Signs you have a good 401k plan

Ok. Here is the scoop. You all did not lose a thing during the market downturn unless you sold. If you rode it out, you actually should have made money. Quite a bit really. If you did sell and move it you probably did lose. If you are old enough to be in retirement range and need your money for living, you should not have been in volatile investments like stocks. You should have been in secure holdings, bonds, cash etc type of holdings.

 If you are younger and paid attention to your investments you could have made a lot of money. We did.

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The more this class of people save, the less burden they are on society in the future. We (our goverment) has ruinated any understanding of saving in the name of consumption (short term satisfaction vs. long term) and we need to put saving back into the public mindset. Anybody believing the goverment is the cure all and going to 'take care of you' in your later years is a total fool.

@ Shelly Schwartz:  1. I am getting worn out by all of these articles about how to retire on a 401K. I do not have fund choices in my 401K to provide the 8%-10% return that would be required to get to the "Golden Number" of dollars that I will need to "Retire". None of the funds are getting that kind of return! 2. All of you, supposed, financial advisors (or reporters) keep mouthing the same junk about "long term" holding of assets and "riding out the ups and downs of the markets". Meanwhile, you experts are not tied to the markets the same way that we are. Just like "Fund Managers" you make yours even if we are bankrupted by the market losses. We that work in the normal world of employment should not be "Playing The Stocks & Bonds Markets". We cannot bear the "RISK" associated with "Playing the Market"!

Ok I will quit my job so I can keep a fulltime eye on the stock market. Or I can work for money I need now and forget about retirement. I bet The stock market longs for the old days when people thought they could trust them.

@ Shelly Schwartz: (cont’d) 3. Throughout my early years in the Military and working to support a family I was told, “The Stock Market was for the wealthy to play with. Gambling with the Stock Market was ‘Inherently Risky’ and was only for those who could afford the risk!” When did that change? When did it become OK to gamble with my ability to provide for my later years! 4. The only thing I find of value in all of these articles is the warning that, “You are on your own and should not rely on your employer or the government to provide for your retirement!” It is possible, but unlikely, to save enough to retire and enjoy the “Golden Years” of our lives if, as you state, you start at a very early age and keep saving until you get there. I still remember the large number of people who followed all this great financial advice and ended up losing most of their life savings just when they were getting to the point where they would be retiring! What did they do wrong?