Is it SMARTER to save your money or invest through mutual funds or 401k?

Question

I am currently debating if I should place of money in savings or invest. This is a tough decision because I am not good at taking risks. PLEASE HELP.

Answer 1

The question is when do you want your money back? If you need it to pay rent next month, then it should be in a savings account. If it is 2 years from now for a down payment on a house, then go with a 2 year CD. If it is for growth 10 years from now, then mutual funds. If it is for retirement, then do a 401K at least up to the percentage that your company will match you. Then do a Roth IRA if you qualify. Once you maxed out on the Roth, go back to your 401K. If you have many years to go before retirement, the bulk of your investments should be in stock mutual funds. As you get closer to retirement age, then start adding bond mutual funds.

Answer 2

What people don't tell you is that it's not smart to save in a savings account period. And it's doubly not smart to save in a 401k or other pretax vehicle and invest solely in Money Markets (to reduce risk).

Here's why....Inflation. If Inflation is 3% annually and you earn an average of 3.5% annually then your buying power has increased .5% a year. Not very much....but it's at least something. EXCEPT, you have to pay taxes on the whole thing including the 3.5% gains...so the taxes erode 100% of those "gains over inflation" and then some. So, in fact, you can now buy LESS then you could have had you just stuck the money in a mattress.

So, it's smarter to invest in a mutual fund or stock and even smarter to do it inside a retirement vehicle; roth IRA, 401k, regular IRA doesn't matter.

Answer 3

I've seen the numbers for Roth versus Traditional IRAs and in some cases the Traditional works out better. The key to the best in investment is to START AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE. No matter what calculation I've seen on this, starting now versus a month or a year is a big difference. I also reccomend Traditional IRAs because they are tax deductable. With Roth IRAs, you have to front up the money yourself, with a Traditional IRA, you pretty much start with money you do not have if you look in terms of taxes. Just an idea, instead of using your 2006 Tax Refund for credit card bills or something else, start a traditional IRA. As for which IRA, look for something with an agressive growth option. Unlike what the daily news wants you to believe the market has been growing and growing and not really going down. The S & P 500 is a pretty good indicator of this. It looks like 2007 is going to be a decent growth year, so might as well start. Everyone will talk about risk; there is risk with all of the funds that you'd be interested with. Except for a couple of government funds which are somewhat insured, you'll only collect 1% or 2% per year which is nothing you do not want. Stick to a big company, Fidelity, Charles Schawb, etc. Although they require a big initial opening investment to begin working with them, most of the funds are very proven and their practices are very ethical. Good Luck & START EARLY

Answer 4

If you have the opportunity to put money in a 401k, it is a good way to save money for retirement, and it will reduce your income taxes too. You can choose a 50/50 approach in your 401k, with 50% going to an interest bearing savings account and 50% to a large cap index fund. Outside of a 401k, I would not touch a mutual fund - your money is safer in a CD.

Answer 5

your question does not make sense. A 401k is an account that shelters your money tax-deferred for your retirement and offered by your employer. It is one of the best"saving" plans you can do for yourself.

Now, what investments you put into it is the question. You could be in cash (money market) or mutual funds (risky or safe).

Hope you understand this

Answer 6

The first answer is correct. And also remember that with a 401k it reduces your taxable income, so you save on taxes. Also your Employer probably matches a percentage of your 401k contribution, so that is really "Free Money" to you. Finally your 401k grows tax deferred, and if you leave the company you can roll that into a Roll Over IRA and continue the tax deferral...

Answer 7

Within your 401K account purchase mutual funds. In most cases, it would not make sense to make investments (funds ot stocks) outside of the 401K until you have maxed out your 401K contributions.

Answer 8

The first thing is have no unmanageable debt. Then you learn to invest. If you have a low tolerance for risk you find the highest paying save place to put your money. If you would get upset at any loss of your investment for even a short time buy Cd's at a bank

Answer 9

it depends on how much risk you are willing to take with your money. if you want low risk, take the savings route -- your money is safe, it is guaranteed to earn, but it also comes with very low returns. more info on savings can be found here: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson3/index.htm

On the other hand, if you are a bit of a risk taker, you can invest your money in mutual funds. This yields higher returns than savings but the risk is also higher. But this is medium-risk because mutual funds pool together the money of several investors and invest them into a portfolio of companies' stocks and bonds. This means you're not only putting your money in one company but in several -- so if one loses, another can gain, thereby offsetting any losses of the other companies. more info on mutual funds here: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson6/

If you really want to have high yields for your money, then go into stocks. But the risks are really high because you will be investing in the stocks of a company and you are not sure if they will earn or not. The stock market may fluctuate wildly, so you need a stock broker who can advise you since they know how to spot the trends. If you decide to invest in stocks, I suggest that you go with the companies who are already stable financially. Do research about the company before deciding to invest in it. More info on investing in stocks can be found here: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson5/index.htm

Answer 10

You will earn more money (more interest) by investing in the various funds in your 401k. This is how real wealth is acquired.