Vent: My 401k advisor told me to stay the course and I lost $14k last quarter

Last month I finally looked at my retirement account after 3 years of not touching it, and my advisor had me in all high-risk funds while I was trying to play it safe. I'm 48, not 28, and now I'm scrambling to rebuild before I can even think about downsizing later. Has anyone else had a financial planner who just ignored your age and goals?

2 comments

2 Comments

ross.sean10h agoMost Upvoted

Funny how that whole "stay the course" line works out perfectly for them but not for us, right? It's like when my mechanic told me my old truck just needed a tune up, then a month later the transmission blew and he was suddenly real quiet about his earlier advice. These advisors are selling confidence, not results, and they count on people being too scared to question the script. Every industry has that one piece of standard advice they repeat over and over because it covers their own butt while yours takes the hit. You trusted a professional to know your situation and they treated you like a line item on their quarterly bonus spreadsheet. Now you're digging through old statements trying to figure out what they knew and when, just like the rest of us who got burned by someone who was supposed to be looking out.

seth_martinez2111h ago

Wait, is it really that common for advisors to just throw everyone into the same high-risk stuff no matter what? I used to think all planners had your best interest at heart, but after my brother lost 20k in a similar situation, I totally changed my tune. He was 52 and wanted low-risk growth, but his guy had him in aggressive tech funds that crashed hard. It's like they get paid to push whatever fund pays them the most, not what fits your actual timeline. Now I check my statements every quarter and ask blunt questions about why every single fund is there.