These three thoughts are especially harmful to the investment management decisions that are required in your company 401(k) retirement plan account.
Each thought carries a special deadly force on its own. Combined, these thoughts will undermine you’re the long-term preservation and growth of your most important retirement nest egg.
If you ever find yourself thinking or talking to yourself about any or all of these thoughts, stop immediately before they can do permanent damage.
‘This is the way it’s always been done’
If you are older than about 30 years old, the “buy-and-hold” investment management strategy is what you grew up with. Recently, you added the “buy-the-dip” investment management strategy every time the stock markets fell in a big way.
What other technology do you use on a daily basis that is as outdated as the two investment management strategies listed above?
Saying “this is the way it’s always been done” not only makes you sound lazy and resistant to change. Worse, you sound completely ignorant of the current generation of company 401(k) mutual fund investment performance rankings and annual expense calculations.
There really is a better way to manage your company 401(k) retirement plan mutual fund menu. The first step in that direction is to realize that fact.
‘It’s not my fault’
I have to go back to your parents on this one. Or maybe your teachers and coaches. You have to be accountable to your boss and company for your career. You are completely responsible for the investment outcomes in your company 401(k) account.
Stick to the facts and become aware of the independent, third-party investment fiduciary level tools available to you today.
There is no one else to blame. Every company 401(k) retirement plan participant has to learn how to “make lemonade out of the lemons” on their mutual fund menu. The good news is that it has never been easier to make that happen.
You can be the smartest person you know about “what to buy” on your company 401(k) retirement plan menu. You just have to take the responsibility of finding and accessing the right technology.
‘I can’t’
Saying “I can’t” suggests that you’re not willing to make the commitment to find an expert technology or resource to help you improve your company 401(k) investment management decisions.
Most likely, you lack the necessary experience and skills to both preserve and grow your company 401(k) account. Acknowledge that fact. Then find an alternative solution. Instead of saying what you can’t, say what you can do.
Instead of continuing to be frustrated by your thinking that “I can’t effectively manage my company 401(k),” say “I have not yet found a trusted resource or investment advisor who can show me how I can improve my company 401(k) investment management decisions.”
Ric Lager
Lager & Company, Inc.
