401k QUESTION

[Striver's Row]

Does anyone have a pretty good grasp of the diversification of there 401k? I'm kinda confused on how I should diversify my plan.I want to get the highest return I possibly can.Any suggestions?

[Big Moo]

By your question I am assuming that you want to roll your company 401k plan over into a fund that you can manage. Is this correct?

[belleza]

I figure I have a lot of years before I retire so I have mine split at 70% Risky and 30% conservative.

I was confused by the roll over thing, heck I still am. I have a pension with one job and was forced roll over a 401K into an IRA.

I am still wondering "who is Ira" when I statments arrive in the mail... :p

[ice-c]

when i think of diversification of my 401k...i think of having

some things that are risky.....some things not so risky.....some things not risky at all......and some things that are moderately risky....

the bulk of mine is in the not so risky to moderate risky stuff....

keep in mind that the more risk...the more reward.

i only recently lost money in my 401k.............for the first time :(

[Brightness]

I've found 401k to be hard to manage from my experience.

I could be wrong but I thought that you didn't have as much of a voice with the investing. . .I thought that it was done by the companies investors and you really didn't know what you owned stock in. . . with the exception of company stock. I think in most cases they load you up on company stock so if the company isn't profitting substantially neither is your investment.

I rolled over into another 401k after leaving one job and then after another job move, I rolled into an IRA (with Dean Witter Reynolds now Morgan Stanley) and I have a personal financial advisor that a friend of mine had said good things about.

I much more prefer the financial advisor because they seem to give more sound advice and you can chart out what you would like to achieve and they help you reach that goal. If you need to sell and get your hands on some money, you can have it within 3 days. For people collecting a monthly payout, basically retirees, you can have it wired to your account within 24 hours of the trade if you meet certain criteria of what you're divesting.

They can tell you what's hot to buy and what's not doing good, if you ask. They have some really good software too that tracks the trends and gets all technical. You can get the same kind of information on AOL, Yahoo and other investment websites but it's always good to have a human there to talk it over with.

Presently, I'm much more satisfied with a personal vs. 401k since I have bounced around jobs. If you have more than 5-7 yrs at a job, you are an OG these days. . .