Who has a 401K

I have one that I draw money each month from because I'am retired. The only thing I can look forward to now is dying. The aholes running the goverment has caused the stock market lose half it's value in less than three months. I'am sure that I'am not only the in this situation there is probaly millions of other retires in the same boat. Alright I guess I can go back to work oops nobodys hiring . Ok the venting is over Time to clean the deer rifle i would hate to shoot a politican with dirty gun. Just kidding?

I am back where I was in 2003 in my 401K, I have lost that much! now a 201K and looking at being a 50K soon!!! hahaha.

I don't have a 401k but have a 403b the equivalent retirement account for those that work for non-profits. It's down too but because I paid attention to my investments it's not too bad. As I approached retirement I changed my investments to less risky ones. That's the fundamental problem with self management of retirement accounts, you have to be smart enough or hire someone smart enough to change your investment strategy as you approach the need for your savings. Since we are all greedy we want the returns Bernard Madoff promised and ignore the risk. Most of us are easy prey for the so called investment experts. It's hard work with a lot of discipline to do well.

I was in a 401 only because the company put in 50 cents on my dollar. I put it in bonds, 100% everyone told me you are a a$$, go with the stock market all I said is what I put in is all I want back. I'm not greeady. They mocked me at work, I told them those Wallstreet guys will never give you your money, they had it too long now it's theirs. Well where did all that money go....... the stockmarket guys got it and gurss what..... right now they are working on a way to get what you have left. SORRY for the coldness of this post but it is the truth.
Ray

I don't even want to talk about it! The entire situation makes me sick. Lisa

401k's and 403b's are equity investments. Equity investments bear considerable risk. You could lose all or part of your money in these investments. Investments require management. Consult a financial adviser before investing any money.

Sound familiar?

Everyone was given that advice before investing.

401k's are not insured bank accounts. In recent years the stocks rose faster than they should have. Yep. They were a bubble too, both in the tech boom and in the last five years.

The government is at fault in influencing people to believe that retirement is something all of us can have on easy street. The focus on 401k's was to remove the pressure on Social Security which isn't sustainable. The government knows this. It's just another part of the smoke and mirrors of the last 40 years. The economy of the US was essentially a boom town for the last 200 years. It won't go on indefinitely. Economics will see to that.

you guys that lost money on your investments should keep things in perspective. I'm the head of a family of 6 (remarried with step kids) and I make about $20k a year after taxes. Because of special family circumstances I work from home because my situation demands flexible hours, I can't go out and get a steady 9-5 job. Do you know how much I save every week in my retirement account? Zero, there is no money left after buying groceries and ammo. Seriously my only saving grace is I don't buy anything on credit so my bills are extremely low compared to the national average, but losing some money is better than not having any to lose. Any extra money I have I save up and buy livestock with, meat doesn't go down in value it can always be eaten.

there is no money left after buying groceries and ammo.

After President Obama comes for all the ammo, you can sell yours on the black market at a premium and make more than a 401K ever would have.

I dont have a 401k. I would love to have one right now if it would be possible, but my company doesnt offer one. Now is the best time to pump money into your 401k when everything is so low. Stocks are only going to go up from here. It is how a market works ... up then down up then down up then down ... its just now our wonderful president is making things worse and prolonging the stock market plunge ... but with or with out govt help we will come out of it. sooner if it werent for the govt stimulus and spending and taxes and ... u get the point

I have two seperate retirement plans. The larger of the two today fails to equal the smaller one of 2007. This is bad, real bad. I worked and saved for 27 years to date and have lost 50% and more in 6 months. The experts today continue to tell us to stay put. The middle class has been fleeced once again. There is no honesty any where today. I don't know what to do and worse yet, no one knows what we are to do.

You have several options to get into the market through a retirement account. The Roth IRA which was mentioned before or you can open a traditional IRA and deduct your contributions from your gross income. If you set up a self-directed IRA you can invest in equity funds, bank CD's even gold bullion. It gives you a much wider choice of investment options than a 401k. The down side is your employer isn't making any contributions.

For those that lost a ton in the stocks the only action is really to stay put and wait. The stocks will go up again, they always do. Will they be back up when you need to take money out, that's the tricky question. Taking money out when the market is down is foolish, if you keep your money in you haven't actually lost anything except on paper. If the company you invested in went bankrupt then you did lose, sorry.

mikeandgerry wrote:Everyone was given that advice before investing.

No.... My wife is an RN, the hospital used to pay it's nurses a retirement. Ten yrs ago they did away with that retirement system and gave each nurse a lump sum that was put into a 410B. There was zero choice, other than you could tell them "I want risky" or "I want less risky". We took "As freakin' low risk as possible". At this point she has lost about 35%.

The old plan: Nurses after 30 yrs got 80% of average income, and free medical care.
The new plan: BEFORE this collapse it looked like she'd get 23% of her average income and zero medical..now? HA!

Hey, look on the bright side. If Bush had his way with privatizing Social Security, people ready to retire would have nothing.