When investing in your 401k, you’ll want to consider a few factors to help you maximize your returns. Early in your career, you should invest aggressively in small-cap funds, since they’re riskier but also have more potential for growth. Over time, you should consider a target-date fund to reduce risk while still maximizing your returns. As you approach retirement, you should rebalance your portfolio annually.
Some employers match your contribution up to 6% of your salary. If you have a salary of $50,000, your employer will contribute an additional $3,000 to your account. This boosts your investment to $8,000, increasing its capital growth. Moreover, you don’t have to invest the entire amount yourself. You can use employer matching funds to minimize your initial investment. But the question remains: how much should you invest? This is an important question, so make sure you take advantage of the employer’s match if you want to maximize the investment.
There are many types of 401k funds. You can choose the one with the highest rate of return. In contrast, low-risk funds have lower returns and lower risks. You should balance your 401k portfolio by putting more of your retirement money in low-risk funds. By doing this, you’ll have more money to spend when you retire. For higher-risk funds, consider investing more than 50% of your retirement funds. When investing in these funds, you’ll have greater flexibility and better returns.