curious about relative performance

[jab0106]

Relatively young, with far off retirement horizon (30+ yrs)
Current deferment: 7.5% with company match
Time-weighted return for company portfolio: 8.78%
Extraneous income investment return: 15.92% (including dividends)
If my energy positions ever complete the turn, this number should rise substantially.
Current yield: 4.47%
Net yield: 4.69%
Talking with coworkers and friends, I believe I am in the right position as a whole, but it is very aggressive.
Current risk tolerance is also very aggressive, as I view corrections as buying more for my money.


I am just wondering, are these numbers par for the course, or better or worse than can be expected by most?

[bradjames12]

This is what I have in comparison on the first two, like you I have 30+ years till retirement .
Current deferment 3% with company matching that 3% (my number needs to be higher I know)
Only been in my current 401k since beginning of last year, rate of return during that time 28%
93% in MADVX and 7% in PTTRX

How long have you been in your company portfolio?
8.78% seems low considering the run the market has had since November.
Otherwise I think you are doing very well for yourself.

[boneil]

thats looks pretty low to me. I would be re-evaluating where my money is. Doesn't sound like aggressive to me

[jab0106]

This is why I ask lol. I was thinking I was doing well at almost 9% time weighted. This is a 457 initiated in late 2008 and actually put to regular use in 2009. My return numbers are annualized. Initial contributions were lower and have gradually increased with experience incentives and my own deferment increases etc. Overall return for life of account is 30.3%.

EOY XIRR
08 - 00.59%
09 - 21.18%
10 - 18.34%
11 - (07.70%)
12 - 11.31%
13 - 23.56%
14 - 05.07%
15 - (04.77%)
16 - 11.73%
17 - 33.65% ytd

Original allocation was Aggressive. After a couple years of performance I didn't like I moved to self-allocating. I went to a small company value funds bias. A couple years after that the unit prices had appreciated substantially, and the overall markets were kicking butt, so I rebalanced and went strictly index funds for each sector [large v/b/g, mid v/b/g, small v/b/g, intl v/g, utility, energy, real estate]. Increased future allocations to energy substantially when oil went below 40$/barrel. Haven't changed that yet.

Is there a more aggressive setup that I might look into?

Thanks for the responses. It's interesting to me, especially with everyone at work not doing so well as I. I can't say that I have been very excited about any fund the company offers really, but I thought I had done enough homework to be doing at least as well as the average. I much prefer the buying dividend stocks own my own time, and have fared better there, but I am playing with less of course (and still learning, I don't know enough about net yields and all that stuff yet).

[jab0106]

any more input? I appreciate the previous responses. :D

[boneil]

being diversified through a wide range of funds that cover most things, will limit risk but it limits rewards. To be more aggressive, you have to take on more risk. And be in funds that move. Example would be to have little in large cap funds. Big companies don't move that much, it's the law of large numbers. Wouldn't expect IBM or XOM or AAPL to double or triple. Utilities, same thing. They're going to give you a steady stream of income, but they're not going to go up whole heck of alot. Small caps, riskier, but they have a better chance at appreciating more. Biotech, very risky, but the rewards can be there.

If your going to try and maximize gains, then you need to learn how to evaluate stocks. Understand what it is you are buying. And then you will be able to understand what type of results you could get.

[jab0106]

That is just the thing. With the setup we have, we can't pick stocks at all. I can only look into funds to see their holdings. It is around my yearly review time, I could definitely change my future funding to lean small cap heavy again. FWIW I don't have a lot of money dedicated to utilities or international stocks. I do try to evaluate the funds as best I can with the prospectus info and morninstar data and such, but I am still a self assessed novice. but from all accounts within the company group and of the advisor visits we get, I am outperforming. I have been wondering if it is just a case of poor fund choices. Some of my initial funds also had pretty steep expense ratios, but my average is now below .5%. Are my performance numbers really that bad? Thanks again. From what I can tell about compounding interest and stocks in general, getting my stuff together Early is of utmost importance.

[boneil]

If it was me, I would invest just the minimum amount required to get the max matching and then start up an IRA on my own to give me the freedom of investing how I want. And then you could not worry so much about performance of the free money. And concentrate on performance of your own investment choices. You have time to screw up and learn. Which would make a big difference for you in the future.

[jab0106]

That is actually my exact plan. In fact, when I get another year in, they move to 10% and I was going to retract to 5% (required min to get 10%) and use other money elsewhere, such as how you state. Thanks. I feel like I am on the right page.