I currently do the max contribution with my 401k, 10% with a 50% match. I also do the max Ira contributions per year, $5500. My wife runs our at home business and I plan on putting in $5500 in her Ira too.

My concerns come in the volital markets we are having today. I’m reading about potential 20% market drops. Would it be best to pull my money out of the freedom funds to avoid the looming downfalls or just keep it in the freedom fund for the long hall.

FWIW, I’m a 30 year old rj captain, married with two children.

 

What you are trying to do is time the market, and that is a big mistake.
If you need the money anytime soon, you really shouldn't have it invested in the stock market. If you don't need the money soon, invest it and stop watching the markets. Go here for financial reading that will help you gain more financial literacy.

 

What GNAW said.

If you are investing for long term, retirement, then you want to be properly diversified and not jumping in and out of the market.


This guy explains how to do that: Paul's Video Blog - Nashville TN Investor Coaching


He really enjoys teaching people so that they understand what they are doing with their investments.

 

Watch out for the fees on those target funds. If you’re 30 years old and able to max out the 401k on regional pay, you’re ahead of the game. Likewise, your investment strategy for at least the next 20 years should be FULL STEAM AHEAD. You’ll be able to ride out the next couple massive market downturns and come out ahead if you’re all in rather than trying to time the market. The sooner you hit that max, the sooner the virtuous circle of compounding interest will work for you. Why pay exorbitant fees for someone to essentially make zero change in your asset allocation for the next couple decades? The difference could amount to many tens of thousands of dollars by the time you retire.

My advice? Dump everything in a super-low fee S&P500 index fund and don’t even think about it for the next 20 years. As retirement shows up on your horizon, look into balancing your nest egg out into gradually more stable investments. Don’t just take it from me, take it from Warren Buffett:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/wa...nds-2014-03-13

 

Okay so I did some research and the IRA I contribute to is a index fund. It is the Fidelity Freedom 2055 fund.

 

The problem with index funds is that they actually are not very diversified and increase risk for not much more gain.


There are better ways to increase return without increasing risk.

 

Sounds like this Paul Winkler guy has it all figured out.

Good luck.

 

What I usually do is move money slowly over to the IRA account itself, wait for a slump in the market and buy into the mutual fund once the market slips a little.

 

If you're only 30, you shouldn't really be planning to touch this money for at least 35 years. So don't worry about the market gyrations. Instead look at the volatility as buying opportunities. You are in your wealth accumulation phase of life...you should be glad the market isn't on a vertical path up. Once you're closer to retirement then you need to take a more defensive position with regards to volatility. But like someone else already said, today you should be full steam ahead.

 

Listen to this guy. Market timing is a proven way to make less money than the market average over a long time period.

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