Last night my wife tossed me the dreaded 401K statement. I was expecting another catastrophe, but instead was pleasantly surprised to see my statement was up 17% over the last quarter. This got me thinking: for those of you who pulled out into cash, when are you getting back in? Now? Three months from now? A year?
The problem with pulling out is you never know when to dive back in. I just stay in and sweat it out.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Check your 401K statement
Posted by Mac Noland at 2:25 PM
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5 comments:
G
Agreed that it's tough to know when to get back in. But if you start at $100 and lose 40% you need 67% in returns to break even. I was lucky enough to get out at the top so I've got about $102 right now. I doubt I'll get in at the bottom and probably already missed it. Yet I still think I'll have plenty of chances to get in at lower levels than the current ones. I still don't think the market has priced in the proloned unemployment we're going to experience.
And would agree it's better to ride it out if you suddenly find yourself at $75. That's what happened to most people and that's a terrible time to move to cash.
Mac,
I think your right. The oracle of Omaha says doesn't try and time the market, so neither should Joe Smoe.
Chris, I'm glad you commented. I was thinking of you when I wrote this.
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