Mandatory pension funds: What are your thoughts?

How much change are we talking about?

Kimberly Reyes said:How much change are we talking about?

$6.00 there were two payments made, and I think that last one finally cleared $0.04 🤷

Same here. The employer tax hit usually lands on the 18th.
Then you get hit again around the 30th, roughly $133.
And now, on October 2nd, there’s another 59 cents out of nowhere.

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You’re still stuck working over in America while I’ve already moved on to England😁...so that’s why I’m sitting here wondering what the hell is going on

Yeah, here in the States.
I haven't a clue, maybe it's some kind of refund or something.
It just seems weird to me why I had a double contribution hit my account this month.

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I honestly can't say for sure, because I'm looking at two identical deposits on my end and then this last one that's way smaller than the others... just waiting for Kimberly Reyes to hop on here and clear things up if she actually knows what's going on 🤷

Maybe the company just took advantage of those pandemic-era tax deferrals to hold onto their cash.

That’s just stuff from your old boss. Sometimes they mess up the math and basically just "livelier" you.

How does the math work when you switch over to Amazon IMF? Does the cash actually move from the account first, which then sets the number of units, or do you just get the same amount of OJ and calculate the value from there?

My birthday's coming up this month, and I've got the option to move my cash from the Vanguard fund over to either Amazon or Amazon Capital. Honestly, back in February, the plan was to dump it all into Amazon because I was banking on some massive economic comeback, but looking at things now, moving it to Amazon Capital seems like the smarter play

I spent some time digging through this report to see where they actually put the money...

So, here's what I'm thinking: does it make sense to shift everything into Amazon Capital this year just to stop my money from bleeding out? I'm expecting B, and especially A funds, to be super risky and take a massive hit on the stock market, whereas C doesn't even touch stocks, so it should be safer.

I'm holding out hope that things might actually turn around in a year or so, and if we see a real recovery, then maybe I'll jump back into A.

Second thing—can I actually swap money between different funds without getting slapped with fees? Right now I'm sitting with Amazon, but I'm thinking about moving it over to JP Morgan Chase.

Sorry for the late reply—I was hoping you hadn't moved everything over to Vanguard yet, given how much they've been bleeding this year. But clearly, you aren't keeping up with the financial news lately.🙂 Making a Financial Decision based on luck rather than actual data and research, I assume? 🙂

I’m considering shifting my funds between different providers. Does it make sense to move from a fund with a higher NAV (Net Asset Value) to one with a lower NAV? My theory is that they might have a better long-term investment strategy.

Basically, if I have $X amount, I'd end up owning more individual units in the second fund since each unit is cheaper than what I currently hold. Is that how it works?

Or am I missing something here?

Olivia Jackson64 said:Sorry for the late reply—I was hoping you hadn't moved everything over to Vanguard yet, given how much they've been bleeding this year. But clearly, you aren't keeping up with the financial news lately.🙂 Making a Financial Decision based on luck rather than actual data and research, I assume? 🙂

I’m considering shifting my funds between different providers. Does it make sense to move from a fund with a higher NAV (Net Asset Value) to one with a lower NAV? My theory is that they might have a better long-term investment strategy.

Basically, if I have $X amount, I'd end up owning more individual units in the second fund since each unit is cheaper than what I currently hold. Is that how it works?

Or am I missing something here?

I already moved over to Vanguard
You're wrong about me relying on luck or ignoring the economy. Honestly, seeing where the IMF puts its money makes me want to get out. Given this whole energy crisis mess, their investment moves don't look optimistic at all. It looks like stock values across the US, Europe, and even globally are going to tank this winter...

As for those shares, I couldn't care less if I own 10 units worth $17 or 50 units worth $3.25. All that matters is whether the value actually goes up over the next year.

Here’s the data for Amazon IMF, since I see you're holding it.

Past 12 months:
Amazon A 3.03 %
Amazon B -0.96 %
Amazon Capital -3.22 %

Last month:
Amazon A 2.81 %
Amazon B 2.36 %
Amazon Capital 1.44 %

Right now, being in Vanguard is a losing game. We'll see how it plays out—one bad year doesn't matter as much as the long haul. For what it's worth, I recently moved my money from Bank of America over to JP Morgan Chase because the long-term math looked better. I also shifted into a higher-risk fund for my retirement accounts.

You can swap your IMF every year, but if you try to jump ship within three years of joining, they'll hit you with an exit fee. And don't forget, moving into a new fund usually triggers an entry fee too.
Changing your category is allowed once a year without any fees.

David Garcia21 said:Here’s the data for Amazon IMF, since I see you're holding it.

Past 12 months:
Amazon A 3.03 %
Amazon B -0.96 %
Amazon Capital -3.22 %

Last month:
Amazon A 2.81 %
Amazon B 2.36 %
Amazon Capital 1.44 %

Right now, being in Vanguard is a losing game. We'll see how it plays out—one bad year doesn't matter as much as the long haul. For what it's worth, I recently moved my money from Bank of America over to JP Morgan Chase because the long-term math looked better. I also shifted into a higher-risk fund for my retirement accounts.

You can swap your IMF every year, but if you try to jump ship within three years of joining, they'll hit you with an exit fee. And don't forget, moving into a new fund usually triggers an entry fee too.
Changing your category is allowed once a year without any fees.

So, looking at your post, you're talking about the last 12 months, which I'm guessing means you're stuck in 2021. That's not exactly the current reality, is it? Honestly, I don't even care about what's happening right now. I'm looking ahead. What actually matters to me is the window between August 2022 and August 2023. That's the only timeframe worth discussing.
If that last 12-month stretch you mentioned actually goes back to August '22, then yeah, we’re getting a little closer to what's actually happening on the ground. But honestly? Predicting anything in this economy is a total crapshoot. It's all guesswork. Now, if that last month from your post is looking at July '22, then I can start seeing a bit of a trend. If that's the case, it looks like there might finally be some movement in the economy... maybe. Who knows.

Maybe I'm totally off base here, but looking at that report I posted earlier... I just can't wrap my head around how Vanguard is structuring their investments. It feels sketchy. And don't even get me started on Fund B—I have zero faith in that one either. Even Fund C isn't exactly perfect, but hey, I guess it's the lesser of two evils.

The last 12 months covers exactly that—from August 2021 to August 2022. Every fund makes its daily price movements for all sub-funds public, and you can see the investment structure at least quarterly. You can easily check the returns over whatever timeframe you want.

Whether you believe it or not, the fact remains: one was up 3% while the other was down 3%.

David Garcia21 said:The last 12 months covers exactly that—from August 2021 to August 2022. Every fund makes its daily price movements for all sub-funds public, and you can see the investment structure at least quarterly. You can easily check the returns over whatever timeframe you want.

Whether you believe it or not, the fact remains: one was up 3% while the other was down 3%.

thanks for clearing that up... but still, past performance isn't some kind of crystal ball. if it were, nobody would've dumped their cash into an equity fund back when that massive corporate collapse hit everything during the big recession.

Which fund was that?
With a legit index fund, you only lose money if you panic sell during a dip. If you just hold, the price usually climbs back up eventually.

David Garcia21 said:Which fund was that?
With a legit index fund, you only lose money if you panic sell during a dip. If you just hold, the price usually climbs back up eventually.

I held BlackRock for almost two years. When I finally bailed, I actually had to pay exit fees because I hadn't hit that three-year mark required to get out for free. Honestly? No regrets. I moved that cash into something else that didn't just make up for what I lost, but actually doubled it...
Some lady at the bank tried telling me not to do it, acting like I didn't get how things work and claiming everything was about to skyrocket... I don't know how that specific fund handled the COVID crash, but it didn't look great. Who knows if it's even fully recovered after five years of this mess.

That fund got absolutely hammered back in 2008. Anyone who put money in then is still feeling the sting today.

But looking at the last five years, it’s up 4.27%, and over the last three, it’s sitting at 5.35%. It beats a basic savings account, but it can't touch international funds.

Keep in mind, this isn't a pension fund—they aren't allowed to go heavy on stocks.

David Garcia21 said:That fund got absolutely hammered back in 2008. Anyone who put money in then is still feeling the sting today.

But looking at the last five years, it’s up 4.27%, and over the last three, it’s sitting at 5.35%. It beats a basic savings account, but it can't touch international funds.

Keep in mind, this isn't a pension fund—they aren't allowed to go heavy on stocks.

So basically, inflation was already eating everything alive even before we count this past year.

David Garcia21 said:That fund got absolutely hammered back in 2008. Anyone who put money in then is still feeling the sting today.

But looking at the last five years, it’s up 4.27%, and over the last three, it’s sitting at 5.35%. It beats a basic savings account, but it can't touch international funds.

Keep in mind, this isn't a pension fund—they aren't allowed to go heavy on stocks.

Look, I get they aren't the same thing, but 401(k)s have some exposure to equities—and specifically American companies right now, which feels pretty sketchy. I really wonder how many firms are actually going to see any growth this winter.