We use our cards for everything and pay them off monthly. Our cards suck for rewards but have high limits and are our oldest credit. I should upgrade for better rewards but I don't want to mess with lowering our length of credit.

Anyways, we've built up close to $300 this year in rewards for Christmas.
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Hey guys. I've got a friend who is new to the 401K thing, though he has around $25K so far. He is same age as me, 50. His company matches up to 4%. He is contributing 10%.

What would be the the best 401K portfolio for a guy like that? He'll assume more risk as he'd like to maximize over the next 15 years. Don't know his salary, but in the 28% bracket.

I recommended small/midcap fund but would like to hear other's thoughts. And those went to shit today. Down 2.75%.

Thank you Gentlemen,
eDavid
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Is definitely put some in large caps but I'd hit the small caps and maybe international funds. Hopefully te 401k will let him split it up but he definitely needs more than 1 fund.
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He should allocate to index funds to mimic the global market economy which is about 45% US equities and 55% international. If he wants a home town bias he can flip those and do 55% US. Then diversify over small, medium, large cap.
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I use the Amazon Card (at Amazon for 3% and Walgreens for 2%) and the Costco card (pretty much everywhere else but the grocery store for the reasons mentioned above--plus 3% on travel).

I also have an American Express Blue Cash Preferred. It comes with a $95 annual fee, but offers 6% cash back at grocery stores for up to $6,000. Even if you subtract the $95 fee from your potential reward (.06 * 600 = 360) you would end up with $265 in rewards if you spend $500 a month at grocery stores. If you spend less than $500 per month at grocery stores, you might be better off with the America Express Blue Cash (Not Preferred) because it has no annual fee, but only offers 3% cash back at grocery stores. We spend plenty at grocery stores, and so the Preferred Card nets us over 4% in a year on a good deal of our groceries.
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I hope he realizes he is making 40% on his money without it doing anything

I would select 5 sectors for someone our age, I'm 53.

1. S&P and large cap 25%
2. Total return 20%
3. International Fund 15%
4. High Growth 20%
5. High Yield 20%

If rates start to rise move money out of high yield.

My portfolio allocation is attached from today's Paychex login
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I hope he has other investments besides his 401k. If he only has 25k put away at age 50, he's way behind. Other than that comment, there has already been great advice given. I'm a big believer in index funds.
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I hope so too. If he doesn't, he needs to be maxing it out every year from here on out and probably have some side investments too.

I also have switched most of my 401k over to index funds. If I want to tilt my portfolio to a certain sector, I do that in my Roth IRA.
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An IRA is another thing to mention. If he's doing 10%, he may be much better off only matching his 401k. Depends on his 401k but it's frequently true. If 25k is really what he has total then he should do everything he can to get as much in as possible.

He might want to look into places to retire in South/central America. Panama, Costa Rica maybe
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Are you saying an IRA is a better option in the long run? That's advise I'll take too.

This is one of my team members that I like, am coaching professionally and I would really like to help him get on track. He knows he won't retire to a life of leisure.

He's just had a life that didn't allow for much investing. Thank you all for your advise.
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For most people: hit 401k match, max IRA, max 401k if possible. It depends on the 401k plan but for most people they have more and cheaper options in an IRA of their choice. Schwab, Vanguard, and Fidelity are all fairly popular.
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Thanks dude. I always thought that was the school of thought for younger investors and not recommended when getting into it late.
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What kind of adjustments are you guys contemplating depending on who wins the election?

What will you do if Trump wins?

What will you do if Hillary wins?

(please don't turn this into a DC thing)

On a side note, interest rates have to go up too. Not in Oct. during an election, but definitely by EOY.
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Maybe I'm naive, but I don't pay attention to politics as it relates to my investments. If prices go down, I buy more. Otherwise I have my normal strategies.
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That makes to total sense. I'm should have clarified it as 401K investments. I don't care who wins really, but I'd like to navigate it correctly. Might just pull it back for a bit and access the sitch.
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