401 K Vs Bullion What Do You Think

In Australia they have Superannuation which is kinda like our 401k here in the US but there are some differences as well. I don't know a lot of details but it is interesting to read how it works if you are interested in that type of thing.

You don't think gold or silver is better over the long run as far as more safe? Isn't 401K normally tied to stocks so it's very volatile. Were gold and silver normally hold value over the long run. Perhaps you make more money with 401K but I think it's more risky because it's died to the stock market and USD? I'm so confused =(. Since we came off the gold standard, over a 40 year period gold never decreased in value, I so confused. Doesn't gold normally go up with inflation? Yeah fluctuates based on how the economy is doing, but regardless inflation goes up so over a long period of time gold should always go up? So confused. Like as years go on we print out more and more money causing the amount of money to buy physical things going up. So in the long run of a few decades the price of any physical thing should go up, well not all but just generally speaking. Sure during a recession it will be very expensive because people are spending, than during recovery it goes back down, but just generally speaking inbetween recessions and initial recoveries.

I just don't like other people managing my 401k for me and chossing which stocks to buy etc with mutal funds or so forth. It's money so I should be able to invest it into what I want as long as I don't withdraw.

I wouldn't say either is bad but I'm sure most companies have a limit that they will contribute on a yearly basis... My max is $18,000 a year... My company's max is $10,800 a year so after that they will not contribute till January of the next year...

Also since all company's are different many may not offer after tax Roth 401k's so you would have to ask your Benefits and Payroll Manager at your company about that... This is the first I have ever heard of it so I don't know anything about them...






Nope... The last company that managed our 401k did not give us the option to buy stocks within our 401k but Fidelity does give us that option and I imagine that I'm probably the only one out of almost 1000 people that actually bought common stock...

When I was talking to my Financial Advisor I told her that I would be giving that option and which surprised her and I told her that I would like to put at least $10,000 into stocks so I bought 5 different stocks and the remainder I left into Mutual Funds...

Now maybe once a year or every other year I might move an additional $2000 over to it to increase my position in a stock or purchase a new stock... Both my Roth and Traditional IRA's have some Mutual Funds but are mostly stocks where my 401k is the opposite... I spread myself out to minimize serious risks but to also gain some serious money if timed right...

So lets say I do 10,000 a year into a 401K (which is aggressive and I don't know if many people can do that and probably not me), and get 5% return after 30 years (reasonable)? No I have 740,821.32 dollars. However 310,000 of that was my money. So I about 2.5x profit. Well that's great and all but chances are that after 30 years everything costs more than 2.5x what it cost 30 years prior. So I don't know if it's really like a money making adventure.

Well you are not going to withdrawal all that money at once and put it in a bank account... My dad retired a few years ago and when he get his 401k money he took it up to Edward Jones and opened an account and his FA put it into Stocks and Mutual Funds and my dad gets a check once a month and it is all interests money that he has earned from it... He hasn't touched his Principle money yet (that I'm aware of or maybe a little)...

Typically you should invest enough in your 401k to at least get the company match. If your 401k is with Fidelity, you have lots of good choices. You could build a simple portfolio made up of index funds and do well - for example, something like this is a good balance of growth from the stocks and income to smooth out the bumps from bonds:

40% Spartan Total Stock Index
20% Spartan Internstional Stock Index
40% Spartan Total Bond Index

I would max out your 401k before tax and/or use a Roth IRA (after investing at least enough to get your company match) before I would use after tax 401k. Tax deferral is very desirable.

I have heard that if your company matches your 401k contributions, you should first contribute up to the match. Then contribute to a roth ira. Once you reach the ira contribution limits, you can then contribute more to your 401k if you would like.



I think the problem with the analysis is that you are comparing what you think the prices will be in 30 years(greater than 2.5x) to today's prices but the $310,000 total contribution is made yearly over a period of time. The comparison would make more sense if the returns of each contribution were compared to inflation over the same time period. So the returns of this year's contribution is compared to inflation over the next 30 years, next year's will be compared to inflation over 29 years beginning next year, and so so. As long as the return is greater than the inflation rate, the purchasing power of each contribution over time will increase.



Stocks and bonds are expensive relative to historical standards and the interest rate on cash is about 0. So it tough to say which one is really the gamble. If inflation is greater than 0, you will be losing purchasing power by holding cash. Stocks and bonds typically return more which would better preserve or possibly increase your purchasing power but the risk of large losses of your initial investment is much greater.