Where should I invest money from a previous 401k

J

jimthesailor

New Member
Just received over 400k from a previous 401k and parked it in an IRA I have with a major brokrage. Yes i transferred it correctly to avoid taxes. Now it is sitting in "cash" and I need to put it to work. I have another slightly larger account with the same firm that is around 75% stocks 15% mutual funds and 10% other. The stocks I own are companies that are strong performers and pay dividends every quarter with above average track records. Advisors keep talking about "safe" corporate bonds but sometimes I think they try to move me to things that they will benefit from the most. My stock portfolio is well diversified between consumer staples, financials, and health care. With bonds and other items paying little or nothing I feel that good solid dividend payers is a good place. Even if the market has a double digit correction if I don't let emotions run rampant it usually will pull through and grow. A close friend told me years ago"the only time you loose money in the stock market is when you sell" Any ideas out there from my fellow investors would be appreciated.
 

I am a big fan of VANGUARD Jim and encourage you to look at their web site. I transferred my 401K to an IRA with them 25 years ago when I retired and have never been sorry. I went with the Wellesly Fund which has the right balance of stocks & bonds for my age & comfort zone. I have additional non IRA funds with them as well. Love their low cost fee approach.
 
Lon said:
I am a big fan of VANGUARD Jim and encourage you to look at their web site. I transferred my 401K to an IRA with them 25 years ago when I retired and have never been sorry. I went with the Wellesly Fund which has the right balance of stocks & bonds for my age & comfort zone. I have additional non IRA funds with them as well. Love their low cost fee approach.
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I agree. You save money right off the bat with Vanguard because their fees are the lowest of all and they have so many funds to choose from.
 

For me, I use Fidelity and only trade in "No Load" funds. I make my own trades and watch the markets fairly closely, but not as much as I did when I day traded. I diversify my portfolio.The reason to do this is because when one sector goes down, usually another goes up. For example, if stocks take a hit, then bonds will usually trade up and so on. Having the right mix is always a good thing. I like trading bonds, but always keep in mind that when we buy bonds, we are actually buying someone's debt, whether is be a corporation or a city, state , whatever. Bonds are debt being sold to the investor. If a company goes broke or a state, county, etc., cannot meet their payment dates, bondholders suffer. Who would have ever thought that a company like GM would default on their bond payments?

I also make single transactions, but not with IRA money. It's old money that I had lying around and not doing anything. I own Apple, Ford and GE as my major stocks. I also own some smaller and mid caps, as well. Sometimes, it's just fun to play around.
 
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