What was your end of year return on 401k for 2008?

[DisgruntledVirus]

-38.40% here

edit: although not a big deal because I'm only 22, but still sad to see all that money out of there

 

[Elganja]

-46.54% 401k, i'm invested in "high risk" funds.
-51.68% Roth IRA, invested in the "FLVCX" fund (can no longer contribute to the Roth IRA)

not too concerned though... i have many years ahead of me before I retire (i'm 28 years old)

 

[Kenji4861]

gosh.. I'm scared to look.

 

[jersiq]

I'm only 32, so I don't even bother looking at my return on my 401k. Pretty pointless for me.

 

[ch33zw1z]

-27.7%, at least I'm still under 30...until 2010..

 

[JDub02]

-40.6%
I didn't want to look, but my wife opened the statement.

 

[SpunkyJones]

Don't know yet, and I'm not sure I want to.

 

[kedlav]

-39.6%

I'm 23 and have a long way to go.

 

[Vette73]

My wifes is down 41%. lost about 50k or so.

 

[DnetMHZ]

Performance Period : 01/01/2008 thru 12/31/2008
Rate of Return : -38.83 %

 

[Mr Pickles]

Geez. I was feeling bad with -16%. And I'm 100% Growth, 100% stocks.

 

[darkxshade]

0% It was a foolish decision on my part in the beginning 3 years ago to not put a single dime into my 401k. I decided I needed to save up a bit and pay off some debt first but also because the company did not match for the first year and I quit that job 1.5 years in. My 2nd job didn't match for 6 months. So it subsequently worked out for me since I would be taking a huge hit since 3 years ago was the highs of the stock market. I just started on my 401k this month though which is a great time to start.

 

[TallBill]

Up 100% because I just started it this year.

 

[Elganja]

Originally posted by: darkxshade
0% It was a foolish decision on my part in the beginning 3 years ago to not put a single dime into my 401k. I decided I needed to save up a bit and pay off some debt first but also because the company did not match for the first year and I quit that job 1.5 years in. My 2nd job didn't match for 6 months. So it subsequently worked out for me since I would be taking a huge hit since 3 years ago was the highs of the stock market. I just started on my 401k this month though which is a great time to start.

there are 2 sides to this all...

yeah a bunch of us lost a ton of money in our 401k's, BUT we all also bought a shit ton of shares for very cheap. The market will rebound and when it does we all will make out

 

[lokiju]

Yea for me for not investing in my retirement yet!

 

[eersnherd]

I'm managing my wife's 401k and when we started the whole energy crisis thing was going on.

4th quarter - -26.7%
2008 total - -43.9%

We are both young (mid 20's) so this has a long time to grow.
Heavily invested in stocks 93%
Emerging markets, Latin America, SE Asia, Energy, Chemicals, Large Caps, etc

 

[Gunslinger08]

-46.02%.

 

[Ticks]

-34.6%

 

[Wonderful Pork]

-39.4%. I maxed out my contribution, and even with my employer match I still ended up -$300 if you look at the balance on 01/01/08 versus 12/31/08. That's $18,500 gone.

And I'm already down 8.7% year-to-date 2009. I'm glad I'm still (mostly) young.

 

[duragezic]

Originally posted by: darkxshade
0% It was a foolish decision on my part in the beginning 3 years ago to not put a single dime into my 401k. I decided I needed to save up a bit and pay off some debt first but also because the company did not match for the first year and I quit that job 1.5 years in. My 2nd job didn't match for 6 months. So it subsequently worked out for me since I would be taking a huge hit since 3 years ago was the highs of the stock market. I just started on my 401k this month though which is a great time to start.

Jeez I'm glad there is someone else out there who is dumb as me!

I've worked here for 7 months before I started contributing to my 401k. At first I wanted to wait a month or so just to get as much in my savings. Then I held off because I felt that I had to research my options and determine my mix of funds. Really it was just laziness and stupidity on my part. I finally took the 10 minutes to start contributions... it took all of selection traditional 401k, after-tax, or Roth 401k, then as simple as selecting a Vanguard target retirement as late as possible (2045 or something; the highest risk one).

My company has a 6% 1:1 match the day you start, so yah over 7 months I lost out on a significant amount of free money.

In the end, that $1500-2000 is a tiny part of my eventual 401k, OTOH it will turn into something significant in 40 years.

So to answer the question, I'm sure down maybe 10-15%, but it's only been a month or so.

 

[akshatp]

Originally posted by: duragezic

Originally posted by: darkxshade
0% It was a foolish decision on my part in the beginning 3 years ago to not put a single dime into my 401k. I decided I needed to save up a bit and pay off some debt first but also because the company did not match for the first year and I quit that job 1.5 years in. My 2nd job didn't match for 6 months. So it subsequently worked out for me since I would be taking a huge hit since 3 years ago was the highs of the stock market. I just started on my 401k this month though which is a great time to start.

Jeez I'm glad there is someone else out there who is dumb as me!

I've worked here for 7 months before I started contributing to my 401k. At first I wanted to wait a month or so just to get as much in my savings. Then I held off because I felt that I had to research my options and determine my mix of funds. Really it was just laziness and stupidity on my part. I finally took the 10 minutes to start contributions... it took all of selection traditional 401k, after-tax, or Roth 401k, then as simple as selecting a Vanguard target retirement as late as possible (2045 or something; the highest risk one).

My company has a 6% 1:1 match the day you start, so yah over 7 months I lost out on a significant amount of free money.

In the end, that $1500-2000 is a tiny part of my eventual 401k, OTOH it will turn into something significant in 40 years.

So to answer the question, I'm sure down maybe 10-15%, but it's only been a month or so.

You dint lose anything. Your 401k probably would have lost 30% of its value due to the market turmoil, so you probably broke even; even after considering the company match

 

[child of wonder]

So instead of comparing how earned the most money now we're comparing who lost them most?

Kind of like an inverted penis measuring contest?

 

[JMapleton]

No 401k ftw?

 

[Electric Amish]

I lost about 10k...

 

[Imported]

Haven't checked, but it's probably similar to the OP. I'm 24 and just started contributing this year (2008).