Right now it's only making 4%, but it's not going anywhere regardless of what the stock market does.

Personally, I haven’t seen a company 401k that allows risky investments like real estate. I’m guessing they allowed you to pick a fund of REIT’s?

How did you “loose” 30% in 2012?
That wasn’t a bad year for the market.
It looks like you’ve tried to time the market, and gotten it all backwards. That unfortunately happens to a lot of people

 

[MossRoad]

Company 401K plan... was invested in funds across the board from aggressive (real estate) to very conservative. Lost half of it in 2008. Lost 30% of it again in 2012. Two years before I retired I moved it all to the money market. Right now it's only making 4%, but it's not going anywhere regardless of what the stock market does.

These days places like Vanguard & Fidelity have taken out a lot of the guesswork by offering "Retiring in 5/10/20" funds. As you get closer to retirement your money is gradually moved from aggressive to conservative investments.

2008 we lost about 30% of our net worth value. We followed our plan and kept investing. By 2010 we were back to our 2008 value. By 2012 we had doubled our 2008 value.

We were fortunate that we didn't need the funds in 2008. But even then, we wouldn't have needed all of them, and I'm sure we'd have been OK.

 

[DarkBlack]

I luv this chart on market timing psychology

 

[MossRoad]

I think one thing to consider in retirement is what it costs you to live.

We won't have a mortgage. We have never had a car payment either. I don't imagine we will be making payments in retirement, since we didn't while raising a family ($$$). My son is the last to leave the nest this coming fall, and currently our monthly expenses hover around $2000-$2500. Once I stop feeding him, I'll save a little more

Oh, man.... since our two kids went out on their own, we have food in the fridge and money in the bank!

I often tell them I want my $250K back.

 

[MossRoad]

Personally, I haven’t seen a company 401k that allows risky investments like real estate. I’m guessing they allowed you to pick a fund of REIT’s?

How did you “loose” 30% in 2012?
That wasn’t a bad year for the market.
It looks like you’ve tried to time the market, and gotten it all backwards. That unfortunately happens to a lot of people

At my current job and my last job, we had/have 401Ks through the company, but they were managed by Fidelity. We could only select from a list of funds, not every fund that Fidelity offered.

Even with that, there was/is a good mix of risk levels. I've been in really aggressive stuff for about 25-30 years. So you have to be able to stomach the large swings that come with it.

My wife's 401 is similar. She's in medium risk stuff, so not as wild of swings.

 

[ponytug]

At my current job and my last job, we had/have 401Ks through the company, but they were managed by Fidelity. We could only select from a list of funds, not every fund that Fidelity offered.

Even with that, there was/is a good mix of risk levels. I've been in really aggressive stuff for about 25-30 years. So you have to be able to stomach the large swings that come with it.

My wife's 401 is similar. She's in medium risk stuff, so not as wild of swings.

So, net, net a balanced portfolio.

All the best, Peter

 

[Highlandr]

Personally, I haven’t seen a company 401k that allows risky investments like real estate. I’m guessing they allowed you to pick a fund of REIT’s?

How did you “loose” 30% in 2012?
That wasn’t a bad year for the market.
It looks like you’ve tried to time the market, and gotten it all backwards. That unfortunately happens to a lot of people

Yes, it was an REIT fund.

Didn't really try to "time" anything. From the time the co. offered a 401K with match I was 30% "Income" funds, 30% "Growth" funds (large cap), 20% "Aggressive" funds (5% small cap & 15% international) and 20% REIT. So I leaned aggressive.

In other words, I just let it ride for over 20 years. Of course the funds offered changed a few times (mostly Vanguard now), but I stayed with the same type.

 

[DarkBlack]

Yes, it was an REIT fund.

Didn't really try to "time" anything. From the time the co. offered a 401K with match I was 30% "Income" funds, 30% "Growth" funds (large cap), 20% "Aggressive" funds (5% small cap & 15% international) and 20% REIT. So I leaned aggressive.

In other words, I just let it ride for over 20 years. Of course the funds offered changed a few times (mostly Vanguard now), but I stayed with the same type.

Ok, but I still don’t know how you lost 30% in 2012? That year was ok for REIT’s and the overall stock market

 

[Highlandr]

Ok, but I still don’t know how you lost 30% in 2012? That year was ok for REIT’s and the overall stock market

Don't remember what funds I was in back then as it was before the switch to the Vanguard funds, but that's the number I have in my spreadsheet. ::::

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Fed just made asset holders wealthier today. The more money they inject, the wealthier asset holders become