Not Concerned about 401k

This has been a bad month for the stock market. I read something over the weekend that said the S&P was down nearly 10% in January which will go down as the worst January in S&P history if these losses hold until the end of the month.

Now I'm sure my 401k investments are losing money. Hopefully not to much but I haven't checked the balances because I am not too concerned. They can lose 50% and I'll still be coming out better then just saving in a savings account. Here is the deal. I recieve a match on my funds I put in to my 401k. If I save 5% of my salary then the company matches with 4% of my salary. That is an 80% return right from the start each time I make a contribution. The market can crash 80% before dipping into the money that I personally have put in. I don't see that happening.

Another reason I'm not to concerned is time. I have 30 years before the thought of retiring will enter my mind. I have closer to 35 to 40 years before I probably actually do retire. This is a long time. If the market is entering into a bear market now and continues over the next couple years that is fine by me. I would prefer a bull market. However, I won't jump off any buildings yet. If we have a 5 year bear market I still have 30 to 35 years to gain back any losses and then some. I think I'm safe.