Articles for Cobb Retirement Solutions, LLC

A year ago you picked the 2040 fund in your 401(k) plan. It was advertised as the easy, auto-pilot choice for someone with a little more than 30 years left until retirement. Best yet, the fund slowly grows more conservative as you close in on the year 2040, protecting you from being too aggressive as you approach retirement.

If you need extra money – and there are plenty of reasons right now why you might – you are probably tempted to take a loan from your 401(k) plan. Without a doubt it’s your money and with a few pen strokes (or mouse clicks for the tech savvy) the funds will soon show up at your doorstep.

IRS Announces Pension Plan Limits for 2009

Who hates your most recent 401(k) statement even more than you? The vendor who mailed it to you. The business of keeping up with you as a participant, including the need to offer you a state-of-the-art website, quarterly statements and a call center to answer you in your time of need is not cheap.

It was only a few years ago that the ongoing debate regarding the Social Security system’s funding deficit – and the proposed remedies -- dominated the headlines. Our newly re-elected president made bold promises regarding the expenditure of his new-found political capital on this very point. His favored solution involved reductions in benefits that would be overcome by increased performance. This increased performance would come in the form of exposure to the stock market.

Yesterday was an alarming day on top of an already alarming month. Bill Gross, one of the most respected investment managers in the marketplace who is noted for his macro-economic bets, had this to say in the close of his October 2008 Investment Outlook piece: “Stay liquid, remain in high quality. It is prudent at the moment to fear McFear itself.”

As I write this I’m reminded of the many conversations I’ve had over the past few weeks. The party on the other end has varied dramatically: participants worried about losing their retirement, employers worried about the investments they are offering their participants and, of course, money managers, who are worried that they might say or do something that might leave them liable down the road.

You love your dog. Your dog loves you. In the unfortunate event that your dog should outlive you; you may wish to leave money behind to care for him -- a noble sentiment for your four-legged survivor. While you can arrange this though your will and a trust account please don’t try it with the beneficiary form for your 401(k). Rover won’t receive a check for the remaining balance in your account for a variety of reasons, including the fact that he can’t sign the back.

If you’re a participant in a 401(k) plan there’s a better than average chance that you have the option of investing in a stable value fund. There’s an equally likely chance that you don’t know what a stable value fund is.

Members of Congress, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Labor (DOL) have spent the past several years in on-again/off-again discussions regarding fees within 401(k) plans. The upshot of the debate is that requiring employers to document the fees charged against participant accounts might result in reduced costs for participants. How? Apparently all involved are hoping that shame will do the trick as no one is contemplating caps on fees. Employers must be gouging emplo

Is the average American ready for retirement? Between CNBC, Mad Money, Bloomberg, the Fox Business Channel and instant access to a litany of financial publications and websites, it is easy to think that people have all of the tools and resources necessary to be an informed investor. Tools, however, are useful only when preceded by training. Similarly, the ability to access nearly unlimited resources is a wonderful gift but, much like a visit to the main branch of the library, it’s not parti

In your life you have probably met someone who said they couldn’t make an IRA contribution because they made too much money. You may even be that person.

Over the past year a number of large financial institutions have been sued by their own employees for purported fiduciary breaches. The crux of these class action suits, which have been followed closely by the media, is that these large financial firms have nearly every aspect of their own 401(k) plan managed by subsidiaries and affiliates of that same firm. In short: they are managing the plan for the benefit of the firm versus the benefit of their employees. I applaud the sentiment, but the

One of my most common phone calls with a new employee typically goes something like this: “Hello?” “Yes, my name is Bob and I just started at Company ABC. The human resources person told me that you could help me with questions about the 401(k).” “Yes, Bob, that’s right. How can I help?” Big sigh. “I don’t know.” “That’s going to make it tough Bob. Can you give me hint? Do you have the enrollment paperwork?” “Yes. I actually got it several weeks ago but I got frustrated.

Investing mimics life in a number of ways. In particular, neither comes with any sort of guarantee. The same can be said of the various techniques touted to boost enrollment within your 401(k). Each employee population is different and, admittedly, there is no guarantee, but here are some fairly easy ways for you to potentially boost enrollment:

Quick question: can you roll your existing 401(k) balance directly to a Roth IRA? The answer: yes. Well, actually, maybe… The old rules stated that rollovers from traditional qualified plans (a 401(k), for example) could not be rolled directly to a Roth IRA. Instead, rollovers from a 401(k) had to go to a Traditional IRA as the first part of a two-step process.

As the 401(k) industry rapidly approaches its 30th birthday, record keepers and investment houses that offer 401(k) products are feeling the aches and pains of maturity. They’re charging less—at least in the context of 10 or 20 years ago—while offering more by raising the overall service standards of the industry. You need to ask your vendor eight important questions regarding your current fee and service structure.

Over the years I’ve received a lot of strange looks when I’ve asked people if they’ve considered how their spouse is invested before selecting their investments within the 401(k) plan. “My husband,” one nice lady told me, “does his thing and I do my thing.” Many other people have reiterated variations on this theme from “she won’t tell me” to “he’s already spent every dollar he’s even thought about.”

Retirement is similar to life insurance: it sounds like a good idea but who really wants to sit down and talk about it? It’s confusing; it’s probably expensive; and I, like everyone else, have a million other things taking up my time. I’ll get to it later. Maybe. If you want to have a meaningful impact on your employees your message needs to be simple, and actionable. The numbers also show that the message is best delivered in person, as the utilization of web based guidance products is m

If you have an interest in the retirement years of your employees and are willing to put some time and money around that conviction there are several ways that you can help employees avoid a misstep with the retirement funds they’ve gathered over the years.