What Is A 401k
A 401k is an employer-sponsored retirement account. It allows an employee to dedicate a percentage of their pre-tax salary to a retirement account. These funds are invested in a range of vehicles like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and cash. Oh, and if you’re curious where the name 401k comes from? It comes directly from the section of the tax code that established this type of plan specifically subsection 401k.
Review Your 401s Payout Policy
One key question in retirement is how youll create an income stream that is, a retirement paycheck from your savings. If your 401 lets you set up regular withdrawals or an installment payment plan, then it might make sense to keep your money in the plan.
If your 401 doesn’t allow for periodic payouts, consider rolling your savings over to an IRA.
A growing number of employers allow retiring workers to say, Pay out X dollars per month, says Steve Vernon, author of Retirement Game-Changers and a research scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity.
But 401 plans vary widely. Some allow lump-sum disbursements only. Others might offer partial withdrawals, but the number is limited. If and when you need periodic payments, youll need an account that allows that. If your 401 doesnt, consider rolling your savings over to an individual retirement account. See this quick-start guide on 401 rollovers for more on this process.
Are There Any Downsides To Investing This Way
As with any investment, however, there are trade-offs involved in using target date funds vs. other approaches. First, such funds tend to be structured as “funds of funds” — which means the assets the target date fund holds are typically other mutual funds. That means you’ll face two layers of management fees and friction costs from any trades the investments have to make. That has the potential to lower your returns a bit versus simply buying the underlying funds.
Second, those funds tend to be managed a bit more conservatively than may be optimal for your specific case. For instance the Vanguard Target Retirement 2065 Fund has around 10% of its assets invested in bonds and short term reserves. That date is more than 40 years away, which makes it likely that the bond and cash-like allocation will be a drag on the portfolio’s long-term performance.
Sure, there are great reasons for even younger investors to hold cash and/or bonds to cover emergencies and near-term expenses. For money locked away inside a retirement account and largely untouchable for more than four decades, the case for bonds and cash gets a bit weaker.
Third, by designing around the average case for a specific retirement year, target date funds may not do all that great a job of meeting your specific needs. For instance, the Vanguard Target Retirement Income Fund , which is the in-retirement stage of its target date funds, has around 70% of its investments in bonds and short term reserves.
Don’t Miss: How Much Income Will My 401k Generate
A Clear Picture Helps You Keep Tabs On Your Finances Throughout Retirement
Finally, the retirement cash management system you create with your providers should offer a comprehensive view of your finances. Being able to access concise, up-to-date reports on your cash balances, transactions, and assets is a basic requirement and can help prevent unpleasant cash flow surprises.
Now that youre retired, take advantage of ways to streamline how you manage cash and pay bills. Your cash needs will change over the course of your retirement, so working with your Fidelity advisor to think through the “what ifs” of future cash management also means making decisions about how to use your financial resources during a retirement that may stretch 30 years or more.
Should I Pay Someone To Manage My 401
Here are some situations when having a financial advisor manage your 401 may make sense and when … to consider managing the account yourself.
getty
Investors can save over three times as much in a 401 compared to an IRA, without even including employer contributions. So, it’s little surprise that most Americans rely on employer plans to save for retirement. Given the reliance on 401 or 403 savings, investors may wonder: should I pay someone to manage my 401?
As with nearly everything in personal finance, the answer is: it depends. Here are some situations when having a financial advisor manage your 401 may make sense and when to consider managing the account yourself.
Read Also: How To Open A Solo 401k
Control Risk With Advisory Services
When you sponsor a retirement plan, your company is responsible for the investment selection and monitoring associatedwith your plan and that’s more than most small or midsized companieswant to take on, especially since one in three retirement plans have been audited by the Internal Revenue Service or Department of Labor .1
ADP can help you reduce this investment fiduciary burden:
- For plans working with an advisor, Mesirow Financial offers co-fiduciary or investment manager services, depending on the support needed.2
- For plans not working with an advisor, ADP’s affiliate,ADP Strategic Plan Services, LLC, is available.3
Design A Better 401 Retirement Plan
From easy plan management and unbiased investment choices to fiduciary services, simple plan setup and time-saving efficiencies,you can leverage benefits that make a difference with our retirement plan solutions.
ADP® Retirement Services Capabilities
See how ADP® can help you create a retirement plan that is smart and easy for your business. We have no investment bias.
Interested in a retirement plan? Our new 403 product may be the solution you’re looking for. Learn More
ADP Mobile App
Watch our video to see how the ADP Mobile App can help employees unlock the full potential of your retirement savings plan.
Recommended Reading: How To Withdraw My 401k
Should You Pay Someone To Manage Your 401k
With the stock market reaching new highs, you may be wondering what to do with you retirement plan investments. Should you add more to your winners, take your profits and run, or do nothing at all? Many confused investors are turning to managed accounts in their 401 plans in which they pay a fee to have professionals make these decisions. According to this article, assets in these managed accounts have surged.
However, this professional management comes at a price. Depending on the service provider and how much you have to invest, a managed account can cost you 0.15% to 0.7% a year. That may not sound like much but add in the higher expense ratios of the actively managed funds that managed accounts tend to use and you’re starting to talk about real money. It may be worth it if they could boost your returns but there’s no evidence that active management can do better than a simple portfolio of low cost index funds. In fact, the evidence is just the opposite with even managed-account provider Morningstar admitting that low cost was a bigger indicator of superior performance than their own mutual fund star rating.
So should you invest in a managed account if you’re looking for help with your retirement? I recently got this question on our Financial Helpline. Let’s compare it to some of the alternatives.
Target Date Funds
These are becoming increasingly popular and are now often the default option in many retirement plans.
Model Portfolios
Online Advice
Adp Is Transforming The Way People Save For Retirement
ADP is helping participants get retirement ready by putting meaningful tools in your employees hands so they can plan for retirement at their convenience. With a mobile enrollment experience that allows participants to enroll anytime, anywhere and features like the MyADP Retirement Snapshot calculator that allows participants to obtain an estimate of their retirement savings through a series of personalized questions, and targeted messaging that pushes important information to participants, we are always designing for you and your employees.
Don’t Miss: What To Do With Your 401k
Realistic 401k Portfolio Analysis
The Good: By just contributing $10,000 a year and performing 1% better, the total gross 401K figure after 30 years grows by $1,551,642 to $2,429,266, or more than double the conservative case scenario. Meanwhile, the percentage lost to fees goes from 17% down to 14% or two years of retirement lost compared to four years lost. $2.4 million should be enough for most people to live comfortably in retirement.
The Bad: Im still paying $262,693 in fees based on my existing portfolio largely due to a Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund that has a 0.74% expense ratio vs. 0.35% or lower for similar Vanguard Funds. We should all run the mutual fund fee analyzer on our 401Ks and see where we can optimize.
A little effort goes a long way. When you combine multiple improvements to your portfolio , you end up with explosive long term results.
Lets cut the $2,429,266 in half due to inflation to account for todays dollars. We get $1,214,633. Take 20% tax and were left with $971,706 in buying power.
I can live comfortably for the next 11-20 years just off my 401K. Unfortunately, I plan to live longer than age 72-80. This means the 401k is still not enough or I have to cut down on my lifestyle.
What Is The 4% Withdrawal Rule
The 4% rule is when you withdraw 4% of your retirement savings in your first year of retirement. In subsequent years, tack on an additional 2% to adjust for inflation.
For example, if you have $1 million saved under this strategy, you would withdraw $40,000 during your first year in retirement. The second year, you would take out $40,800 . The third year, you would withdraw $41,616 , and so on.
Potential advantages: This has been a longstanding retirement withdrawal strategy. Many retirees value this strategy because its simple to follow and gives you a predictable amount of income each year.
Potential disadvantages: Lately, this approach has been criticized for not considering the effects of rising interest rates and market volatility. Indeed, if you retire at the onset of a steep stock market decline, you risk depleting your savings early.
Also Check: How To Select 401k Investments
Option : Keep Your Savings With Your Previous Employers Plan
If your previous employers 401 allows you to maintain your account and you are happy with the plans investment options, you can leave it. This might be the most convenient choice, but you should still evaluate your options. Each year, American workers manage to lose track of billions of dollars in old retirement savings accounts, so you should make sure to track your account regularly, review your investments as part of your overall portfolio and keep the beneficiaries up to date.
Some things to think about if youre considering keeping your money in your previous employers plan:
Learn To Love The Index Fund
Some people love the appeal of stock picking. Finding the next Google or Tesla that will return hundreds of percentage points over a relatively short amount of time is thrilling, but according to research, the gamble generally doesnt work that well.
An index fund simply follows a market index. A fund that follows the S& P 500 rises and falls with that index. Theres no guessing which stock will outperform the market, and the fees you pay for index funds are almost always much cheaper than those for funds that try to pick the next great stock. Theres plenty of research that shows index funds outperform actively managed funds over the long term, too.
If you fancy yourself a Wall Street trader, do it with money outside your 401 it’s best not to make short-term decisions with a retirement account.
A plan geared toward building a nest egg is better suited to allocating large amounts to index funds.
Don’t Miss: How Does A 401k Retirement Plan Work
Early Money: Take Advantage Of The Age 55 Rule
If you retireor lose your jobwhen you are age 55 but not yet 59½, you can avoid the 10% early withdrawal penalty for taking money out of your 401. However, this only applies to the 401 from the employer you just left. Money that is still in an earlier employer’s plan is not eligible for this exceptionnor is money in an individual retirement account .
If your account is between $1,000 and $5,000, your company is required to roll the funds into an IRA if it forces you out of the plan.
Should I Manage My Own Retirement Account
There are pros and cons to having a professional investment advisor manage your 401. And for some, it may not make sense. After all, not everyone needs a financial advisor. When it comes to making decisions about your finances, focus on the intersection of what matters and what you can control. Using that lens, here’s when to consider managing your own retirement plan and when to ask for help.
Read Also: How To Pull From Your 401k
Avoid Choosing Funds With High Fees
It costs money to run a 401 plan. The fees generally come out of your investment returns. Consider the following example posted by the Department of Labor.
Say you start with a 401 balance of $25,000 that generates a 7% average annual return over the next 35 years. If you pay 0.5% in annual fees and expenses, your account will grow to $227,000. However, increase the fees and expenses to 1.5% and you’ll end up with only $163,000effectively handing over an additional $64,000 to pay administrators and investment companies.
You cant avoid all of the fees and costs associated with your 401 plan. They are determined by the deal your employer made with the financial services company that manages the plan. The Department of Labor has rules that require workers be given information on fees and charges so they can make informed investment decisions.
Basically, the business of running your 401 generates two sets of billsplan expenses, which you cannot avoid, and fund fees, which hinge on the investments you choose. The former pays for the administrative work of tending to the retirement plan itself, including keeping track of contributions and participants. The latter includes everything from trading commissions to paying portfolio managers’ salaries to pull the levers and make decisions.
Keep It With Your Old Employer’s Plan
One of the simplest things you can do with your old 401 account is to just leave it right where it is this requires no further action on your end.
“Most companies allow you to do this so your money continues to grow in the investment option you selected ,” said Jessica MacDonald, the Vice President of Thought Leadership at Fidelity. And, you’ll still be able to make withdrawals penalty-free once you hit age 59 1/2.
Just keep in mind, though, that if you have an account balance of less than $5,000, the account may be rolled over into an IRA.
Another reason you may opt to keep your money in your old employer’s plan is if you just really liked the investment options it provided. Some employers may provide more access to certain types of 401 investments, like a wider range of mutual funds rather than just a target date fund.
However, there are a few potential downsides you should be aware of when deciding to go this route. For starters, you typically won’t be able to make additional contributions to this plan once you switch jobs. And, the plan administrator for your old employer may charge additional fees for bookkeeping, administrative charges and legal fees to continue managing the account.
And, you would be unable to take out a 401 loan on your balance.
You May Like: What Should I Invest In 401k
Tips For Successfully Managing Your 401k
Im sure youve already been told many, many times how important it is to invest in a 401k if you have one available to you. So while were going to spend some time in this article reiterating that, were mostly going to talk about what to do with the money once its in your 401k. Because, after all, while actually investing in a 401k in the first place is the most important thing, what you do with the money invested there is almost as important.
One of the top concerns that clients come to us with is that they may not be properly investing the funds in their employer plans. For clients of Personal Capital, we actually offer personalized reviews of your 401k, and we can give you asset allocation and fund selection recommendations based on your specific plan. If youre interested in becoming a client of Personal Capitals wealth management services, first .
All 401k plans are different, so the best way to get personal advice on your specific situation is to talk to an advisor, but today well cover our general philosophy when it comes to asset allocation and fund selection to give you some insight into the method behind our recommendations.
Next Steps To Consider
This information is intended to be educational and is not tailored to the investment needs of any specific investor.
Recently enacted legislation made a number of changes to the rules regarding defined contribution, defined benefit, and/or individual retirement plans and 529 plans. Information herein may refer to or be based on certain rules in effect prior to this legislation and current rules may differ. As always, before making any decisions about your retirement planning or withdrawals, you should consult with your personal tax advisor.
The change in the RMD age requirement from 70½ to 72 only applies to individuals who turn 70½ on or after January 1, 2020. Please speak with your tax advisor regarding the impact of this change on future RMDs.
A qualified distribution from a Roth IRA is tax-free and penalty-free, provided the 5-year aging requirement has been satisfied and one of the following conditions is met: age 59½ or older, disability, qualified first-time home purchase, or death.
Be sure to consider all your available options and the applicable fees and features of each before moving your retirement assets.
Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC, 900 Salem Street, Smithfield, RI 02917
Also Check: How Do I Get My 401k
