Category: 401K
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401(k) Providers To Disclose Fees to Companies
The Bush Administration is trying to push through a proposal in which 401(k) plan providers would have to fully disclose their fee structure to companies prior to being taken on as a provider of 401(k) services. Companies selling 401(k) services should be forced to disclose all the fees and expenses that can drain money from…
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A Weak Case Against Roth IRAs
It’s not very often you hear someone touting the benefits of a Traditional IRA over a Roth IRA, but today it happened. Roland Manarin, founder of Omaha, Nebraska based investment firm Manarin Investment Counsel, says that the bigger pot you work with in a tax-deferred account will result in greater earnings than a tax-free account.…
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Devon Energy’s Super 401(k)
I’ve been lamenting the fact that pension plans are starting to fall out of favor with many companies and just recently Devon Energy announced they’d be replacing their traditional 401(k) and pension plans with something they’re calling a Super 401(k). The Super 401(k) would take some control out of the hands of employees but in…
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Britney Spears Saves Nothing For Retirement…
… and she earns approximately $737,000 each month. Before you flip out and say, “What!? She’s so irresponsible! How could you she not put some of that away?” you might be surprised to learn that she’s not alone. She’s twenty five and a recent study by Vanguard showed that two thirds of 25 year olds…
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No Match 401(k)’s Are Okay
The latest question in to Walter Updegrave is one about a no-match 401(k) and whether or not it’s “worth it” to contribute. The reader is maxing out his Roth IRA and is now wondering whether he should contribute towards his no-match 401(k) or go with a regular brokerage account. Updegrave recommends that he should contribute…
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401K Q’s: Employer Match, Milestones & 50+ Contributors
In the logs of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, there are plenty of questions about 401(k)’s that certainly need some solid answers. In this post I’ll list a few of them, give you my thoughts, and hopefully we can solve some problems! Does your employer’s 401(k) contribution/match count towards that $15k maximum? No it doesn’t, the…
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2008 Retirement Account Limits
In a few short months it’ll be 2008 and with a new year comes new retirement account contribution limits. For Individual Retirement Accounts (including Roth and Traditional IRAs), the contribution limit for 2008 is $5,000 if you are 49 and below. If you are 50 and above, you can contribute an additional $1,000 as a…
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What To Do If Your 401K Options Are Bad
One of the things you often don’t review whenever you’re looking at a job offer is whether there are attractive investment options within the 401(k) plan, usually discussion of the plan stops at how much the employer is willing to match in contributions and how long it will take to vest. Sometimes you’ll enter a…
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How Does Your 401K Stack Up?
At the end of 2006, the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the Investment Company Institute analyzed 20 million accounts across 54,000 401(k)’s to get a nice clear picture of how people are saving, how much they’re saving, and give you a better idea of whether you’re on track (but remember you’re comparing against other people,…