Company 401k Plans

Top 20. Nov 10, 1998 9:48 AM

» JenL_3 - Small Company Retirement Plans

Tim - I am bringing this thread up to the top again, because there were some questions about small company retirement plans at the BB Discussion site, so am referring them here. J.L.

-- posted by JenL_3

Top 21. Nov 10, 1998 1:44 PM

» TimYounkin - switching retirement programs

In the October issue of Worth magazine there is a pretty good article on 401(k) fees. It is a part 3 of a series. This article is also at http://www.worth.com/articles/Z9810F01.h...

In the latest effort to educate the community, Michelle Andrews, a reporter from Smart Money magazine contacted me because she is currently working on an article about how some employees are encouraging management to switch retirement plans either because of fees or to broaden their investment choices. I hope to see her article in either Dec or Jan. This article may also be a good reading material for others who want to change their retirement programs. Good luck. It's not as easy as it may sound.

-- posted by TimYounkin

Top 22. Nov 16, 1998 12:09 PM

» Mark_J - 401(k) Update

Schwab wins! Schwab wins! Or in otherwords, We win! We win!

Well, I had a few more go arounds with the boss. First, some shark comes driving up in a fully-loaded Eddie Bauer wanting to sell us Mason and MFS funds. All had backend loads and a 12b-1 fee of 1%. Yes Maynard, 1% 12b-1 fees!!! Incredible.

This has certainly been a learning experience for my boss. I've heard him on the phone the past couple of weeks, and he finaly started asking the right questions instead of being shown a sales presentation. He has found one low cost 3rd Party administrator to administer the 401k plan and is still making calls to see if anyone can beat that.

Got the news this morning when phoning in telling my boss I'd be in late. His first comment: "Mark, we're going with a Schwab 401(k) plan."

Yeehaw! Thanks again to all who've been posting ideas and encouragement. Our employees will all be better off because of it. (And we've left a shark wondering how in the world is he going to finance new rims on his Eddie Bauer now that we slipped through his fingers....)

Thanks!

Mark

-- posted by Mark_J

Top 23. Nov 19, 1998 8:34 AM

» JenL_3 - 401K Plan Fees

Just wanted to bring this thread up to the top again, so could refer someone from the BB site here. The same questions come up again and again. Glad we have Tim's expertise in 401K Plan Fees to draw upon. J.L.

-- posted by JenL_3

Top 24. Nov 19, 1998 1:37 PM

» SteveT - Good news

I just returned from a meeting I was totally unprepared for. I completed my days work and was asked to attend a retirement committee meeting at a local banks trust department. It was a get to know you type meeting. They asked a lot of questions about how we would like our plan to work. When we got to the part about Fund selection nobody from my company had any ideas. I did it, looks like we can choose from several families of No load funds, Vanguard and Price to name a few. We have another meeting planned to go over the banks proposal the first week of December. It looks great to me just hope the fees are not so high that it will scare my boss into another delay, I have waited so long. I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks Mark.

-- posted by SteveT

http://www.suite101.com/discussion.cfm/i...

Top 25. Nov 19, 1998 6:08 PM

» JenL_3 - 401K Plan Fees

Steve - It's good that you had done your homework before you had the 401K plan meeting. I'm sure that everyone else in your company will benefit from your input also.

Just wanted to make sure that you had checked out Timothy Younkin's Aug. 22 post above, or click here:

Good Luck! J.L.

-- posted by JenL_3

Top 26. Nov 20, 1998 9:36 PM

» Mark_J - Deferred savings plans

Too bad 401(k) plans can't be set up like IRAs. There are so many places that have no-fee IRAs now. Don't see why a 401(k) has to be any more complicated and fee-ridden. The idea that you have to have a 3rd-party administrator is ludicrous and insane. These things should all work alike and benefit the employee and employer. No one should get soaked with these ridiculous fees.

-- posted by Mark_J

Top 27. Dec 10, 1998 4:29 PM

» JenL_3 - 401K Plan Fees

Just bringing this thread up to the top again, because want to refer someone over from the BB site. Tim's article and website links will help answer any questions on 401K Plan Fees.....J.L.

-- posted by JenL_3

Top 28. Dec 11, 1998 7:27 AM

» TimYounkin - more on fees

I am reading an article from my local paper titled "Retirement plans for poodle parlors and cobbler shops" by Ellen E. Schultz The Wall Street Journal Nov 1998. Here are some interesting highlights. Even very small companies with only 10 employees can set up 401(k) plans without spending a bundle. T. Rowe Price charged one company only a $1,300 one-time start-up fee, $2,400 annual fee, and $35 per person fee. Folks, it doesn't get much cheaper than that! I wish the article gave more details on other plans like Vanguard and other no load companies offering these retirement plans. When you look at the high fees (about 2%) that some employees have to pay through banks, brokers, and insurance companies because management passes these fees to the employees you can see how damaging this is to the employees. The artile ends with, "There's no reason for a company to have a plan like that anymore."

Hope this helps.

-- posted by TimYounkin