Rate your company 401K plan

[Life_is_Good]

I saw this site referenced in the WSJ last week. It rates plan costs, design, and performance... and gives an overall statistical rating vs. other company plans.

BrightScope | 401k Plan Ratings

I found it interesting.

 

[youbet]

Thanks for posting this! Extremely interesting. The MegaCorp I retired from is rated by BrightScope and I still have significant funds in my 401k there. My own research indicated low costs and reasonable investment choices vs. other plans, but it was good to get a validation of this from BrightScope.

 

[ERD50]

Interesting, but their methodology seems odd.

IF I enter IBM, they rate it 80/89 (89 being best in "peer group"), then they state how much you "lost" by not being as good as the best. Ok, but....

I type in Intel, and it puts it in a different peer group and gives it a 72/83 rating. So the amount you "lose" by not being as good as the best cannot be compared to the person at IBM.

I'm sure that there are many workers at Intel that are in very comparable positions at IBM, so this seems odd. Some good information there, thanks for posting it, I would just be careful with some of their analysis.

-ERD50

 

[travelover]

A great first step for anyone is to figure out exactly what fees they are being charged, which is easier said than done. Help may be on the way from the gummint.

House Committee Approves Fee Disclosure and Investment Advice Bill : Washington D.C. Employment Law Update

• Require 401(k) plans to disclose fees in one dollar figure taken from participants’ accounts in a worker’s quarterly statement;
• Require 401(k) service providers and plan administrators to disclose fees charged to 401(k) plan accounts broken down into four categories: administrative fees, investment management fees, transaction fees, and other fees;
• Provide basic investment information to employees, including information on risk, return, and investment objectives;
• Require plan administrators to offer at least one low-cost index fund to plan participants in order to allow participants to protect themselves against liability for participants’ investment losses;
• Require service providers to disclose financial relationships so companies that sponsor 401(k) plans can be made aware of conflicts of interest;
• Ensure that if workers are provided with investment advice by their employers, that the advice be based on the workers’ needs – not the financial interest of those providing the advice;
• Provide adjustments to pension funding rules to ensure plans can weather the economic crisis without being forced to choose between cutting jobs or freezing plans;
• Give the Department of Labor the authority to enforce these disclosure rules and impose fines if a service provider is in violation of these rules