Conservative. Ultraconservative investors often buy shares in money market mutual funds, which hold cash equivalents such, as short-term Treasury bills and commercial paper. Some 401(k) accounts even include principal-protected investment options, such as certificates of deposit.
Moving 401(k) assets into bonds could make sense if you're closer to retirement age or you're generally a more conservative investor overall. But doing so could potentially cost you growth in your portfolio over time.
Here are five ways to protect your 401(k) nest egg from a stock market crash.
10 of the best 401(k) funds:
The Best Safe Investments For Your Money
Withdrawing your retirement money at 28 is like creating your own personal stock market crash, even if the stock market soars. You'll pay a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty on money you take from your 401(k) plan, plus any Roth IRA earnings you touch.
If you are a short-term investor, bank CDs and Treasury securities are a good bet. If you are investing for a longer time period, fixed or indexed annuities or even indexed universal life insurance products can provide better returns than Treasury bonds.
No investment is completely safe, but there are five (bank savings accounts, CDs, Treasury securities, money market accounts, and fixed annuities) that are considered to be among the safest investments you can own. Bank savings accounts and CDs are typically FDIC insured.
In a recession, stock prices are generally depressed because earnings are generally depressed. Over time, stocks return 8-10% a year. If you still have 10 years or more to go before retirement, you should absolutely continue to max out your 401(k) at the very least.
5 investment options for the retired
There's more than a few reasons that I think 401(k)s are a bad idea, including that you give up control of your money, have extremely limited investment options, can't access your funds until you're 59.5 or older, are not paid income distributions on your investments, and don't benefit from them during the most ...
That being said, although each 401(k) plan is different, contributions accumulated within your plan, which are diversified among stock, bond, and cash investments, can provide an average annual return ranging from 3% to 8%, depending how you allocate your funds to each of those investment options.
While 401(k) plans are a valuable part of retirement planning for most U.S. workers, they're not perfect. The value of 401(k) plans is based on the concept of dollar-cost averaging, but that's not always a reliable theory. Many 401(k) plans are expensive because of high administrative and record-keeping costs.
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