[jns]

I got serious about saving for retirement about 17 years before retiring, so the resources I needed to do it were there.

[amy40]

I got serious about saving for retirement about 17 years before retiring, so the resources I needed to do it were there.

jns
so how do you know where to put your money (to minimize loss)

husband always has me deal with our money
so I've made changes to 401K and opened a CD but never feel like I know anything really
and that reminds me, 6 mos tax extension is coming up so I need to do our taxes!

used to read up on financial info before we became parents but now I don't

[Stillness]

Retirement accounts don't have to have any risk. You can use fixed accounts or equity indexed accounts that won't lose money. The growth will be slower, but they won't lose money.

Some of them have income riders you can add that won't increase the accumulation value of your account, but will substantially affect the income you can draw from them.

[jns]

jns
so how do you know where to put your money (to minimize loss)

husband always has me deal with our money
so I've made changes to 401K and opened a CD but never feel like I know anything really
and that reminds me, 6 mos tax extension is coming up so I need to do our taxes!

used to read up on financial info before we became parents but now I don't

When you are a ways from retirement, you can put the money in higher yielding mutual funds that have significant risk. It really depends on your risk tolerance. As you approach retirement, you should move at least some of your money to lower yielding but less risky investments. In retirement, if you absolutely need some of those funds to support your desired, but not extravagant lifestyle, you should go for even less risky investments. With low yields, today's CD's do not cover the rate of inflation, so they should probably be paired with another, riskier investment to at least cover the rate of inflation. Use the CPI-W tables as a way to track inflation over time. You can always follow Warren Buffet's advice about investing (invest in a mutual fund that tries to mirror the Standard and Poor 500 index for 401k's, 403b's, 457's etc.). He said that most people would get a better return on their money by investing in a S&P Index fund instead of investing in their own picked investments (paraphrased). Such funds should have very low management fees since there is no analysis needed. Use this advice at your own risk. It is how I look at the situation. Your situation is different and you should do your own analysis.

[amy40]

agree the CD rate stinks but I opened the CD as a way to keep some money separate from ours that will be only for kid's college (it's in our name but we know it's for kid)
know some use special accts for college fund but that is for in state schools and I don't know where our kid will want to go college

do think we probably have too much in stock vs bonds vs fixed (401K) and I panic when stock market goes down

[Stillness]

Annuities will give you a better rate than CD's for the same safety. They have better accessibility, especially in the long run. And you'll be able to attach riders on some of them that will be ideal for bridging the gap between your working income and that in your retirement. You probably wouldn't want to use them for your child, though.

Your bank probably has a financial guy that can set stuff up for you.

[amy40]

still, we had a neighbor that was a financial guy and we gave him some money for an annuity
and that is our one acct that's done nothing, it is still the same or slightly lower

so I no longer trust financial advisors
have considered taking it out but don't know where to put it, as don't think everything should be in 401K
and since annuity is a retirement acct, it has to be rolled over

former neighbor's name is no longer on statements so he must have quit
and new person hasn't contacted us once

[Stillness]

If it lost money, it's a variable annuity. A fixed or indexed one won't lose.

Financial advisors are like doctors, mechanics, or anybody else. Some are good and some aren't.

[jns]

still, we had a neighbor that was a financial guy and we gave him some money for an annuity
and that is our one acct that's done nothing, it is still the same or slightly lower

so I no longer trust financial advisors

If I used the same logic on relationships, I would have never had a girlfriend, let alone got married. At least he didn't lose it all or even very much. Move on to a better advisor or learn to do it yourself.

[amy40]

my mistake, should have called him salesman!

then they get you to trust them (seems to be nice neighbor)
then he gets several neighbors to hand over money, then next thing you know he moves away and builds a huge
house on lots of land

to a whole new set of neighbors who have a LOT more money to give him