09-19-2013, 11:04 AM
Grieve Wrote:I didn't start 401k contributions until I was 32. :roll: And then just 5 years later it lost 42% of it's value in 2008, leaving me with a total slightly less than I'd contributed (much less if you factor in employee match). Since then returns have rocked, though. This year looks like being another good one...unless congress screws it up by shutting the government down or making the US default on it's debt...
I technically didn't start until I was 26 as my first two jobs I was only at for 2 years each so the contributions were so low that they just cleared out the account when I left. But the amount it has grown since I started has been staggering to me.But if you think about what prices you were purchasing your funds at in 2009-2011, the returns on those now are going to be very nice.