RetireJapan

Hi,

I started my iDeCo account a year ago and I am still in the minus at the moment (from the initial account opening fee and was in the red for most of December of last year)

I was just wondering how long it was before you were in the plus side of things or if I am doing something wrong. I am with SBI

Thanks

It's going to depend on the timing and the investments you chose. The stock market was a bit jittery at the end of last year

Hey sytyue,
I guess it depends on your investments, their fees and what the market did, no?
I only just started my iDeco in November last year and have all my money going 100% into equities as I'm still in my mid-30s... I only invest in the two Rakuten Vanguard passive index funds and even with the December slump I'm up around 4.5%... Which means I'm about ¥200 off making the initial account opening fee back.

The temptation is definitely there to keep checking and see the progress, but I know I shouldn't. The advice seems to be to just let things roll, rebalance at the end of each year and just try to forget about it...

I guess you need a crystal ball on that one.

All I can say is that since I started my iDeco (and investing in general) in 2017, I went from roughly +10% to -10% at the end of last year, and recently I'm back en force in the positive.

Now all I wish is to go back into the red again. Why? Because that means I can buy cheaper. This is especially true for iDeco since you cannot touch the money until you are 60. The lower the market prices, the cheaper you can buy, and the bigger the wave will be when your investments go up.

Now of course it all depends on which funds you have. You may have picked bad ones, but if you follow the course suggested here of low-fee diversified index funds, I suppose you won't have a bad surprise in the end.

The point is that a one year investment period is not long enough to worry about your investments, especially since that year (2018) has seen negative returns virtually everywhere.

Just keep the course, enjoy the low prices, and your patience will pay off.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am so tempted to checked even though I know I shouldn't!