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I find it insulting when I go to an employer and find they're using a high fee 401k. It just sends so many wrong signals. And then you ask HR what the fees are
by cylinder 10y ago
I find it insulting when I go to an employer and find they're using a high fee 401k. It just sends so many wrong signals.
And then you ask HR what the fees are and they have no clue.
- zdw 10y agoIn most examples I've seen, "Human Refuse" rarely has a clue about anything, other than how to get you fired for imaginary reasons.
- sctb 10y agoThis comment violates the HN Guidelines (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html). Please don't do this here.
- harryh 10y agoFWIW this tends to happen with smaller employers that are scrimping on administrative fees. I've found that the situation is generally improving though as people become more aware of what a great 401k plan should look like. I've also learned to not worry about it so much. You'll generally only stay at an individual employer for a few years. After that you can roll over a 401k into a low fee IRA held by Vanguard (or whomever you prefer). In the end a few years of high fees with a relatively small $ balance shouldn't negatively impact your returns too much. Of course if you're one of those rare folks who spends a decade or more with a single employer you might want to think about things here differently.
- snark42 10y ago> I've also learned to not worry about it so much. You'll generally only stay at an individual employer for a few years. After that you can roll over a 401k into a low fee IRA held by Vanguard (or whomever you prefer) You can also do a backdoor Roth conversion when you rollover your employer contributions (which can't be Roth contributions.)
- harryh 10y agoReally??? I did not know this. I shall investigate. Not helpful for me personally today but maybe at some point down the road. Thanks!