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+--- Thread: I've got the 401K blues (/showthread.php?tid=64422)
I've got the 401K blues - RonG777 - 08-07-2011
About a year ago, the consulting firm I work through that had the contract to a F500 company that I do most of my work for lost the contract to a lower bidder. So, all of us jumped that sinking ship and climbed on the new one in order to keep working . . .
Not too bad of a drastic change for me by doing it (Pay is the same, expenses . . Their health insurance is almost non-existent, but that would be a whole other thread entirely . . .) But one thing that has been racking my little skull full of mush is what to do with my 401K fund from my previous company . . .
I already lost about 5K in it the last couple years due to the economy going to the dogs, and trust me, I invested it in the most conservative investments that plan had to offer when I started it . . .
I temporarily had to roll it over to my bank in an account that is kind of a 401K thingy: it makes nothing, but it loses nothing either . . .
I am making some appointments with some financial advisers on what to do with it, (and I do know that all gains have a certain amount of risks), but I just get the strange feeling that financial advisers are just used car salesmen with nicer suits . . .
So, has anyone here had or is having the same dilemma with their retirement fund as I am having? Are they any decent safe investments out there other than stuffing it in Mason jars and burying it in the backyard?
It just seems that anymore these days there is no "sure thing" or "safe investment" out there.
I've got the 401K blues - Zapp - 08-07-2011
Invest in time machine.
Travel back to 1970.
Invest in IBM.
....?
Profit.
(Sorry I got nothing serious to say about retirement funds D:)
I've got the 401K blues - gafwmn - 08-07-2011
There isnt any "safe" investment,unless you get into precious metals,and even then I'd want them close by,not on paper in some bank far away.
With the 401k I have,I just divided mine into 2 groups...1st is high risk / high yield,and the 2nd was low risk / low yield.
Our 401k man was suprised to see my account doing so well with the way things were going,as for last year I had a 42% return on the highrisk area,but it had to do with the buying and selling of currency,and it only did so well because the value of the dollar was low.
I've got the 401K blues - RonG777 - 08-07-2011
' Wrote:. . . I just divided mine into 2 groups...1st is high risk / high yield,and the 2nd was low risk / low yield. . .
My two groups on my old one was the lowest yields / lowest risks. I'm not looking for any high gain funds, just something that wont show a loss every year. Hmm . . precious metals might be a good path to travel down . . .
' Wrote:Invest in time machine.
Travel back to 1970.
Invest in IBM.
I hear 'ya . . I remember when Google was released in its first day of trading, and I said to a fellow co-worker "Anyone that would put their life earnings in another .com stock is an idiot . . ." :laugh: . . .:(
I've got the 401K blues - blubba - 08-07-2011
You are asking us for financial advice?
Wow.
Metals. Maybe oil. It's not getting any cheaper...
I've got the 401K blues - RonG777 - 08-07-2011
' Wrote:You are asking us for financial advice?
Wow.
Why not? . . . No harm in asking for opinions and who knows? . . maybe there is a financial genius who walks among us in Disco - Land . . .
Oil as much as it is in demand is a bit of a volatile market . . metals might be a good idea to put some investment into I think . .
I used to think that T-bills and such would be a good one also, but the recent credit downgrade of the USA has got me questioning that . . .
I've got the 401K blues - DarthBindo - 08-08-2011
"safe" investment is a relative term.
Are there are shares or stocks or whatnot you can get that will never ever lose value over the short-term? Yes, if you invest in bonds or the like, but you won't exactly bring in much either, depending mostly on the rate of inflation compared to the rate of interest on the bond.
You can, however, invest in stocks that pay good dividend and you can be relatively sure will regain lost value at some point or another. Major oil or tech companies are good for this, in fact, given the poor economy of recent days and our continued slump, now would be a great time for long-term investing, assuming the economy picks back up eventually. I myself have made about twenty thousand over the past three months from my investments during late 2008/early 2009. Once our economy bottoms out again, i'll invest that, probably in Oracle or IBM, and wait for the next pickup in prices. I've also got about ten thousand worth of BP stock i'm sitting on that i bought back during that spill fiasco.
As for investment advisers being used car salesmen, well, the ones you go to probably are.
People who are good at stocks are in business for themselves or charge more than most will/can pay.
of course, if you have a 401k, there's only so bad they can mess up. Losing 5k during a downturn is hardly the worst thing ever, especially considering it's investments, not savings.