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Me:

  • 27 years old
  • Income of upper $70ks
  • Contribute 6% to 401k, and 3% to roth 401k (increase my 401k by 1% each year; employer matches up to I think 3%)

Performance:

  • Over the past 18 months, my Schwab account is showing a performance of -11%

I just want to make sure this is the normal up-and-down that I can expect, or should I evaluate my options more?

MrDuk
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1 Answers1

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Yes, it's been a rocky year. If your 401(k) is diversified (as it should be) it should generally follow inflation and industry averages (except outperforming them slightly in the longterm). For example, take a look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average:

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  • it's down by 5% over the past 6 months.

...so I'd be worried if your 401(k) did increase in value over the past year, because that would mean it isn't diversified.

My own 401(k) is down -8% compared to 2 years ago.

My personal opinion is the market will not improve much (if at all) over the coming year either.

Dai
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    The text of your answer is pretty sound, but the factoid you offered, down 5% over last 6 months, is not quite correct. Up over 5% or so if you include dividends. – JTP - Apologise to Monica Mar 09 '16 at 13:09
  • Not sure the final paragraph/sentence is really appropriate for the answer. It's speculation on the market, which isn't something that is appropriate to an otherwise factual-based answer. – Joe Mar 09 '16 at 17:19
  • @Joe I didn't want the OP to go away with the impression his concerns will be allayed and that things are going to improve any time soon. – Dai Mar 09 '16 at 18:13
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    @Dai Well, you could've done that with a sentence noting that the market could continue to change... that sentence, though, is a predictive one. – Joe Mar 09 '16 at 18:14