I am looking for a little advice/wisdom/criticism.

I am 21, currently in college.

Bought a 15,200 car in AUG 2013, took out 13K loan at 1.5% for 4 years to finance it since I'm an idiot. Will be paying it off early by this NOV.

My company matched 50% up to 6%, so ultimately 3% of my earnings.
These are my options with my company I am working at for this summer (Intern), what would you recommend?

Fees:

This is my current allocation:



I also am in the National Guard, and have 25% of my pay going into Roth TSP, this is my current plan.



FYI: Both are roth, except for some of the TSP (about 2K) when they didn't have the option. I also understand these are low amounts, just getting started.

Bash away.

I am 28 years old so while I'm a little older than you, I've maintained the same approach since I started contributing to a 401k at 22 years old.

You are young and have a lot of time on your side so growth, growth, and more growth.

I am currently invested in a Large Cap Growth (think Blue chip stocks) and that represents ~35% of my holdings.  Next is S&P 500 index at ~35% of my holdings, and last is Mid Cap US Equity at ~29% of my holdings.  Pay attention to the expense ratios - you want to aim for funds under 0.5-0.6%.

I would recommend against any bond holdings since you are young and have plenty of time to recover from any market downturns.  Invest as much as you can into your 401k.  My wife and I always contribute the max ($18,000 this year for married filing jointly).  You need to remember that the more you invest now in your retirement, the sooner you can stop working.  

Also, set up a Roth IRA and contribute the max every year.  Do not miss a year.  The capital gains you make are tax free, but the caveat is you cannot take distributions until age 59.5.  Don't piss your money away on things you can't afford, and live within your means.

i think you have a pretty good mix there.  i am also in Triton too.  large, mid, small cap you got it covered.

Well, I’m a lot older that you are (69), but I started investing in my early 20s.  I’ve studied this field for many years and was a stockbroker for a while.  

What I’ve learned is, the “mix” of stocks, bonds and annuities is a cookie-cutter approach that brokers and financial advisors use to keep their clients reasonably safe so the client won’t get pissed and go with somebody else.  It’s a poor strategy for a client who’s getting started or doesn’t have much money (under $1,000,000).  Brokers don’t spend much time on small investors; there’s no money in it for them.

My very strong advice:  Stick with aggressive growth no-load funds.  When the market tanks, the value will drop like a rock and it can get scary.  You have to remember that you’re in it for the long haul and the market always comes back, stronger that ever.  If you don’t have the stomach for this kind of investing, I can’t help you, but if you do, you can make a butt-load of money.  

The only one on your list that I’m familiar with is Janus Triton T – JATTX.  It’s a very good fund that’s been averaging well above the market for the last few years.  

In my 20s I invested only in growth or aggressive growth funds. They are great in a bull market but when the market crashes you will lose a lot. A couple that I owned were highly rated at the time and beat the averages. At first I made a lot of money but eventually I sold them for a loss. I just checked and they are still negative after 15 years so buy and hold would not have worked. I was lucky I cut my losses when I did.  One of them was symbol WOGSX. Look at the chart back to 1999. If I could go back in time it would be 75% S&P 500 index and 25% bonds with yearly reallocation.  

This is why I said in my previous post, “You have to remember that you’re in it for the long haul and the market always comes back, stronger that ever. If you don’t have the stomach for this kind of investing, I can’t help you, but if you do, you can make a butt-load of money.”

Not everyone has the constitution to follow the strategy I use.  That’s fine.  But before you start down this road, you’d better know yourself well enough to trust that you won’t lose your nerve and sell at a loss when the market drops.  Be willing to suffer when the bears come calling.  Believe me, it hurts to “lose” $80,000 in a month.  The trick is to sit tight until the bulls show up and remember that you only lose money when you sell.