September 27, 2016

Episode 20: Surprising Stats About Investing in Your 401k

Mike Eklund

Chad Smith

You can listen through the player above, or subscribe to our podcast on iTunes or Stitcher or Google Play.

With more than 90 million Americans covered by a retirement savings plan (401k/403b/457), it’s even more important to know how to make the best decisions. In this episode, we lay out a few tips by peeling the onion on your retirement plan. We also sprinkle in a few questions that you’ll want to ask your employer concerning your specific plan.

Topics Covered

  • How to Evaluate Your 401k
  • Understanding the Employer Match
  • What are your contribution options and how to know which one is best?
  • Making sense of the multitude of investment options including target-date funds
  • How to determine the cost of your 401k
  • Where to look for your specific 401k/403b plan ratings

Facts and Links Mentioned In the Show

  • 77% admitted to not having the time or investment knowledge to be confident in their investment decisions. [Fidelity Research]
  • About 21% of eligible employees for 401k accounts, don’t contribute to their 401k. [According to Vanguard]
  • Employees miss out on an average $1,336 of employer match each year (2.4% of income missed). [Financial Engines]
  • People who had help with decisions on their 401k earned 3.32% higher median returns from 2006-2012. [Financial Engines]
  • See 401k plan ratings [Brightscope.com]
  • Think Your Retirement Plan is Bad, Talk to a Teacher [NY Times]
  • Demystifying the 401(k) plan investment process [CNBC]
  • Why Your 401k Fees Aren’t Lower [Wall Street Journal]

Share
Posted

September 27, 2016

Category

Mike Eklund is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner. In addition, he has an MBA in Finance and the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor designation. He is an active member of NAPFA, is the co-host of Financial Symmetry’s podcast, and has been quoted in various industry publications.

Chad Smith is a Certified Financial Planner™. He is an active member of NAPFA, the Financial Planning Association, and FPA’s NexGen. He has been quoted and appeared on WSJ.com, Bloomberg.com, Businessweek.com, Msn.com, Financial Planning Magazine, Triangle Business Journal, and Investment News.

Take Charge of your Finances

Will Social Security Run Out? What You Need to Know

Podcast

Longer Life Expectancies Are Shaping Retirement Strategies, Ep #236

Podcast

10 Myths That Exist Around Women’s Wealth, Ep #235

Learn how to balance your retirement

Financial Symmetry advisors unveil financial opportunities to help you balance enjoying today with being ready to retire later.

Subscribe
Get weekly updates with our latest blog posts.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Financial Symmetry icon

CLIENT CENTER

UPLOAD FILES

Pershing Account