Every weekend I list several blog posts from the week that I thought were really good. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
This week at work, the company announced that it had made its annual 401k contributions to each employee’s account. Some companies actually post the employer contribution at the same time as the employee contribution, but more and more are switching to one annual contribution instead (like what my employer does). It’s always nice to log in to my account and see the big one-time jump from the employer contribution. I know that my contributions during the year are important, but seeing the company match helps validate the importance of my contributions even more.
Even though I work at a bank among (you’d think) very financial-minded people, I am always amazed and somewhat disappointed at how many people really don’t know much at all about their 401k plans. There are a lot of people that set up their investments when they were first hired and haven’t looked at them since. There are a lot of people that have no idea what funds they are investing in. There are a lot of people that don’t know how much they are investing. And there are fewer people still that know the expense ratios of the funds they are invested in. Stay tuned for my post next week about the importance of 401k rebalancing.
Dumpster Diving~The Top 5 Rules For Finding The Good Free Stuff! at Canadian Budget Binder
Why Your Money Won’t Grow Under Your Mattress at Club Thrifty
Why You Should Just Say No to Refund Anticipation Loans at Frugal Rules
How to Live on One Income at Making Sense of Cents
How To Find A Credit Card With A Lower Interest Rate at Modest Money
Parents and Pet Owners Beware! at Money Life and More
How to Invest a Million Dollars and Why You’ll Need to Know How Someday at My Money Design
Why Investing in Real Estate Makes Sense for Young Professionals at One Smart Dollar
Great Ways to Express Your Gratitude By Complimenting People at Tackling Our Debt
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Lance @ Money Life and More
February 16, 2013 at 5:50 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thanks for the mention! I used a target date fund so no re-balancing is needed. Right now the risk is right for me and I’ll monitor it as it starts changing down the glide path.
Canadian Budget Binder
February 16, 2013 at 5:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
My employer matches each week what I put in and I know what I’m invested in with them, and it’s not much to be honest. I’ll be going in and making changes to my investments as it’s just not working the way I would like to. I’m not losing money but I’m really not making anything either. Thanks for the mention mate. How’s the wife doing? Hope all is well. Cheers
My Money Design
February 17, 2013 at 9:09 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Nothing beats seeing more money in the bank! We actually get both periodic contributions as well as an annual contribution from my employer. I’ll take every little bit I can get! Thanks for the mention Justin!
Jose
February 17, 2013 at 11:57 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
My employer matched me every paycheck, 50% on the first 3%. There’s usually a nice bump in July where they can put in a “discretionary” match, the amount depending on how the company has done during the year. Employee matching is a free gift and an instant significant return on your contribution. Which is why I urge everyone to contribute at least enough to take advantage of an employers match,