Which is the best investment option my 401K offers?

Question

I can distribute my contributions between:
-Met Life Stable Value
-Vanguard LifeStrategy Conservative Growth Fund
-Vanguard LifeStrategy Moderate Growth Fund
-Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund
-Fidelity Equity-Income Fund
-Vanguard Institutional Index Fund -Institutional shares
-American Century Ultra Fund - Institutional class
-American Century Value Fund - Institutional class
-T. Rowe Price Mid - cap growth fund
-Franklin Balance Sheet Investment Fund - class A
-Pioneer Growth Opportunities Fund - class A
-American FundsSM EuroPacific Growth Fund - class R5
-Lowe's Stock
Or i can put 100% in any of listed above. I'm new to stocks, investments so I would appreciate your advice. Bottom line in what should i invest?

Answer 1

I bet you must work for Lowes. Put a portion into Lowes for sure. Maybe 15-25%. There are two reasons to do so. 1. Shows management you are an investor in Lowes. 2. It is a good investment.

The Vanguard Life Strategy Growth Fund is not a bad choice. It would not however be my 1st choice but not my last either. Maybe 25%.

Fidelity Equity-Income is a somewhat mediocre fund (not too bad and not too good) but reasonably sound with large cap holdings that pay dividends. You could do worse. Maybe 25%.

The T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth fund is the best of the lot in my opinion. It is also closed to new investors. You are fortunate that you are able to invest in it as an option. 25%. It however will also be the most likely among the options to possibly suffer a significant loss in a bear market. If that prospect does not appeal to you, perhaps you should avoid it.

American Funds is a premier mutual fund company but does charge a significant sales charge on their class A shares. I do not know about the class R5. This fund is your only option for non-US investments. So despite the sales charge, it should be included in your portfolio to provide you with appropriate geographic diversity. Its holdings are solid large cap companies that are world class. 25%.

One of your responders suggested not putting more than 10% in any one investment. Generally, that is good advice for individual stocks, especially when considering an investment in Lowes stock. It does not apply to mutual funds to such an extent because by their nature of diverse investments. In your particular case a 25% contritubion to Lowes although it does not follow this guideline, would be appropriate because of the possible contribution to your career.

I am not particularly please with the selections you are being provided. Each of the companies that I mentioned above have significantly better offerings for 401k accounts. In particular for example the Vanguard Global Equity Fund would be a fine choice for any 401k account. I do not know how a company selects the funds to offer their employees. I sometimes believe that they are perhaps offered kickbacks to offer certain funds.

Maybe you should suggest to your management that the Vanguard Global Equity Fund would be a much better offering than most of the funds they are currently offering. If they should decide to do so in the future consider swithch the Euro-Pacific portion to that fund.

Answer 2

If your unsure about what you should choose, I would recommend 90% Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth (which is a fund of funds so it's very diversified) and 10% Lowe's stock. If you're older, then LifeStrategy Moderate Growth. Contribute as much as you can and at LEAST enough to get the company match otherwise you're leaving money on the table. You must contribute since Social Security is very iffy for people under 40 and there's no such thing as a Retirement Loan for those who didn't save for theirs. Good Luck!

Answer 3

401k Best Investment Options

Answer 4

Vanguard Mid Cap Index 35% Vanguard Small Cap Index 35% Dodge & Cox Income Fund 15% Europacific 15%

Answer 5

Looks like they are mostly mutual funds ,
Not individual stock (except Lowe's) .
Enter each of their ticker symbols into Yahoo finance ,
Then look for their holdings in the links for that fund .
If there is over 15% in financials (mortgages) ,
I would take a pass and keep looking . . .
But that's just me and I avoid most mutual funds .

Re: Lowes
Their debt to revenue is OK
( about $5 Billion debt to $47.9 B revenue )
And their growth is low but positive .
They should be OK , but with the housing issues ,
Their value could travel sideways for awhile .

AND FYI - NEVER , and I mean NEVER , put more than 10% of your investments in any 1 place .

Diversify , Diversify , Diversify !

>

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Honestly, that answer can not be given without finding out what type of invester you are.
Those funds are invested totally different from each other.

You need to find out what type of investor you are, from a financial professional, and then once that is determined, they can explain the importance of asset diversification, which in layman's terms is don't put all of your eggs in one basket.

They will be able to show you, regardless of who's funds it is, how to take and invest in different funds at the same time, so if one portion does badly, the others will usually break the fall of your total portfolio, and usually perform enough in another sector to where you won't notice the poor performance in the other.

If you would like to sit down with someone in my company, e-mail me at [e-mail], and I will have someone from an office in your area sit down with you and explain this, free of charge.

Answer 8

Did you receive a packet that explains the funds and different historical returns? Just choose the highest historical return. Doesn't mean the return will repeat itself but you'll be in the best fund.

Answer 9

It would be best for you to speak with your company's 401(k) plan representative. Speak to your HR person for their contact info. In a closed door meeting or phone conversation, he/she will ask you personal financial questions that allow them to give you the best choices that fit your specific situation. As mentioned, if your company has a 401(k) match, you should invest enough to take all of their match. Please, do yourself a favor, speak to the rep, don't take any one person's advice. There are too many variables in this decision.

Answer 10

try looking into a ROTH IRA account. peace!