[Brian2008]

I had a 401K at my old job which I left and I never did anything with it, I just kept it there. Below are my choices and the percentages I have in each. I have gone from about 55 thousand to about 44 thousand in the last year or so. My first question is: Is everyone losing that much? My second questions is: Do I have good choices below? I admit, I know nothing about this. Is there a choice below that I should get out of? Or is there one that looks good that I should join:



SSgA Government Money Market Fund 0%
PIMCO Total Return Fund - Class A 0%
DWS High Income Plus Fund - Class S 0%
SSgA Life SolutionsSM Income & Growth Fund 0%
SSgA Life SolutionsSM Balanced Growth Fund 10%
SSgA Life SolutionsSM Growth Fund 30%
AllianceBernstein Growth and Income Fund - Class A 0%
DWS Large Cap Value Fund - Class A 0%
SSgA S&P® 500 Index Fund 30%
Neuberger Berman Partners Fund - Advisor Class 10%
Oppenheimer Capital Appreciation Fund - Class A 0%
Fidelity® Advisor Equity Growth Fund - Class T 0%
Franklin Rising Dividends Fund - Class A 0%
SSgA S&P® MidCap 400 Index Strategy Fund 10%
Alger MidCap Growth Institutional Fund - Class I 0%
Janus Adviser International Growth Fund - Class S 0%
Templeton Growth Fund, Inc. - Class R 10%
Allianz NFJ Small-Cap Value Fund - Class A 0%
SSgA Russell® 2000 Index Strategy Fund 0%
Alger SmallCap Growth Institutional Fund - Class I 0%

[ebaines]

The market has been down about 15%, so your return seems to be tracking the market. One thing I notice is that it seems you ae invested 100% in equities, and nothing in fixed income. Not knowing how old you are or your tolerance for risk - I would suggest putting a portion into a bond fund, like perhaps 25 - 35%. I would not advocate the money market fund, but perhaps that PIMCO fund? I would also advocate a portion to be invested in international funds.

[SWY0104]

Previous reply is good advice given that you didn't give enough information for someone to advise which funds might be best for YOU. Your losses are, as previously stated, not out of line with what other people in 100% equities (stocks) are seeing. There is nothing inherently bad about any of the choices available to you -- but you need to find the right ones for your specific situation. Your plan administrator may offer tools to help you with this (just ask) or you may seek out advice from a local area investment professional in selecting your 401k investments. If you are determined to "do it yourself" study up on "asset allocation" -- Google that term, and see if you can apply that theory to your investments.