stock market was up today...

#12,416
#12,416
Hey guys...

I just got my yearly? Statement from Principal for my 401k. Want some advice from you smart guys...

I have 100% of my 401k in a target date 2035 thing with principal...can find the exact name if its important. Anyway...from jan 2019 to now it has gone from about 40k to $77k ...most of which is me contributing 3% of my pay plus my company making yearly profit share deposits of about $8k to $9k...this year from jan1 to now however my account is down 1.2%% or so and is losing money.

This doesnt concern me too much...what does is Biden and this idiot administration and the media pushing as hard as they can to get us in an overdue recession. Long long overdue as yall well know.

The site says my $ is invested in mutual funds and other things i know little about as well as the stock market. I believe my "risk profile " at this time is moderate...dead center. I feel like Biden administration is gonna absolutely wreck this country...and i would rather pull all my money out and make zero interest than lose my azz like my Dad and Pappaw bpth did by hundreds of thousands of $ in the 08 recession. My contribution plus my bosses amounts to about 10k a year....i would be perfectly happy to have $97k in my 401k in 2 years of this nightmare administration...even moreso i would like to invest maybe half of it in Gold or something that very rarely loses...especially in bear markets like we are likely to have for the next 3 years...please help if yall can with these questions...

Can i even do that? With a target date fund can i make them pull all my money out and sit on the sidelines for a while....or invest it in Gold (at least paper gold if not physical)???

Do yall agree that our economy is gonna likely be crap for the next 3 years regardless?

It seems like China BS is heating up and we are spending billions to upgrade our military...would investing in the MIC stocks like Boeing...Northrop/Grumman...Pratt whitney etc be a good investment at this time?

With my $ in a targeted date fund...can i even call them and say "hey i want to put 25% of my loot in Boeing...or even 25% in defense contractor stocks???"

Am i being stupid? Some folks say to just leave your stuff alone bc the market beats inflation over time....but after seeing my Dad and Pappaw EACH lose well over $100k in the last recession, i dont want that to happen to me. We are far from rich/comfortable and my 401k is our only retirement $....having $97k in 2 years suits me just fine when i think the housing bubble is gonna pop again and compound the coming/current recession...

What say you, my VN brethren???
 
#12,417
#12,417
marcusluvsvols said:
Hey guys...

I...and i would rather pull all my money out and make zero interest than lose my azz like my Dad and Pappaw bpth did by hundreds of thousands of $ in the 08 recession. My contribution plus my bosses amounts to about 10k a year....

Am i being stupid? Some folks say to just leave your stuff alone bc the market beats inflation over time....but after seeing my Dad and Pappaw EACH lose well over $100k in the last recession, i dont want that to happen to me. We are far from rich/comfortable and my 401k is our only retirement $....having $97k in 2 years suits me just fine when i think the housing bubble is gonna pop again and compound the coming/current recession...

What say you, my VN brethren???
Click to expand...

I am not sure what their circumstances are/were, but they would not have lost anything and would have had their funds grow nicely over the last decade if they didn't sell during the previous recession. If you have enough time and can ignore the short term noise, it is usually best to ride the short term drops and wait for the rebound while continuing to invest (dollar cost average) as it drops and rebounds. No one really knows what the future holds, so ymmv.

ETA: personally, I moved maybe 20-25% of my investments to cash and missed out on a good chunk of the post recession run up because I was always worried about jumping back in at the wrong time. Eventually, I just set it to slowly move over monthly to get it back in the market. Now I just set it and forget it route for the most part. Most of mine is in stock funds now since I also have a pension to rely on.
 
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#12,418
#12,418
marcusluvsvols said:
Hey guys...

I just got my yearly? Statement from Principal for my 401k. Want some advice from you smart guys...

I have 100% of my 401k in a target date 2035 thing with principal...can find the exact name if its important. Anyway...from jan 2019 to now it has gone from about 40k to $77k ...most of which is me contributing 3% of my pay plus my company making yearly profit share deposits of about $8k to $9k...this year from jan1 to now however my account is down 1.2%% or so and is losing money.

This doesnt concern me too much...what does is Biden and this idiot administration and the media pushing as hard as they can to get us in an overdue recession. Long long overdue as yall well know.

The site says my $ is invested in mutual funds and other things i know little about as well as the stock market. I believe my "risk profile " at this time is moderate...dead center. I feel like Biden administration is gonna absolutely wreck this country...and i would rather pull all my money out and make zero interest than lose my azz like my Dad and Pappaw bpth did by hundreds of thousands of $ in the 08 recession. My contribution plus my bosses amounts to about 10k a year....i would be perfectly happy to have $97k in my 401k in 2 years of this nightmare administration...even moreso i would like to invest maybe half of it in Gold or something that very rarely loses...especially in bear markets like we are likely to have for the next 3 years...please help if yall can with these questions...

Can i even do that? With a target date fund can i make them pull all my money out and sit on the sidelines for a while....or invest it in Gold (at least paper gold if not physical)???

Do yall agree that our economy is gonna likely be crap for the next 3 years regardless?

It seems like China BS is heating up and we are spending billions to upgrade our military...would investing in the MIC stocks like Boeing...Northrop/Grumman...Pratt whitney etc be a good investment at this time?

With my $ in a targeted date fund...can i even call them and say "hey i want to put 25% of my loot in Boeing...or even 25% in defense contractor stocks???"

Am i being stupid? Some folks say to just leave your stuff alone bc the market beats inflation over time....but after seeing my Dad and Pappaw EACH lose well over $100k in the last recession, i dont want that to happen to me. We are far from rich/comfortable and my 401k is our only retirement $....having $97k in 2 years suits me just fine when i think the housing bubble is gonna pop again and compound the coming/current recession...

What say you, my VN brethren???
Click to expand...

Your investment options are defined by your 401k plan. You can certainly pull your money out and convert it to a self directed IRA, but that’s not a good idea unless you know what you are doing. Dumping it all into gold or 1 or 2 companies is a bad idea. There are 2 types of risk. Securities risk and market risk. You open yourself up to unreasonable securities risk by investing large percentages of your portfolio in only a few securities. Principal’s investment professionals shield you from securities risk. Your best defense against market risk is to avoid chasing returns and moving in and out of various investments.

If you are worried about losing the value of your investment you could move some to a closer target date like 2025. If you want to be more aggressive and won’t rely on your funds immediately upon retirement, then you could allocate some to a target date further out (like 2045).

Chasing returns by constantly flipping around investments is more often than not a bad strategy.

Your 2035 fund is professionally managed and takes care of things like diversification for you. It is designed to be simple for the investor.

You actually benefit from funds losing value as you are adding more money to your account. You’ll end up owning more shares since you are buying low.

If you want to self direct some investments you can always open up a separate account at Schwab. You’d probably want to open that account as a Roth IRA. With a Schwab IRA your investment options are extensive.
 
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#12,419
#12,419
If this is your fund I don’t see serious issues with it. It’s pretty conservative, but you indicated that you favor preserving your investment in the near term rather than taking on more risk while Biden is napping in the basement of the White House. Their 0.01% fee is very efficient. However this fund invests in other funds so the actual fee is closer to 0.5% which isn’t outrageous.

LTIUX | Principal LifeTime 2035 Fund;Institutional Overview | MarketWatch
 
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#12,420
#12,420
Edit: this was to Volkyrie...not yet seeing Thunder GO post.

Thanks for your reply...sincerely.

Other guys...please try and help me answer those questions above if you have a few minutes. I am not asking for stock tips or specific investing advice really, and would have no hard feelings if i followed anyone heres advice and lost bigly. Mostly i dont understand what i actually can and can't do with my account at principal...and also want to know what yall think will happen over the next 3 years?

As to your reply brother...my Dad had to retire in about 2010 so while i dont think he sold much at the low point, the bottom line is when the market did get revved back up in 2011 or 12 he was missing over $100k from his pre recession totals and no longer contributing % every month either to quickly earn that money back. Pappaw was already retired...but he lost $150k or so and also had a very slow recovery if ever he did fully regain that $...then he died 2 years ago. The bottom line is that if either 1 of them had been able to spot the trouble coming, they would have had $100 to $150k more to ride that 8 or 10 year bull market and would have made a ton of $....

Biden (his handlers) are so damm dumb and their policies and multi trillion $ giveaway practices are gonna be so devastating when compounded by inflation and a BIG HUGELY over valued residential real estate market ....it looks like we are in 2007 all over again, except on steroids....and I am wondering if i can and very seriously considering pulling all 77k out of these investments and putting half in cash and maybe split the other half between something like Gold and maybe Boeing or another defense contractor that was just awarded huge contracts.

If i remember correctly, the contractor who builds our nuclear subs is running way behind filling orders due to covid etc...but have already been awarded the billions to build almost a dozen subs??? There are several surface ships under construction with billions in funds under contracts already to build those ships for the Navy as fast as they possibly can....aircraft too...how could those guys not turn a good profit when their biggest customer (our gov) will print as much $ as they need to in order to pay the contracts?

What do yall think about gold or silver? Platinum has gotten really expensive...i know because catalytic converters for cars have seen their prices nearly double in the last 5 years maybe?

How do yall feel about pulling my $ out of the stock market...in order to not lose my butt in the looming recession??? Am i more scared than i should be?
 
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#12,423
#12,423
Thunder Good-Oil said:
If this is your fund I don’t see serious issues with it. It’s pretty conservative, but you indicated that you favor preserving your investment in the near term rather than taking on more risk while Biden is napping in the basement of the White House. Their 0.01% fee is very efficient. However this fund invests in other funds so the actual fee is closer to 0.5% which isn’t outrageous.

LTIUX | Principal LifeTime 2035 Fund;Institutional Overview | MarketWatch
Click to expand...


Thank you very much for your thoughtful post my Vol brother. I know in the past you have similarly helped me in the same manner when i got my yearly statement and was confused and worried. I grew up poor because my parents were divorced and am middle class now...if there is such a thing. ..a rung or 2 above the working poor i guess but no where near golf course living or a McMansion. Have 1 kid in college and my 13yo daughter still in Christian school with college to surely follow as well. My wife is just now driving her 1st ever brand new vehicle at 39...a hyundai SUV...i have never had a brand new car or truck and we prob have $60k sweat equity in a modest $135k home...we both work since my kids are both in school. I am 44yo....

My 401k is all we have for retirement. Thats why i am so worried about it losing a third or half its value when this housing bubble bursts with the recession. Losing 40k would be devastating to me. I would probably shed a tear in private honestly....even though money and material things have never really been very important to me. Losing the ability to help my kids or wife if disaster strikes would just kill me. I fear that. Not being able to protect and provide for them...

Anyway thanks a bunch for your advice and God bless you and yours. Really appreciate your insight on these matters .

Go Vols
 
#12,424
#12,424
Thunder Good-Oil said:
If this is your fund I don’t see serious issues with it. It’s pretty conservative, but you indicated that you favor preserving your investment in the near term rather than taking on more risk while Biden is napping in the basement of the White House. Their 0.01% fee is very efficient. However this fund invests in other funds so the actual fee is closer to 0.5% which isn’t outrageous.

LTIUX | Principal LifeTime 2035 Fund;Institutional Overview | MarketWatch
Click to expand...

I dont think that is mine. It shows YTD 9% plus gain and what i read last night showed minus 1.something% for mine YTD...as long as YTD means since jan.1 2021 and not different fiscal quarters or something? I will go log into my account and post what fund it is...
 
#12,425
#12,425
marcusluvsvols said:
Thank you very much for your thoughtful post my Vol brother. I know in the past you have similarly helped me in the same manner when i got my yearly statement and was confused and worried. I grew up poor because my parents were divorced and am middle class now...if there is such a thing. ..a rung or 2 above the working poor i guess but no where near golf course living or a McMansion. Have 1 kid in college and my 13yo daughter still in Christian school with college to surely follow as well. My wife is just now driving her 1st ever brand new vehicle at 39...a hyundai SUV...i have never had a brand new car or truck and we prob have $60k sweat equity in a modest $135k home...we both work since my kids are both in school. I am 44yo....

My 401k is all we have for retirement. Thats why i am so worried about it losing a third or half its value when this housing bubble bursts with the recession. Losing 40k would be devastating to me. I would probably shed a tear in private honestly....even though money and material things have never really been very important to me. Losing the ability to help my kids or wife if disaster strikes would just kill me. I fear that. Not being able to protect and provide for them...

Anyway thanks a bunch for your advice and God bless you and yours. Really appreciate your insight on these matters .

Go Vols
Click to expand...

You’re 44. The 2035 fund is targeting a young retirement age (60 or younger) for you. Don’t worry about the fund having an off year. It should do better in down years than the broad market averages like the DJIA and S&P 500. The 2008/09 Great Recession was an unusual situation and those that did not panic and pull out their invested capital weathered that pull back quite well. You’re worrying about possible paper losses.
 
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