Money Matters
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For Those With Retirement Accounts:

How or do you invest them? Stocks, bonds, etc. . . What percentages for each do you follow if you invest. Or do you just let the money sit? I'm not sure on my IRA and H's 401k. On H's his company automatically put it all in one thing the JP Morgan Smart Retirement 2050 R2, but I have the option to change it.
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Re: For Those With Retirement Accounts:

  • Do not let the money sit.  The entire point of doing this while you are young is that your money has time to grow (if invested).

    H and I invest in mutual funds.  Between us we have a couple index funds (one tied to the S&P and the other tied to NASDAQ), a small cap fund, a mid cap fund, and a large cap fund. 

    I also have a biotech fund that has thrown off returns like crazy over the 18 months or so that I've had it.  I think I've netted like 42% growth or something insane.  That one is super volatile though, so I keep a core amount to throw off returns, and then I skim those returns off the top when I've had a good run.  I would make more in that fund if I didn't skim it, but I can't stand to watch it get too big.  I'm planning on keeping that one even though it's so volatile and it makes me kind of nervous - I have a theory that Americans are generally overmedicated, and that will only increase as the population grows and the boomers age.  I'm completely making this up, but so far it seems to be working out.

    We don't have any bonds, because we're comfortable with heightened risk at our ages.  We are not comfortable enough with risk to invest in stocks directly though - hence the mutual funds.

    Spend some time learning about the differences and evaluating your risk tolerance before making a decision.

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  • Correction: I just checked, and my 12-month rate of return on that biotech fund has been 46%.  I have a pretty high tolerance for risk, but that one does test my limits.
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  • I invest in stocks and mutual funds. When some of my stock gather a good gain I sell off my profits and invest that in more stuff. I do also have a bond.
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  • I think my best performing stock is jp morgen
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  • For work, I'm in a 2040 fidelity fund- it's a mix of stocks, bonds that automatically adjust the % as the retirement date approaches. In 2040, I'll only be 59, but I like to think I'll be retired by then... might need to adjust it to 2045 this year just to be safe. Our Roths are in a mutual fund with Franklin Templeton- we might look into changing that into something more risky this year as well. DH's 403B needs to be reviewed this year too- it can definitely be in a riskier portfolio. We also have 529 plans for the girls- right now, they're in an aggressive growth fund because they're little. I'll adjust it as they get older and the last year of high school/into college, it just sits in a 529 savings account. 
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  • We have a mixture.  Our 401k and Roth IRAs are all in mutual funds.  We're at the age where some of that is held in bond fund, but it is still a minor part.

    I have some treasury bonds that were purchased as I was growing up.  They're earning well enough that I'm leaving them alone until they stop accumulating interest.

    I also have some mutual funds, individual stocks, CDs, and cash in various allocations.

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  • als1982als1982 member
    1000 Comments 500 Love Its Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited April 2015
    We have a mix of mutual funds, target date funds (2040 in mine, and 2045 in H's) and individual stocks. Funds include one with S&P leaders, an International mix, and one energy fund. For the stocks, we like industry leaders that pay dividends. Right now we have Disney, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Chevron, Amazon, and Pepsi.
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  • We have the 2045 Target Date funds as well
  • H is in a target date fund; those are often a good place to start. He's not interested in fiddling with it so it works for him. Mine are mostly in low-cost index funds, a strategy I came around to after doing heavy research and determining my own investing philosophy. The majority is in a total stock market fund-very diverse, very low cost. I have a small amount in a bond fund, and a medium amount in an international fund.

    The only divergent investment is in a sector fund related to my industry. Partly, this is "fun" for me, but my industry is water resources and I think clean water technologies are going to be exploding in the next couple of decades. Just look what California is going through! I could be wrong, but it's a small overall percentage of my Roth.

    I'd definitely recommend investing in something, but doing some internet research to determine your own philosophy, because it could be very different from the rest of ours. I found good basic information on money underthirty.com when I was starting out.
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