Originally Posted By DyGDisney Okay, my dh has a 401K from an old job he left 3 years ago. He hasn't ever transferred it over, but has a new 401K at his current job. I swear, he has the same money in it now as he did 3 years ago. The stock market being the way it is, we've lost $2,000 in just the last couple of months. We aren't super financially savvy when it comes to stocks/bonds/money market, but I was hoping for help from someone out there who is. Any ideas?
Originally Posted By SuperDry Instead of moving the money into the new employer's 401(k), you might consider moving it into a self-directed IRA. You'll maintain all of the same tax advantages (with the possible exception of losing the ability to borrow against the money, assuming that the new 401(k) has that feature), and will have nearly unlimited options as to what to do with the money, as opposed to being restricted by whatever the new 401(k)'s rules are. If you have a diversified investment, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I don't know how old you are, but regardless of what the market is doing these days, don't you think it likely that it will be much higher by the time you reach retirement age?
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy ^^ You need to qualify what makes XOM your "top" stock. The shares haven't appreciated at all in the past year, and are in fact down year over year. Even with oil at record prices, the shares of XOM haven't appreciated in step with the price of a barrel of oil. Now, if you bought XOM in Decemeber 2000 when Bush was elected to the White House, you have made quite a bit of money in XOM. But indicating today that XOM is a "top" stock for someone looking to make a future investment ignores the recent performance of that stock and the likelihood that all of the big gains have probably already been made there. For small investors that don't follow the market, I would avoid picking individual stocks. There is too much uncertainty. A low-fee index fund is your best bet (S&P 500, Wilshire 4500, etc.). If you want to pick stocks, I'd try picking sectors of the economy that are recession proof. Pharmaceuticals and consumer staple come to mind. Pharmaceutical companies also benefit from the aging U.S. population that will continue to need medical care and prescription drugs more and more with each passing day.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy But why is it your top stock? The past year's performance hasn't been all that great. If you were going to name a top stock that has performed well in this recent nosedive on Wal-Street, I'd pick Wal-Mart over XOM. Wal-Mart is up year-to-date, Exxon is not. And just for disclosure, I'm not a downer on XOM. I bought all of my shares back in December 2000, though. It's been a great run, but I don't think it will generate the same returns going forward as during the past 8 years and I've been paring back since it reached some high water marks over a year ago. I wouldn't put it on my list of "top stocks" currently. There's other things out there that are better performing.
