If I had an 8% drop sell trigger on one of my holdings today, I would have missed the 5% rally at the end of the day (% of the prior closing price). Tomorrow is another day though. 
Is it my imagination or does this thread become more active when the market is down?
@1214mom, the stock market is going to be up tomorrow. I am posting now. Consider this post posted tomorrow. 
People become more concerned about retirement when theyāre losing money.
Also people start thinking finances when they are getting ready go fill out the tax forms ā¦
Being on this thread has made me much more attentive to managing our 401k effectively.
I know some posters were a bit ātongue in cheekā with avoidance comments. In some ways it does take a level of understanding, including where there is risk and where there are potential returns.
Try to look for ways in your own situation how to have the steady stream of income in retirement (for peace of mind), and try to only have the level of risk/return you can afford. There are some things that are less risky but have similar level of return. Just have to know enough to find the types of accounts, and perhaps the right financial adviser.
We have done well on the up years and tried to contain losses on the down years. A few times pre-2006 we would have these swings which I didnāt react to, because the losses were already there and those particular accounts would come back up - we just kept trying to be in the accounts with the best returns for long term - and watching quarterly, yearly, 3, 5 and 10 year numbers. Hās company changed several times with the financial company where we had investments choices - fortunately I had prior experience with the ānewā companies, first Dreyfus, then Prudential. One one page, I finally decided to have the yearly rate of return and account balance at end of year. Started in 2006 with almost $500K, which even with continuing contributions hit a low in 2008/2009 to $316K. I still have paperwork shoved away for getting ending balance for 2009 and 2010 (I was fighting stage III cancer and was heavy, heavy into medical interventions - 16 chemo sessions including 4 treatments of two older chemo drugs as 2nd line which were awful; radiation for 7 weeks, surgeries etc; last IV was 1/31/2011.) Stage III is 50/50 for long term survival, so I am now cancer free 5 years, so made it through! I plan to outlive H (he has longevity with both parentsā family line - has 5 great aunts that all lived to 103-108, and grandpa lived to 96 - grandpa had hernia surgery which the anesthesia and surgery took a lot out of him and he died a couple months later). I ran a bankrate.com āretirement plannerā which had retirement savings running out at age 108, so we will be fine, esp as we have very solid LTC insurance policies. H is good at his job and with income in; I am the financial person in this family. 2011 had just 0.94 return, but followed by 12.88 for 2012, and Banner Year 2013 at 25.87%! 2014 was 2.77%, 2015 was 0.78%. With our sharp personal finance guy Don, we were able to take $75K out of the 401k and put it with investments with Don - more control with less risk and still good returns. Since H turned 59.5 in Dec, we jumped on it and moved $175K out this past Dec to move into an insurance annuity that gives us a guarantee rate of return which would be a best case scenario with our 401k bond choice - so more peace of mind, avoiding some of the roller coaster with preparing for funds in place for retirement.
Our planner Donās group is having a semi-annual āstate of the marketsā, and we line up an individual appt right after that - so get a lot of info in and get a good look at our accounts and what is going on. He has software that pulls in our 401k and other external data.
In 9 years, our money grew about 62% of value from what it was. Happy with being able to pull money out of 401k as other opportunities present themselves, but we now are 67% of holding in large cap stock- growth (JGVRX, JPMorgan Growth Advantage R5) and 33% holding in small cap stock-blend, (VSEIX, JPMorgan Small Cap Equity Select). The JGVRX has the best 10 year returns, but the VSEIX is not far behind, and that bit of additional diversity is not bad with the fluctuating situation. Can always have more to the growth advantage fund if I see that is more desirable over time. I moved everything out of a 3rd fund, Large Cap stock-value, MEIJX, MFS Value R4, with 10 years returns 2% lower and just not doing any better than the other 2 funds in recent years. The plan balance didnāt change with the shift handled Tuesday because selling low and buying low.
Our last quarter in 2015 was up 4.93%; 1/1 to today, the account is down 10.57%. However, who knows with the markets when there will be the returns of 2012 and super 2013.
The paradigm keeps changing. The oil situation, global influences, the economy, housing prices, interest rates.
Hang in everyone for the life rideā¦
What did you buy for $75,000?
How much do you get per month?
I see that oil is ok and stocks are up today. I am posting anyway.
When the market is going up or its flat, I donāt watch the market as much.
When I make a bad trade, I watch a lot more.
I made two bad trades this year. I got out of one with a loss. The second trade is going to take a little time to get rid ofā¦
Itās part of the game. Life would be very boring if everything was a winner.
I like boring.
In Dec we took out $175,000 and got Nationwide New Heights 12 Fixed Indexed Annuity. Also Nationwide High Point 365 Lifetime Income Benefit Rider. Nationwide pays our agent (Don) which is a cost factored into the financial terms and conditions of the contract.
$75,000 (which we were allowed to move in 2013). We have some Allianz 360 Annuities, among some other things with Don. The Allianz was a annuity opportunity that paid well and Allianz closed to future investments - Don said sometimes insurance companies have a product and they donāt realize what a ādealā it is for the buyer, and then close it out.
We moved our IRA/Roth IRAās under investments with Don. We moved money from IRA to Roth last year and this year, figuring the penalty was worth it as we plan to let the Roth IRA build and build.
We still have about $300K more in our 401k than with the investments with Don, but the return is good for the risk - the 401k we are less nervous about the stock swings. We are 6 years from retirement.
So what was the deal?
If we have extra money, we will put into our kidsā Roth IRAs - using the time value of money for it to build up for them.We contributed in their accounts for 2014 but wonāt for 2015 unless we have a wind-fall. IRS owes us quite a lot of money from last year, so with paying what is due this year, we shall seeā¦
@dstark we are meeting with Don in Feb, so when I get refreshed on the return on the Allianz, I will share. I purposely set up twice a year investment review meeting with Don after his office does a āstate of the marketsā semi-annual meeting. That way I have all the market updates and Don can answer any additional questions and make any investment suggestions. With having the info and watching our investments, and having our risk better managed, we do sleep better at night. Another big relief for us is having great LTC ins policies that are at an affordable rate for what we are insured for - because we took them out years ago before they got crazy expensive. It still isnāt āfunā writing the annual premium thoughā¦
It kind of bugs me that you keep calling your financial advisor Don. Like he is a friend or something.
http://blog.runnymede.com/an-impartial-review-of-the-allianz-360-annuity-with-360-benefit-rider
I get from reading your posts that you arenāt sure what you bought.
The Allianz 360 is pretty safe but the returns are probably going to be somewhere like 1 to 3 percent a year.
If those returns meet your expectationsā¦
Nevermind. 
You could buy a 10 year cd and get similar returns.
What should she call him? Just curious, my guy is Jeff, my cpa is Jim, my plumber is Bill and my realtor is Doug. Whom Iāve known for many, many years and while we arenāt friends socially we know them very well.
If hubby says ugh, Jim called and we need to meet to discuss taxes Iād never say Jim who.
I have mostly kept my mouth shut, and perhaps I should continue to do so, but Don appears to have put @SOSConcern into a lot of high-commission products that are poorly understood by SOS. I am with @dstark in feeling uncomfortable every time Donās name comes up. Nothing wrong with being on a first name basis (my taxes are done by Jim), but Iāve never been sold anything by Jim.
I hope I am wrong.
Well, @SOSConcern, warning bells went off in my head re Don as well ā seems that you rely on him heavily ā use HIS āstate of the marketsā report and then meet with HIM for decisions re your own situation. He makes income by investing your money. The concern is whether his decisions are affected by the commissions he gets from the companies which offer the products he sells to you.
Hey, as long as you will have enough money, and can sleep at night, it really doesnāt matter that much if Don is being supported by investments he makes for you and his other clients, I figure.
But IMO it is a good idea to run things past a guide which/who does not have a financial interest in placing your investments.
Is Don a fiduciary advisor?
@SOSConcern, please take my comments (and those of others) to you as well-intentioned. I am just concerned that you, while financially literate, have a blind spot as regards Don, who does not appear to be a fiduciary.
I know you guys are right about FAs being fiduciary, and that itās not smart to pay someone when you can use the Bogle (spelling?) method and invest for yourself. Iāve just inherited a fair amount of money, and Iām really struggling with what to do with it. Iāve asked for advice here before, and read some bogleheads info. Right now it has to stay with the (fiduciary) FA for another quarter or two. Then I may or may not invest it myself. All of my retirement is in a very low cost managed fund, which Iām happy about. However, thereās another guy, who is NOT fiduciary, who has been recommended to me be multiple people. Heās part of the community, has been around 30+ years, and has been on contract with my place of employment to give financial/retirement advice for many years. If I āwent with my gutā I would throw my windfall to this guy. Or help pay for a vacation condo (she says looking out at the foot or so of snow sitting on the back deck).
Iām in the same boat 1214, but my amount isnāt substantial, itās less than 6 figures. I donāt know if I should add it to what I already have, spend it, do something different. Iām a ālockboxā type. I have separate accounts for thingsā¦college, retirement, vacation, etc. One is for investing outside retirement but I donāt know if I should add it to that or open another account elsewhere.