See if your retirement is on track
Stem your debt or your savings
Understanding how to manage your 401(k), from contributions all the way to rollover, is a vastly important aspect of retirement savings.
Cut spending to make catch-up contributions and more.
To get a clearer picture of your money, consolidating old workplace accounts to an IRA or your next employer plan makes a lot of sense.
This may surprise you, but there's a good chance you can take direct control of your nest egg at work, choosing investments beyond the two dozen or so mutual funds that most employers offer in their savings plans. Doing so can be risky, but ...
The drama unfolding at J.P. Morgan Chase is stunning. Gripping. And oh so predictable. If you think this is just a story about Wall Street greed and folly, and has nothing to do with you, think again. We are all J.P. Morgan now.
Some of the most popular retirement-savings tools are coming under the congressional microscope. As policy makers gear up for the tax-reform effort expected after the presidential election, they are asking: Can 401(k) plans, individual ...
It's a message that investors hear ad nauseam: Diversify, diversify, diversify. But when they try to build a well-rounded portfolio, many find that there aren't enough choices to spread the money around. In its April 2012 cover ...
A decade ago, target-date mutual funds were a niche product; today they¹re a staple of the retirement-savings industry. The funds, which automatically rebalance to become more conservative as an investor gets closer to retirement, are now ...
On average, 401(k) members fork over $83 per $10,000 invested each year in total fees, according to a recent study by Deloitte Consulting and the Investment Company Institute. For about 60 percent of 401(k) plans, that fee comes with what ...
The number of companies offering Roth 401(k) plans has grown rapidly since the retirement plan became a permanent part of tax law in 2006. Employees, however, aren't quite as enamored.
America's conversion to the 401(k) plan has certainly created a new world for future retirees, who have been discovering just how tricky it is to prepare for retirement in their spare time. But one party hasn't been complaining: ...
When the 401(k) came into vogue in the 1980s, the mutual fund was the investment of choice. So the retirement plan was built to suit the mutual fund's particular quirks, including its once-a-day trading and the ability to buy partial ...
There are plenty of stupid investments you can make in this world. Stock in Pets.com and Washington Mutual didn't work out so well. Nor did those Las Vegas condos. Some of the social media and Web 2.0 stocks flying high on Wall Street ...
More than 50 million Americans have invested some $3.64 trillion in 401(k) and 403(b) retirement savings plans, more than half of it in mutual funds. Chances are, few of them know how much they're paying in fees and expenses.
Regarding Andrew Biggs and Jason Richwine's "Why Public Pensions Are So Rich" (op-ed, Jan. 4): While arguing that public employees should be moved into 401(k) plans, the authors ignore the fact that these savings plans have ...
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Some companies are now letting workers invest in annuities, so that their 401(k) savings will eventually yield an income stream, but there are advantages and pitfalls to this new retirement option.
Those hoping to occupy Easy Street in retirement may want to follow the lead of the 0.2%: the topmost tiny fraction of savers who have managed to sock away more than $1 million in their 401(k)s.
The financially savvy are truly different from the rest of us. Know why? They get to use the tax code to their advantage in ways most other folks can't or don't or won't.
Subscriber Content Read Preview
ALBANY—Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday proposed lowering long-term pension costs by billions of dollars with a less generous pension plan for new state employees that includes the option of a 401(k)-style component.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch ) — Save the date. Come April 2012, some 65 million workers with 401(k) plans are in for a change. For the first time ever, sponsors of 401(k) plans — employers — will have to disclose what workers are paying for ...
Stable is nice, but it isn't perfect. Investors in "stable-value funds," which are bundles of bonds tied together with an insurance policy within a 401(k) retirement plan, have fared remarkably well in recent years. But rising ...
Often billed as the fund and brokerage industry's quick fix for retirement planning, so-called target-date funds took an unexpected turn for the worse in 2011, according to new data.
As the name suggests, a Roth 401(k) combines features of the traditional 401(k) with those of the Roth IRA. It's offered by employers like a regular 401(k) plan, but as with a Roth IRA, contributions are made with after-tax dollars. ...
After years of ignoring one of the hottest investment options, Fidelity Investments appears to be planning a push into exchange-traded funds.
Fund Scope | Scoreboard Most investors -- and I would hope all Barron's readers -- have a good grasp on what their mutual funds cost. At the very least, you should know whether they charge more or less than average and, if the answer is ...
Sometime this year your 401(k) quarterly statement will arrive, as usual, in your mailbox. What won't be usual, however, is what's inside the envelope or email. That's because the quarterly statement will feature not just the ...
The rules governing America's most popular retirement vehicle are about to change, and that could mean huge savings for millions of workers building nest eggs for the future.
The rules governing America's most popular retirement vehicle are about to change. And that could mean huge savings for millions of workers who are building nest eggs for the future.
Chances are you have a 401(k) plan at work. And the chances are you're not making nearly enough of it. A new year means a new leaf: This is as good a time as any to start turning that around.
The federal government is trying to ease the way for workers to buy annuities with their retirement savings. The goal: to create a source of income that people can't outlive.
A 401(k) can be a glorious thing, but let's not forget that these plans are regulated by government bureaucrats. That means they are rife with rules and regulations. Here are answers to some of the more common questions we get about ...
The U.S. Labor Department took steps on Thursday to improve the disclosure of fees paid by millions of participants in 401(k) and other retirement-savings plans.
After spending years slowly but surely socking away money in 401(k) plans, new retirees will find themselves at a fork in the road: choosing where to keep their savings.
While Generation Y is understandably skittish about stocks, that doesn't mean these young adults aren't investing in the market. In the aggregate they certainly are—with help from trends in 401(k) plans.
Chances are you'll have to roll over a retirement account at least once in your lifetime. Most likely, it will be when you leave your current employer and take your 401(k) with you. Or, you may be eligible to roll over your current IRA ...
BOSTON (MarketWatch) — My sister Carole runs a small franchise business and recently started a retirement plan for her employees. She asked me to review the mutual fund choices she could offer.
For years, teachers in Albany, Ga., invested in tax-advantaged savings programs known as 403(b)s just as many educators elsewhere do: Instead of getting a menu of stock funds or other investment choices from their employer, like those ...
Those hoping to occupy Easy Street in retirement may want to follow the lead of the 0.2%. That's the topmost tiny fraction of savers who've managed to sock away more than $1 million in their 401(k) plans.
Retirement savers searching for ways to match their investments with their morals may soon have new options. A growing number of 401(k) plans are adding to their investment menus so-called socially responsible funds -- mutual funds that ...
More than 40% of baby boomers are at risk of not being able to pay for basic retirement expenses such as housing and out-of-pocket health care costs, according to a 2010 study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. But it's not a ...
Lose weight. Run a marathon. (Okay, a half-marathon.) And -- oh, yeah -- sock away a little more in the 401(k) plan. Improving one's financial habits may not top everybody's list of New Year's resolutions, but recent studies ...
Got a 401(k) plan at the office? Is there employer matching? Are you contributing the maximum amount you're allowed each month? Then all this should add up to a very comfortable retirement, one that you'd be hard-pressed to match ...
How will 401(k) investors react to the latest blast of volatility in the markets? If the recent past is any guide, they will retreat into the apparent safety of cash, Treasury bonds and "stable value" mutual funds.
You thought the hardest part about saving for retirement was figuring out the best place to invest your money? Here's another head-scratcher: what to do with your 401(k) when you leave your job.
Stock-market turmoil once again has Americans worrying about their 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts. But families can be blindsided by another aspect of these accounts: confusing rules about who is entitled to the assets in ...
Many U.S. companies that during the recession cut 401(k) matching contributions—one of the most valuable employee benefits—are beginning to restore them.
When your banker says no, your 401(k) says yes. That is what many employees nationwide seem to think. This week, publicly traded companies have been disclosing how much their workers have borrowed from their retirement accounts—and loans ...
As many investors have realized recently, it's not that tough to get a deal in investing. Want cheaper commissions on stock trades? Check. How about free trades to buy and sell those exchange-traded funds? Done.
Subscriber Content Read Preview
The United Mine Workers of America reached a deal with a coal-industry association to preserve pensions for nearly 120,000 current retirees, their dependents and active miners, but it agreed to a shift toward 401(k) plans for miners hired ...
Some employers are reviewing the target-date mutual funds that have become mainstays in their 401(k) plans and are making changes. The changes include replacing current funds with similar ones from other providers to reduce fees, or working ...
It isn't easy picking investments when quality bonds offer meager yields, stocks seem bipolar and the richest economies are struggling to expand. But many 401(k) investors face an added challenge: choosing from a mutual-fund menu that ...
Air-traffic controller Ron Chappell was honored for alerting a SkyWest jet to a nearby single-engine plane in 2009. An article that accompanied Thursday's Middle Seat column misstated his first name as Doug.
Amid volatile markets and concerns about how workers are investing their retirement savings, more 401(k) plans are offering participants specific investment advice and even automatic account management to make investing decisions easier.
While the country's job situation remains stuck in a rut, many Americans are still unsure what to do with something they left behind (along with their favorite coffee mug) at their prerecession employer. We're talking, naturally, ...
It's said that what you don't know can't hurt you. No so. What you don't know can cost you, and sometimes cost dearly. Case in point: Advisers and others say there's a host of unknown costs and fees lurking inside ...
In this tough economy, you may be tempted to take an early withdrawal -- before age 59½ -- from your employer's qualified retirement plan. But don't without considering the tax implications, including the possibility of getting ...
In the latest, but potentially risky, move to fight inflation, some of the nation's largest 401(k) providers are adding commodities funds and other alternative assets to normally play-it-safe retirement plans.
Four years after starting a push into 401(k) plans, BlackRock (ticker: BLK)—the dominant player in exchange-traded funds—says it's finally making inroads into a retirement-investing market that's been dominated by traditional ...
Jim McCool, Charles Schwab Corp.'s executive vice president of institutional business, made waves at an asset-management conference in March when he announced that the brokerage firm soon would offer 401(k) retirement plans stuffed ...
In spite of decades of advice to the contrary and the improving economy, millions of Americans are increasingly turning to what was once a lender of last resort—their 401(k) plans.
At a time when many advisers and professionals are giving up on "buy and hold," many large 401(k) companies are telling investors to stand pat. Who's right?
For seven out of 10 people who participate in a company 401(k) plan, their 401(k) investment is their largest source of retirement savings, according to a 2010 study by Charles Schwab. Understanding how to manage your 401(k), from ...
In spite of legislation that has made it more difficult for workers to opt out of their 401(k) plans, as many as one in five do just that. And a surprising number of advisers say that's not necessarily the wrong choice.
Fund Scope | Scoreboard Surely thousands of articles have been written on how to pick the best mutual funds and spot the worst. But here's a tip that doesn't often come up: If a fund company's employees are suing for being ...
After exiting a job, you're generally well advised to roll over money from your former employer's qualified retirement plan (or plans) into your own individual retirement account. In some instances keeping your money in the former ...
A 2006 law designed to boost employees' retirement-savings is having the opposite effect for some people. Under the law, companies are allowed to automatically enroll workers in their 401(k) plans, rather than require employees to sign ...
The recent market swoons have felt like a recurring nightmare for millions of investors, many of whom still bear the scars -- financial and psychic -- of the market crash three years ago. But when they went online or dialed up the financial ...
Few workers are happy with the performance of their 401(k) plans in recent years but how much blame should be placed with employers? Not much, according to recent court rulings in which companies including Bank of America Corp., Exelon Corp. ...
Like it or not—and many of us don't like it at all -- U.S. taxpayers are helping to bail out Greece and the rest of the financially-distressed euro zone. The International Monetary Fund has committed to providing the Europeans with a ...
Wes and Pat Snyder used to dread the start of each month, when a barrage of statements from numerous brokers, fund companies and banks clogged their mailbox. Between them, the couple had eight financial accounts, and what would start as an ...
Your editorial, "The Utah Pension Model" (Jan. 19) advocating 401(k) use by public pensions raises more questions than it resolves.
When leaving a job, most people automatically transfer, or "roll," their 401(k) accounts to an individual retirement account. Now, some companies are urging departing employees to leave their savings right where they are -- and ...
Subscriber Content Read Preview
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has become the national pacesetter in state fiscal reform, and he's once again lighting up Youtube with his defense of taxpayers against the appetites of government-employee unions. The plan he ...
"Take Two" is an ongoing series about first-time business owners over 50 by Angus Loten, a small-business reporter for the Wall Street Journal.
Retirement Fees It's a question that perplexes many retirees: Should you leave your savings in your 401(k) plan, or roll over the money to an individual retirement account? And if you're still working, how do you compare the costs ...
Gary Wesalo can afford to make the maximum contribution to his 401(k) plan this year. He just isn't allowed to. That's because too many of his colleagues are cutting back on their contributions.
The average person holds 11 jobs from the age of 18 to 44, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and for many of us that means 11 or more workplace retirement accounts. Because not all employer plans require you to leave the plan ...
Investors in 401(k) plans will get far more detailed information about the costs of their retirement options under new Labor Department regulations set to go into effect in 2012.
Investing for retirement is more complicated than opening an IRA or maxing out your 401(k). In fact, according to a 2010 survey by Charles Schwab of people 50 and older, nearly one in three say they find investing for retirement a bigger ...
Even though he’s only 26, Grant Harris diligently shovels 6 percent of each paycheck into his 401(k) retirement plan. But for all his prudence, Harris gets rewarded with frustration. The human resources consultant has no idea how much his ...
A bill introduced last week that would limit how often Americans could borrow from their 401(k) plans is unabashedly patronizing, as it would prohibit law-abiding citizens from accessing their own savings.
Most savers are now aware of the toll the financial crisis has taken on the balance of their 401(k) plans – but the bite taken by fees is much less visible. A new regulation issued Thursday by the Department of Labor takes a step toward ...
My new employer doesn't have a 401(k) plan. What should I do with the account from my old job? Donald Tampubolon, New York City Essentially, it's time to get rolling. In the absence of a new 401(k), you can roll your balance into an ...
The investing world's current darlings, exchange-traded funds, get no love from 401(k) plans. Investment advisers like ETFs for a bunch of reasons: They carry lower fees than most mutual funds, offer tax advantages and can trade like ...
(See Corrections and Amplifications item below.) Forget the old brochures and model-portfolio charts. An increasing number of 401(k) plans now are offering extensive advice programs, and even the opportunity to turn over management of your ...
The path toward having enough money to enjoy a comfortable retirement is a long one. And as the recent decade in the U.S. stock market shows, it's one where patience pays off.
Americans are pulling money out of retirement accounts early. During the second quarter, 62,000 of the 11 million workers using 401(k) plans provided through Fidelity Investments began the process of taking out a hardship withdrawal, up from ...
More small firms are adding cash-balance pensions as the economy has improved, with a two-fold purpose that benefits employees: rebuilding their battered nest eggs and avoiding higher taxes.
Most U.S. workers' 401(k) retirement plans showed "positive, steady savings" during the second quarter, according to Fidelity Investments, but there also was an increase in participants tapping their accounts for loans and ...
Recent market turmoil and regulatory changes are driving both employers and workers to reassess their retirement plans. Low interest rates are prompting many employers with traditional defined-benefit plans to set aside more cash to cover ...
State governments, one of the last bastions of guaranteed pensions, are increasingly taking a page from the 401(k) plans that dominate the private sector.
An increasing number of 401(k) plans offer investment options that look a lot like the typical mutual funds. But they're actually a whole different animal—and investors would be smart to know the difference.
Financial planner Rick Brooks increasingly finds himself tangling with what he and his colleagues call "yapping dogs." Not the canine variety, but the 401(k) type—those pesky retirement accounts many people leave behind in their ...
Roth 401(k) accounts are becoming more prevalent in company-sponsored retirement plans. Whether one is right for you depends on factors including your expectations of future income-tax rates.
After 20 months without a job, 55-year-old Henry Dietz has nearly drained his 401(k) retirement plan. He already has used up his personal savings, borrowed extensively, switched to a catastrophic health plan, which only covers medical ...
Are investors acting their age? A recent report from a broker-dealer suggests they might not be, at least when it comes to risk. Among participants in Fidelity’s corporate defined-contribution plans, nearly two thirds maintain asset ...
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Even as retirement savers recoup some investment losses from a year ago, financial struggles are forcing more of them to take out loans and hardship withdrawals from their 401(k) plans, according to data ...
When it comes to 401(k) plans, savvy investors know that asset allocation – based on your time horizon, risk tolerance and savings goal – is crucial. But without regular checkups, over time your investments can drift away from that initial ...

To get a clearer picture of your money, consolidating old workplace accounts to an IRA or your next employer plan makes a lot of sense.
Now playing: sequels, 3-D reruns and long ads.
A new wedding trend trades "walking down the aisle" for a walk on the wild side.
Technology stocks have rebounded and are once again the darling of the market. Can the resurgence last?
Arends: That 60/40 portfolio of stocks and bonds your adviser is pushing might not work.