Investing is terrifying
Posted on November 30, 2004 5 Comments
Have you ever looked at an entire newsletter and realized that you had no idea what the newsletter was about? That’s how I felt reading my quarterly statement from my 401K company. It seems like I’m just giving my money away to someone who has no regard for my personal well-being; they certainly have no idea who I am. I hand over my hard-earned money, they give me a sheet of paper that lists a negative amount next to my chosen funds and some explanation of an “excessive trading policy.” I have no idea what it means.
And if that wasn’t enough to make me feel stupid, I got a notice in the mail that my entire investment is being rolled into another investing company because my firm was recently bought out. The brightly colored headline reads “CREATIVITY!”, but the inside was obviously not written for creative people. In fact, I can’t even get through the first page. Something about money markets or mutual funds…I still can’t tell. It could be written in Russian for all I care.
Yesterday I read in the Tribune that for my age group I should be investing 15 to 20% to prevent being “seriously behind” when I retire. Are you kidding? I invest 3% towards retirement, 3% to my “one day I’ll have a house” fund, and that still feels unfair to me. At this rate, I’m going to be dead before I can retire, and I will live in my crappy apartment all my life with the dishwasher that only opens halfway before it bumps into the refridgerator.
Time to read Suze Ormon to get educated about that CREATIVITY booklet. Good night all.
Today’s stupid purchase: $36.00 of scrapbooking materials because I ran out in the middle of chronicling my vacation. Excuses, excuses, I know.
Category: Money
Tags: investing
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5 Responses to “Investing is terrifying”
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December 3rd, 2004 @ 8:21 pm
Hello, I was just browsing around and came across your journal, great style by the way. I actually explain retirement accounts like 401(k)’s for a living with JP Morgan. It doesn’t have to be as confusing as it all seems, hang in there and with just a little perseverance you will get the hang of it. Hope you have a great weekend. Brian
March 14th, 2005 @ 3:26 am
Don’t stress too much. The excessive trading warning is for those people at work (you know, the jerks with flashy ties) who keep switching their 401k money from fund to fund, because they think they’re psychic about what the funds will do. They’re not, ignore them. Even a blind monkey finds a peanut once in a while.
Put your money in a few decent funds and only readjust every 6 months or a year. The good news is, you might get access to better funds. We had about 4 at work, and three of them REALLY sucked. They switched companies, and we have about 25 choices, many of which suck less, or not at all.
Your company probably has one or two very nice people who are way cool, who actually know something. If you ask around, you’ll get directed to the gurus, official or unofficial. They’re not always right, but their ties are less likely to blind you.
December 9th, 2006 @ 3:43 pm
I love reading your blog, Nicole, and I just wanted to sympathize with you on the scrapbooking purchase. I did something similarly baffling yesterday. Ask me how a woman who would never spend 75 dollars on a poncho can walk into a yarn store and spend that much on supplies to *make* a poncho. *shakes head* I need a cheaper hobby!
December 28th, 2007 @ 6:34 am
Nicole,
I have to share my relative lack of knowledge as well. I have to simply take comfort in the fact that we have to look at the investments in the long term and try not to get too bothered by things that happen in the interim. Things fluctuate but if you wait they usually pan out in your favor. It’s not insurance they’ll make you millions but they usually grow in time. Don’t get so nervous that you end up selling!
Jerry
http://www.leads4insurance.com
September 8th, 2009 @ 1:07 am
I hope you have a post about 401K because, honestly I still do not comprehend its principles. I do not know how it works. Because of that I put it on hold and invested in stocks and mutual funds instead. I have also read somewhere that 401K is losing in today's stock market climate which only decreases my interest in opting for one.