401k reports

[GMichael]

Just got my 401k report. Good news. I'm only down 21% over the last qtr and 39% for the year. Happy days!

[ForeverAutumn]

Just got my 401k report. Good news. I'm only down 21% over the last qtr and 39% for the year. Happy days!

I have a question about US retirement funds. I know that a 401k is an employer sponsored defined contribution plan. But are you also able to contribute to an individual plan outside of your 401k? If so, what is that called?

For example, in Canada, we have the Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP) in which I can invest my money (up to a maximum) and deduct the amount of the contribution from my income for the year, thus reducing my income tax. Any growth on the investment is not taxed as long as I leave it in the RRSP account. Then when I withdraw the money from the account in retirement, I pay income tax on it at that time. This is outside of my company pension plan. Do you have something like that?

[GMichael]

It's a good thing we aren't retiring any time soon.

[ForeverAutumn]

It's a good thing we aren't retiring any time soon.

Ooops. Sorry, I changed my post so your comment doesn't seem relevant (what else is new?).

But you're right. It's a very good thing that I'm not retiring any time soon. My pension is down only 15%, but my RRSP is down about 50%. To add to the pain, about 1.5 years ago I borrowed money to invest (the interest payment on an investment loan is tax deductible in Canada). Because of the drop in value on the investment, I now owe twice what the investment is worth. It seemed like a good strategy at the time, but it quickly came back to bite me in the ass.