Choosing a 403b plan

[TBH]

Hi, folks. I need some advice.

I have two employers. Both employers offer both TIAA and Fidelity 403b plans.

At one job, I'm participating in TIAA-CREF.

I also have a Roth IRA and a taxable brokerage account that I recently moved to Fidelity from another firm, because of the low fees.

At my second job, I'll become eligible in January to participate in the retirement program. Should I just go with TIAA-CREF so that all my 403b money will be in the same place? I was thinking it might make more sense to go with Fidelity for the second 403b account because of their lower fees.

And if I do choose to open a Fidelity 403b, should I convert my TIAA-CREF account to Fidelity, too? I am having a hard time getting clear about my asset allocations because my money is in too many places. Plus, I've still got some stinky tech stocks moldering in my portfolio and I should probably do some hard thinking (and some research and some personal-finance-forum-posting) and do a big rebalancing act one of these days.

Originally I chose TIAA-CREF because it's likely that I'll be working for universities and colleges throughout my career and most educational institutions have TIAA-CREF. But I'm starting to become more conscious of the hidden fees (altho I'm not really sure how to calculate their impact) so I'm wondering if I should park all my money in a discount brokerage like Fidelity, where there are lots of no load funds to choose from.

Thanks for your advice.

PS. This might not be the best forum to ask this question. Can anybody suggest a better one? Kiplinger, maybe?

[BAGAGT1]

Re: Choosing a 403b plan

I don't know anything about either TIAA-CREF or Fidelity (I've heard of both, but have no experience with either). However, I would say you should attempt to find a way to manage these accounts as simply as possible. If the only simple way to manage your money is to put them into one place, then I think you should do it.

[terry1156]

Re: Choosing a 403b plan

Fees can eat up a large amount of your investment if you are careful and keep a watch on them. it sounds like you answered your own question to some degree. You need to take a day as see what the fees are really costing you and then decide if the returns are worth those fees. You need to take another day and make decision on your tech stocks.

I think you'll want to decide one way or the other and consolidate your investments so they are easier for you to understand and manage. When they begin to get spread out all over the place, you begin to ignore them (at least in my case) because it becomes a pain trying to figure everything out when they are all over the place.

[Tree0164]

Re: Choosing a 403b plan

Check out the fees-each investment company has different fees.

Also you will have access to different investments. I believe Fidelity has a lot more investment options than TIAA. Look at the investment option, use morningstar.

One thing to consider is to not to overfund your 403b-the limit for 2005 is $14k and 2006 15k

[TBH]

Re: Choosing a 403b plan

No worries about overfunding, unfortunately. I'm very far from doing that.

Thanks for the thoughts. I will probably choose Fidelity for my second 403b, and think about moving the other 403b to Fidelity from TIAA-CREF one of these years. Maybe I'll wait til I change employers next, which hopefully won't be for a couple more years.

[dealsaver]

Re: Choosing a 403b plan

To learn more about your 403b options, visit 403bwise.com.