Are Stable-Value Funds Safe?

For the first time ever, one of these funds lost money. But it doesn't mean widespread problems.

I read that a stable-value fund that Invesco manages for Lehman Brothers' 401(k) plan lost money. How safe are other stable-value funds?

It’s true that an Invesco fund is the first stable-value fund ever to lose money. But the fund's 1.7% decline in December 2008 is peculiar to the situation at the now-bankrupt Lehman, and it probably doesn't portend wider troubles in stable-value funds, which hold more than $400 billion, almost entirely in retirement accounts.

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Kimberly Lankford
Contributing Editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance

As the "Ask Kim" columnist for Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Lankford receives hundreds of personal finance questions from readers every month. She is the author of Rescue Your Financial Life (McGraw-Hill, 2003), The Insurance Maze: How You Can Save Money on Insurance -- and Still Get the Coverage You Need (Kaplan, 2006), Kiplinger's Ask Kim for Money Smart Solutions (Kaplan, 2007) and The Kiplinger/BBB Personal Finance Guide for Military Families. She is frequently featured as a financial expert on television and radio, including NBC's Today Show, CNN, CNBC and National Public Radio.