Getting and reading the quarterly 401k account statements used to be quite a joyful event. The numbers keep going up, the row that says Market Value Change is always positive and my grin always get bigger.
This year however, it’s a little different.
With the downturn of the stock market, the value of my 401k account really tanked. In fact, my statement says that I lost $-5,112.08 year to date, which is roughly 12% of my entire account! I already tried to pick the funds with the least amount of fees, but my funds in the 401k will still take an average of 1.2% of my money this year. Normally, I try not to pay attention to this since I don’t have much of a choice with my limited 401k selection but it is particularly frustrating when it seems like I’m paying someone to lose my money. (One note to self: When I gain control of the money in my 401k, remember to pick funds with low expense ratios)
Currently, my allocation is:
BlackRock S&P 500 Index Fund – 40%
Blackock Large Cap Growth Fund – 25%
Goldman Sachs Mid Cap Value Fund – 10%
Thornburg International Value Fund – 25%
The performance hasn’t been good but I don’t plan to adjust it now that it’s down so much. I plan to keep investing through thick or thin which is key to wealth building because the stock market can turn positive all of a sudden.
When that day comes, we will all welcome the 401k statement in the mail again.
- E*Trade IRA - Official Site
Promote or Save This Article
If you like this article, please consider bookmarking or helping us promote it!
Print Post | Email Post | Del.icio.us | Stumble it! | Reddit |
Related Posts
- 401k Plans and My Contribution
- 401k, Traditional IRA and Roth IRA Savings Not The Same
- Another Way I Use Credit Cards to My Advantage
- Company 401k is in my hands!
- Is My Citi Credit Card Using Creative Marketing or Is It Up To Something Else?
Subscribe! (and Get a Mini-Course with Free Registration)
Follow me on twitter! In addition, subscribe to grab free amazing content or take advantage of the newsletter to have content delivered to you. For starters, a 7-part mini course to help you spend less and be happy will be delivered to you when you subscribe!(Don't worry about spam, because we hate it as much as you do!)
Twitter
Facebook
Subscribe
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
While it is a bit disheartening to see your balance go down- that’s the price for investing in stocks! The good new is that as long as you don’t need the money, and have many years until retirement you should celebrate a market down turn because you get to buy shares at a much cheaper price. Don’t look at the balance for a while, but when the market eventually turns around you will be glad you stayed invested and continued contributing!
-Rick Francis
Rick: You are definitely right
I just wished I could cash out since I’m going full time blogging so I probably will hold off on contributing to my 401k until further notice!
My 401(k) has went WAYYY down but I have to keep in mind it’s a long-term investment. I try not to look to much at it and let my manager… manage it. Whether that is being retro-active or not it’s the best way for me.
Scot: Don’t worry if it’s long term. It will go back up