Mine have seen ups & downs, but considering that I have 70% invested in Government bonds- the fact that I lost $2000 last month (the rest is blue chips) means that the economy is tanking, no matter what GWB says.
Pardon *my * ignorance, but was it the Government bonds or the blue chips that lost the money? I really am a neophyte with this money-managing stuff, and can’t tell how you meant that. :rolleyes:
" What would you do with it, really, if you did take it away from Fidelity or whoever’s holding your investments?"
Don’t withdraw it into your own account. To do so triggers some complex tax things.
If you don’t like risk, talk to your bank’s investment department. They can arrange to transfer your funds to a CD, short term government bonds, or other low risk, low return investments.
FWIW, nobody that has been making regular, periodic investments should have less money in their account now than they did three or four years ago. If that is indeed the case, your money is in the wrong funds.
Very helpful–thank you. My 401 is doing okay (and it’s not at Fidelity). It was the IRA and annuities (at Fidelity) that had the losses but have now picked up. I don’t like thinking of that happening again!
I’m on the Gen X Retirement Plan.
Work till you die, die fast.
The Fidelity Low Priced Stock fund FLPSX has actually been going gangbusters for my 401K. (Past results are not a guarantee of future earnings, all that crap). But I think they’ve closed to new investors for the time being.
-lv
Did Neil Bush send you that email?
What’s wrong with Federated Slaveholdings?
The stocks- it was more or less indexed to the Dow. You can’t lose money in Federal bonds.
The Fidelity Contrafund and the American Century Ultra Inv Class (reading from my statement) have been kicking butt for me. (Keep in mind, these are high risk funds, but they rock.) My others are good, but these two are the best.
Same thing LordVor said - all that crap.
WTF? 
Kinda says it all, does it not?
Mine slowed down about six months ago. A little reshuffling, and I’m charting 15% growth again for the year.
You folks need to do some research, or hire a money guy.
Excuse the hijack:
Zsofia, where is that expression from? That brought back such happy memories. My friends and I used to say that in grade school. I had totally forgotten about it.
Keep in mind that what you’re describing is pretty much what the stock market has done over the past 6-7 years. Take a look at the S&P 500 for that time period, for example. So if your retirement fund is in mostly equity-based mutual funds, what you’ve experienced isn’t all that unusual. You shouldn’t feel like something went wrong.
IANAFA (financial advisor), and this might be more appropriate to a GQ thread than a Pit one, but the most important thing is to understand your investment objectives, time horizon, and tolerance for risk, and then to find the investment product that most closely matches those and buy it. A company like Fidelity will have a broad collection of products – mutual funds, bonds, CDs, etc. – and Fidelity’s version of those things are generally among the best. So you don’t necessarily need to leave Fidelity.
It might be good to go to their website, though, and try using some of their tools that can guide you through picking the right investments. If you want somebody to help you with it, I’m sure they also have professionals you could talk to.
Hmmm, Daffy Duck?
Simpsons reference. Burns is talking to Smithers about his investments that have all gone down the crapper, one of which was Federated Slaveholdings.
English rendering of the French c’est rien, with about the same literal meaning, and the connotation of “It is nothing” or “It is an absurdity, irrelevant” when used in casual conversation.
This reply probably won’t be as well thought out (or as amusing & charming) as the one a few minutes ago that obviously didn’t get submitted as I thought it would.
Thank you for your interest and helpful advice. According to it, it seems I’m on the right track, even though every time I get comfortable with a Fidelity advisor, they’re promoted, and of course I never see them again (I don’t THINK I play a negative part in the cause and effect there!). I realize the losses I had over the last several years were typical, but the older I get, the less consolation that seems to be. The fact that I have no inherent interest in this financial stuff, though I know I need to be concerned when it’s in my interest, doesn’t help. As for finding a ‘financial guy,’ I’m leery about getting the kind I keep hearing about who turns out, years later, to have been a shyster.
Well, you can’t lose money, in absolute terms, in actual Federal bonds unless the government goes bankrupt.
On the other hand, unless you buy an inflation-indexed fund, you could find yourself far behind the rate of inflation…heck, I see that as a potential now since both inflation and bond yields are low: if inflation goes up only a few percent and stays there (which actually would be in keeping with historial inflation), the bonds will be in the red relative to inflation.
To speak nothing of short-term value fluctuations in both bond funds and actual federal bonds: you could lose money if you have to liquidate before maturity.