My 401K is way down

R

Ramathorn

1,000+ Posts
I know, what''s new, right? It's down 24%. There are alot of investment guys here, so what do I do? Commit less? Switch it up? Is there any upside? Am I buying more shares?


Thanks in advance.
 
Keep contributing for the matching funds and the tax break. Its a good buying opportunity but we may not be at the bottom yet.

Its your call if you want to place the contributions in the market or leave them in some cash account. You're gambling. But don't stop contributing.
 
Mine is down as of today 33%. I just lowered my contribution rate to 1% and moved all my money to a low yield but stable asset fund.

I'll just ride this out from there.
 
I was down 20% Monday but sure it will continue to drift south. I'm 38 so I know I've got time to recover. About 9 months ago when things first started looking squirrely I changed my allocations--not my contribution--and pushed a greater percentage into stable value funds & lower-risk bonds. I've still got over 30% in international right now which is killing me, but I'm hoping for a good bounce when the markets come back.
 
For those of y'all that are cutting down your contributions, I wouldn't go below your employer's match. Even if the market does poorly, you are still better off if your employer matches you dollar for dollar.
 
I'm up 20% ytd. You have to be nimble in these markets. Manage it everyday. Change your allocations back and forth from money markets to stock funds depending on the overbought/oversold conditions of the market.

I'm 100% invested in money markets today. However, I may buy stock funds before the close today and look for a 2-3% rebound tomorrow and then before tomorrow's close reallocate to money market funds again.

Buy and hold doesn't work, obviously, in a bear market.
 
I haven't touched my contribution amount but I did change what I'm buying. I've only been investing in a money market fund since July. However, I still have a big chunk invested in stock funds.
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I'm 39 and haven't looked at it in 6 months. Don't care, I'm in it for the long run. Don't have the time or desire to micromanage it, so I'm pure buy and hold.
 
HURRICANE - are you talking about your 401K? Because I know I can't do anything near what you are talking about with my Fidelity 401K account. First of all, it takes a day or two for a transaction of mine to take place. So I can not "sell/buy" with any sort of timing. I have no time to react to market conditions on a day to day basis. Or am I wrong?
 
I have no idea what mine is at. I only look at it about once a year, and I usually forget what it was at the last time I looked.

I contribute 10% to a Roth 401K and some more to a Roth IRA. I get a match on the first 6% of the 401K. I had a professional help me pick and allocate the funds, and haven't even thought about moving or changing anything since the day I set it up.

It's in there until the day I turn 60 and retire. I hope I'll be in for a pleasant surprise that day. I really tried to keep up with it for the first few years. But honestly, it bores the **** out of me. Whatever gains I'm missing out on is worth it for the freedom to not give a **** about it.
 
I debated long and hard about lowering my contribution rate, but, like I said, I have lost a full 1/3 of my contributions this year (although it was divested between a lot of different funds, including company stock which is in the tank right now).

I get a 6% match at my company, but I don't understand contributing a large amount and continuing to lose 33 cents of every dollar I put in.

I understand that right now it is buying "cheap", but I don't think we are anywhere near the bottom on this thing. I've seen projections of 10-15% more of a drop in the market.

I think I will ride this out and see if I can stop the bleeding a bit.
 
AuburnTexas - Our 401K allows you to have unlimited trades in certain funds without penalty. (First Eagle Fund, Davis NY Venture, Lord Abbett Small Cap, etc.)

We are also allowed to use a Schwab 401k account. Which you would pay a small commission after each trade.

I'm not doing too well today. I put 50% back into stocks at yesterday's close. Markets are down 3-4% today.

Not a big deal, I wasn't convinced on today's move, as I only invested 50%.
 
I'm 62, haven't looked at my balance for fear of what I'll see and still adding a thousand a month. But then hippies are not very smart when it comes to money.
 
Ive moved mine to a retirement preservastion (2.9% ytd) account to ride out the storm. But i havent dropped my contribution.

Im glad i did this 2 months ago, when my portfolio was "only" down 6% percent. But im 30 so i still have a long time to go.

I really feel for those folks who are set to retire within the next 10 years.
Ive talked with some of my pops buds and they hurting BAD.
 
I am 33 and am don't need my 401k for a long long time so it is just monopoly money at this time.

On the other hand, my private investments in Vanguard are taking a beating too. I am still dollar-cost-averaging on a weekly basis even now. Part of me wishes I had put the money that I had in bonds but Malkiel says that more people lose money trying to time the market than anything else.
 
unless you are close to retirement and pursuing a cash preservation strategy, just keep doing what you're doing and don't worry about it.

dollar cost averaging. if you are in it for the long run, you want to keep buy now because it's cheap and will help your portfortlio when the market rebounds in a couple of years. don't panic. the market is in correction mode. it'll be fine eventually.

of course i may be talking out of my arse and we may be on the cusp of another great depression. if that's the case, then we're f'ed any way you slice it and fretting over investment choices will seem insignificant.
 
Thank you Luke, I was going to try and explain exactly that. Its free money he is not accepting from the company match AND the fact that your contribution is pre tax and lowers your taxable income.
 
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