How to know if my 401K is performing well?

- Rate of return from 4/21/14 to 9/31/14 is 0.79%

Mine is 4.22% for the same period.

LINK

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Short answer is it's too soon to tell. Start with a more basic question - why did you choose that allocation? Particularly, why two separate mid cap funds?

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frankly, i really don't remember. that was a lifetime ago for me recently it seems.
i probably looked at its annual results and top investments then chose.
also i do remember one of the MFs dropping during the year and they moved those monies to a different one. i simply did not take the time to keep up with it, so its my fault really.

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i probably looked at its annual results and top investments then chose.

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This is not a good approach, and it screams the implicatation that you will rearrange the funds you are in every other year to chase returns.


You look at various risk classes and decide how you want to allocate out. Not just going from fund to fund and going "okay this is good, I like those returns."

In a 401k scenario, rebalancing is a powerful tool that can potentially result in you making money from economic downturns. But only if your assets are diversified. Hell, one of my 401k holdings was selected simply because it was a highly volatile international fund. It has meager returns when annualituzed, but the big swings plus rebalancing will allow my portfolio to buy low and sell high on the roller coaster.