Your 401k portfolio or IRA retirement accounts probably had a set back last week.

Interest rates have been rising the last several months and if you're sitting in bond funds you've seen your portfolio go down.  Stock funds have done extremely well this year but last week saw large declines.  Log into your retirement accounts and look at your "asset allocation"..the ratio of stocks, bonds, and cash you own. Many plans show your allocation as a pie chart.   If you're pie chart is all bonds, very conservative- you're feeling the interest rate risk.  If you've overweighted to stocks-market risk.  This ratio is important!

Most financial planners suggest 20-30 percent stock for retiree's, 50-60 for balanced investors and 70 percent for growth investors.  If you're above 80 percent in stocks-your portfolio will fluctuate much more..many planners limit higher larger exposure to stocks..just too volatile!

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 344 points for the week, or 2.23%, including a 225-point drop on Thursday, while the broader S&P 500 index fell 2.1%. The market slump broke the momentum of a positive run that had taken share prices to a record earlier this month.