1y ago

Dont get it twisted.

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"But through my retirement I own .000000001% of a company!"
Having stock in a company doesn't make you a capitalist anymore than checking out a bible from the library makes you a Christian.
- .000000001% of a $100 billion company is $1. The average person could own per year $5000 if they used automatic deposits and got the employer match.
  I know you are trying to exaggerate to make a point, but don't discourage people from getting the employer match if they can.
  
  I employee matched for years just to watch our CEO tank our stock to 1/5 the original price.
  Point being, remember it's still an investment in a single stock and comes with that amount of risk.
  
  Hol up, you left your retirement fund in the hands of your employer? You didn't diversify and invest in the broader market? Most plans make you hold some for a period of time, every single plan offers a way to get out of being fully invested in one company. That's insane.
  
  He's talking specifically about company matching of their stock purchase, no?
  
  Employee stock purchase plans usually don't match, they just offer a 10-15% discount. I honestly have no idea what they're talking about. 401k isn't held by your employer, and ESPP doesn't match.
  
  My ESPP would match up to ten shares, which is why I thought they meant ESPP. But yeah, I'm confused as well
  
  Ten shares per paycheck? Wow, that's an amazing benefit, assuming you can sell. That is basically doubling your money. The best one I've ever had was a 15% discount off the lower price between the start of the quarter and the end of the quarter. If the stock was moving upwards I'd hold it, and if it was moving downwards I'd just sell it immediately for the free 15%.
  
  Annually, unfortunately. Still, it was free money so I took it. Then it tanked :-(
  
  Oh, you're OP! Yeah, I guess that didn't work out in the end. It ended up being fortunate that it was 10 per year!
  
  I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I've never heard of an employer that requires their 401k match to be invested in the company. Everywhere I or my wife has worked you could put it in any fund available with that 401k plan.
  
  Oh, 401k. I was thinking they meant ESPP.
  
  Even so, every company I've worked for allows withdrawals at various times for parts of the fund. I need to keep a certain % of mine in company stocks, I move the overflow asap into a different fund to protect myself.
  If your retirement plan absolutely has to be locked into your employer, you have a rather large risk to yourself there and I'd potentially consider finding a new employer if I ended up there. Too many companies disappear to be comfortable with that.

203 comments