About 7 years ago, I pulled all of my 401k funds out of equities and put them in a “Capital Preservation” account that earns about 3-4% a year.

My logic is this: Over the past 7 years, my holdings are up a total of around 22%. Factor in the market downturns, lost capital and even with strong gains these past two years, stocks are under performing a steady, slow gain in bonds and cash.

I have more than 1,000,000 in the 401k, about $250,000 in other pre-tax accounts and $150,000 in various individual stocks and mutual funds. We have around $175,000 in post-tax savings for college for our three children (2 in college, 1 in high school) and emergencies. The house was paid off 2-3 years ago. We have Zero credit card debt due to salary income.

This year, we bought a condo at the University where my oldest daughter is a junior. A 2-bdr/2 1/2 bath modest unit, it is the closest housing to campus. We paid cash. The bank where I have done business for 30 years offered me an 11.9% home equity line to pay for it…my credit is excellent but bank didn’t want a short-term loan on the books. I didn’t even bother negotiating and borrowed what extra was needed from my 401k to be paid back in 2 years. Best investment I’ve made in years. I’m looking to buy a second unit but they rarely come on the market in this small, tidy complex.

We’re holding on to our over-sized house until the housing market recovers, then we’ll consider moving to something smaller. We’re actively looking for a retirement/income property right now, but I’m hesitant to take on a $300k mortgage given my age and uncertain employment future. They just had a round of layoffs at work and, of course, most of those hit were over the age of 55, earning higher salaries.

My wife wants to consider buying something out of state, but I think owning a rental property hundreds of miles away is impractical, and risky.

I intend to work part-time in retirement beginning in a couple years. I’ve done the math. Even with all of our savings, it’s not going to be a “care free” retirement. We’ll have to watch the budget and be prepared to help out our 3 children.

Thank goodness I got married late — to a woman who has two degrees in accounting!

Either you are being dishonest about your holdings or you are bragging. I have 310k in my 401k about about 400k equity in my house. I don’t feel “behind”, I feel about normal.