What are ya'll doing with your 401K?

[Nickshu]

Originally Posted by widebody911

<PARF>According to the Republicans, corporations are suffering and need an immediate 50% tax cut</PARF>

I am an S-corp and yes I pay nearly 50% of my income in taxes. 41% to the government and that does not include county, city property and sales and use taxes which approaches 50% in total. So yes I would love some tax relief.

It would allow me to pay a larger portion of my employees health insurance, contribute more discretionary match to their 401K, and give them raises instead of giving this money to the government. Yes I could do all of those things and also take home more myself. Hoping for some help from the current administration. The main issue is there is no single tax plan that will benefit everyone, the system is too complicated and the feds have too much debt.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Craig T

I've gotten out and back in twice in 12 months

People behaving like this is another sign that the market is about topped out. I hope I;m wrong, but I think we're in for a big correction and I think it will be sooner rather than later.

[Evans, Marv]

Of course I've been retired for 13 years at this point. I have my IRA and my wife's Roth IRA/403b in the same old, established Vanguard fund, from which I withdraw the minimum from mine. I have side by side money market funds with them and can get out into cash if I want. I don't like the idea of going to cash but did that in the last down turn a couple of years ago thinking it might have been the real thing. I got back in in time to make a little bit, but I don't equate that to any particular superior savvy on my part. If the new tax law is passed and business friendly, it might continue the current expansion even though I feel support for it is getting thin as far as the market is concerned.

[wildthing]

Originally Posted by aschen

S&P index fund should be much less than 1%, 2% is criminal for any fund and vanguard indexes are usually less than 0.1%

either you are off by a bit or truly getting screwed

You are right. Maybe I checked two years ago, but today the Target 2040 has an expense ratio of .43% and the S&P Index is only .03%.

Still, there are only 27 choices in my current employer's 401k!

[aigel]

I expect to lose most of what we saw in the last 2-3 years. I don't want to time the market though.

Anyone have a precious metal IRA? I am thinking about pulling out some insurance into that. These are physical purchases held, not ETF or mining company stocks.

G

[aschen]

those rates Arnt too bad, I think I have about 15 choices in mine and several of them are so bad they arn't worth considering. Its really hard to know how to direct these things

[kevin930t]

Taking it and spending it on hookers and blow.Haha

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

[widebody911]

It would allow me to pay a larger portion of my employees health insurance, contribute more discretionary match to their 401K, and give them raises instead of giving this money to the government.

The track record from prior tax cuts over the past few decades says otherwise; the windfall has gone to stock buybacks, dividends, and executive compensation.

[flatbutt]

Unless you convert your holdings to cash where else would you put your money? And if the great Tabdullah is correct then the cash isn't worth spit anyway. I'm staying in the market, diversified as all heck but in the market. If it crashes we're all beggars anyway.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Craig T

I've gotten out and back in twice in 12 months (like an idiot). Can't walk away from these gains, but afraid the bubble is going to burst fairly soon. Like others, I don't have the years left to wait out a correction. Now I have everything in a low-fee Vanguard balanced fund ("VBIAX"). At 70/30 allocation, the highs aren't as high, but the lows won't be as low either...and I can get out at the first sign of trouble. I hope!

If you invest like ^^, then yeah, gains won't be high.

Originally Posted by RKDinOKC

It is my opinion the average earnings whatever your investments are going to be just under the increase in the cost of living. i.e. any gains will match or be outpaced by the cost of living. That is what interest is and how it is paid to investors.

I think I've read that the avg investor makes around 4.5%. I think the reason for that, based on my reading is that folks watch their stuff too closely and make emotional decisions. If emotions are ruling your investing, you're probably going to screw yourself out of gains.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by widebody911

It would allow me to pay a larger portion of my employees health insurance, contribute more discretionary match to their 401K, and give them raises instead of giving this money to the government.

The track record from prior tax cuts over the past few decades says otherwise; the windfall has gone to stock buybacks, dividends, and executive compensation.

I'm sure that there are some companies like Nick's that would use the tax savings to expand, but you are right, he would be an exception.

[dan88911]

I am staying the course.

And will rebalance at the end of the year to my 60/40
allocation.

[lukeh]

One of the cardinal rules of investing is don't try and time the market. Trying to time it is the main reason the average investor does much worse than market averages.

I wonder if the people that say they don't have the time to recoup a market drop actually know the average length of time it takes for the market to gain back the loss.

Remember, the crash of 2008 is not a normal event but a once in several decade type of event. Unfortunately human nature makes people think the last worst thing is the new normal.

When rates go up bonds go down. Don't think moving into bonds is a safe haven.

Diversify your money, set those allocations and leave it alone.

[Cajundaddy]

Hmmm, I rather like a correction every now and then. It cleans out the plumbing, tends to overshoot a bit, and allows me to buy shares at a discount for a while when folks freak out and sell on the slide.

I am a long term guy and really avoid trying to time the market because my odds are better in Vegas. If I thought I needed cash over the next 2-3 years it would be prudent to set aside 10% or so now as a safety net, but my timeline is 5-10 yrs still. I plan to let her ride and let everyone else do what they do since it doesn't really affect me much.