6 Things 401(k) Participants Need to Know
Our industry spends a lot of time and money educating workers about the advantages and mechanics of saving for retirement. But here are six things I think too often go unsaid. Your 401(k) isn’t free. That’s right, it isn’t free. It may be heavily subsidized by your employer, and you’re likely paying a lot less for the fund(s) and features you have access to than if you were to try and buy them on your own (say, via an IRA or brokerage account) — but even then, it’s probably not “free,” nor should you expect it to be. But if you don’t know how much you are paying, you should find out. You’ve probably been provided some information about your 401(k) plan fees already. You can find out how to use that information here . More information about 401(k) fees is available here . That employer match isn’t “free” either. You may have heard that you should save enough to receive the full employer match — that “you don’t want to leave that free money on the table.” It is,...