8 ways to goose your nest egg

The Dot.com burst burned 1/2 of my 401K.  The housing burst depleted all of my savings of last 10 years (all of my savings and earnings go to mortgage payments) and now I am unable to unload the house which I am living in because it is deep underwater.  Last few years, I got many calls about gold and silver investments but I am really gun shy right now.

Playing conservative with the 401K, I may have to work forever (full-time or part-time).  Playing agressive with the 401K, I could get burned again.  Either way, no easy solution for Americam working class.

after reading this article in context, and then the denigrating posts, i must conclude that many of the posters have less than proficient investment advisors or none at all.  in a sideways market like we have had since 1999, there are many active investment managers who have employed tactical asset allocation (more aggressive) or opportunistic rebalancing (more moderate) to handily avoid the bulk of these big downturns and capitalize on the upswings.

all of these options offered by msn in this article are very valid additions or "sidecars" to a well-developed all-weather investment portfolio during difficult market environments, such as the current secular sideways market.  most pros employ these funds as supplements and then add to or subtract from the portfolio allocation as directional strategies.

think of the portfolio as the planet, and these msn suggestions as satellites to add stability and boost performance during differing market conditions.

as for taking random return potshots, the facts are that 1) fmlsx has topped the market by 20% over the past five years, 2) pcrdx should only be used during periods of impending or actual inflation (you have to actually read the article), 3) gcmrx was not even mentioned, and 4) fagix has outperformed the intermediate bond benchmark by 20% over the past three years.

many of you simply need to fire your current advisors and find one who has made ten percent per year or more since 1999.  or not.  there is always social security.....