You have contributions automatically going into your account each paycheck.

4 Smart (k) Moves You Can Make in -- The Motley Fool

The only thing left is to pick where your money should be invested. Everyone finds themselves in this situation sooner or later.

Investment: Charles Schwab: Investment Products

But how do you know which k funds to pick? Picking k funds is not a science and it does take some effort.

Investment options for your k rollover | Vanguard

There should be a few target date funds, stock funds, bond funds, and blended funds. Within each of these fund categories there should be a number of funds to choose from, each with a different investment strategy and level of risk.

Target date funds will align with retirement dates, such as Target , Target , Target , and so on.

For example, a target date fund of will be invested in far more conservative investments than a target date fund of Target date funds are great options for people who want to invest in a fund that will automatically adjust the overall risk level as they near retirement.

Even if you end up investing in a target date fund, you may still want to invest in some other funds to further diversify your portfolio. There are funds that focus on a wide variety of different investments, all with differing levels of risk. You will likely have options that include funds that focus on mid-cap stocks, emerging markets, European companies, or any number of other areas of focus.

When choosing k funds plan on spending some time researching each one. There are a few things you should be looking for during your research time.

Whoever is servicing your k should have an easy way to view a page with various statistics and descriptions of each investment typically the data and descriptions are provided by Morningstar. The fund invests primarily in common stocks of issuers in Europe and the Pacific Basin that the investment adviser believes have the potential for growth. Growth stocks are stocks that the investment adviser believes have the potential for above-average capital appreciation.

These quick descriptions of mutual can be very useful for someone looking to pick a handful of funds to invest their k funds in. If you are reviewing mutual funds you do not want to get into too much detail because it makes it more difficult to compare any given mutual fund to the other options available.

They expect them to grow consistently over time and perform at least as good as the overall stock market. When it comes to funds past performance is important. Below is an example breakout of past performance for a fund: Some funds are relatively new.

The fund I quoted above, the American Funds EuroPacific Growth Fund, was established in and in turn has a lot of historical data. There are many funds that are not 5 years old, though, let alone 10 years. There will be less history and likely more perceived volatility in their returns. Some fund managers consistently outperform the market for years and then have a couple of really terrible years. When reviewing fund options keep in mind that past performance is just one variable to take into consideration.

If this were true stocks that outperform the market would always outperform the market and those that do not would eventually cease to exist. Risk is one reason that a fund may have lost money or not performed as well as the general market. The trade-off is that a fund with a high level of risk also has much higher potential upside. Monrningstar gives risk grades to each mutual fund category. Hopefully this list gave you an idea of what you should look for when selecting funds for your k.

My final word is this: Every investor is different, too, as far as how much risk they are comfortable with. When You Should Do a Reverse Roth IRA - k Rollover FeeHacks. Which k Funds Should I Pick? Recent Posts FeeX News How-to Conversations. Popular Posts Uri Levine, Waze co-founder, on Why He Started FeeX What is an ETF?

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ETF stands for Exchange Traded Fund and are