Via Rick Ferri — <http://www.rickferri.com/blog/investments/dont-bother-with-that-high-cost-401k/&gt; A 401(k) plan is broken when the fund expenses overwhelm the tax benefit of participation. Employer sponsored 401(k) and similar tax-deferred savings plans encourage employees to save for retirement by deferring income taxes on their contributions. However, a recent study suggests that about 1 in 7 plans provide investment […]

In another great column at the WSJ, Jason Zweig talks about some of the new breed of online, computerized portfolio management packages.  These providers, for a very low fee (as little as free for the first $10,000, up to about 0.25% per year ongoing), will invest your money into efficient low-cost portfolios of index funds […]

Naturally, everything she says makes sense… <http://www.nj.com/times-opinion/index.ssf/2014/01/szymanski_take_care_in_choosin.html&gt; She does preface with a caveat – that there are advisors who could be perfectly well qualified but who won’t fit the criteria she lists — but because a lay person may not be able to evaluate and select one who doesn’t fit her criteria, these are a […]