I had lunch with my graduate school daughter last week. In the group were two of her recent college graduate friends. The two ladies recently joined the working world for the first time.
Both of my daughter’s friends know that I am an investment advisor. The topic of money came up quickly during the lunch conversation. These ladies were making money on their own for the first time in their life. They each had questions about how best to manage their newfound investments.
Specifically, questions came in my direction about how to best manage company 401(k) retirement plan accounts.
I quickly provided my 30-second sales pitch on how I could help each friend with the question of “what to buy” on their company 401(k) retirement plan menu. Immediately, each of my daughter’s friends promised to provide me the information I needed to review their default company 401(k) retirement plan menu of mutual fund options.
I asked each of my daughter’s friends if they had asked their parents the same questions about how to invest in their company 401(k) accounts. Each one had asked their parents. Each one stated, “They were not help at all.”
In fact, one of the ladies made the statement that their father told her that, “You just have to guess at which mutual funds to own in your 401(k). Like everyone else I know does.”
I quickly assured each young worker that guessing was not necessary. I would be able to provide each of them a logical and organized investment management strategy that would make the most out of their respective company 401(k) mutual fund offerings.
Then out of nowhere, one of my daughter’s friends blurted out one of the great Generation X marketing concepts I had ever heard. Even for an old Baby Boomer like me, this statement was a revelation.
“If I can find the time to check Twitter, Facebook and Instagram 10 times a day, I can also find the time to look at my company 401(k) retirement plan account once in a while.”
Marketing genius. Not surprisingly, this young lady is a recent hire in the marketing department of a Fortune 100 company in my local area.
I think that statement sums up the investment management decision challenge for the current generation of workers very well. The only words of wisdom I can add is that making the most sense of your company 401(k) mutual fund options is that it does not take much time. And it’s easy to do.
Ric Lager
Lager & Company, Inc.
