Q on accounts--spread too thin?
Find a Conversation
Q on accounts--spread too thin?
| Mon, 12-12-2005 - 2:05am |
Hi,all. Danni and littlebigs, et al, I have a question for you. DH came home and found the info that TIAA-CREF sent me (I am already enrolled). He says I have diversified, but not consolidated, and that it is silly for me to be having all of these accounts, and wont be able to keep track of them (I have it set up online, so it is a no-brainer for me). I have to aggressively start saving more. Here's what I have: l) About $75K in 401K at work, minimal matching. Poor return. 2.5% Put in about $15k annually. 2) TIAA-CREF--$100/month. Just opened. 3)IRA: about $4K annually. 4) E-fund. Paltry $350. $200/month. Set to go up to $400/month after first of year. 5) Another mutual fund thing debited--about $9K annually. 6)Online stock investing--$1200 currently. $125.month. Still looking into Emigrent, etc. for better savings returns. Goals:(for '06): 5-10% for 401k (down from 15-25%). 2) Max out IRA. 3) Pour more money into TIAA-CREF. 4)$5000 E-fund. (DH has $15K, but that was NOT by his saving it--he put the refi $$ into his account). 5) Get into the Emigrent or switch to another (similar)online savings account. Any comments/suggestions? Whiz.

I'm not a financial expert, but that looks all right to me. The only thing I would add is that you might want to look at your percentages in secure vs. growth investments. One thing I've heard that makes a lot of sense to me, is to have a plan by which you have x percent of your assets in relatively secure investments (bonds, money market, savings, CDs, income mutual funds) and x percent in growth investments (stocks, bonds, aggressive mutual funds). Then, when the market goes up in one area, you begin slowly selling (or investing less) in that market at it rises, increasing your investment in the market that is decreasing, always at a rate to keep your percentage roughly the same. What that does is it helps you to more often than not be buying low and selling high. It also ensures that you maintain a balanced portfolio in terms of how much of your assets are in volatile markets.
Anyway, I don't think, for the amount of assets that you have, that you are too diverse in your holdings. Just so long as you can keep track of it all, which can be as simple as keeping a binder with all your accounts listed with their critical information. Or you can do it in a spreadsheet or Quicken-like software. Not too tough.
Good luck,
Heather