Retirement Plan

[Eagle 10]

Hello. I am wondering if I am making the right move by investing with Oppenheimer Funds through a 403b with my school district. I currently have the investment set-up in the following format:

15% Global Opportunities Fund A
21% Rising Dividends Fund A
16% Sm & Mid Cap Value Fund A
15% Global Fund A
21% Equity Fund A
12% Main Street Small Cap Fund A

What I am trying to figure out is does it make sense to have my investments set-up this way? I have a choice of about 15-20 different vendors and my financial advisor lured me to Oppenheimer. Additionally, I have a money market but I am just a small investor at this point with limited funds. What can I do if anything with the above mentioned allocations?

[atomicrc11]

Well, I don't know the tickers of all those funds, but it looks like you have broad market exposure. How many years do you have before retirement? As for the funds in your plan, we would need to know what the others are to compare them to these Oppenheimer funds.

[jIM_Ohio]

Most funds have 5 letter symbols, like PRFDX or RPMGX. Can you list these tickers for available funds?

[atomicrc11]

After looking at those funds, they all have good performance, but each has an expense ratio greater than 1% except the Equity Fund which is at 0.88%. If there are other funds available to you that offer the same market exposure with lower expense ratio's, I would take it. In the long run the higher expenses will end up costing you possibly thousands in lost gains and compounding. I had my IRA and my 401k in a fund that was around 0.88%, now I have my IRA in Vanguard Target Retirement 2045 with a 0.21% expense ratio and my 401k now has a weighted expense ratio of 0.53%. So now I have similar exposure to the market but all the expenses I would have paid to the fund company now stays in my account.

[Eagle 10]

Sure, I also want to clear up that I only have my $ money going into Oppenheimer at this time with the following ticker symbols. I have a choice of about 10-15 but was moved to invest with Oppenheimer.

The funds are:

OPGIX
QVSCX
OPPAX
OEQAX
OPMSX
OARDX

[Eagle 10]

AtomicRC11 - I know this is going to be the shocker but I don't really know how to figure out the expense ratios and am trying to figure out if my financial advisor is giving me the best advice? If not or as you say find something lower can you provide where to look or some funds to take a peek at?

[atomicrc11]

With a 403b which is like a 401k, you have a limited number of investments in your plan. What are the 15-20 choices you have? If you have the ticker, you can go to finance.google.com and type in the ticker. There it will tell you all about the funds, including the expense ratio.

[Eagle 10]

By 15-20 choices I mean other than Oppeheimer Funds. For instance, I also have American Express, ING, Franklin Templeton, etc. Also, I did find out the expense ratios. I am just trying to figure out if I am making wise with Oppenheimer or if I should move to another fund group within my choices. Or... I could completely forgo the 403b and start an IRA instead but I don't think that's the wiser for tax purposes. Any insight will be beneficial. Thanks again.

[atomicrc11]

Do you get any matching on 403b? Because if you don't, then it really doesn't matter if you invest in those plans, or an IRA. A Roth IRA will allow you to put in up to $5000/year even if you make up to $100k or $150k if you are married. As for your investment choices, what are those 15 companies then? Knowing those will help determine if you can find a better place for your money. Looking at some of the funds available at ING, Franklin Templeton and American Express, they all either have sales charges, loads, or high expense ratios. If that is the case, you may be able to do better for yourself using a low cost brokerage like T. Rowe Price, Vanguard or Fidelity with a IRA.

[Eagle 10]

I don't think I get a match at all with a school district to be honest. I already have a retirement plan set up through the PA state employees system. I have a choice of the following vendors and am wondering what you stated, do I even need to use the vendor list I have or should I do my own IRA. I want to take advantage of the tax options too. Here is the list of vendors I can choose from through my school district.

Ameriprise Financial, AXA Equitable, Franklin Templeton, Great West Life, Horace Mann, ING Life Ins. & Annuity Co., Kemper Investors, Legg Mason Wood Walker, Lincoln Benefit Life, Lincoln Investment Planning, Lincoln National Life, Mass Mutual, Met Life, Nationwide, Northwestern Mutual Life Ins. Co., OPPENHEIMER, Pacific Life, Philips Financial, PlanMember Services Corp., Pro Integrity, Security Benefit Life, Thrivent Financial, Travelers Ins., Union Central, WM Group of Funds.

Its a long list but I want to know where I can put the teacher salary $ my wife and I have (both in education). If we should do something separate than what we are it would be greatly appreciated to take in that insight. Thanks again.

[Eagle 10]

I am still looking for advice as to whether I should just dump my 403b plan and go to a Roth IRA.

[humandraydel]

It looks like most of the funds have high expense ratios. You said you know what they are, but you haven't shared them with us. That is probably the single most important factor in making a decision. I suggest you go with an IRA and choose low cost funds (Vanguard, Fidelity, T.Rowe Price).

[maat55]

Originally Posted by humandraydel

It looks like most of the funds have high expense ratios. You said you know what they are, but you haven't shared them with us. That is probably the single most important factor in making a decision. I suggest you go with an IRA and choose low cost funds (Vanguard, Fidelity, T.Rowe Price).

I just started in PRNEX, it has a long track record. It's ratio is .67