Those are very long term plays, you miss out on higher dividends / interest perhaps else where, but what you have won't be down forever.
Yeah, I know. It'll probably recover, but it's depressing to see the money I *just* put in be devalued so much immediately. I care more so about the Roth IRA because I can at least take out what I've put in. I probably should have put my HSA money into something more stable since that actually needs to be somewhat liquid for healthcare costs.
i've had this quarter life crisis debate of how much i should be saving. ymmv of course but if you're on the younger side like me, here are some things that i realized are important to consider. first is that you'll be a completely different person by the time you can start taking advantage of all the money you locked up in your 401k. who says you'll even live that long? and if you do, you'll be older, interested in different things (fewer things), have less energy, have health ailments and i would almost say that at that point all bets are off. i just see myself as being a much less able person at that age and i don't know if i want to reserve this large hunk of money for some time decades in the future. maybe you catch my drift here.
another thing is that you'll likely experience some type of career growth as you grow older, and you'll be earning more money, and therefore you're investing a larger percentage of your salary now into your investment. this is a complicated equation because you have to consider how much your money will grow, how much your salary will increase in the future and inflation.
i made, what i consider to be a mistake now, the decision to aggressively contribute to my 401k early on when i first started earning money and ended up regretting locking up so much money into it.
this isn't so much rocket science as it is just spending your money in the way you believe is right based on your lifestyle, beliefs, and projected life trajectory.
I understand where you're coming from, but I disagree. (I'm using the generic "you" here, not you specifically) The problem is that you're screwing your future self, and you'll be that future self way sooner than you think. When/if you're old and feeble, you'll have a harder time working if you're low on cash (My mother in law is in this situation now, basically trapped working until she dies because she saved nothing even though she feels like crap). In my 20s, I spent money to make myself feel better because my situation was crappy, and I hated thinking about money. Now I think about all the pointless crap I bought and how much better I would feel now if I had the financial security of that saved money. I waited four years at my job to open a 401k, and not having one didn't help me save or spend my money any better; I just blew the extra money (although my salary was quite a bit lower then). And I have been saving only 5% to get the employer match until this month, so it's not a ton even now, but at least it's something. I'm at the point now where I don't want to advance in my current field because I'd rather do something I actually care about than spend more time and energy in a field I know I don't like, but the careers I'd actually like either would pay squat or feel unobtainable.
I suppose I do agree with you if one actually spends the money on something else that will generate income, like a business or side gig. I can also agree that putting a lot into a regular 401k is probably not the best option since it is locked away; a Roth IRA lets you withdraw any contributions you've made since they're post tax, so you have some liquidity there.
Sorry, I just feel really behind, so it feels bad to lose when I thought I was finally doing the right thing.
