25% to 30% in a 401k is fairly easy to accomplish

Most 401k plans use mutual funds.

So you find the stock based funds that follow the dow industrial average like a puppy.

Get 5 years worth of graphs from your mutual fund manager.

1 graph for each year.

Then compare these graphs to the dow movement for the same 5 year period.

I have found the dow to be at a high from late july to mid aug and late dec to around 5 jan.

I have seen consistant drops between 20 sept to 10 oct and 10 jan to 30 jan.

Ibm is a bellweather stock of the dow 30 and a stock I use as an indicator.

its 31 jan 08. Today ibm hit a high of 107 and closed at 105 and change.

Ibm was 97 about 10 days ago. this drop and run up is caused by its specialist accumulating stock for the next ex dividend day.

That should occur around 8 feb 08, as the last ex div day was almost 3 months ago on the 7th or 8th of the month I believe.

The specialist is running up the stock price to shaft the dividend reinvestment people.

Look at feb 02 I believe or feb 01 when Ibm hit 120. It still aint got back there.

Back to 30% on mutual funds.

If your stock based fund was 10 bucks a unit around 3 jan and you converted it to money market mutual funds, on that day, at no commision because its a 401k.

Every 100 units turned into 1000 bucks in money market.

Now if that stock based fund dropped 25% like the dow did from 3 jan to 20 jan this year.

The fund was probably 7 bucks a unit in cost.

So you 1k now buys 140 units.

If you go back to money market at 8 bucks a unit you just made 12.5% return. 140 bucks profit.

If you only buy back in to the stock fund in oct at 7 again.

And you sell at 8 bucks a unit again.

You make another 12.5 return on almost 160 units ,as you had 1120 to buy with,plus the money market interest you accumulated.

If you push for 9 and get it thats 25% return.


12.5% from you jan sale plus 12.5% from your next jan sale is 25% min profit for that year

Push to 9 on the second sale and its 37%.

The 5 years of graphs will give a fair consistant average rise.

This is how you judge when to go back into money market funds.

Good luck