401k's have screwed so many people, I see it everyday and it happened to my father who worked at a company for over 25 years.
The rule of 100 is the minimum you should have in safe money for your age, if you feel a higher % should be safe then that is smart in my opinion.
Gold is at the highest its ever been but will drop down soon, leaving those who invested (say there was a 40% drop) having to gain 67% back to recover losses as with any variable investment.
Back in the 80's % rates were great for investing, even CD's were getting 12-18%! Now you are lucky to get 2% on a 60 month CD.
1998 was a good year, the S&P500 went up 26.67% there was a lot going on in the world of technology and russia was helping with inflation.
2008 the government begins to intervene in the U.S. financial system to avoid a crisis. The Federal Reserve outlines a $200 billion loan program that lets the country's biggest banks borrow Treasury securities at discounted rates and post mortgage-backed securities as collateral. March 16th the Federal Reserve approves a $30 billion loan to JPMorgan Chase so it can take over Bear Stearns, which is on the verge of collapse. so bail outs start, the goverment is trying to control the U. S. financial system and guess what happens the S&P500 goes down 38.49%.
Now in 2011 look what is going on in major events that affect investing, there are still bail outs being given, the Federal Reserve gave out more money to help spike inflation but banks are not loaning out money. The government is trying to control interest rates and thus no inflation is happening which means the economy is suffering, people are not spending money, and the stock market has plummeted. Not to mention what is going on with foreign currency.
Now I am no genius, nor a fortune teller but I can see a pattern in history, major events can either spike or drop the market which greatly affects investments. From 2000 to 2008 a person that put $100,000 in a fixed indexed GP Annuity(indexed off the S&P500) with an 10% cap made $40,634 (leaving them with $140,634), while someone who had that money in the stock market in the S&P500 (variable products) ended up with only $61,477 out of that $100,000. I don't know about you but I don't really like the volatility of the stock market. Maybe its because I visit with 20-24 people a week and see how it has effected them. I am now helping them plan their retirement and helping them protect their assets.
Its up to you how you invest your money, I know quite a few people who have done well in investments, their financial advisor is either a friend or family member that kept their accounts well maintained. Just be smart, do your research and keep up on your accounts and the market.
