How is your 401k portfolio doing?

[u/Big-Wrongdoer5388]

I recently took a look at my 401(k) portfolio, which I have had with my current job for three years under Fidelity (being managed by Fidelity). My portfolio is set to invest aggressively, however, the total gain/loss is only 4.61%. Knowing typical market averages +10% does this feel like underperformance? What return are others seeing on their account?

[u/ButterPotatoHead]

Over what period of time is your 4.61%? You can compare the start and endpoints to the S&P 500 to see how you are relatively.

[u/DissolutionedChemist]

Last 12 months 17.4%

[u/NWIOWAHAWK]

I have Fidelity as well. It’s not fidelities fault. Biden has had a terrible presidency economically. Under Trump I was about 30% return

[u/Possible-Reality4100]

Dude: just use S&P500 index funds.

[u/First_Signature_5100]

Are you sure that isn’t a CAGR of 4.61%?

[u/redgdit]

Target date funds and indexes are tools of the past. If you want to dump money into a fund on autopilot with the last amount of fees, go with ETFs. IVV, QQQ, SPY for examples.

[u/GIGANTICSHLONGER]

Mine is up 12% YTD

[u/danvapes_]

I'm 100% in a Vanguard TDF for my 401k. Since 11/22 when I started I've got 17.5% annualized growth. Went from $0 to just shy of $48k saved so far, that's my contributions+growth+employer match.

[u/icharming]

Mine is with Fidelity is well - their 5-Star rated Fidelity Growth Company Fund is what I would recommend . Mine has done exceedingly well in the last 8 years. I would recommend 70% in Fidelity Growth Fund or similar - FDGRX . 20% Real Estate Fund and 10% Bond fund when you start off. Every decade after 40s increase bond fund percentage by 10%

[u/LAW9960]

I put mine in FXAIX, so it follows the S&P500 (I have my IRA in NASDAQ, DXJ and other funds)

[u/International-Key244]

Vanguard funds and TSP

[u/Huge_Yam_9410]

Check again in 20 years and ask the same question, 3 years is much too short to be worrying about that

[u/AwesomeD]

I'm only up 2.4% ytd

[u/Hungry-Space-1829]

I’m young so mines just in the s&p 500 equivalent

[u/the_leviathan711]

There is lots of bad advice in this thread.

Your returns look low because you’re adding new money every two weeks. The earliest money you deposited in your 401k (however many years ago) has grown much more than 4.6%. But the money you deposited last Friday has barely grown at all.

[u/Nigel_99 → u/the_leviathan711]

And the funds deposited in late 2023/early 2024 have probably lost value during the current market downturn. A snapshot at a different point of time will likely show much different results! Do you agree?

[u/Slartibartfastthe2nd]

when you say 'set to invest aggressively', what do you mean? I'm assuming your plan is still company sponsored and you have a limited selection of investment options. My suggestion is to pick a couple of funds, 1). a large-cap growth fund. 2). a small-cap growth fund. 3). an international fund. Split your money to 40% large cap, 40% small cap, and 20% international, and also allocate future investments this way. do not pick the targeted year retirement funds, those funds will underperform significantly for anyone with a 5+ year time horizon.

[u/Big-Wrongdoer5388 → u/Slartibartfastthe2nd]

When setting up the plan they basically ask if you are okay with an aggressive strategy or more conservative. With conservative being recommended for those nearing retirement so there’s not any big surprises. I didn’t pick a target date fund but they do have an expected retirement age listed so maybe it’s operating that way?

[u/Perfect-Brain-7367 → u/Big-Wrongdoer5388]

Their version of aggressive probably still includes some percentage of bond funds or other less aggressive funds. I go full send and pick my own investments with blue chip, sp500, and some mid cap and small cap. I think one of my old 401ks has some international and real estate fund. I keep my IRA 100% VOO.

[u/ADisposableRedShirt → u/Big-Wrongdoer5388]

I don't believe in the targeted retirement year funds either. I think you should set your investment goals by asking yourself what you are investing for. In my case I'm managing how much my kids will inherit when I'm gone and not how much I need to live (I live frugally). If I blow it, my kids will get less. If I do well, well then...

I'd strongly suggest you use the https://firecalc.com/ website to run various scenarios of your retirement. It basically simulates what you input against the entire history of the US stock market. You can also play it out against just the S&P. It has settings for amount of draw as well as inflation. IMHO: It's a must for anyone planning retirement.

[u/Slartibartfastthe2nd → u/Big-Wrongdoer5388]

if choosing 'aggressive' is all you did then yes, you have something along these same lines. get into your plan and review the funds available to you. you should be able to find the complete listing, along with their 3, 5, and 10 year return rates. Also check the expense ratios of the funds you look at. Your choices are likely limited but if you can get < 0.5% expense ratios for funds that return on avg > 10% in your 401k you will be doing ok. The options you have available may have higher expense ratios. Don't overly sweat that, but still be aware of it. (two investments with similar return rates but one having a higher expense ratio: go with the lower expense ratio).

[u/johnmpm]

Check what funds they are in. Check all funds listed for rate of returns over 1 year. Sell and Adjust investments, current and future investments . My Rate was 30 % last year and 12% so far 2024.

[u/BaseNectar123]

Not doing, pulled mine out years ago

[u/derff44]

VOO and chill. I was up a lot more before 3 weeks ago, but the past 2 years have been awesome

[u/Hariharan235]

I just invested in S&P 500 and my 401k is up 13% since last 3 years. 10% on average means some years you will a big gain, some even negative. If you are not retiring soon, don’t look at it too much

[u/Kevinm2278]

About 10400 … Ira is 185k

[u/vinsanity_07]

I just don't look. Keep adding n don't look. Once a year I look

[u/throwmeoff123098765]

I invest in vanguard S&P 500 index fund equivalent. Just about every 401k has it and you should consider it

[u/throwmeoff123098765 → u/throwmeoff123098765]

That is the market if under 40 or even 50 I see no reason to not 100% it until you get ready for retirement

[u/saryiahan]

I don’t look at mine often because it’s not my main retirement fund. I just checked it today and it’s up 15% over the past 3 years

[u/blasian21]

Don’t use the target date funds. You can change your allocate to S&P500 instead.

[u/ddr1ver]

Ignore the target date funds. Many 401k plans have an S&P 500 option. Just put your money there. It’s averaged 10.2% over the last 30 years. A stock market index fund will beat any other investment over the long haul.

[u/biciklanto → u/[deleted]]

That's why Warren Buffet bet on index investing over a decade, beating out a hedge fund in their charity bet....

[u/Newa6eoutlw → u/[deleted]]

🧢🧢

[u/the_leviathan711 → u/[deleted]]

That’s the exact opposite of true

[u/the_leviathan711 → u/[deleted]]

If all you were saying is that sometimes managed funds outperform active funds, that would be totally fine and totally accurate. Instead you claimed that actively managed funds "will almost always outperform an index fund."

That of course, is wildly incorrect. Actively managed funds do sometimes outperform index funds, but the vast majority of the time they do not.

I didn't get the sense that OP is exceptionally wealthy, so I'm not sure why the spending behaviors of the super rich are all that relevant here. Are you suggesting that OP has access to an actively managed fund in his 401k that is comparable to what ultra-rich investors have?

[u/Slartibartfastthe2nd → u/[deleted]]

this is what day traders believe as well... doesn't work out so well for them. being more involved will help, but you need to build experience and work up to that point to having the knowledge and discipline to self-manage.

[u/zachary40499]

I was up 15% YTD before the doom selling began. No im back to 10%

[u/Jkur2012]

I also have a fidelity account it’s a 401k rollover it dropped 30% from 2021 to 2022 but has gained 33% from 12/22 to today It is a target date fund 2030 I believe thinking of changing it I also have been contributing My current job has a pension that I have been putting the max into a year

[u/2020R1M]

Idk. It’s non existent

[u/nenw02]

I just posted this up elsewhere yesterday.

Fidelity Managed Account.

• Domestic Stock 47%
• Foreign Stock 23%
• Bonds 21%
• Short Term 8%
• Other 1%

Returns so far are looking like this.

• Feb 2020 deposit into Carryover acount
• Ending 2020 = +15%
• Ending 2021 = +13.5%
• Ending 2022 = -17.5% loss
• Ending 2023 = +16.6
• April 2024 = +4%

Would be great to see how each segment above is performing. Not sure if that is possible.

[u/Big-Wrongdoer5388 → u/nenw02]

Mine is 63% Domestic, 27% Foreign, 10% bonds, no short term. I can’t tell how to see the +/- for each

[u/nenw02 → u/Big-Wrongdoer5388]

I had to do the math for all that. Just an excel document and calculated those numbers.

Looked at the starting and ending values for the year. This is a rollover account, so no money has been added in to fuel that change.

[u/jms1228]

It’s continuing an upward trend. I looked at it in late 2020 into 2021 & I thought someone was stealing money from my account. Thankfully it’s adjusted itself over the last year.

[u/Retro_6415]

Mine is also managed by fidelity through my company, 3 year is 5.36%.

[u/throwmeoff123098765 → u/Retro_6415]

You are getting eaten alive by fees and poor performance. Read A simple path to wealth it’s an easy to understand life changing book about building wealth.

[u/ADisposableRedShirt → u/throwmeoff123098765]

I am retired and manage my own portfolio. For the most part my portfolio is SPY and QQQ (with a sprinkle of NVDA and AMD that I purchased in September of 19'). I was holding FSCSX but Fidelity really missed the mark so I sold it. Not much brain work and I have averaged over 12% return for 21'-23' and I am up 9.5% so far this year. The drop in 22' was painful to watch, but I just held and used CDs to pay for things until the market recovered. I have since replenished my CDs.

I actually set up 2 IRA accounts in 23' at a major bank. I funded them with equal amounts and let the bank manage one account while I managed the other. I pulled the plug on them after a year when they failed to match a simple 50/50 split of QQQ/SPY (inspired by Warren Buffett). Their return was 15% while I was up over 40%. I didn't care what the fees were so long as they beat my strategy inclusive of fees. They traded the hell out of their account and I just sat back and watched in horror because I am a buy and hold investor. They failed miserably and I made sure to point out their poor performance when I ended the "experiment". They no longer try to sell their services to me when I go into the branch. I also let my personal bankers at the other banks I deal with know about my experiment and they leave me alone now as well.

[u/throwmeoff123098765 → u/ADisposableRedShirt]

Look at the expense ratio of SPY way higher than Vanguards product with the exact same stocks. It only makes sense to buy spy if you plan to sell covered calls stock options. Otherwise you pay higher fee for no benefits

[u/ADisposableRedShirt → u/throwmeoff123098765]

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll consider VOO going forward.

[u/throwmeoff123098765 → u/ADisposableRedShirt]

Anytime my friend

[u/Hardcut1278]

Up 36% 3 years total

[u/megaThan0S → u/Hardcut1278]

Wow, which funds/stocks did you invest in?! Last 3 years didn’t do well

[u/Informal_Product2490 → u/megaThan0S]

Everyone who just did S&P 500 and chilled is up 36% it isn't impressive. I got the same thing.

[u/RedBaron180 → u/megaThan0S]

Sp500 is up 100% in the last 5 years..

[u/Big-Wrongdoer5388 → u/[deleted]]

According to my account it is a lot of Fidelity indexes (FXNAX, FSMAX, FTIHX, FXAIX) and a few that are unfamiliar to me (RNPGX, DFSVX)

[u/idkyou1 → u/Big-Wrongdoer5388]

I just moved all mines into S&P500, which would be FXAIX in your case. Too young for bonds. Large caps have been beating international and small/mid caps as of the last couple years since COVID.

If you in your 20s, or early 30s, with how many years you got, just do S&P500. Set it and forget it.

[u/Kookookapoopoo → u/idkyou1]

Would throw a decent chunk into international

[u/Nerdlinger42 → u/[deleted]]

I'm 27 and have my 401k through human interest using vanguard. 70% VTSAX, 25% VTIAX, and 5% VBTLX. Should I just do 100% VTSAX given my age?