I'm currently 15-20 years from retirement, therefore I still have a large chunk of my 401K in mutual funds. I've played the market in the past and done well, but have come to the conclusion; pick an index fund and let it ride is the best investment advice. For those of you who trade stocks and mutual funds, good for you, but I contend only about 10% of the pros beat the S&P 500, so I just say buy the S&P 500. And always diverisify, personally I like real estate,

With that said, I always thought it was common knowledge to start putting your investments in safe places 10 years from retirement and fully safe 5 years out. The numbers may vary but this is the general idea. So to those crying in their beer expecting to retire next year, where was your investment advisor, or your own personal education. Life's not easy, you have to actually read and keep up with your money and current events. Or you can rely on social security and the government to take car of you. Or like many pilots I fly with, you can expect the company to take care of you.