401k Retirement Investment

In the business world, the 401k retirement investment is the choice for many employers.

The employer invests a specific amount into your account each pay... their liability is limited to that amount so they can calculate budgets easily. This is also called a Defined Contribution Plan.

This is the opposite of a Defined Benefit Plan... where the employer contributes whatever is necessary to fund the plan. In good years where the stock market provides good earnings, they fund less into the plan. But in today's odd economy, they often have to come up with substantially more dollars (and they just don't have it today).

CBS MoneyWatch.com has a great article on 401k fees here. They suggest using a free service from BrightScope.com Fees can eat up your 401k savings, and why not keep those hard earned dollars for your retirement years instead? This free service will help you compare your employers 401k to other plans and will actually show you what you are paying in fees (which is usually hidden to participants and needs to be disclosed).