- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
401k investment question - if market has substanial downturn....
Posted on 12/28/13 at 9:20 am
Posted on 12/28/13 at 9:20 am
My 401k is with a past employer that offers 6 categories of investment. short term fixed, fixed, balanced, large us equity, small, and international funds. the risk gets higher as you go from fixed to international. i have 60% in balanced and 40% in large US equity. (or number 3 & 4 for risks). Not wanting to argue if a downturn is coming. I want to put most all in a lower risk category because i feel a substanial downturn is in the near future, however, the return on the lowest two categories (this year) is right at 0% I have made 22% this year. If i stay with balanced funds will they "survive" substanially better than the more riskier funds? Any suggestions? I am closing in on retirement.
1
Posted on 12/28/13 at 9:28 am to jeffsdad
You need to determine your own risk. When you say closing in on retirement, how many years are you away? What is your current split between equities and bonds? I'm currently 90/10 but I have many years left.
Posted on 12/28/13 at 9:38 am to LSUSUPERSTAR
4 years at most. thanks for reply. i looked at the details of investments.... the 30% in large US equity is in the American Century Growth Inst Funds which appears to be stocks. The 60% is in the Principal Lifetime 2020 Inst Fund which quote "The investment seeks a total return consisting of long-term growth of capital and current income. The fund operates as a "target date fund." It invests in underlying Principal Funds, Inc. ("PFI") domestic and foreign equity, real asset and alternative investments, and fixed-income funds according to an asset allocation strategy designed for investors having a retirement investment goal close to the year in the fund's name.' which I assume is not stocks.
Posted on 12/28/13 at 9:55 am to jeffsdad
Usually those year funds are a mix of stocks and bonds. As you get closer to the date, it shifts more to bonds than stocks. I personally don't like them and am doing better by monitoring my 401k and creating my own split.
Posted on 12/28/13 at 10:19 am to LSUSUPERSTAR
Your over my head. Dont think my ex-company has that kind of options. I guess rolling my 401k into the type of account i could more closely manage is an option, but then u r speaking of giving somebody a couple of percentage points to oversee it right? now i pay practically nothing for that.
Posted on 12/28/13 at 11:06 am to jeffsdad
If you are trying to protect then cash or short term fixed are your hiding places. If you are only 4 years away from retirement I wouldn't stray too far into the equity side of things. I would stay mostly in balanced and short term fixed. Make sense?
Target date funds are not my favorite as you get real close to retirement because they shift in to bond funds which are no good in this environment. For example, the 20 year bond index is down 13% this year. I don't want to be forced into this by a target date fund. I would have rather been in ST bonds or floating rate.
Target date funds are not my favorite as you get real close to retirement because they shift in to bond funds which are no good in this environment. For example, the 20 year bond index is down 13% this year. I don't want to be forced into this by a target date fund. I would have rather been in ST bonds or floating rate.
This post was edited on 12/28/13 at 11:09 am
Posted on 12/28/13 at 11:07 am to jeffsdad
quote:
Your over my head. Dont think my ex-company has that kind of options. I guess rolling my 401k into the type of account i could more closely manage is an option, but then u r speaking of giving somebody a couple of percentage points to oversee it right? now i pay practically nothing for that.
If you roll it over to somewhere like Schwab or etrade there is no % coming off the top, although there are transaction fees and expense fees inside of certain investment vehicles. You can manager how you want and you will have untold numbers of options. That can be a good or bad thing depending on your level of sophistication in such matters.
This post was edited on 12/28/13 at 11:10 am
Posted on 12/28/13 at 11:53 am to rmc
Not sophisticated at all obviously, but I have managed, with a lot of luck, to move my investments around in a timely manner. i moved just before the huge downturn after (or before?) 9/11 and also the more recent downturn. i only lost a little in both. I move investments very rarely all-in-all.
bottom line I seem to need to roll over into a company with a good fixed income account with a small percentage in a balanced account. Thanks for everyone's input.
bottom line I seem to need to roll over into a company with a good fixed income account with a small percentage in a balanced account. Thanks for everyone's input.
Page 1 of 1
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News