Boy, that Dow

[beckyliz]

In this day and age it's expecting way too much from employers.

If I have a 401k, I can't figure out how to use it, and I suspect it may not really exist, but I'll pour through fine print maybe (see I was told one existed initially ...). Anyway there is no matching (if there even is a 401k), I've put no money into it (so it's not like I've lost track of actual money here). And so it doesn't really matter, I know how to put money into an IRA on my own thanks and do.

Meanwhile my boyfriend is enrolled in a 401k that seems like a scam, like the employer literally seems to maybe be pocketing the money (oh that guy is sleazy who knows), so I keep telling him to verify that it's legit (ask the brokerage if an account really exists, because maybe it does and it's legit, it's just things smell really funny there).

Most 401ks aren't scams of course, but depending on employers having them, yea good luck with that.

I just kiss the ground I've got decent employer healthcare. Unlike IRAs which are a 401k alternative although alas not as generous, options for decent healthcare coverage outside of employment is pretty much non-existent presently.

go to www.freeerisa.com and search for the boyfriend's company. They're required to file a 5500 return for the plan. Free ERISA allows you to search for recent returns (not sure if 2018 would be available, but 2017 should be). It will document the number of participants, the assets, expenses, providers, etc.

[Rogar]

I'm sorry savings accounts have been made passe' by aggressive marketing of equities and purposeful lowering of interest rates. It would be nice to have that as a viable option, at least.

That's my opinion also. I still flinch a little thinking about the financial melt down and how much some people lost in the market based on an over exuberance in equities. Of course it came back and more, but for people close to retirement or in retirement it could affect a person's financial planning. One of the reasons why I have been and still am conservative. Stocks are not quite like going to Vegas, but as they say, past performance is no guarantee of future returns. It's too bad a person can't beat inflation or even come out a little ahead with most bank time deposits. Maybe low interest rates are temporarily good for the economy but they are not so good for people like me.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Well interest rates had to be cut 3 times to get this record Dow, getting pretty low now (not much room to maneuver the fed says). And more deficit spending too. In a so called good economy, well it ain't counter-cyclical - we're not in Keynesianism anymore. But Trump's got his boom, his reelection perhaps, and he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue now and it wouldn't matter maybe.

[ApatheticNoMore]

go to www.freeerisa.com and search for the boyfriend's company. They're required to file a 5500 return for the plan. Free ERISA allows you to search for recent returns (not sure if 2018 would be available, but 2017 should be). It will document the number of participants, the assets, expenses, providers, etc.

ok he seemed assured that someone at work told him they get statements at the end of the year.

[Tybee]

APN, check to see if you can roll your old 401k into your IRA. I have done that. That way, you are in control of it and you know what you have.

[jp1]

APN, check to see if you can roll your old 401k into your IRA. I have done that. That way, you are in control of it and you know what you have.

You definitely can do that. (By law). However, you need to do so into a rollover IRA but brokerages are happy to set up a separate rollover account for people. All my old 401k’s except my most recent former employers are in one.

[Alan]

The Dow hit 28000 today. Woohoo!

It seems like only yesterday (although it's more like 2 or 3 years ago yesterday) that I kept telling myself that I'd make adjustments when and if the Dow ever hit 18000. I never did make those adjustments but I'm wondering if now isn't the perfect time?

[Tybee]

I guess I would stay my course with respect to asset allocation. I have always been extremely conservative, so I can't afford to become more conservative.

I am adjusting over time to a more simplified portfolio, because I saw my mother get dementia, and I would like things simple when I get to be closer to the age when she got sick, if that makes sense. No one else in my family is interested in the market, so unless that changes, I will need to get simpler as time goes by.

I think adjustments depend so much more on your personal life circumstances than what is going on in the market. But obviously, you know that.

[frugal-one]

Put $1000 in local utility stock when granddaughter was born and have dollar cost averaged $100/month since. Staggering how much it has grown considering the conservative bend.

[SteveinMN]

I kept telling myself that I'd make adjustments when and if the Dow ever hit 18000. I never did make those adjustments but I'm wondering if now isn't the perfect time?

No one ever knows the "perfect" time. But I think there's been enough growth to at least rebalance or take some profits and move them wherever you want/need them. We've been pretty aggressive all along but are pulling that back a little as we approach retirement. Moving some of that money around is on my immediate-action to-do list.