"Need Help Understanding My Mutual Funds in This Situation"

Hi R.,

You said you have lost 10K, which is alot, but what really matters is what PERCENT you have lost. The market itself has been down at least 30%, so if you have lost less than 30%, then you have done better than the market and should pat your advisor on the back.

However, if you have lost more than 30%, you should find another advisor. I would caution you though, not to pull your money out of the market now because then you will really lose it!

Another question is how far away from retirement are you? If you are several years away, then don't worry...you will make your money back. Plus, now that the market is low, it is a wonderful time to be investing b/c you are basically buying shares while they are on sale. Then, as the market goes back up over the next few years, your change in value will grow exponentially.

The main thing to focus on as you near retirement age is to gradually move your money away from the market, so that when you are a couple of years from retirement, you don't risk losing so much value if a situation like this occurs again.

Hope that helps!

and start reading Money magazine; it's pretty good and not that hard to understand. I have some American funds and they have done very well over the last ten years, but of course you do not say what American Funds you own.

I am by no means a financial expert but here is what I would do.

1) Seek a second opinion. Have a planner from another office or company review your portfolio and the allocation in relation to your investment time horizon.

2) To get a rough estimate of your portfolio performance figure out your losses over the last twelve months as a percentage and then compare that percentage to the losses over the same time period of the dow jones and S&P 500. It is not a perfect measure but if you are within 5 - 10% and your advisor has a good reason it might not be worth worrying.