Comments on: Is it a Smart Move to INCREASE Your 401k Contributions Now?

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:03:36 +0000

And with new (higher) contribution limits in 2009, now is the time to increase your 401K contributions and benefit from the stock market rise.

By: Carnival of Personal Finance #175 | Growing Money

Carnival of Personal Finance #175 | Growing Money — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:37:35 +0000

[...] American Dream Stop Watching Market News, Start Watching LOLcats Tipping: Psychological Warfare? Is it a Smart Move to Increase Your 401(k) Contributions Now? What is Your Deepest, Darkest Financial Secret? Accepting the Bailout for the [...]

By: RC

RC — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:28:19 +0000

@Budgets- Yep, the combination is hard to beat!

@Cindy S-I am in the same boat , wish I could invest more right now. Index funds are probably a good idea right now, too.

@Karla- Actually, that doesn’t sound to disappointing to me- as you say, you gained it back (and probably then some) after the last two “bear markets”.
Sounds like you are in pretty good shape- Glad to hear about your Mother too-you are right, that is what really matters!

By: Check Out This Week’s Carnival of Personal Finance #175 | Greener Pastures: Personal Finance

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:29:06 +0000

[...] Is it a Smart Move to INCREASE Your 401k Contributions Now? by RC from Think Your Way To Wealth. I’m a huge fan of anything 401(k) related, and especially those articles that are SUPER easy to read like this one. GREAT job circling some of the questions being asked around town! [...]

By: Carnival of Personal Finance #175 : Carnival of Personal Finance

Carnival of Personal Finance #175 : Carnival of Personal Finance — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:11:55 +0000

[...] Is it a Smart Move to Increase Your 401(k) Contributions Now? [...]

By: threadbndr (karla)

threadbndr (karla) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:39:31 +0000

I’m about 15-17 years from retirement and I’m plugging money into both my 401(k) and my Roth at the same rate as I was before the market meltdown. I did the same during the dot com downturn and the saving and loan fiasco in the 1980s. Is my portfolio down? – yes, of course. Have I lost any of MY money (deposits I put in)? – nope, and not even reinvested dividends – just gains. That’s disappointing, but I’m pretty sure I’ll gain it back, just like the last two rounds.

In the mean time, job is good, house is still paid for, still debt free, still have a year’s cash cushion. And my mom’s surgery this morning was a success. I figure that last one is the only one that REALLY matters.

By: CindyS

CindyS — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:42:49 +0000

It’s like having a huge stock sale. If I had additional funds, I would be investing in stocks right now. The trick, I think is knowing which stocks to invest in. Even without raising your investment in your 401K, the investment will be worth more when the market goes back up.

By: Budgets are Sexy

Budgets are Sexy — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:51:48 +0000

Agree 100% – i’d max that bad boy out if you have the means! Esp if you have some great matching. That’s free money AND cheap funds – can’t beat that.

By: RC

RC — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:24:38 +0000

@Slinky- I think you are right about the panic selling- maybe today’s huge gain will keep some people from bailing out of the market, after seeing how big a gain there was today!

By: Slinky

Slinky — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:18:32 +0000

It definitely is. I’ve heard more than one person asking someone else if they should be pulling their money right now. On a positive note, the answers I’ve heard so far have been good, but I’m sure that there are plenty of other people who are getting answers that are not so good. There would be a lot less panic selling if people understood a bit about how the market works, but I really don’t think that’s going to happen.

By: RC

RC — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 02:54:29 +0000

@Slinky- You’re right about that-I wonder if all of the media attention is causing people to pull money out of the stock market when they wouldn’t have otherwise.

@Mac- Sounds like you made a good move to me. I am pretty sure that if everyone did that, the market would regain confidence and start rising pretty quick!

By: Mac

Mac — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:54:01 +0000

I doubled my contribution to my 401k. I just turned 30 and won’t be touching the money for quite some time. I was also just thinking to myself…what if everyone who has a good 10 years or more until retirement put more into their 401k? Couldn’t that help the economy?