401k Picks Advice

[rdsbusng]

Any advice? Here are my Citistreet 401k choices. Been vested for 7 yrs and Publix Stock (Grocery Store Chain) has been one of my consistent performers. However, I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket. I never paid much attention to my choices before, but now I have a decent amount in there I don't want to lose.

SSgA Stable Value
PIMCO Total Return
Davis New York Venture
SSgA S&P 500 Index
Janus Adviser Forty Fund
SSgA S&P MidCap Index
Pennsylvania Mutual Fund
American EuroPacific Growth
Publix Stock
SSgA Conservative Strateg Bal
SSgA Moderate Strateg Bal
SSgA Aggressive Strateg Bal

Thanks.

 

[travelover]

You should find out what the expense rations are for each option, then put together a portfolio per your asset allocation. If you don't have an asset allocation, you need to develop one. See FAQ and "best of", threads on this forum to see how to do this.

Personally, I'd go with some large cap, mid cap and international index, plus bonds, again per your AA.

 

[rdsbusng]

Thank you for your thoughts. I know nothing about stocks, bonds, index, etc. I guess I should take the time to research so I'll know what I'm doing. What would large cap be under my portfolio choices and would American EuroPacific be Int'l index? I know these are probably stupid questions, but I've got to start somewhere. Maybe someone knows of some good internet sites to learn from. Thanks.

 

[travelover]

I'd recommend that you take the time to read at least one basic investing book to get you oriented.

I just read the Bogleheads Guide to Investing book and would recommend it, as it is simple and straight forward.

For other reading suggestions, see the post here by simba:

Bogleheads :: View topic - Suggestions for the Librarians

 

[walkinwood]

I second travelover's advice. Define your asset allocation first and then determine the right funds to buy. Also research location of assets. Some asset classes are better suited to tax-deferred accounts and others to taxable. Depends on your tax bracket.

I found the Four Pillars of Investment and Intelligent Asset Allocation, both by William Bernstein to be very useful.

All the best.

 

[Animorph]

Look up your funds at Morningstar to see what type of funds they are and what the expense ratio's are.

Europacific is the only foreign stock fund I recognise and was a hot fund back when it used to be in my 401k. You might try 25% in that fund.

The MidCap Index is probably a decent enough small/mid cap (smaller sized companies) choice, though you may have other funds that have small/mid caps (Pennsylvania may be one). You might put 25% into one of those.

PIMCO Total Return looks like your bond choice. If you are conservative or closer to retirement you might put 25% there.

Last would be 25% in the S&P 500 Index fund, or maybe one of the other funds that is "large growth" and has a low expense ratio and similar performance.

If any of the funds is in the Morningstar "large value" category you could replace the 25% bonds with that fund or juggle the %'s to have 20% in all 5 fund categories.

My standard recomendation is to read the articles at FundAdvice.com - Home. They have some recommended portfolios as well that may give you some examples to follow.

Ideally you would have some type of target retirement fund (for various years) that would provide this type of diversification in one fund. That would be easier for you. Otherwise, these 4 or 5 funds should be fine. One of your "Balanced" funds might also do this for you.

Watch your balances in each fund and even them out if any fund reaches 30% of your portfolio or falls to 20% of your portfolio (for the 25% targets).

Just on the mechanics of the thing, read the prospectus sections on buying and selling each fund to see if there are:
Required minimum balances
Penalties for selling soon after buying (maybe within 30 days to 180 days)

Needless to say, this is just a quick response, so do your own research and see what you're comfortable with. With the current market, you might want to put all your money in PIMCO or Stable Value now and then buy into the other funds steadily over the course of this year. That will be better if stocks are declining, and you won't feel so bad if they drop right after you buy them.

Dan