So, your 401K is tanking, what can you do?

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: SSSnail

Originally posted by: NL5
Yes, take out your money when it's low! That's the way to make big profits!

Seriously, unless you are 5 years or less away from retirement, don't sweat it. If you are in decent funds, strat buying MORE now while it's low.

It amazes me how many people want to invest more when returns are super high, and then dump it when it tanks. Ass backwards.......

This is not individual stocks, and TA sucks for not having a single option that's in the positive (accept for one that's pegged to the interest rate), how can they suck so much?

Let's say you start your year with $10000, a contribution of $10 a month, and you're losing $100 a day. Soon, your options will be worthless. So when do YOU dump it? When your balance reaches $1000 and hope for a quick rebound? Or do you contribute more so that eventually your balance will reach $10000 again and lost all the time you built it?

Edit: I never like TA much anyways, and it sucks that we don't have Vanguard.

Christ, your 401k is a retirement account! It is NOT going to be worthless. You may lose $100 in a day, but it is only for a short time. Don't forget that it was just 12 months ago that you were making $100 a day. What you are looking for is long-term average return, and dollar-cost averaging by continuing to make contributions will help you achieve that return. Every dollar you put in while it is low is worth more in the long run than the dollars you were putting in last year when it was high.

 

[thirtythree]

I put my Roth IRA contributions for this year into a more conservative fund, but I haven't moved my previous contributions... seems like it would be a bad time for you to do that since you've already lost money, and large gains tend to follow large drops...

That said, there's a lot of talk about a recession, so it's hard to tell what your best option is without a crystal ball. That's why most people just put their money somewhere and let it sit for decades.

EDIT: I have a question for those talking about dollar cost averaging. Would that be a better option for me than maxing out my IRA at the beginning of each year? The way I see it, the stock market goes up on average so getting it all in early is a good idea. It won't always work to my advantage but it seems like it should on average (i.e., over the coming decades...)

 

[moparacer]

Everything I've been reading seems to indicate that we're not at the low yet.

Anyone see what the overseas markets did today????

That doesnt bode well for tomorrows opening......

So just where might one speculate the low will be????