I asked a co worker which four funds I should put in my IRA.?

He recomended 11 funds but I did not want that many so I asked him for the best four for me. He told me to put the money in a few steps at a time. The market was down Wensday so I put it all in at once.
The four funds are:
MXXIX
JAOSX
GABAX
RYVPX
I did not follow his advice about buying in. Was his advice any good?

If the market does not drop another 25% you will have done ok. But if it does you will wish you had followed his advice. No one knows what the future might bring, so you have to go with your gut feelings sometimes. When you look back a year from now, you will know that answer better than now.

My personal opinion is that you should have left about 50% in a money market for now and fed it in over several months. But I am somewhat conservative. Your fund picks should do very well over the long term they are all top notch.

I think you are correct in limiting your choices to only 4 and these 4 are well diversified.

Good luck.

Usually it is a good idea to wait to buy all your your funds at once, since it is impossible to know if those particular funds were down the most last week or not. From now on, you should look into investment choices yourself. I know that it is hard and takes time but you shouldn't trust someone else who might not have any idea either. If those funds turn out to be bad investments for you, your coworker doesn't lose a thing. Those mutual funds look pretty good but don't just leave them there and never think about them again. Keep looking at them to make sure that the morningstar rating doesn't decrease or the fees don't increase. Also, keep comparing them against other securities to make sure that they are still good investments.

can't anwser your question without knowing what funds he selected. what are your options?
Don't know your age (how close to retirement are you?). How much of your total net worth is in your ira?

I would agree with buying over time.. slowly dollar cost averaging in... since the market is so volatile you cant be sure of catching the bottom but this way it smooths out your average price.

I didnt see any international... you may want to place 10-20%into an international fund

dont see any bonds... also may want to place 10-20% depending on age and risk tolerance into fixed income. (not high yield)

go to www.morningstar.com
go to tools
use the instant x-ray
enter in $ in each fund.
This will give you a good overview of your weightings and sector exposure,,,,,

it's best to try and get exposure to many sectors... diversify .. since your ira will probably be a large chunk of your net worth its usually not a good idea to take too much risk with it.

my 2 cents
cheers

Seems to me there is not a lot of difference between MXXIX and GABAX. Why not go with a fund that is truly global? Or an equity income fund with an international tilt? Suggestions would be Van Kampen Equity & Income; American Funds Capital Income Builder; Vanguard Global Equity.