401(k)
« Previous EntriesYour 401(k) Might Be Better Off Than You Think
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009From today’s Wall Street Journal:
Get this: Despite the biggest and broadest decline in financial markets in a generation, the median 401(k) retirement account at Vanguard Group on Sept. 30, 2009, was up 7% from where it was two years earlier, when the market was near its all-time high.
The Reason?…
Continued regular savings matter a lot. If [...]
401(k) Just a Few Thousand Away From Previous High
Thursday, September 17th, 2009I was checking my wife’s 401(k) balance last night and noticed a couple of interesting things:
1. The balance is just a few thousand shy of its previous high-water mark. Yes, that number includes contributions but it’s still shows drastic improvement from the low.
2. Last year’s personal rate of return was somewhere around [...]
AFM Reader Question on 401(k) Loans
Monday, July 13th, 2009I received the following email over the weekend:
Hi,
Your article on 401(k) loans was very informative.
I am trying to decide between 401(k) loan and withdrawal. My 401(k) is not currently active, meaning I do not contribute anything towards it. I have moved to a new employer and my 401(k) was with the old employer. [...]
SURPRISE!!!!! Our Personal Rate of Return is 11.5% for 2009!
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009I logged into my wife’s 401(k) account this morning to find this:
The definition of personal rate of return (I put together a tutorial here) on Fidelity’s website is:
Your Personal Rate of Return is calculated with a time-weighted formula, widely used by financial analysts to calculate investment earnings. The calculated value reflects the result of your [...]
Scott Burns Starts a Six-Part Series Today on Retirement Saving
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009I noticed Scott Burns’ column in today’s Houston Chronicle (you can read the article here) is the first in a series on reforming retirement saving. This particular article talks about the fact that many employers are no longer offering their employees a 401(k) match. Scott references a study done by Hewitt Associates that [...]
STICK TO YOUR GUNS, PEOPLE!
Thursday, January 8th, 2009From the front page in today’s Wall Street Journal comes, Big Slide in 401(k)s Spurs Calls for Change. Here’s a quotes (WARNING: some of this might make you mad):
The stock-market rout has ignited a crisis of confidence for millions of Americans who manage their own retirement savings through 401(k) plans.
After watching her account drop [...]
Leave Our 401(k)s Alone!
Friday, November 14th, 2008Take a look at what Teresa Ghilarducci at New York’s New School for Social Research wants to do to your 401(k):
Her plan would end the tax breaks for 401(k)s; she proposes instead to give all workers an annual $600 inflation-adjusted tax credit for retirement and force them to invest 5% of their pay into a [...]
Question From a Reader: 401(k) Loan
Thursday, November 6th, 2008I received the following email last week:
Hi JLP,
I’ve read your blog about the 401k loan. However, it’s still unclear what to do in my case. I took out a 401k loan of $20,000 by June, 2008. The loan is payable within 5 years. However, I will be laid off by my current employer by the [...]
A Conversation With a Friend About His 401(k)
Saturday, October 18th, 2008This morning I got a call from my friend. Our conversation went something like this (I’m pulling a 15 minute conversation from memory so bear with me):
Friend: I was looking at my 401(k) statement last night. One month ago I had $23,000. This month it’s down to $17,000. I lost [...]
Are 401(k) Plans Really That Bad?
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008At least once a week I receive an article submission from a guy named Steven Selengut. Steven, a portfolio manager and author, runs Sanco Services, a portfolio management company. This week’s article is titled “Why 401(k) Retirement Plans Really Don’t Work,” which you can read in its entirety here. The author prefers [...]
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