Posted on 01/29/2023 12:46:23 PM PST by Tacrolimus1mg
I recently started a job as a pharmacy tech, and this job comes with a 401k, unionization, and health insurance - none of which I have ever had through a job before. I just got the booklet detailing the basics of my 401k, and I was a little alarmed. Three guesses who it's managed by. Rhymes with, "Lock stock".
As I live in a leftist state (for now) which I know won't bar the practice, I want to make sure that they aren't investing MY money for ESG purposes and claiming that it's for my benefit.
How do Freepers suggest I handle this?
Invest in the index fund options.
Go to https://www.bogleheads.org/ for investing advice.
I second this. Awesome place for learning and advice.
The “Bogleheads on Investing” podcast takes on ESG
https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=378660
To ESG or Not to ESG That is the Question
https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6483650
ESG Thread
https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=351305
You should have asked a couple weeks ago. I would have told you to sell everything and buy $TSLA. It’s up to $175/share from $125/share. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go to $250, or even higher. The punishment of Elon Mush for buying Twitter is coming to an end, since it hasn’t caused the end of the world.
I’ll third. More accurate information about money and investing than anyplace else on the interweb. All for free.
William Devane Says there’s never been a better time to fill your 401k with - EGGS!
“Talk to a professional financial planner rather than asking for help from a bunch of internet strangers who will all have their own personal advice with no accountability for their answers.”
Best advise here today!
Set your 401k deduction at 12% and forget about it. There isn’t a 401k out there Black Rock isn’t involved in. Congratulations on the new job!!!
Some 401k plans allow you to roll over funds to a different 401k or an IRA. Check the actual terms of your plan.
My advice FWIW invest at least to the max they match. It’s normally done with before tax money which reduces your taxable income. If you leave or retire you can roll it over to any ira manager you want and invest how you want. The companies I worked for matched 100% up to 5% which is essentially a 5% pay raise. They are usually invested in Index funds or similar diversified funds. Look at the funds they invested in the past and their track record. If it’s good then fine. $500 a month with a interest rate of 5% (3% variance + or -) is about $400,000.nest egg. If the monthly including company contributions is $1,000 then its over $800,000.
Traditionally its been a pretty good rule to invest the max the amount that maximizes the match unless you think your employer or the fund are crooks and embezzling tge funds. If they match 100% to 5% then you do 5% if the match is 50% to a max of 5% then you should look at 10% etc. Remember it needs to be rolled over if you leave the plan. There are issues with this like you’re limited to their choices of investments, you can’t usually roll it over into a different fund unless you’ve leaving the company; you can’t make withdrawals except under specific conditions and the match is usually company stock. The last one caught me. The stock was doing fine until the stuff they were hiding hit the fan and the company stock tanked. I essentially lost the company match. Nothing I could do because it couldn’t be rolled over. Had to sit there and watch it drop until company was sold. My contributions were fine because they were in index funds.
Separately I’d open a Keogh account send them money each month also. That’s after tax money so that’s not taxable as I understand it when you withdraw unlike a regular IRA. You direct that. There are tax advantages to the Keogh account over you just investing but you should talk to experts. Just make regular investments your entire career,
You’re probably not hoping to have Social Security when you retire and your retirement income from your employer will be an anuity. So do your best to protect your future.
Companies usually outsource the management of retirement accounts to financial institutions like Fidelity or Vanguard. Those institutions have a wide-ranging array of choices, but sometimes the company limits the choices for cost reasons.
If you are fairly young, a target-date fund might be the simplest way to go. These are essentially a balance between index funds like Total Stock Market, Total Bond Market, and Total International Market, with the allocations changing based on how close you are to the selected date. The target-date fund is chosen based on your own desired retirement year. When you are younger, the asset manager will tilt more towards growth, and when you are older the fund will tilt more towards income (dividends and interest funds).
If you are young and serious about building up a retirement nest egg, you should consider reinvesting dividends into the 401(k) instead of taking it as a distribution (if you can live without the extra cash). First, if you take it, it will be taxed as ordinary income, and second, if you reinvest it, it will compound a lot over several decades. You will still be taxed as ordinary income when you finally withdraw it, but in retirement you will be in a lower tax bracket than you are when you're working.
-PJ
“My company matches up to 3.5%.”
If you are young that 3.5% is big bucks over the long term—run the numbers and you will see.
I am retired now but I did what no financial planner tells you to do.
I did the calculation in reverse.
I tried to figure out how much I wanted in my account when I retired—minimum.
Then I figured out how much I would have to contribute to make that happen.
That amount went into T bills—guaranteed return.
Anything over that was “play money” that went into the stock market.
It worked fine for me—I retired comfortably though not rich.
If the company matches dollar for dollar up to a certain percent, that’s a guarantee 100% gain. Best advice.
Your comment is better addressed to the poster of this thread, not me.
I'm already retired and living happily.........But I'm certainly not going to give investment advice to anyone on the internet or in person.
Not my job nor am I qualified to do so.
From Barrons - Sustainable U.S. equity funds were down an average 19.8% through Oct. 31
Almost better to stay in cash.
Gold and Silver IRA. Outside of what Uncle Sam can touch.
ditto.
Here is your answer.
I suspect no....And if it's in an IRA...and that IRA loses money???
Had my belly fully of Mutt Funds and IRA's back in the 80's....Swore I'd never do that again.
And I'm way better off for it...
I know a lady,,,that had over 69k in some IRA,,,and now she has less than 30K.
People should learn how to take care of their money,,,,,because other people are out to get it.
You going to be able to push a button and you are out??
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