I moved DH's retirement fund last week to government secured funds. In January, we had $17K and have consistently put money towards the account. But last week we had $16400, so the day I traded it to a more secure investment - I made back $200 so it ended up at $16600.
Its all in the "G" fund right now. And I'm glad for that, because with yesterdays market - we would currently have $15600 in there. I looked at the share prices and last time they were this low was in 2006.
But now that they are this low, I wonder - should I buy back in to the Lifecycle 2040 fund? I do want to ride this out, but I don't really want to lose everything either.
Jim Cramer says without a bailout stocks could continue to go down to the dow in the 8000 range. So is now a good time? I avoided the 7% drop.
Or should I just keep our current $16600 in the G fund and all of our new investments going towards the lifecycle fund? This is our retirement account after all.
I'm also not sure if given the current market I should be putting his bonus to an EF or to pay down the CC. We talk to the financial planner tomorrow night and in the meantime, I took his $662 uniform allowance and put it in our savings. Then when we get the bonus I'm going to put $1250 to add to that. This still lets us fix DH's car, neuter the dog, and a few other necessities.
And unless I have a better idea as to what to do with that money - in the savings account it will stay cause I don't know exactly what should be happening in todays market. Do I put our retirement money back in? What do I do with his bonus? We may need credit in the short term and if we can't get it because we put all of his bonus money to pay down his credit card and don't have an EF... we could be out of luck.
Glad I missed that loss, but should I buy back in?
September 30th, 2008 at 01:22 pm
September 30th, 2008 at 01:37 pm 1222781853
September 30th, 2008 at 02:04 pm 1222783458
September 30th, 2008 at 02:26 pm 1222784801
First, if this is money you have designated specifically for active trading, then yes, now is a great time to get back. In fact, the market this morning is experiencing a reaction high, although it's still nowhere near the loss incurred yesterday.
However, it doesn't sound like this money is meant for active trading. Rather, it sounds more like a passive investment that is being actively handle... which although worked out this time, could lead to unnecessary losses later.
...Sure! Why not buy back into the Lifecycle fund, but I would recommend to leave it there from now on.... If you want to actively trade, I recommend to budget a portion of your money aside and invest in ETFs instead.