What Happened to 401(k) Account Balances in 2015?

A bit dramatic, but 401(k) investors get the picture.

A bit dramatic, but 401(k) investors get the picture.

Little surprise; 401(k) balances recovered in the fourth quarter of 2015 after a tumultuous third quarter, but it wasn’t enough to pull them from negative territory for the year.

Investment behemoth Fidelity Investments released its 401(k) and Individual Retirement Account (IRA) savings analysis, which found:

As always, Fidelity reiterated the dangers of trying to time the market in response to recent volatility. The company examined 401(k) investor behavior between 2008 and 2015, and compared people who continued to invest in equities during this period with those who dropped to zero percent equity in their 401(k).

Assuming the investors started with a balance of $10,000, the analysis showed that investors who went to zero equities saw their 401(k) balances grow by 74 percent to $17,360, while those who kept a portion of stocks in their 401(k) saw their balance grow almost 150 percent to $24,800.

Exit mobile version