Do I need to get out of my 401(k)?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Lots of good advice so far! cynic, I d/led your links and intend to give them a good read. Scylla, I wasn’t aware of that restriction on CFPs. Does that apply to e-mail as well? I like your advice, though – I’ll give it a closer read and compare it to the prospectuses for my fund options.

If anyone’s interested in some more off-the-cuff, non-binding, friendly advice, here are the fund options I have available to me. Obviously I won’t reveal where I am currently allocating. The plan manager is Great West L&A; here are the funds available:

First, there are the five Profile Series Funds. Each Profile Series Fund contains a differing mix of the following options:




*International Funds*
Fidelity Advisor Overseas T
Maxim Index European Portfolio
Maxim Index Pacific Portfolio
Maxim Invesco ADR
Putnam Global Growth A

*U.S. Stocks*
Lord Abbett Developing Growth A
Maxim Ariel Small-Cap Value
Maxim Loomis Sayles Small-Cap Value
Orchard Index 600 Fund
Maxim T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth
AIM Charter A
AIM Constellation A
AIM Weingarten A
American Century Ultra Inv
Fidelity Advisor Growth Opportunities T
Maxim Founders Growth & Income
Maxim Growth Index Portfolio
Maxim Value Index Portfolio
Orchard S&P 500 Index®
Putnam Fund for Growth & Income

*Bond Funds*
Maxim Bond Index Portfolio
Maxim Global Bond
Maxim Loomis Sayles Corporate Bond
Maxim Short-Term Maturity Bond
Maxim U.S. Government Mortgage Securities

They’re designed to provide us with a ready-made diversified mix with varying risk and return levels, depending on each one’s mix. (Profile Series 1, for example, doesn’t include any bond funds and has a 75/25 split between U.S. Stocks and International funds; Profile Series 5 has 80% in the bond funds, 15% in U.S. Stocks and 5% in International Funds.)

Then, if one wants to choose funds on their own rather than using one of the series, we have:

International Funds
Fidelity Advisor Overseas T
Janus Worldwide
Putnam Global Growth A
Maxim Index European
Maxim Index Pacific

Specialty
INVESCO Financial Services Inv
INVESCO Health Sciences Inv
Dreyfus Premier Technology Growth A

Small Cap Fund
Maxim Ariel Small-Cap Value *1
Maxim Loomis Sayles Small-Cap Value *1
Orchard Index 600
Lord Abbett Developing Growth A

Mid Cap Fund
Maxim T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth *1

Large Cap Fund
Maxim Value Index
Putnam Fund for Growth & Income A
AIM Charter Fund A
Maxim Founder’s Growth and Income
Orchard S&P 500 Index ®
Fidelity Advisor Growth Opportunities T
AIM Weingarten A
American Century Ultra Inv
Janus Twenty
Maxim Growth Index
AIM Constellation A

Bond Funds
Maxim Bond Index
Maxim Loomis Sayles Corporate Bond
Maxim US Government Mortgage Securities

Money Market Funds
Maxim Money Market 7-Day Yield 1.45%

As you can see, ny choices are varied and confusing.

22

At the time of this post, the DJIA is trying to slip below 7800. When was the last time it was this low?

23

As noted before, sometimes how you look at things helps to reframe your situation, i.e. getting more shares for your money when prices drop. One other thing to note. You said your company had a very good matching plan. If your company is matching your contribution dollar for dollar, say up to 5% of your income (a fairly common practice), then contribute enough to get the entire match. If you’re getting the dollar for dollar match, that’s 100% return on YOUR money before you’ve invested a dime. Make sure you get all that they’ll give you.

Just a thought.

24

Well Phil, that’s a pretty motley group of mutual funds. I never heard of Maxim funds. Do they have anything to do with the magazine? :wink:

I’ll try to check 'em out tomorrow and give you some ideas. Meanwhile, feel free to email me if you like. Though I can only respond to it at night.