How to Maximize Your 401k Mutual Fund Returns

Written by Ulli G. Niemann


When it comes to 401k's there is an overabundance of sad stories. Here is one that at least has a happy ending—and it's getting happier allrepparttar time.

Last year (in 2002) a friend of mine—let’s call him Jack—phoned and asked if I could help him with his 401k. Jack works for a large company as Senior VP of lending and is financially pretty astute. However, when it came to his 401k mutual fund decisions, he had repeatedly maderepparttar 105143 same mistake most people were making. As a result, he saw his account drop in value substantially.

Atrepparttar 105144 time we were inrepparttar 105145 midst ofrepparttar 105146 2000 bear market, which showed no sign of letting up. Jack had purchased into a Lifestyle fund because someone recommended it. Byrepparttar 105147 time he finally bailed out, it cost him dearly. However, he continued to makerepparttar 105148 same mistake by reinvesting.

He checked withrepparttar 105149 401k representative and subsequently switched to a variety of mutual funds ranging from World Stock to Domestic Hybrids, Large and Small Value as well as Growth. But nothing worked and his portfolio value headed further south.

Byrepparttar 105150 time we met to discuss his 401k Jack was pretty disgusted byrepparttar 105151 canned advice he had received andrepparttar 105152 continued losses he was sustaining.

Jack knew that I had pretty much eludedrepparttar 105153 bear market of 2000 by having sold all of my clients’ positions on 10/13/2000. We were safely in our money market accounts weathering outrepparttar 105154 storm (see my article "How we eludedrepparttar 105155 bear in 2000."

Thinking about this, Jack could only shake his head because at no point inrepparttar 105156 market slide had he ever been given what I believe wasrepparttar 105157 right advice. That is, no one suggested that, since we were in a bear market, he might want to step aside and remain inrepparttar 105158 safety of his money market account. So he stayed invested, hoping againstrepparttar 105159 evidence all around him to find something that was not crashing. That was his mistake, and one shared by many.

The advice that he consistently and continually received was thatrepparttar 105160 market was close to a bottom, stocks “have to” move up from these levels, and, my personal money losing favorite, “the market can’t go any lower.” That's what people wanted to hear and believe. But my tracking system said otherwise, and I followed its indicators—much torepparttar 105161 delight of my clients.

Enlightened Thinking For Creating Wealth

Written by Lauri A. Pruitt


Enlightened Thinking For Creating Wealth By Lauri A. Pruitt We become what we think. If you think poverty, it is inevitable that you will be poor. Whereas if you think prosperity, your life will generate wealth, you will blossom like a rose bud inrepparttar sunshine, like a caterpillar metamorphosed into a beautiful butterfly. Creative ideas will start flowing, you’ll wake up each day looking forward to it, expecting new ideas to unveil themselves to you that day, to generate wealth, to make a difference inrepparttar 105142 world. Your destiny depends upon you, by what you dwell on andrepparttar 105143 choices that you make. We all haverepparttar 105144 choice to either think, or dwell onrepparttar 105145 negative things of life,repparttar 105146 impossibilities orrepparttar 105147 positive things,repparttar 105148 possibilities. Inrepparttar 105149 Bible it states that, “Anything is possible, if you have faith.” In other words, what do you believe in, what arerepparttar 105150 truths that you base your life on. If you truly believe that nothing is impossible to you, for you, then unlimited wealth is at your doorstep. We all haverepparttar 105151 power to control our thoughts, it may be tough at times, but it is not impossible. Surround yourself with good, positive friends, that will build you up rather than tear you down. Read good, positive, uplifting books at all times. Keep learning new things, keep your mind active, focused, continually dreaming. Study howrepparttar 105152 wealthy live, how they think, how they accomplished their dreams, even when allrepparttar 105153 odds were against them. Listen to how they talk,repparttar 105154 words they speak, read their autobiographies and their stories.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use