Every Minnesota company 401(k) retirement plan participant has at least one. Most people have a more than one.
I am talking about the individual mutual funds that you own now on your company 401(k) retirement plan menu. A few of these mutual funds are holding you back from building your retirement nest egg.
As an independent investment advisor, I consult individual company 401(k) retirement plan participants. I don’t sell any investment products. I analyze a company 401(k) retirement plan menu and advise my clients on which mutual funds to own. More importantly, I tell my clients which mutual funds to avoid.
Most individual company 401(k) retirement plan participants don’t have the time or the expertise to analyze and manage their company retirement plan account. Deep down they know that they should watch their retirement plan accounts more than they do.
One bad mutual fund investment can drag down the investment performance of an entire company 401(k) retirement plan account. If you own more than one bad mutual fund, you are hurting your investment performance more than you may realize.
In 2013, it was a great year to own U.S. stocks. If you owned any bond mutual funds, you made less money. If you owned International mutual funds, you likely lost money.
You should analyze the company 401(k) retirement plan mutual funds that you own right now. Sell any mutual fund that has significantly lagged your best mutual funds last year.
The best place to analyze all the current mutual fund options in your company 401(k) retirement plan account is on your year-end 2013 company 401(k) retirement plan account statement.
If you don’t feel comfortable doing the analysis yourself, ask your current investment advisor. If he or she can’t help you, find an independent investment advisor who can.
Ric Lager
Lager & Company, Inc.
