Should I rebalance my 401K portfolio to bonds/ money markets right now?
Answers: This depends on how close you are to retirement. Unfortunately, if you are close to retirement (very close) you've already lost a lot of the money in your 401k and rebalancing won't help. If your are young, no need to rebalance. Talk to an investment professional it'd be worth getting advice on your investments anyway.
You have to look at what you're tempted to do with clear eyes. "Rebalance" means to sell winners after an advance in order to reestablish a predetermined asset mix. But you would be selling stocks after a significant loss. That's not rebalancing, it's an attempt to time the market. You're afraid the market has farther to fall and you're hoping to cut your losses. That's generally a loser's game, since all you're really accomplishing is locking in your losses.
I suggest that you hold onto your stock portfolio. Once the market settles down a little, you can start looking to pick up more stocks at bargain prices.
only rebalance to your original percentages. Don't modify your holdings otherwise you're selling low. Especially if you modify them so you are out of the market.
Is it a good idea to close a Variable Annuity to open a Roth IRA?
Answers: If you aren't maxing out a 401k and an IRA then, hell yes.
Variable annuities do little but line the pockets of the agents who sell them. You would get much better returns with many other options.
The only folks that are going to disagree with this are those that sell variable annuities.
Personally I'm not a fan of annuities, but you have an annuity in a traditional IRA or what now? The annuity is a financial instrument, a Roth IRA is a form of retirement account, so part would depend on if your annuity is eligible to become IRA. If it is, I would prefer it. However, if you open the Roth, what financial instrument will you use? CD? MMA? Stocks? Bonds? In this current crazy market it will be tricky to find a solid investment AND annuities frequently have fees to cash them out. Also when you go to Roth, that's AFTER tax dollars, and I suspect that the annuity is pre-tax, so there are costs there as well. In other words, too little data to say if it's good or not, but hopefully you have some good questions to get answers to now so you can decide.
Good luck.
First mistake: 99% of those people that have variable annuities were sold the wrong (and expensive product). Essentially a rip-off.
Find out about what penalties you'll have. The ROTH IRA is a great idea. It would be a great idea even if there wasn't a ROTH to put it into.
Stay away from Banks & Insurance companies for investments.
Run away from any "financial counselor" that even utters an annuity. They either don't care about your best interest... or they simply don't know what they're doing.
Yes ! A Roth IRA is not taxed when the time comes to start withdrawing money. It is one of the best retirmenet vehicles available.
Is the right time to buy shares in india?
Answers: The Sensex was down over 11% at one point today, in one day.
Buying now would be a little like trying to catch a falling safe.
Agreed with Madi.