Quote:
Originally Posted by jggaylord
My 401K has gone down about 40% since the downturn in the economy.(was about 165K). I have a small mix of Fidelity funds to choose from. What should I be looking to invest in given market conditions. Should I stay in stock or bond funds. And then which ones. I know this is long-term investing, but I want to protect and grow my investments, and try to prevent further losses. Thanks.......
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the time to have thought about what to do was october when new highs were being made..... after a big drop its no longer about getting out but about when to rebalance or what to buy.
if you rebalanced as we kept falling like a good strategy plans for and if you added more to your holdings at this point that in itself should have you close to back or even ahead.
i know i recently broke a new all time high.....
anytime you think your going to outsmart things with timing its almost a lock you will fail...you have to guess right 2x each time.. when to get out ,when to get in ,and the hardest part is fighting your brain which will give you analysis-paralysis and keep you from getting back in when you should.
just diversify and let it do its thing over time......
whats the right mix funds? the mix that will let you sleep at night and not screw with it trying to time things or causing you to panic and bail at the wrong time....... the reason soooo many lost money wasnt because of the drop. it was because they didnt have the risk tolerance when things fell to do the right thing.
that would be rebalancing and having a plan that included rebalancing as well as continuing to buy more when others were running for the exits.
long term investments need many years to mature and pay its dues... you cant put money in a 401k and look in 5 years and go im down..... equities need 12-15 years to really do their thing . i know money i put in in the late 80's is up 1200% , it was 1100% when we fell last year...
even a 65 year old still has long term money that wont be used to eat for 15-30 years ,thats still money that should be in equities.
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