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

-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)
 
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. 🙂
 
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. 🙂
Click to expand...

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
 
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
 
-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.
 
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. 🙂
Click to expand...
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.
 
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. 🙂
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...

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
 
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?
 
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