tmount
Administrator
I think everyone will agree. The past few years have been more feast than famine. The Dow and S&P both reached records. A rising tide floats all boats, right?
Maybe not. I'll offer a personal story. I'm no expert. In fact, I'm probably slightly different (ahead or behind, you decide) the average. I contribute 11% of my (pre-tax) income to my 401(k). I've been doing it for at least 5 years (wow, it seems like such a short time, but yet so long ago). I won't talk about my earlier years, like everyone, they were bloody.
But, recently, I've tried to make the right decisions. Diversify. Stocks (foreign and domestic), Bonds, Cash. I picked funds that had 4 and 5 star MorningStar Ratings. That had upwards of 15% average annual returns for 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years. Yet, for one particular example, as of today, it is -6.98%.
So, is this just the natural progression of things? Of course, past performance is no indication of future performance, but how else does one asses one fund over another? Being the gamer, I left one of my old (smaller) 401(k) accounts in one of those Retire "2045" accounts; it lost more than my own menagerie of funds.
I know there are many folks smarter than I - have you encountered this type of situation? Are double digit returns a myth?
Maybe not. I'll offer a personal story. I'm no expert. In fact, I'm probably slightly different (ahead or behind, you decide) the average. I contribute 11% of my (pre-tax) income to my 401(k). I've been doing it for at least 5 years (wow, it seems like such a short time, but yet so long ago). I won't talk about my earlier years, like everyone, they were bloody.
But, recently, I've tried to make the right decisions. Diversify. Stocks (foreign and domestic), Bonds, Cash. I picked funds that had 4 and 5 star MorningStar Ratings. That had upwards of 15% average annual returns for 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years. Yet, for one particular example, as of today, it is -6.98%.
So, is this just the natural progression of things? Of course, past performance is no indication of future performance, but how else does one asses one fund over another? Being the gamer, I left one of my old (smaller) 401(k) accounts in one of those Retire "2045" accounts; it lost more than my own menagerie of funds.
I know there are many folks smarter than I - have you encountered this type of situation? Are double digit returns a myth?