401(K) Plans Starting To Earn Again

By Cornelius Nunev


With all the bad news going around these days, people who have 401(k) plans have some good news. Earnings on 401(k) policies have been sneaking up over the past year according to press announcements from numerous outlets.

Retirement anxiety all over

The Huffington Post explained that there are lots of people in "Generation Y" who are really negative about having a possible retirement. Soon to be retirees and current ones were really upset when their 401(k) plans were practically lost over the last few years as the economy got really bad.

USA Today pointed out that many people are starting to stress less about retirement as their 401(k) policies and accounts are beginning to rebound and earn cash again. It is pretty exciting for a lot of people.

Up 25 percent

Reports vary, but a variety of studies and releases from several businesses indicate healthy gains during the last few years. Lipper, according to USA Today, reports the typical stock mutual fund has appreciated 11.4 percent over the year. Since 401(k) policies are essentially a tax-protected mutual fund with some elements of a trust or other maturing asset, many will have gained that much or possibly more.

The typical 401(k) plan had $74,380 in it, according to Aon Hewitt. That is great news since it was $70,970 at the beginning of the year. The average stock mutual fund increased 124 percent since 2009, according to Lipper, which is also good.

According to Time magazine, investment firm Funds Advisor found the median employer-sponsored retirement plan had valued by 25 percent in the past three years. Specifically, 401(k) policies valued an average 28 percent.

Different states saw various increases too. The red states saw a 28 percent increase while blue states only saw 25 percent. People in Arkansas only saw a 1 percent increase while those in Mississippi saw an 80 percent increase.

Seeing largest gains

If there's a typical thread through some of these, both USA Today and Time both report that the largest gains were universally realized by people who continually contribute to their 401(k) policies.

The way the accounts are intended to work is a sort of "snowball" impact. Roll a snowball down a hill, it gets bigger. Same thing with a 401(k) or Roth or other type of retirement account; the more one contributes and continues to do so, the more it accumulates. Even though it means just a little cash out of pocket per month, it's almost like making a personal unsecured loan to one's self.



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