I lost $10 today but only have $1000 invested so far, is that right?

[Like2Plan]

You can't take withdrawals from a 401k at 54. I believe you need to be at least 59.5 to start drawing from that money.

If you actually need this money in 6 years, you need to look into other options besides the 401k.

It actually depends on the rules of the plan. Some 401K plans allow withdrawal at age 55 (if you retire at that age)... It requires reading up on the rules of the particular 401K. In addition there are some special rules for certain jobs (think LEO or firefighter) that allow for earlier than 55.

There are also rules in place for substantially equal payments if you retire before 59.5 (I've read the rules are complicated and easy to mess up, but still it is an option). https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans...iodic-payments

[Like2Plan]

Here's another link:
Retirement Topics -Exception to 10% Additional Tax

[Like2Plan]

My plan is to take it out at age 54, (in 6 yrs) but it's not set in stone.
It mainly depends how long this one client lives who I am with 50% of my shift, the remainder I supervise many Clients.
But don't want to do this job that much longer. We might open a Security Company down the line

If not, then pull it out age 59.5

It's going into a safe, built in a hidden place in the house

I knew it would flexuate but wasn't ready for a whole $10 change in one day in a good economy.
Loosing a dollar here or there I expected. If I need to wait longer to withdraw, that's fine. I'll quit watching it so often!
They send out a quarterly statement anyhow

You might have the cart before the horse, here. Your time horizon for investment is one of the first things you should consider when it comes to investing. If you are going to need the money in just 6 years, you might not have the correct asset allocation. The fact that you are concerned about a $10.00 loss is another indicator that you might not have the right asset allocation. Are you planning to use this for retirement or something else?

I'm already retired, but I don't plan on using the 401K until I reach required minimum distributions (at age 70.5). I plan to draw it down over the course of my retirement (hopefully lots of years ) so I am going to keep some percentage in stocks to help with inflation.
On the other hand, if I was planning to use the funds for say, the purchase of a house in 6 years I wouldn't be able to stay invested in the market to wait for a recovery if there should be a drastic down swing like there was in 2008.

[Braje]

Not long ago I found my EOY 401K statement from 2008. I was down something like 33%. If 1% is causing you to freak you need to reevaluate your allocation.

Why did you pick those funds?

[TexasHusker]

I didn't read this...
I didn't read this...

On the other hand, I've invested as little as $5,000 made $50,000 in two months.

IDCC, December 1999, multiple trades on the stock and options over a 3 week period. What a ride that was!

[Outdoorsygal]

You might have the cart before the horse, here. Your time horizon for investment is one of the first things you should consider when it comes to investing. If you are going to need the money in just 6 years, you might not have the correct asset allocation. The fact that you are concerned about a $10.00 loss is another indicator that you might not have the right asset allocation. Are you planning to use this for retirement or something else?

I'm already retired, but I don't plan on using the 401K until I reach required minimum distributions (at age 70.5). I plan to draw it down over the course of my retirement (hopefully lots of years ) so I am going to keep some percentage in stocks to help with inflation.
On the other hand, if I was planning to use the funds for say, the purchase of a house in 6 years I wouldn't be able to stay invested in the market to wait for a recovery if there should be a drastic down swing like there was in 2008.

There will be a separation from employment at age 54. IRS says you can take out the money, in this instance, the year of age 55.
So technically I will be age 54. It will be about 80K since I started so late.

Depending upon the tax laws, I will take out the maximum we can before paying taxes for the year.
He should not be gainfully employed (he's a contractor) this year and instead we will be working on a house to fix up and sell in 2 yrs avoiding capitol gains.
Also looking to start a business around this time period, or the following year or two following it.

We have some land we will be taking a loss on, 5K per year so that's 5K extra I can take out without taxes.

I want to diversify to have maybe 30K or so invested which will go towards our sons inheritance (or grandkids) then take out the remainder of the $$ invested, about 50K cash to put in a safe. It will be hidden in cash in a trick room underground in the house. We will add cash to it periodically.

[Outdoorsygal]

You might have the cart before the horse, here. Your time horizon for investment is one of the first things you should consider when it comes to investing. If you are going to need the money in just 6 years, you might not have the correct asset allocation. The fact that you are concerned about a $10.00 loss is another indicator that you might not have the right asset allocation. Are you planning to use this for retirement or something else?

It is a designated inheritance for our kin. We won't need to actually ever use the money.
So if the market spirals downward, we can easily keep it invested longer
Paycheck-20% of it is a ROTH401k, the other 70% is traditional 401k

[disneysteve]

There will be a separation from employment at age 54. IRS says you can take out the money, in this instance, the year of age 55.
So technically I will be age 54. It will be about 80K since I started so late.

Depending upon the tax laws, I will take out the maximum we can before paying taxes for the year.

I want to diversify to have maybe 30K or so invested which will go towards our sons inheritance (or grandkids) then take out the remainder of the $$ invested, about 50K cash to put in a safe. It will be hidden in cash in a trick room underground in the house. We will add cash to it periodically.

How did you come up with this plan? I can't help but say that it all sounds pretty bizarre.

If I have this right, your plan is to fund a 401k for 6 years and then cash it out - literally into $50,000 cash which you then keep in a safe at home.

I think this is a monumentally bad plan.

[disneysteve]

20% of it is a ROTH401k, the other 70% is traditional 401k

20+70 is 90. Where's the other 10%?

[Like2Plan]

It is a designated inheritance for our kin. We won't need to actually ever use the money.
So if the market spirals downward, we can easily keep it invested longer
Paycheck-20% of it is a ROTH401k, the other 70% is traditional 401k

1. Are you getting a company match in your 401K?
2. In the ER thread, you said you were paying about 1.1% for your ER on your 401k. That would be $11 per 1,000 in your 401k annual expense. How would you feel about $880 (when you have accumulated 80k in your account)?
3. Are you already maxing out your ROTH IRA?
4. How would you feel if your 80K dropped to 56K in a market downturn?
5. Have you looked at what inflation will do to your cash in the safe if you live to 100?
6. If you can't wait to 55 (assuming your plan allows the withdrawal on retirement at 55), you would be stuck with substantially equal payments to get the money without 10% penalty. (It sounds like you want to do a lump sum.)

So, what is your goal for the 401K savings? Do you get a match that offsets the fees? Are you trying to defer taxes and drop down into another tax bracket? Are you hoping for a certain amount of gain over the 6 years?

[msomnipotent]

That $10 might be fees if the employer is passing them along to you. That is what was happening to my husband's old 401k. Even though our stocks were up, it looked like we were losing money. Those fees were outrageous, though. We were averaging a 2% gain per year until I was able to transfer the money to his newer 401k. But to answer your question directly, yes it is normal. The value of your shares changes every second. Most accounts only provide a snapshot of your value, which means they update info every few hours. My 401k does it once a day and they are a day behind. You can check the real-time value by googling the stock name or symbol. I usually use stocktwits, yahoo finance, or nasdaq.com. But to be frank, I would only check it every quarter if I were you. It isn't unusual for my stocks to change value by hundreds of dollars within a day, and I only have $9,000 or so in the account.

[~bs]

roth 401ks may allow you to pull the principal without taking a loan or penalties. you'd need to check.;

[Like2Plan]

So, not sure if you are still tracking...but

The answers to the questions above might lead to a better investment option for your stated goals. For example, if you take out 50K in a lump sum from your 401k, you could end up paying more taxes than what you are deferring right now. If you take it out early, you could end up with an additional 10% tax on your distribution (resulting in even more taxes).

If you are not going to be in the market long term (6 years is not long term), you might have too much exposure. ( Maybe an investment in CDs?)

If you still want to be in the market and you aren't maxing out your individual Roths, maybe that might be a less expensive ER option for you. It would also give you the benefit of being able to take the contributions out at any time penalty free.

The 401K roth might take some rollover action in order to isolate it. And, there are still some requirements to be met before you can get to the money tax free.

[Outdoorsygal]

20+70 is 90. Where's the other 10%?

It is a generous amount to account for...in case I have to pay for medical benefits down the line.
Such as if the Company doesn't provide them.
Also allowing for loosing a little $$ on the investments though that shouldn't happen.
There are employer fees as mentioned for the 401k & Roth401k, but I don't know the exact amount yet
They send a quarterly statement, by law, breaking it down

[Outdoorsygal]

[QUOTE=disneysteve;453697]How did you come up with this plan? I can't help but say that it all sounds pretty bizarre.[quote]
No.....bizarre is having a non-diversified portfolio such as too much of your assets dependent upon computers. The cash we have, hopefully, will also be accompanied with a certain amount of gold or silver. That I am not so worried about since it's a gold mining town we'll be living in. So will learn that later.

If I have this right, your plan is to fund a 401k for 6 years and then cash it out - literally into $50,000 cash which you then keep in a safe at home.

I think this is a monumentally bad plan.

Yes, 7 years. Cash it out within a few years or so. Some of it is in the ROTH so that will help w/taxes


We may open a security company for the purpose of just obtaining one specific account which requires 24 hr security.
A Country Club just a few doors down from our house has 24/7 patrolls for their million dollar homes.
They've fired a few security companies so far, and the GM told us it's hard to get dependable workers.
The site supervisor mentioned wanting to open one up last year, at some point, in the future.
After his kids are raised. We'll see but it would be nice to have multiple owners, thus not deal with hiring employees.
The area is very affluent, lots of trees and hills. The Country Club Estates has 90% vacation homes.
We grew up here and cycle in there alot. So if we started the company, it would need to be a shoe in to have obtained the account ahead of time.

Now 50% of my shift is with ONE client who I estimated would live maybe up to 10 yrs max. So I am planning for this
I spend the night at her apt after work
She had a machine but it only hooked into her nose which was always stuffed up. So she's gotten a new CPAP w/mask, and a new lease on life.
Last time I seen toes yellow brownish was doing hospice.

My employer may try to find a way for me to cash out the 401k so I will back to work. Wouldn't surprise me.
But I want long shifts 18+ hrs so if this one client passes away, that won't be possible with her. We click very well.