Tracking the Performance of a 401K

[TxQuiltGirl]

Soooo glad we have the money management forum! YAY!!!!

 

Anyway, funny this came up today because I have been trying to figure out for months the best way to track the performance of my 401k. I mean, it's not doing badly that I can see, but I'd like to monitor the performance of the individual elements of my portfolio. The quarterly statements don't get me where I'm going.

 

I have about 8 elements in the portfolio. Can anyone give me some pointers on how best to track their performance?

 

Thanks!

[Lighthouse84]

Not to Hijack your thread...but speaking of 401k's

 

Does anyone know of any websites that offer good information on ways to invest ? I have around $2,000 sitting in my 401K, and its just sitting in very low risk stable asset funds. I am young and am a long ways off from retirement so I think I should be investing in other things, that have perhaps a higher risk. Anyone have any links ? TIA

 

 

(sorry to hijack !

[Q]

Not to Hijack your thread...but speaking of 401k's

 

Does anyone know of any websites that offer good information on ways to invest ? I have around $2,000 sitting in my 401K, and its just sitting in very low risk stable asset funds. I am young and am a long ways off from retirement so I think I should be investing in other things, that have perhaps a higher risk. Anyone have any links ? TIA

 

 

(sorry to hijack ! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I know of one but can't think of it. I think is gorrilla trades or something. Its a pay site though which is a bummer though.

 

But you really should have started your own thread though.

Edited February 2, 2005 by Q

[Q]

Soooo glad we have the money management forum! YAY!!!!

 

Anyway, funny this came up today because I have been trying to figure out for months the best way to track the performance of my 401k. I mean, it's not doing badly that I can see, but I'd like to monitor the performance of the individual elements of my portfolio. The quarterly statements don't get me where I'm going.

 

I have about 8 elements in the portfolio. Can anyone give me some pointers on how best to track their performance?

 

Thanks!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I wanted to use MS Money to track my performance of mine. It does such a well job with debt and my bank accounts that I am curious to see how it does with investing.

[breeze]

Who is the 401k with - I know some of the bigger companies have outlines and explanations. I am familiar with some - mainly Fidelity.

[TxQuiltGirl]

Who is the 401k with - I know some of the bigger companies have outlines and explanations. I am familiar with some - mainly Fidelity.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Our 401k is through Vanguard, Breeze.

 

Q, I thought about using MS Money (I use it for tracking other things), but I dunno if it would work as well for a 401k. I would consider it if it were just regular stocks & bonds ... I dunno, though, maybe I don't have a firm grip of the best way to use Money for this purpose.

[breeze]

Have you looked around their website? I would think Vanguard would have some tools there that would at least help.

[Q]

Mine is with Merrill Lynch and they have one. I don't like it too much, but its there for the time being until I think of something else.

[WebGo]

Yes, I use MS Money to track my 401(K). It works fantastic! I enter all my transactions (contributions, employer match, and then the fund purchases) so it does take some time and effort to manage - but you can get some great reports and really track on a consistent basis.

 

In fact, I use MS Money to track all my investment accounts. It will automatically update the prices - but I do have to enter the transactions.

[Credit Please]

I have Fidelity, I allocate all my money to go to the safest choice which is some type bond, none of the other options do much gaining and spend the month or quarters mostly losing. Although I don't gain much, if at all, I am definatly not losing.

[bfarber]

I use MS Money 2005 with my Fidelity 401k.

Fidelity is directly supported with MS Money, meaning I can electronically download all my statements, updates, purchases, sales, etc. Then I just import it and voila, shows like an account register.

 

I haven't gotten too much into the tracking and reporting portions (the reports section of money has GREAT reports for investment accounts imo) as it's only 6 months old +/-. But Money itself with Fidelity is very easy to use.

 

As for what to invest in? From what I hear, value funds have been pretty good for the last couple years, and what normally happens is value funds do good for a while, and then growth funds start to take off. Once growth funds hit a peek, value funds pick back up. I switched some of my contributions to some growth funds through Fidelity. Haven't done astronomically well yet, but not bad either. My main gainer seems to be Fidelity International. Doing VERY well for the past 6 months.

 

I also contribute to Hotchkis and Wiley, and Royce Total Return. Hotchkis and Wiley did excellent last year (24-29% return, something like that), though I didn't personally have a lot of money in to get much of a return off of. Royce is a steady fund that seems to be growing at a slow/steady rate. This is one that I would like to keep, as I'm young, and can wait a long time.

[Izmunuti]

Does anyone know of any websites that offer good information on ways to invest ? I have around $2,000 sitting in my 401K, and its just sitting in very low risk stable asset funds. I am young and am a long ways off from retirement so I think I should be investing in other things, that have perhaps a higher risk. Anyone have any links ? TIA

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I happen to like

 

www.fool.com

 

Consider an Index fund. Gets you into stocks while staying diversified. Low expenses for a mutual fund too.

 

A problem is that 401Ks are often limited in their choice of funds. You'll have to check out your employer's info.

 

Iz

[breeze]

I have Fidelity, I allocate all my money to go to the safest choice which is some type bond, none of the other options do much gaining and spend the month or quarters mostly losing. Although I don't gain much, if at all, I am definatly not losing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Have you looked at Magellan? I believe they've changed managers, but it was an excellent growth fund, very well managed when I had mine with Fidelity.

[Izmunuti]

Have you looked at Magellan? I believe they've changed managers, but it was an excellent growth fund, very well managed when I had mine with Fidelity.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It used to be a decent fund but seems to have slipped in the last few years.

 

http://personal.fidelity.com/products/fund...shtml?316184100

 

Iz

[s1100]

Credit please,

 

You may be losing to inflation.depending on your age you may want to bump it up a little bit.

[breeze]

Is that shot of the original Magellan fund? It says it's closed to new investors. There are two Magellan funds, actually. If they closed the second one.....

 

It's a long-term growth fund that does well over the long haul. every fund shows a jump and drop at those same points in time. Maybe I just didn't keep up with it and don't know.

[Hwkdrvr]

I use Money 2005 to track the performance of my 457. It won't download my statements, so I enter the new purchases monthly. I only enter the new share values and purchase price; money does the rest.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Michael

[hesiden]

moneycentral.msn.com

 

Nothing too high tech. I can put in the full list of my 401K options pull some relavent indexes QQQQ, S&P500, etc. Then just book mark it. I can see the % change each day, and performace graphs and % returns over a time period.

 

I've been 50% small cap, 50% International for over a year (plus some company stock, not too much no Enron for me.)

 

For specfic dollar ammounts I'm sure your 401k plan has web access. Everyone has web access now.

[uuuuut]

I only have one fund in my 401k, so it isn't too complicated for me. In an Excel spreadsheet, I just have 3 columns: Date, Total Value of 401k, Value of one unit.

That way, I can see how the overall value of my 401k changes over time, and how the fund I'm investing in is performing.

 

Same thing could be done if you have more funds, it would just require more columns.