7 401(k) Mistakes You’re Probably Making

Nice.

I love how the experts *NOW* say..."forgetting to rebalance", i.e. taking money OUT Of stocks!

All I heard during 2008 and 2009 was "Don't stop contributing and don't stop buying stocks!!".

So which is it, so called EXPERTS????

Admit it... you "experts" don't know anything more than the average investor when it comes to the timing of selling and buying stocks so stop acting like you do & telling us what we SHOULD do.

GRS of MI 1:29PM May 26, 2010

I love the explaination of how the working stiffs who "kept on contributing were the ones most likely to actually get close to and, in some cases, recover all of their losses".

This is the most twisted logic for saying YOU got to pay for Wall Street's excess and reckless behavior. Only a financial pol could state your 401k "recovered" by your paying into a system that was destroyed by short term speculators, then bailed out with taxpayer funds.

Editors should credit American workers for the honor of paying twice for our financial recovery.

Mike Morris of WA 11:24AM May 26, 2010

This may sound contrary, but most people have their 401k plans too aggressively invested. This often leads to excess volatility, and therefore, investors do not stick to their investment allocations - often getting out when the markets are low, and back in when the markets are high. Dalbar studies confirm this "emotional investing" tendency. Investors are their own worst enemies in many cases.

A more balanced approach, with a meaningful allocation to US Stocks, Foreign Stocks, Emerging Markets, Natural Resources, Real Estate, Investment Grade Bonds, Foreign Bonds, TIPS, and Ultrashort Bonds/Cash - with a 60/40 blend as a start, will give investors a smoother and more profitable ride over time. Many people will substitute fixed annuities for portions of the bond/cash allocation for accounts outside their 401k.

All this may sound "regurgitated", but the vast majority of retirement portfolios I review do not have a good balanced mix as described here.

Victor Guettlein, CFP of CO 7:37PM May 10, 2010

These "articles" are routinely trotted out giving the same basic information over and over again.

If you didn't already know all of this before reading this article, you have an almost zero chance of a comfortable retirement, and have probably been in a coma for the past 20 years. The only exception is the roth 401k, only because it was just recently enacted.

joe 2:17PM May 03, 2010