What You Should Look for in a Company Retirement Plan, Neighbor

7 Characteristics a Good Retirement Plan Has That Will Help You Save More  

 “Neighbor-hoodwinked!” Uh oh! Mr. Rogers had a potluck dinner and didn’t invite the people next door. How foul! Now, they want to put him on his train trolley and run him out of town! Wait! There’s been a misunderstanding; he’s interested in a smart retirement plan, so he had some PBS coworkers over for a Q & A session. You see, he’s trying to secure his financial future, not become a Fake Fred!

We, at Achieve Financial Group, are going to put on our cardigan sweaters and pay him a visit. We plan to tell him what type of retirement plan he should have with his company. And since, he’s so into make-believe, we’ll put on a puppet show to define some of the factors he should consider before deciding to participate in an employer sponsored plan:

1. Eligibility – Make sure there’s a short wait period for your plan to work
2. Contribution Limits – It is important to determine how much you can potentially contribute to a company sponsored plan.
3. Matching Incentives- Many retirement plans will offer special incentives to encourage participation and give your account an immediate boost.
4. Vesting – Get vested quickly, so you can have 100% access to your funds when you leave the company.
5. Investment Costs and Fees – Understand the costs involved with your retirement plan and how much it will eat into your savings.
6. Simplicity and Convenience –The plan should be simple, easy and automatic to encourage smart financial decisions.
7. Asset Allocation Guidance and Advice – Have a strategy that is designed to help you spread out your long-term investment money over a variety of different investment products.

Neighorhooray! Now that Mr. Rogers has an ideal retirement plan in place, he should do some community outreach and throw a block party. He can celebrate his future financial freedom with everyone in his zip code. For all the sour residents who gave up on him, it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, so please, won’t you be his neighbor?