Josh asks …
The best way to give up your ‘day job’ is to watch my Live Show this Thursday @ 8pm CST (9pm EST / 6pm PST) at http://ajcfeed.com ….
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Josh asks …
This past month I’m down 12.XX percent for my 401(k). I would like to withdraw the approximate 10,000 and buy a piece of property, but it hurts to take such a loss and sell at a low. What would you do?
Dunno … never had a 401k or equivalent 🙂
However, I do know this:
When trading investments, there’s no need to consider how much one investment is up/down this month, last month, last year, or even last decade v. another …
… only ask how much one investment is expected to be up/down next month, year, decade v. the other!
In other words, write down the current value of your existing investment (this case your 401k) and run two scenarios:
1. What would be my expected after tax outcome if I invested exactly what I have today in the 401k, without including entry/exit fees?
2. What would be my expected after tax outcome if I invested exactly what I have today in another investment vehicle, including entry fees (for the new investment, if any) and exit fees (for the existing investment, if any)?
In simple terms: forget that past and consider each day (or week, month, quarter, year, decade … depending on how often you want to be shifting stuff about) a new investment decision.
Just remember, that you incur costs and taxes when moving investments (which generally make shifting investments more difficult), so you need to:
a) lean heavily on your accountant’s tax advice and assistance in running after-tax numbers, and
b) lean towards investments that give you greater leverage to help overcome the tax/fee double-whammy, and
c) have a long-term planning horizon (that way one-off costs become less important, as compounding kicks in).
Real-estate just may give you that … but, run the numbers (with your accountant) to be sure!
Finally, consider the relative risks of the two investments … for example, dumping your 401k to invest in an Internet start-up may not be all that smart 😉
Thanks for the advice Adrian. I just read your answer to Shannon’s question, and it looks like I should be building the same team of people to help figure stuff like this out.