7 Ways Money Leaks Out of Your 401(k)

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All non-alphanumeric UNICODE characters are being represented as their corresponding hexadecimal values. Please correct this. US News is too large of an organization to let something like this slip through the cracks. Come on now.... you know better.

jasonrubik of TX 10:46PM June 27, 2010

Julius, Social Security was never meant to be everyone's retirement plan. It is a safety net for the broke. It makes it less painful that the rest of us have to support them.
We have not been taught to be financially self-reliant. Start saving $100/ month at age 20, 11% return makes you a millionaire by 60, which is barely enough to retire on. Wait until 30 to start saving and it takes $300/month. 40? $1000/month to have your million by sixty.
And if you never stop borrowing and start saving, you will never have a down payment, which you'll need if you want to house-buy your way to financial freedom, as Dave Brez suggests.
By the way, any statement that starts with: THE ONLY WAY TO INVEST IS... is wrong. Somebody has figured out how to lose their shirt investing that way.

NickyJ of CA 8:42PM June 27, 2010

Unless you are completely stupid with money, dont invest in a 401k or anything else. Invest in yourself first. Buy as nice a home as you can afford and pay it off as soon as you can. I have carefully bought and sold homes over the years, spent my money wisely, and now have over a million bucks. Why would anyone give up their life savings for someone else to use to invest in and make a ton of money is beyond me. All you haveta do is USE and SPEND your money wisely. If you can't do that, then get a 401k.

dave brez of WI 5:09PM June 27, 2010

I worry sometimes about retirement-especially since Social Security maynot exist when i am older-i have at least 15 more years before i can collect Social Security, which at that time would make up at least 85% of my income. Now i see why there are a lot of "Homeless elderly people" on the street....so, why am i working again? Oh i am single, an my kids are grown an have their own families..I feel sorry for the future generations.

Julius of FL 2:18PM June 27, 2010

these short videos where extremily helpful to me to unerstand what my daughter has and will continue to go thru.

Patty Hacker of IN 1:34PM June 27, 2010

Notice how the "leak" is always due to our having to save less because of outside circumstance, never due the stock and market losses that our "Financial Planners" invest our funds in. I have never withdrawn from my account and yet have made no real headway toward my retirement. I will never be able to retire. You can not invest in FDIC secured accounts and make enough interest to amount to any significant savings. Retirement is a pipe dream for lower and middle class america.

Linda Dossett of AL 1:20PM June 27, 2010