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August 23, 2008

How Much Should I Save?”

Get a ballpark figure in 2 minutes or less!

It’s the number two question that 401k Savers have, ranking only behind, “Where should I invest my money?”**

In less than 2 minutes Fidelity’s My Plan Snapshot* can get you in the ballpark of how much you should be saving, if your financial situation is not too complex.

You’ll need to know your: age, annual salary, 401k savings balance, monthly savings rate and investment style (moderate, growth, aggressive growth, etc…)

You’ll receive: an estimate based on an 85% income replacement rate in retirement.  This snapshot does not consider any pension money that you may have coming, IRA money or Spouse Retirement Income sources.

In 10 to 15 minutes

Fidelity’s Retirement Quick Check takes ten to fifteen minutes, giving you a more thorough estimate. But you’ll need more information including your: projected pension income, Spouse 401k and/or pension income, IRA and other retirement savings assets.

One word of advice would be to dig out your annual Social Security Statement and use those numbers.  We found Fidelity severely underestimated out projected Social Security benefits when making their projections for us.

To access Quick Check click the “CREATE A PLAN” button at the end of the 2 minute My Plan Snapshot and Log in.  Your entries here will be remembered for future easy updates when you return.

Comprehensive Check in 30 to 45 minutes

Go All The Way in less than an hour with Fidelity’s Retirement Income Planner.  Just be sure to first evaluate your expected lifespan (perhaps by looking at the longevity of your parents and grandparents), your approx. income needs in retirement and list any probable work income you may have in retirement.

To find the Planner, log in to 401k.com and select the Tools and Learning link in the lower left corner.  Then in the center of the page click Create You Retirement Plan Now.  Finally scroll down to select Retirement Income Planner.

Avoid Late Career Panic

So often it holds true; “Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.”  The very last thing we want is for our late-life income to perform poorly for us just when we need it most.

**Deloitte, 2008 401k Benchmark Survey

 

Wishing You The Very Best Of Returns,

The Fed’s Funds Staff

* Included source links and/or logos serve only to further viewer research and in no way indicates any endorsements, sponsorships or relationships. No accuracy guarantee of their content is implied.  This information is not presented as legal, tax or financial advice.

Reported performances of the past are not a prediction or guarantee of future returns.

August 16, 2008

The Trend Is Up, Way Up!

Are Your Funds Following??

Back in mid-July the Market turned a corner and since then has reversed its downward trend.  Overall most funds are following this upward trend but a few are not.

S&P 500        +6.9%

S&P 400        +6.3%

Russell 2000 +11.8%

U.S. Dollar    +8.1% vs. Euro

Oil                -18.8%

Gold             -19.3%

Comparison Graph 1-Month*

From Yahoo Finance

While the Mid Index is up 6.3% for the month funds like Alger Mid-Cap Growth ALMRX are down 1.6% for the past 30 days.

Wells Fargo Small Value Z SSMVX is down 3.4% for the month while its Small-Cap Index is up 11.8%.

A Large-Cap fund to keep an eye on is Fidelity Independence FDFFX.  It’s down 8.5% in the last 30 days when it’s Index the S&P500 is up 6.9%.

By far, most domestic funds are participating in the month long upswing but some clearly are not.  In fact the Stronger Dollar seems to be strangling International Markets as they continue downward even in light of lower fuel prices.

 

Find Out About Your Funds

The chart below shows the 4-Week Returns to give you an idea of how your funds are responding to the recent market turn around.

If you click on your fund name you’ll see a graph comparing its performance to an appropriate Index.*

INDEXES

CLASS

4-Week as of Aug 15

Russell 2000

SC

8.7

NASDAQ

TECH

7.4

S&P 500

LC

3.0

S&P 400

MC

2.7

Dow Jones 30

Ind

1.4

Small-Cap Funds

 

4-Week as of Aug 15

Royce Opportunity

SV

8.4

RHJ Micro Cap

SG

8.2

MorgStanSmCoGr

SG

5.3

Baron Growth

SG

3.8

N&B Genesis

SB

2.7

RS Smaller Co Gr

SG

2.0

Fid Sm Indpndnce

SG

0.8

W.Fargo Sm Value

SB

-2.5

Mid-Cap Funds

 

4-Week as of Aug 15

Ariel Fund

MB

9.6

Ariel Appreciation

MB

6.4

LordAbbettMidCap

MV

5.7

Old Mutual Mid Cap

MB

4.2

Fid Value

MV

3.9

Fid Low Price

MB

3.6

Oakmark Select

MV

3.1

Janus Enterprise

MG

3.0

AIM Dynamics

MG

1.5

Rainer Small / Midcap

MG

1.2

Fid Mid-Cap Stock

MG

-0.5

MorgStanMdCapGr

MG

-1.0

Fid. Aggr. Growth

MG

-2.4

Alger MidCap Gro

MG

-3.0

Large-Cap Funds

 

4-Week as of Aug 15

Fid Dividend Gr.

LB

4.8

Oakmark Fund

LV

4.8

Janus Fund

LG

4.5

Fid Growth & Inc

LB

4.2

N&B Focus

LB

2.8

Amer. Cent. Ultra

LG

2.2

Fid Equity Income

LV

1.4

Fid OTC

LG

0.7</