"maxed_out41" <netsurfer802[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

I think the general idea behind those Freedom funds is that
they design their investment mix to be appropriate for
people planning on retiring around the years in the names.
Typically, the further away your retirement is, the more
aggressive and risky your portfolio should be. So right now
the Freedom 2040 fund will be very aggressive, but in 20-30
years they'll adjust it to be more conservative, since their
investors will be nearing retirement. This saves the
investors from having to adjust the funds that they're
invested in by themselves.

What I believe these funds actually invest in are other
Fidelity mutual funds, rather than individual stocks. There
aren't even fund managers doing any thinking -- there's just
a formula that says "when you're N years away from the
target year, the mix of funds should be X", for various
values of N and X, and over time each fund goes through
these values.

This strategy can be very nice for investors who just want
to sock away their money and forget about it. But if you
want to be more or less aggressive than the "typical"
investor, you should do your own homework and make your own
investment choices.

--
Barry Margolin, barmar[at]alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA

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Thanks for the feedback..I'll do some "homework" and move forward.

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maxed_out41 wrote:

- quote -

Not directly. However, it does reduce your AGI so it lowers
the tax you pay now, and if you're at the limit where you
start losing certain deductions or where you become
ineligible for things like Roth IRA, then it can help you
stay within those limits.

- quote -

You can find information on these by doing a search with
those keywords at http://www.fidelity.com.

Anoop

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maxed_out41 at netsurfer802[at]yahoo.com wrote on 7/24/05 6:28 PM:

- quote -

Right off the bat, you are 20% ahead of the game. That
would be a no brainer for me.

- quote -

If you are in the 15% marginal bracket, when you make a
contribution, you get to borrow the government's 15% tax
money and invest it until you withdraw the money far in the
future. If you are in the 35% marginal bracket, you would
have lost 35% in taxes on the earnings so now you get to
borrow 35% which would have otherwise belonged to the
government.

- quote -

These should like mutual funds and providing you with advice
on them is the job of a financial advisor.

- quote -

Go to Fidelity's web site and read the prospectus and look
at the information they provide. Better yet, talk to a
financial advisor about whether these fit your investment
needs. There are thousands of mutual funds to choose from
and from the questions you are asking, you are just
scratching the surface in your search for them.

All freely provided advice guarantee correct or double your
money back

Frank S. Duke, Jr. CPA
Cincinnati, OH USA

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"maxed_out41" <netsurfer802[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

I would suggest that you contact someone at Fidelity or some
investment adviser who handles their products.

Wayne Brasch

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- quote -

You shouldn't have to think much about whether to
participate. It's a no-brainer. Do your thinking about how
much to put in and what to invest it in. If possible, you
should put in at least the maximum that the company will
match. Otherwise you are giving up additional money that
they are offering to you.

- quote -

The investments you listed are all Fidelity mutual funds.
Your employer should have given you literature describing
the investments that are available in the plan. If they
didn't give it to you, ask for it. You can also talk to
someone at Fidelity about the various investments. There
should be a special Fidelity contact number for the plan in
the information your employer gave you. If you can't find
it, and can't get it from your employer, call Fidelity's
general number, 800-343-3548 ("800-FIDELITY").

Another option is to look on the Fidelity web site:
http://www.fidelity.com. Click "Investment Products" then
"Mutual Funds." Not all funds are available in your plan. Be
careful to find the exact name that is in the plan
information. Sometimes two or more funds have similar names.
Use the 5-letter fund symbol if the list that you have gives
the symbols.

Bob Sandler

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I have a few questions regarding a 401k that I'm thinking
about getting.

The particular 401k account that my employer is offering is
at 20% matching.

First, does it matter what tax bracket you're in...in the
sense of how much you will benefit with it being sheltered?

Also, does anybody know where I can look into what the
difference between Fidelity Freedom 2010, Fidelity Freedom
2020, Fidelity Freedom 2040, or Fidelity Independence?
Actually I don't even know if these stocks, bonds or what?

What about the difference between Fidelity Spartan Ext, Mkt
Index, Fidelity Spartan Int, Mkt Index, Fidelity US Equity
Index, or Fidelity Spartan Ext, Mkt Index?

I have more questions but I'll begin with that.

Thanks very much in advanced for any feedback.

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