Quote:
Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
I haven't bothered with one in my life. Its nuts, but I just don't give a shit. I gave money to a relative developing land in Arizona instead. If it works, it'll return more (now) than the 401 would ever. If not, selah...
Retirement? I should be so lucky...
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I put in about 15K a year. My wife does about 12.5K. We're projected to retire with about 2-3 million (YMMV) in our 401(k)s. Sounds pretty good to me, considering we'll both be getting pensions and social security, as well.
Yeah, the stock market could crash and we could lose it all, but I don't think it's any crazier than throwing a large chuck of cash into a commercial property venture.
And to Pony - your investments sound a little conservative to me, but I don't really know how old you are. If you're under 45, I would move to a more aggressive portfolio. I am 100% in stocks at this point. 70% in an S&P 500 index (really low expense ratio and can't really get much more diversified in terms of stocks), 15% in a small cap index fund and 15% in a foreign stock fund (slightly higher expense ratios, but I'm willing to pay it for the small cap and foreign exposure).
That being said, I'm only up 3% for the past 12 months rolling. Stocks have had a tough year, but you have to remember you're dollar-cost averaging, so it should pay off when the stock finally picks up (b/c you're buying more stock for your money now).
The key rule, as I'm sure you know, it to avoid trying to time the market with your 401(k). Pick an investment strategy and stick with it. Once you start getting closer to retirement (i.e. ~ 5-7 years away from it), move some of your investments into more stable investments during a market upswing and you should be golden.
I realize all of this talk violates sebby's "live in the now" rule of life, but that's his rule, not mine. I'm an optimist and hold out hope that I will be alive at 85 and, if I am, I'd like to have some income other than a part time job at the local 7-11.
