My employer contributes a set amount whether or not I contribute. Not a match. I do choose between a handful of different index funds or bond or money market index funds… I don’t fully understand this. Is one of these smarter to be in right now? And should I keep my personal contribution going if it isn’t necessary for matching? Thank you fellow communists for your financial advice.
Getting out of stocks in January would have been smart. Now it’s kind of a crapshoot. it depends on how old you are and what you’re planning on doing with the money though. If you’re young it’s probably better to just hold your positions. If you’re nearing retirement you should probably already be investing a lot more conservatively regardless of the state of the market.
If you don’t have an emergency savings or you have high interest debts then it might be better to put your income towards that rather than the 401k, moreso the closer to retirement you are. If you’re young and have a safety net you should probably just keep putting the money in though.
At this moment it’s bad to be in stocks: it’s a bad deal to sell the stock to buy something else, because they are relatively cheap. The flip side is that it’s a good deal to accumulate stock because it’s relatively cheap.
So the employer contribution should go to the index fund. Keep several months of expenses in cash or money market in case you end up unemployed during a crash.
I’m not super financially literate buuuuut I’d say bonds. They don’t participate in the nightmare machine known as the stock market, which is a plus. They’re guaranteed, no hoping line go up or stressing line go down. And if they can’t repay you, well your 401k won’t be a concern at that point.
My employer contributes a set amount whether or not I contribute. Not a match. I do choose between a handful of different index funds or bond or money market index funds… I don’t fully understand this. Is one of these smarter to be in right now? And should I keep my personal contribution going if it isn’t necessary for matching? Thank you fellow communists for your financial advice.
Getting out of stocks in January would have been smart. Now it’s kind of a crapshoot. it depends on how old you are and what you’re planning on doing with the money though. If you’re young it’s probably better to just hold your positions. If you’re nearing retirement you should probably already be investing a lot more conservatively regardless of the state of the market.
If you don’t have an emergency savings or you have high interest debts then it might be better to put your income towards that rather than the 401k, moreso the closer to retirement you are. If you’re young and have a safety net you should probably just keep putting the money in though.
Stocks
Bonds
Money market
Ordered from most to least volatile.
At this moment it’s bad to be in stocks: it’s a bad deal to sell the stock to buy something else, because they are relatively cheap. The flip side is that it’s a good deal to accumulate stock because it’s relatively cheap.
So the employer contribution should go to the index fund. Keep several months of expenses in cash or money market in case you end up unemployed during a crash.
I’m not super financially literate buuuuut I’d say bonds. They don’t participate in the nightmare machine known as the stock market, which is a plus. They’re guaranteed, no hoping line go up or stressing line go down. And if they can’t repay you, well your 401k won’t be a concern at that point.
I thought le swiss state bonds was the panacea of all gen x stock market advice!
I am not financially literate enough to understand this, so probably don’t do bonds?