My retirement and 401k money is going away...?

Question

My account has drop over 10k in the las month or so... What makes me wonder is the money in the right place? Can some one help me?

I have 50% of my money in Small Cap

20% in International Emerging

20% in Large Cap

5% in Cash

5% in International Stocks

Is this a good combination for this economy? Is everyone in the same boat?

I have no clue what I am doing... Please give me some advise...

No need for desclaimers -- all desicions are ultimatetly my resposability and no one elses, I know... I just need some pointers.

Answer 1

You only want to pull out if you plan on retiring this year.  Otherwise the market will gain and fall all the time.  Just stop checking it for a few months until the economy stablizes again.

Answer 2

most everyone's plan is dwindling...

the world's economys are struggling in many ways due to the price of fuel, corn, wheat, etc.

while there is growth here and there things are kind of crazy right now!

you're not alone!

remember, your 401k is a long term investment! short term gains and losses should even out eventually.

frustrating to watch it fall though.

i think your picks for the emerging markets and international funds are good though!

hang in there. you don't want to sell when things are real low anyway!

Answer 3

The combination of your investments depends on how long the money will be tied up. For the very long term, i.e. 20+ years, I don't see much wrong with your holdings. Maybe you want to sell some small caps and put the money into international and large caps, but that is the only change I could think of.

As for the losses, this is indeed normal. You may even lose more than what you have lost so far. But again, for  the very long term this should not matter much. It may even play in your favor if you keep investing, since you will be able to buy more shares when prices are low. When you keep investing a set dollar amount, you will most likely end up in a good spot in the long run. For more on this technique which is called "dollar cost averaging" click on the links below.