{"id":498532,"date":"2026-01-07T08:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T08:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/498532\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T08:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T08:56:09","slug":"where-should-i-turn-my-401k-has-lost-23-in-the-past-few-years-and-now-i-only-have-200k-what-did-i-do-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/498532\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Where should I turn?\u2019 My 401(k) has lost 23% in the past few years and now I only have $200K. What did I do wrong?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question: \u201c<\/strong>My current 401(k) is only worth about $200,000 and I\u2019ve lost about 23% in the last couple of years. I\u2019m trying to make that up but my employer is not giving me much help. Where should I turn for help with this? What should I be looking for? Is this just par for the course?\u201d<\/p>\n

Answer: <\/strong>The level of negative return you describe here is abnormal, says Robert Johnson, chartered financial analyst and professor of finance at Heider College of Business at Creighton University. And pros say that yes, you may want to get a financial adviser \u2014 likely someone on a per-project basis \u2014 to help you sort this out. You can find one at CFP Board, NAPFA or by using this free tool to get matched with fiduciary advisers<\/a>, from our ad partner SmartAsset.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne would almost have to try to underperform the markets over the past two years to earn that poor of a return and you\u2019d have to have a large concentration in a single stock to have that result. According to BlackRock, over the past two years when looking at 13 asset classes, all have provided positive returns with the exception of developed market government debt which had a slight negative return in 2024 of -3.6%,\u201d says Johnson.<\/p>\n

Indeed, certified financial planner and chartered financial analyst Thomas Betros at D\u2019Arcangelo Financial Advisors says no major asset classes have gone down in value over the past two years. \u201cThe S&P is up close to 48% over this period,\u201d says Betros.<\/p>\n

Since the market as a whole has been up for the past two years, you need to understand what your investment options are why you\u2019re down. \u201cYou can\u2019t turn back time. The key is to focus on the future and investing in things you understand,\u201d says Jay Zigmont, certified financial planner and founder of Childfree Trust.<\/p>\n

First up, revisit your investment strategy. \u201cWhen markets go up like they have over the last two years, it\u2019s a red flag if you have negative performance over the same period. While the investment strategy will likely need to be changed, you should not have an approach of making up for lost time by being more aggressive. This could expose your portfolio to more risk and higher potential losses if markets were to go south,\u201d says Betros.<\/p>\n

You will likely need an investment policy statement, says Johnson. \u201cAll investors should establish what is called an Investment Policy Statement and follow it. Investing without a plan is like driving without a roadmap or GPS. It\u2019s a written document that clearly sets out a client\u2019s return objectives and risk tolerance over that client\u2019s relevant time horizon, along with applicable constraints such as liquidity needs and tax circumstances,\u201d says Johnson.<\/p>\n

To reduce risk in a retirement portfolio, Betros says the most obvious thing to do is introduce fixed income. \u201cWhen stock markets go south, fixed income can typically provide a buffer for your portfolio, which will minimize losses. Fixed income encompasses bonds of all different kinds including government, corporate, municipal, inflation-protected, high yield, international and emergency market bonds,\u201d says Betros.<\/p>\n

Whether or not you work with a financial professional, Steven Conners at Conners Wealth Management recommends using exchange-traded funds. \u201cETFs don\u2019t invest in one stock but a broader selection of stocks of a market or sector of the market. This way if you own the broad market over a decade or more, you should do well, although not in any way guaranteed,\u201d says Conners. <\/p>\n

What kind of financial adviser is right?<\/p>\n

To help you with all of this, you should turn to a credentialed fiduciary financial adviser, pros say. \u201cWhen hiring a financial adviser, the most important question to ask is if they\u2019re a fiduciary. To truly get the best client service, the individual must be a fiduciary who puts their clients\u2019 best interests first. If a potential adviser is not a fiduciary, look elsewhere,\u201d says Johnson. <\/p>\n

Chartered financial analysts are required to act as fiduciaries, as are certified financial planners who are engaged in financial planning. You can find an adviser at CFP Board, NAPFA or by using this free tool to get matched with fiduciary advisers<\/a>, from our ad partner SmartAsset.<\/p>\n

Based on your level of assets and the fact that they\u2019re in a 401(k), your best bet is to work with an hourly or project-based adviser who can tackle specific questions you have and help you come up with a plan moving forward. This way, you\u2019re not paying for ongoing portfolio management which you don\u2019t need, given your allocation. Hourly advisers often charge between $200 and $500 per hour while project-based advisers can cost between $1,500 and $7,500 depending on the scope of work and complexity of your finances. When interviewing potential candidates, be sure to vet them with these eight questions<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Having a second financial professional, outside of your employer, can also assist you in understanding your losses and better plan for the future. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t guarantee better performance, but it could help you understand what occurred and perhaps ways to avoid that in the future,\u201d says Conners.<\/p>\n

Have an issue with your financial adviser or looking for a new one? Email questions or concerns to picks@marketwatch.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Questions edited for brevity and clarity. By emailing your questions to The Advicer, you agree to have them published anonymously on MarketWatch; they may appear anonymously in other media and platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: \u201cMy current 401(k) is only worth about $200,000 and I\u2019ve lost about 23% in the last couple…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":498533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[8392,217879,64,38360,62732,57,216963,255,3234,190263,708,5660,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-498532","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-banking","9":"tag-banking-credit","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-credit","12":"tag-exchange-traded-funds","13":"tag-general-news","14":"tag-mpsmartasset","15":"tag-personal-finance","16":"tag-political","17":"tag-political-general-news","18":"tag-retirement-planning","19":"tag-synd","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115852986479775177","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}