this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023
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[–] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 53 points 2 years ago (2 children)

“sure, Trump’s a jerk, but how’s your 401(k)?”

Total shit like always. 401ks are poor substitutes for pensions or ya know social security that's actually worth something, since I don't think it will exist when I can retire.

[–] silverbax@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

401Ks, in general, are a terrible substitute for pensions and social security. The GOP wanted to push Americans' retirement funds into the stock market, and they did that with 401Ks.

I ran some basic analysis a few weeks ago, and even with the corporate matching on 401Ks, due to the poor fund investment options available in most 401Ks, they underperformed index funds over a 30 year period.

Yes, that means many people who contributed to their 401K at full amount, even with matching, have less money than someone who just invested in SPY or VOO over the same period.

[–] Nougat@kbin.social 13 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Financial vehicles for retirement should be relatively low risk, with that risk becoming even lower as you reach retirement age. Investing in a single stock, no matter what it is, is a high risk. Sure, you can look into the past and say "if you'd just invested in Stock X," but that's with the benefit of hindsight.

The only way you should be managing your 401K is into an index fund with low fees. That's it. Everything else is gambling.

[–] EatYouWell@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

Yup. If your 401k is consistently losing money, then you have it in the wrong investments. You should be seeing an average return of ~7%.

[–] slander@lemm.ee 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

confused by your comment because my 401k contributions go directly towards index funds. are you talking specifically about target date funds, or something else?

[–] silverbax@lemmy.world -5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

The index fund options in many 401Ks underperform - this is just across the average, not all 401ks. Some 401Ks have general stock market index funds, some only offer index funds in specific sectors or target metrics.

The analysis I ran started with the question: 'given the average 401k, compare returns including average match against general stock market index funds'.

My assumption going in was that 401Ks would return better results because of the employer match, but that's not the case on average. The average investor would have significantly more money if they'd just invested in 'market' index funds, and it wasn't even close.

That being said, 401Ks or general ETF funds are still risky and inferior when compared to pensions and social security.

[–] mp2@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 years ago

Holy shit you have no idea what you’re talking about.

[–] TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yeah, but now the upper and middle classes future are dependent on stonks go up. Who would have guessed that all it took to disrupt class solidarity between the lower and middle class was just a little gambling?

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Also, there are all those management fees to be made....I'm surprised the 401K is even legal at this point. Imagine setting up a structure where huge amounts of guaranteed profits are given to an industry:

All told, the Center for American Progress estimates that a typical worker -- earning the median income and paying the average 401(k) fees over their lifetime -- will be assessed a total of $138,336 in fees. And the cost is much more severe for high-income workers, who, assuming a starting salary of $75,000 at age 25, are projected to pay an estimated $340,147 over their lifetimes, thanks to the fee structure of the average 401(k) plan.

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 4 points 2 years ago

Why would that surprise you? It's the kind of policy Republicans absolutely love, and which most elected Democrats are perfectly willing to tolerate.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

That's on them for falling for the " money managers know what they are doing" scam.

I fell for it for 10 years. Now it's direct stock ownsership and etf's. The founder of Vanguard started his fund because he knew the scam.

Everyone thinks they have a young Warren Buffett running their investments when really it's used car salesmen getting kickbacks for investing your money in bad funds. Obama made that illegal but if course Trump made it legal again.

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Sounds like victim blaming to me. Scams should not be legal or tolerated, and most especially, nobody should be allowed to profit from running a scam.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Is Vegas a scam? You know the odds. Funds publish their returns and their charges. The commissions on bad investments should be illegal and once were.

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 2 points 2 years ago

Do Vegas casinos party money to promote the idea that gambling there is an investment?

Your analogy sucks. Everyone knows gambling is for entertainment.