Is it better to invest in 401k or index fund?
A 401(k) account's major edge over an index fund is the tax advantage. Contributions to 401(k) accounts are pre-tax. Owners don't pay taxes on dollars they put in or the earnings from their investment portfolio until they start withdrawing funds.
Diversification is an important factor, and you'll want to balance having too much in one type of asset. For example, many experts recommend having an allocation to large stocks such as those in an S&P 500 index fund as well as an allocation to medium- and small-cap stocks.
Disadvantages include the lack of downside protection, no choice in index composition, and it cannot beat the market (by definition).
For diversification and income, bond index funds like the Fidelity Total Bond Fund (FTBFX) can be a good choice. Target-date retirement funds, which automatically adjust their allocation as your retirement approaches, can also be a convenient option for retirement planning.
Good alternatives include traditional and Roth IRAs and health savings accounts (HSAs). A non-retirement investment account can offer higher earnings but your risk may be higher.
The 4% rule is a popular retirement withdrawal strategy that suggests retirees can safely withdraw the amount equal to 4% of their savings during the year they retire and then adjust for inflation each subsequent year for 30 years.
In investing, the 80-20 rule generally holds that 20% of the holdings in a portfolio are responsible for 80% of the portfolio's growth. On the flip side, 20% of a portfolio's holdings could be responsible for 80% of its losses.
Even the top investors put their money in index funds.
In fact, a number of billionaire investors count S&P 500 index funds among their top holdings. Among those are Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Dalio's Bridgewater, and Griffin's Citadel.
One of the main reasons is that some investors believe they can outperform the market by actively selecting individual stocks or actively managed funds. While this is possible, it is not easy, and many studies have shown that the majority of active investors fail to beat the market consistently over the long term.
No Control Over Holdings
Indexes are set portfolios. If an investor buys an index fund, they have no control over the individual holdings in the portfolio. You may have specific companies that you like and want to own, such as a favorite bank or food company that you have researched and want to buy.
What does Warren Buffett say about 401k?
Most employer-run 401(k) retirement plans offer multiple mutual funds with different assets strategies, but Buffett warned against going with those options, saying "you'll do very well with an S&P index."
For investors that take the time to learn and understand how to select individual stocks for their needs and properly manage a portfolio of them, they can achieve a lot of the benefits of index funds (great long-term returns with low fees) without some of the downsides (potential overvaluation, liquidity mismatches, ...
Broadly diversified index funds can be your investment vehicle for a ride to becoming a millionaire retiree, if the stock market performs as it has in the past. If you know little about investing and have no desire to learn more, you still can be a successful investor. That's because you have the power of index funds.
- Traditional IRA. ...
- Roth IRA. ...
- SEP IRA. ...
- Solo 401(k) ...
- Health savings account. ...
- Taxable brokerage account. ...
- Real estate. ...
- Invest in a business startup.
401(k)'s offer potentially lower risk and higher returns than stocks, but stocks provide more control over the portfolio and potentially higher returns.
Since a 401(k) may not be sufficient for your retirement, building in other provisions is essential such as making separate, regular contributions to a traditional or Roth IRA. It's always a good idea to have more options when you reach the "distribution" phase of your life.
According to Standard and Poor's, the average annualized return of the S&P index, which later became the S&P 500, from 1926 to 2020 was 10%. 1 At 10%, you could double your initial investment every seven years (72 divided by 10).
Understanding the $1,000-a-Month Rule: The $1,000-a-month rule is a simplified formula designed to help individuals calculate the amount they need to save for retirement. According to this rule, one should aim to save $240,000 for every $1,000 of monthly income they anticipate requiring during retirement.
Ideally, you should stay invested in equity index funds for the long run, i.e., at least 7 years. That is because investing in any equity instrument for the short-term is fraught with risks. And as we saw, the chances of getting positive returns improve when you give time to your investments.
While it's true that index funds have historically provided solid returns, it's important to remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Blindly putting all of your savings into index funds without considering other investment options or your personal financial goals could be a mistake.
How much do you have to live off index funds?
The S&P 500 offers a current dividend yield of 1.6% and has delivered an average of 2.34%. That means if you want to generate $100,000 in annual passive income from a vanilla index fund, you would need $4,273,504 in assets ($100,000 divided by 2.34%).
Experts agree that for most personal investors, a portfolio comprising 5 to 10 ETFs is perfect in terms of diversification.
In 2007, Buffett bet a million dollars that over the course of a decade, a simple S&P 500 index fund would outperform a basket of hand-picked hedge funds. He picked the Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX). Hedge fund manager Ted Seides from Protégé Partners accepted the bet and picked five funds-of-funds.
Ramsey says index mutual funds can be a better buy than ETFs. Ramsey suggested that if you do want to engage in passive investing, you're better off doing it with an index mutual fund than with an ETF that tracks a market or financial index.
| Symbol | Pct of portfolio | |
|---|---|---|
| Chevron Corp | CVX | 5.3% |
| Citigroup Inc | C | 0.9% |
| Coca-Cola Co | KO | 6.5% |
| Davita Inc | DVA | 1.3% |
