401k Choices

[Ryan410]

Long time lurker here. I posted a while back about 401k options, and recieved some great responses. My company is changing providers so I have a whole new set of options. Currently contributing 8% with a 50% match up to 6%, 23 years old.

TWVLX: AMERICAN CENTURY VALUE INV
NTIAX: COLUMBIA MID CAP INDEX A
HSRSX: EAGLE SMALL CAP GROWTH R5
PREIX: EQUITY INDEX 500 FUND
FCPVX: FIDELITY SMALL CAP VALUE
SGOVX: FIRST EAGLE OVERSEAS A
JUESX: JP MORGAN US EQUITY SEL
NMANX: NEUBERGER BERM MID CAP GR INV
ODVYX: OPPENHEIMER DEVELOP MARKETS, Y
PJFZX: PRUDENTIAL JENNISON GROWTH Z
OTCFX: SMALL-CAP STOCK FUND
VBINX: VANGUARD BALANCED INDEX INV
VASVX: VANGUARD SELECTED VALUE

LHYAX: LORD ABBETT HIGH YIELD A
PARRX: PIMCO REAL RETURN, ADMIN
PDBAX: PRUDENTIAL TOTAL RETURN BOND A

SVFE: TRP STABLE VALUE FUND SCH E

TRRNX: RETIREMENT 2055 FUND
TRRIX: RETIREMENT INCOME FUND

[woodie96]

Since the company is changing providers, the new company should be able to correlate the new comapnies with some of the strategies of your old companies.
When my company switched, they gave us a spreadsheet that had two columns, old fund on the left, closest new fund on the right.
At least thats how they did it for us.

[bjl584]

Since the company is changing providers, the new company should be able to correlate the new comapnies with some of the strategies of your old companies.
When my company switched, they gave us a spreadsheet that had two columns, old fund on the left, closest new fund on the right.
At least thats how they did it for us.

Something similar was done when my employer switched providers years ago.

For example, if you currently own fund ABC then you should buy into fund XYZ, as it is the closest thing to what you used to own.

But, at 23, you should be invested mainly in stocks. The small cap growth and value, the overseas fund, maybe the mid cap.

[humandraydel]

At your age I would invest something like this:

40% Large Cap
30% International
15% Mid Cap
10% Small Cap
5% Bonds

Using your available funds this could be:

40% EQUITY INDEX 500 FUND
30% FIRST EAGLE OVERSEAS A
15% COLUMBIA MID CAP INDEX A
10% FIDELITY SMALL CAP VALUE
5% PRUDENTIAL TOTAL RETURN BOND A

Now, I didn't look at the individual funds in detail, so maybe you could substitute the international, small cap, or bond fund if one of the others is better (with a lower expense ratio). But the above would accomplish an appropriate diversified portfolio for your age.

[kork13]

I don't know anything about any of those funds, but as a general caution, be sure to look at expenses/fees when the switch takes place. Any funds with expense ratios above 1% should probably be shied away from...hopefully they're closer to .5% or less. Your HR department may provide a list of "comparable" funds between the old and new, but just be sure you look into the funds as well.

[kv968]

I don't know anything about any of those funds, but as a general caution, be sure to look at expenses/fees when the switch takes place. Any funds with expense ratios above 1% should probably be shied away from...hopefully they're closer to .5% or less. Your HR department may provide a list of "comparable" funds between the old and new, but just be sure you look into the funds as well.

Besides expense ratios, also look for funds with front-end loads. SGOVX, LHYAX and PDBAX all have loads from 2.25-5%. Typically any fund that has an "A" at the end of it charges a load. The exception may be the Columbia Mid Cap Index A which doesn't seem to have one.

[Ryan410]

thanks for the quick responses. i did not recieve any material comparing new/old funds. i will dig into the expense ratio's some more.