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[teh_pwn]

Huh, please explain did I miss something?

Between October of 2008 and through mid 2010 you could buy stock index funds basically 50% off due to the recession. Stocks are close to being accurately priced in my opinion. No more rebound wave to ride.

I have decided to stop aggressively contributing to my 401k, and instead will just get employer matching while continuing to max IRA. Any excess cash I'm going to use to reduce debt and put into a mutual fund to save up for a house downpayment.

Why would you do that? Houses are cheap, they probably will get cheaper but not so much. And over 30 years to principal will appreciate in value so lever up!

30 year fixed about breaks even when you factor in loan interest, inflation, property taxes, repair, insurance, extra commute time, utility bills. But if you move within 5 years the closing fees will make it very expensive short term.

I'm staying in an apartment until I have a family or I have enough for a huge downpayment for a 15 year fixed mortgage.

Yes, rates are low now and houses are somewhat more reasonably priced, but they are still expensive for someone that's not even sure if they're going to live in the same city for more than 5 years. And the payment plan I'm going to take, interest rates matter less.

 

[Gallbaro]

Between October of 2008 and through mid 2010 you could buy stock index funds basically 50% off due to the recession. Stocks are close to being accurately priced. No more rebound wave to ride.

So are you talking about the discount ETF's trade at to NAV? Or an intrinsic value you based your investing off of?

 

[teh_pwn]

So are you talking about the discount ETF's trade at to NAV? Or an intrinsic value you based your investing off of?

Based on what I guesstimate is the value of the index fund. When the P/E ratio was 10 for a growth style index fund or 6 for a value, I'd consider it about 50% underpriced. It's not a science, more guess work.

I mean there isn't a 50% off coupon I'm cutting out or anything.

 

[Gallbaro]

Based on what I guesstimate is the value of the index fund. When the P/E ratio was 10 for a growth style index fund or 6 for a value, I'd consider it about 50% underpriced. It's not a science, more guess work.

I mean there isn't a 50% off coupon I'm cutting out or anything.

Ok, so it was off of intrinsic value. The way you worded it meant something entirely different and a quandary that academics have been trying to explain for years.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Between October of 2008 and through mid 2010 you could buy stock index funds basically 50% off due to the recession. Stocks are close to being accurately priced in my opinion. No more rebound wave to ride.

I have decided to stop aggressively contributing to my 401k, and instead will just get employer matching while continuing to max IRA. Any excess cash I'm going to use to reduce debt and put into a mutual fund to save up for a house downpayment.




30 year fixed about breaks even when you factor in loan interest, inflation, property taxes, repair, insurance, extra commute time, utility bills. But if you move within 5 years the closing fees will make it very expensive short term.

I'm staying in an apartment until I have a family or I have enough for a huge downpayment for a 15 year fixed mortgage.

Yes, rates are low now and houses are somewhat more reasonably priced, but they are still expensive for someone that's not even sure if they're going to live in the same city for more than 5 years. And the payment plan I'm going to take, interest rates matter less.

I'm in 100% the same boat as you! I'm saving to get the biggest downpayment I can make so I can pay the mortgage in 15 years. Here in Montreal house prices have more than doubled in 10 years and there was no crash, so prices are very high right now. I can take a maximum out of my 401k (well, the Canadian equivalent) of 25,000$ for a mortgage without paying income tax on the withdrawal, but I have to invest the equivalent I withdraw back in the account in 15 years (easy as pie really). I'll use my tax-free savings account to try and generate the bulk of my money, but the contribution limit is around 5000$ a year.

So I can get a maximum of 25,000$ from my 401k. Some from my tax-free savings account (counting the years till I might buy a house, i'd say that's another 20,000$ at most). Any money I don't put in my 401k gets taxed, and any money I make through my tax-free savings account doesn't get taxed (but the money that went in it was taxed on my pay). I think the government can give me 10,000$ for a first house/condo purchase too but only if it is a new house/condo. The rest is in my regular investment account, which is all stocks. Any idea what else I should do to get the rest of my savings for my downpayment, or how I should shuffle things around? I'm debt free right now.

 

[teh_pwn]

I'm in 100% the same boat as you! I'm saving to get the biggest downpayment I can make so I can pay the mortgage in 15 years. Here in Montreal house prices have more than doubled in 10 years and there was no crash, so prices are very high right now. I can take a maximum out of my 401k (well, the Canadian equivalent) of 25,000$ for a mortgage without paying income tax on the withdrawal, but I have to invest the equivalent I withdraw back in the account in 15 years (easy as pie really). I'll use my tax-free savings account to try and generate the bulk of my money, but the contribution limit is around 5000$ a year.

So I can get a maximum of 25,000$ from my 401k. Some from my tax-free savings account (counting the years till I might buy a house, i'd say that's another 20,000$ at most). Any money I don't put in my 401k gets taxed, and any money I make through my tax-free savings account doesn't get taxed (but the money that went in it was taxed on my pay). The rest is in my regular investment account, which is all stocks. Any idea what else I should do to get the rest of my savings for my downpayment? I'm debt free right now.

What's your time horizon for the house?

I'm probably going to live in an apartment for another 10-15 years, or earlier if I get married and have kids before then. I have yet to pick a fund, but I plan on picking some sort of stock heavy mutual fund or total world stock market index fund from vanguard. Something that would make on average 9% nominal interest, but if another recession hit would only temporarily reduce my money's purchasing power by 50% for a couple of years.

Examples (I briefly picked these just now, haven't reviewed them thoroughly):
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundId=0628&FundIntExt=INT#hist=tab:0
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundId=0021&FundIntExt=INT

Maybe half & half between those two so that I reduce risk and diversify.

 

[Ether_Snake]

I was thinking at most within 5 years, but it's high relative to all sorts of factors. It's certainly NOT a rush for me. I would prefer buying my first house or condo before having kids though (I'd prefer a house as I don't believe in condos much but it's a question of cost and responsabilities, etc.).

I was looking at some mutual funds as well, but I am not quite certain of how it works. Can you invest in them like in any other stocks?

I looked at few:
http://funds.rbcgam.com/pdf/fund-pages/monthly/rbf468_e.pdf
http://funds.rbcgam.com/pdf/fund-pages/monthly/rbf266_e.pdf
http://funds.rbcgam.com/pdf/fund-pages/monthly/rbf462_e.pdf

Might have to hit refresh once the page is open for it to display.

 

[teh_pwn]

Mutual funds typically are just a collection of stocks, bonds, and other assets that are lightly managed. With vanguard you purchase them like stocks. You purchase x amount in dollars and they buy shares of the fund that is equivalent to that price. Vanguard has minimum initial purchases that tend to be $3000 for new funds, and $10k, $25k, or even close them if they become wildly successful. You'll want to be careful about fees because of the management. Sometimes there are sneaky fees like a 2-5% redemption fee.

Looking briefly at those funds, they seem alright. Personally I would want more diversification than just North America. Then again, just 5 years probably won't benefit a lot from an international portfolio.

 

[Gallbaro]

I was thinking at most within 5 years, but it's high relative to all sorts of factors. It's certainly NOT a rush for me. I would prefer buying my first house or condo before having kids though (I'd prefer a house as I don't believe in condos much but it's a question of cost and responsabilities, etc.).

I was looking at some mutual funds as well, but I am not quite certain of how it works. Can you invest in them like in any other stocks?

I looked at few:
http://funds.rbcgam.com/pdf/fund-pages/monthly/rbf468_e.pdf
http://funds.rbcgam.com/pdf/fund-pages/monthly/rbf266_e.pdf
http://funds.rbcgam.com/pdf/fund-pages/monthly/rbf462_e.pdf

Might have to hit refresh once the page is open for it to display.

You buy into them, you will not be trading them as you can only redeem them at net asset value at the end of the trading day. Go off of the fee structure.

They are fee based, a front load will take a fee off of the money you invest immediately, back end will take the fee when you withdraw. Go for the no load fund.

Since you are Canadian taxed I cannot speak to your tax implications, but you are taxed for the actions of the manager.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Mutual funds typically are just a collection of stocks, bonds, and other assets that are lightly managed. With vanguard you purchase them like stocks. You purchase x amount in dollars and they buy shares of the fund that is equivalent to that price. Vanguard has minimum initial purchases that tend to be $3000 for new funds, and $10k, $25k, or even close them if they become wildly successful. You'll want to be careful about fees because of the management. Sometimes there are sneaky fees like a 2-5% redemption fee.

Looking briefly at those funds, they seem alright. Personally I would want more diversification than just North America. Then again, just 5 years probably won't benefit a lot from an international portfolio.

Two of the three are global funds though. And I say 5 years but who knows really, like I said I have no pressure.

You buy into them, you will not be trading them as you can only redeem them at net asset value at the end of the trading day. Go off of the fee structure.

They are fee based, a front load will take a fee off of the money you invest immediately, back end will take the fee when you withdraw. Go for the no load fund.

Since you are Canadian taxed I cannot speak to your tax implications, but you are taxed for the actions of the manager.

What do you mean by "no load fund"? You mean only when I withdraw? And "taxed for the actions of the manager", what does this mean?

Thanks

 

[Gallbaro]

Two of the three are global funds though. And I say 5 years but who knows really, like I said I have no pressure.



What do you mean by "no load fund"? You mean only when I withdraw? And "taxed for the actions of the manager", what does this mean?

Thanks

No load fund-Does not charge a commission. May make money through other fees.
Front load fund-Charges a commission when you buy shares of the fund, this destroys some compounding.
Back load fund-Charges a commission when you sell back shares of the fund.

That is about as specific as I can get for Canada, watch out for 12-b1, or market fees

As to taxes, in the USA since mutual funds are not taxable entities you are entirely responsible for the trades of the manager. Such as capital gains and dividends.

 

[bionic77]

Man, I bought Apple a while back at $80 and I didn't have the balls to hold onto the stock long enough once I heard Steve Jobs had cancer. I sold it at like $160 and the stock is well over $300 at the moment and Jobs health appears to be getting better and the stock is probably going to go even higher once they start selling on Verizon.

 

[Gallbaro]

Man, I bought Apple a while back at $80 and I didn't have the balls to hold onto the stock long enough once I heard Steve Jobs had cancer. I sold it at like $160 and the stock is well over $300 at the moment and Jobs health appears to be getting better and the stock is probably going to go even higher once they start selling on Verizon.

And when Android becomes to the mobile OS what Windows is to the desktop OS? Or when Steve Jobbs does finally croak? It will be epic.


There is much more downside to the stock than upside.

 

[teh_pwn]

And when Android becomes to the mobile OS what Windows is to the desktop OS? Or when Steve Jobbs does finally croak? It will be epic.


There is much more downside to the stock than upside.

Agreed. I've said this several times over the past 2 years and I've been unpopular saying it, but I think Apple is a very risky investment. I'm surprised they've done as well as they have. I don't see how they can continue to grow as the valuation of their stock infers. So much competition coming in from every angle followed by lowering prices. I could very easily be wrong, but I think it's a very bad idea to buy Apple right now. I think they'll do fine long term, but I think there's going to be a major adjustment.

 

[Gallbaro]

Agreed. I've said this several times over the past 2 years and I've been unpopular saying it, but I think Apple is a very risky investment. I'm surprised they've done as well as they have. I don't see how they can continue to grow as the valuation of their stock infers. So much competition coming in from every angle followed by lowering prices. I could very easily be wrong, but I think it's a very bad idea to by Apple right now. I think they'll do fine long term, but I think there's going to be a major adjustment.

Well we have both been wrong in the short term for the past 2 years, but just the fact that it is now approaching XOM in market cap, that is almost a firm barrier to common sense.

 

[Ether_Snake]

It's unlikely AAPL's stock value will rise significantly without a drop in the near future, but I do not believe growth is unlikely. Apple has what Sony benefited from for so long: Brand recognition. People now associate Apple with computers, phones, and music. The next logical step is TV and entertainment (TV shows, movies, games). No one else has such a broad brand recognition nowadays, and this brand power will help them take market shares in those other sectors. So I see a lot of upside.

Competition will be fierce but I don't believe Google has shown any signs of being good at competiting with anyone outside of Google's search engine itself. They are fucking up way too many of their ventures, and while Android might be a success they will have a lot of trouble getting the biggest share of the mainstream market. You just have to look at everything Google has done and offers for free that people have no idea even exists. Google has a pretty low "hit rate" so to speak: they do a lot of stuff, but only a handful of them succeed. Not the case with Apple.

On a much longer term, who knows if Apple will hold up, things change faster than ever nowadays, but for the next five years or so, I'm not worried for them in any way.

The current stock price is unlikely to be a good entry point, considering it's very likely to plateau for some time or fall, it's overvalued. But the company is rather solid IMO, as long as they focus on delivering simple products.

 

[Cloudy]

I got crushed in MCD recently. I finally bowed out today after being down 7% in like 2 weeks and seeing reports of more bad news to come. I 'd have stayed in cos the dividend is good but I have a few index etfs that track it as a top holding and didn't want the overlap

 

[Cloudy]

And when Android becomes to the mobile OS what Windows is to the desktop OS? Or when Steve Jobbs does finally croak? It will be epic.


There is much more downside to the stock than upside.

I highly doubt this. I don't see any real competition for ipad in the near future and the thing is going to erase netbooks from the market. Look how well it's doing at a very steep pricepoint. Any other tablet that's a legitimate threat is DOA if they lower the price just a little

 

[SlipperySlope]

Well, Qualcomm is buying Atheros Communications it seems for $3.5 billion. I own stock in Atheros. Not sure whether to be happy or sad (I expect more out of Atheros than a 20% gain).

Edit - But I can't complain about a 70% gain in 3 months.

 

[Ether_Snake]

NVDA has been going up like crazy over the past two days.

 

[TxdoHawk]

I've been looking into Exchange-Traded Notes tied to commodities.

This is the 5-year chart for OIL, which as you can probably guess tracks the price of crude...

Tempted to plow money into this or something similar, as it's only a matter of if, not when, before we are back to $4 a gallon gas in the US (or worse) and oil takes off again, no? What does GAF think?

 

[Ether_Snake]

LDK is up 17% today. Damn, why is it never STP that goes up like that? Anyway, at least it's helping a bit.

 

[Tarazet]

I've been looking into Exchange-Traded Notes tied to commodities.

This is the 5-year chart for OIL, which as you can probably guess tracks the price of crude...

Tempted to plow money into this or something similar, as it's only a matter of if, not when, before we are back to $4 a gallon gas in the US (or worse) and oil takes off again, no? What does GAF think?

Danger danger danger. Note that oil has doubled since the lows, but OIL has not budged. That's a sign of systemic problems with the product.

 

[Ether_Snake]

In English Tarazet! What does it mean?

 

[Gallbaro]

In English Tarazet! What does it mean?

The ETF is no longer tracking the actual commodity.

EDIT:

The discount is getting bigger. But still I have yet to hear an actual explanation for the discount.

 

[Tarazet]

In English Tarazet! What does it mean?

It means OIL sucks. I had a really bad experience with UNG not really budging at all as natural gas prices doubled, but taking a huge hit in price whenever it so much as ticked down. It looks like OIL is the same way.

 

[Tarazet]

Actually, there's a very simple explanation for it. The bulk of trading in commodity ETFs is in short-term futures. Futures work just like options do - as they get closer to expiration, they lose their time value at an accelerated rate until there's none left. So it's the equivalent of putting all your money on red at the roulette table.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Ok. But while we are on the subject: I have stock-options in the company I work for. They say I can turn 25% of them a year into stocks. What I don't understand is what happens if I turn them into stocks at one point or another? Why wouldn't I wait until I want to sell them? Why can I "turn them into stocks" and yet not sell them? Isn't that the same as keeping them as options? Or is it some tax-related issue?

Cause I was thinking of holding onto them and only converting them to stocks when I wanted to sell them (at least as much as I can sell at that given point).

Also, since they were given to me at 8$ a share, does that mean that if they go down to 7$ a share when I sell them that I won't pay any tax since there is no "gain", or is it ALL considered a gain because they were given to me?

 

[Gallbaro]

Ok. But while we are on the subject: I have stock-options in the company I work for. They say I can turn 25% of them a year into stocks. What I don't understand is what happens if I turn them into stocks at one point or another? Why wouldn't I wait until I want to sell them? Why can I "turn them into stocks" and yet not sell them? Isn't that the same as keeping them as options? Or is it some tax-related issue?

Cause I was thinking of holding onto them and only converting them to stocks when I wanted to sell them (at least as much as I can sell at that given point).

Also, since they were given to me at 8$ a share, does that mean that if they go down to 7$ a share when I sell them that I won't pay any tax since there is no "gain", or is it ALL considered a gain because they were given to me?

I am not a CFP. This a very different subject in actuality.

 

[Ether_Snake]

I meant while we are on the subject of options.

 

[pyrealnova]

Hey Finance-Gaf, I don't post often but I am in need of some advice. I'm in my mid 20's and am beginning to think about seriously investing my money (note: to date, I currently only hold a checking account and a 401k). I visited a Financial Consultant at Schwabb yesterday and based on how much risk I was willing to take he suggested I invest in two different mutual funds -- JABAX (http://quote.morningstar.com/fund/f.aspx?t=JABAX) and EXDAX (http://quote.morningstar.com/fund/f.aspx?t=EXDAX).

I was thinking of contributing around $10k into each of these funds, and the guy I spoke to made it sound like in 5 years time I would see considerable growth. But after going home and looking over the funds' past performances it didn't seem like $10k would grow into a large figure after 5 years time.

You guys know way more than I do. Should I take this guy's advice and invest in these funds to start me off, or take a different route? Ideally I'd like to be able to purchase my own home in about 5 years time and pay off about $50k in student loan debt (student loans are less of a concern for me at the moment).

Thanks for any help!

 

[Tarazet]

I meant while we are on the subject of options.

You say that as if they had anything to do with one another..

 

[sc0la]

Hey Finance-Gaf, I don't post often but I am in need of some advice. I'm in my mid 20's and am beginning to think about seriously investing my money (note: to date, I currently only hold a checking account and a 401k). I visited a Financial Consultant at Schwabb yesterday and based on how much risk I was willing to take he suggested I invest in two different mutual funds -- JABAX (http://quote.morningstar.com/fund/f.aspx?t=JABAX) and EXDAX (http://quote.morningstar.com/fund/f.aspx?t=EXDAX).

I was thinking of contributing around $10k into each of these funds, and the guy I spoke to made it sound like in 5 years time I would see considerable growth. But after going home and looking over the funds' past performances it didn't seem like $10k would grow into a large figure after 5 years time.

You guys know way more than I do. Should I take this guy's advice and invest in these funds to start me off, or take a different route? Ideally I'd like to be able to purchase my own home in about 5 years time and pay off about $50k in student loan debt (student loans are less of a concern for me at the moment).

Thanks for any help!

Hey there i am a noob at this too, been doing it less than year, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt

Look at TPINX, it has a higher yield than both of those and has been extremely stable over the last 10 years. It is foriegn government bonds mostly. It has a front end sales charge, a "load," so you start off down 4.25% right of the bat so it's not something you want to look into if you plan and getting your money back out in a near term window.

 

[CFMOORE!]

Ok. But while we are on the subject: I have stock-options in the company I work for. They say I can turn 25% of them a year into stocks. What I don't understand is what happens if I turn them into stocks at one point or another? Why wouldn't I wait until I want to sell them? Why can I "turn them into stocks" and yet not sell them? Isn't that the same as keeping them as options? Or is it some tax-related issue?

Cause I was thinking of holding onto them and only converting them to stocks when I wanted to sell them (at least as much as I can sell at that given point).

Also, since they were given to me at 8$ a share, does that mean that if they go down to 7$ a share when I sell them that I won't pay any tax since there is no "gain", or is it ALL considered a gain because they were given to me?

taking my experience with my stock options into account, this is how it works/ed

I was given X amount of options and told that me they will vest 25% each year for four years. So at the end of four years I fully own those options to buy. I was given them when our stock was at around $12.50 with my strike price being something like $9. The strike price is the price you can buy the option at once it is vested. If your stock splits, your strike price lowers and you gain more options. This happened to me three times. My strike price eventually went down to $3.50 and I just exercised all my options about two weeks ago while we were at $12.56 a share. I was given the options in 2004 so I had been fully vested for awhile and I gained more due to stock splits. With your stock lower in value than when they gave you the options, you can only hope your strike price has since lowered which will still net you a profit on options exercised.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Thanks for the reply. The options I was given were something like 8€, so that is the strike price? And when I exercise my options it means they will be converted to stocks? So if my strike price is 8 and when I exercise them the stock is worth 10, my 1000 options become 1000 shares at 10€ each, which gives me a 2€ per share right?

And as far as taxes are concerned, do you get taxed on 50% of gains (meaning in this case on 1000 * 2€ * 50%, so taxed on 1000€), or on 50% of ALL the shares (meaning 10€ * 1000 * 50%)? Because from my point of view any money made here is a gain since I never bought the shares, but maybe it is isn't handled this way and only the money you make over the strike price is considered a gain.

One way or another I'll be making money regardless of how the stock goes, obviously I hope it goes up a lot

 

[Cloudy]

ARMH was up 13% today. I can't believe I got into this stock not much more than a year ago at $6 :lol

That's the good news. Bad news is I'm gonna get hammered in CSTR tomorrow (down 30% after hours)

 

[Ether_Snake]

Anyone thinks we are seeing another bubble? Oil is high, gold is high, stocks are high, jobs are still no good. So we are seeing some unsustainable inflation creeping up, which can easily throw us back into another recession if people can't afford said inflation, or at least slow down growth to less than the projected 3 or 4%

 

[Gallbaro]

Anyone thinks we are seeing another bubble? Oil is high, gold is high, stocks are high, jobs are still no good. So we are seeing some unsustainable inflation creeping up, which can easily throw us back into another recession if people can't afford said inflation, or at least slow down growth to less than the projected 3 or 4%

Gold: High
Equities: High
Bonds: High
Treasuries: High
Commodities: High
Money Supply: High

Logic doesn't matter, QE to the n matters.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Gold: High
Equities: High
Bonds: High
Treasuries: High
Commodities: High
Money Supply: High

Logic doesn't matter, QE to the n matters.

Why do I only have money to invest when stocks are up?

I went through my watch list and all I found with some potential short-term upswing are PBR and LMT. I could make 20 to 30% on either one I think, over a few months at most.

Outside of those two almost everything is at a peak.

I rebalanced my RRSP (Canadian 401k). I'm now 15% in bonds and such safer investments, 55% in Canadian stocks, and 30% in small cap. I'm looking at things on the longer term. I've been doing good with my RRSP over the years so I'm not worried.

 

[mackaveli]

anyone know of a good day trading website for stocks in Canada?

I know of the common ones but they charge commission of like $5 to $10 a trade.

Anything cheaper ?

 

[Ether_Snake]

5$ or 10$ is good. I pay 30$ with my bank!!

 

[mackaveli]

5$ or 10$ is good. I pay 30$ with my bank!!

yeah but I'm going to be day trading and if I invest $20,000 to make a 0.4% return a day which is $80 commission will be $20 to buy and then sell the stock in the day which would result in only $60 gain.

Therefore commission takes away 25% of my gain which is quite a bit.

I need to find a cheaper option but I don't think there is one.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Oh you do day trading. It cost me $60 to buy and sell total

I bought 50 shares of PBR at 37.25 today. Hoping to see it rising to 50 and sell.

 

[RumblingRosco]

Majesco has been money this past week. It's just stupid how high the volume has been.

 

[Wellington]

It's like Christmas for those of us that own C. Thank you for finally getting rid of your shares, US Government. I don't doubt we could hit $6 by the beginning of the summer.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Majesco has been money this past week. It's just stupid how high the volume has been.

Oh wow, flashback to 2007/2008 :lol

 

[Cloudy]

CSTR down 27%. Just brutal. I'm all in for the ride though :lol

Thinking of C but I'm not much of an individual stocks guy. Only non-index I have besides CSTR are AAPL and ARMH. The latter 2 are the only reason I'm not jumping off a bridge somewhere right now

 

[Ether_Snake]

What do your returns look like on your 401Ks guy?

Mine, since 2006, has averaged 8.8%. My highest returns have been from a small cap fund, with an average of 23.7%. I rebalanced everything yesterday so I'm looking forward to see how it will play out this year.

 

[teh_pwn]

My 401k annualized interest is about 17%. But that's partly because I invested heavily after the stocks tanked during the recession. Started in 2007. I only expect about 10-11% long term with rebalancing (9% without rebalancing).

You did the right thing when you rebalanced. A lot of people still think you should sell losers and buy winners, even with index funds. It's a ridiculous concept to think selling low and buying high will yield good returns, but it persists. When I was at a doctor's office recently I read Money magazine (I think, looked like CNN garbage), and it recommended selling losers. Well, whatever.

I avoid rebalancing if the % difference among my funds and their investment rate is low, because I think there's some fees when you do it.

 

[Wellington]

What do your returns look like on your 401Ks guy?

Mine, since 2006, has averaged 8.8%. My highest returns have been from a small cap fund, with an average of 23.7%. I rebalanced everything yesterday so I'm looking forward to see how it will play out this year.

I'm with Fidelity, it only goes back two years, which of course covers the time in which the economy was snapping back to normal.... 58.3% hahaha

Last year I sat at 13.9%. I was mostly focused in stock before, but when the economy tank I want straight to stock and raised my percentage. I'm sticking with it for now. My main goal is to hit 8% over the long haul, so I'm good with what I have.