Monday - March 09, 2009

One Rocky Decade . . .

 I just got the annual report from the single remaining 401K fund I've still got a piece of.  The important quote to remember is "One rocky decade does not diminish the fund's long-term outlook."

Yeah.  The fund has existed since 1990 and it's only had one bad decade.  Sheesh.  

I wonder if I could have said something like that to my prior bosses.  It's only been one bad decade, boss.  My long term outlook is still pretty good.

I'd have taken my money out of it a decade ago were it not for the huge government imposed penalties.  This was my last, most reputable 401K/IRA and it's now worth less than when I first got it in the mid 90's.  If I could have put this money in a mattress, I'd be better off now.

This is why I decided long ago to never again invest in a 401k/IRA.  If I were to need my own money, I would have to pay tax on withdrawing it from the 401k, and then pay a 10% penalty, and on my IRA accounts I already paid taxes on the money before putting it in the IRA.  Furthermore, I don't trust the government to not take this account from me.  There has been talk in congress of changing the rules on 401k plans.  I suspect this talk won't go anywhere yet, but this is the type of talk that eventually gets taken seriously.

I no longer believe any claims about investing.  The only investments worth having involve the bank or the mattress.  One rocky decade.  Yeah, right.

 

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