As an alternative to target retirement date or risk based mutual funds, many open architecture 401(k) providers allow retirement plan advisors to create their own managed models for inclusion within a plan’s investment menu. One of the reasons for doing so is the ability to create an asset allocation strategy that utilizes investments from multiple investment managers. A number of these advisor-managed models often include a passive investment component, i.e., index mutual funds. The popularity of these ‘passively managed’ offerings–beyond their ability to consistently generate market-like returns–lies in their relatively low cost.

Whereas retirement plan advisors have historically only had the option of using index mutual funds as the passive component of their managed models, many retirement plan providers have recently made exchange-traded funds (ETFs) available for inclusion in a 401(k) plan’s investment lineup.

Like index mutual funds, passively managed ETFs effectively track their benchmark and have low expense ratios.

One of the primary differences between ETFs and index mutual funds is that ETFs in taxable accounts can be traded intraday like stocks. However, most retirement plan platforms only price ETFs once a day. In this regard, they trade exactly like mutual funds. The primary benefit, then, of choosing an ETF over an index mutual fund in a retirement plan would seem to be its lower expense ratio. But while one might assume that, all things being equal, the option with the lower expense ratio would be the better investment choice, all things in this situation are not equal. We can’t forget that an ETF in a retirement plan is likely to charge a commission for both the purchase and the sale of the ETF whereas a majority of index mutual funds are “no load” and do not charge a purchase commission. That is not to say the ETF may not be the better choice–it very well could be depending on the advisor’s investment management strategy for the model.

If you are evaluating whether an ETF or an index mutual fund is better suited for your managed models, you should consider the following:
ETF commissions charged by the plan provider: A 00 investment into an index mutual fund will result in a 00 balance. However, if your plan provider charges a commission to purchase an ETF, a 00 purchase will result in less than a 00 balance since the commission amount will reduce the amount of the proceeds. There will also be a subsequent commission charge to sell the ETF.
ETF share price: If your open architecture 401(k) plan recordkeeper charges a commission to buy and sell an ETF, the ETF with the higher share price will result in a lower commission charge. For example, assume there are two S&P 500 ETFs that you are considering with identical expense ratios, you are seeking to purchase 00 worth of ETFs for your plan, and your retirement plan provider charges a .05 per share commission. If one of the ETFs is trading at 0 and the other is trading at , your commission amount will be double for the per share ETF since you will be purchasing twice as many shares. Whereas the share price of a mutual fund is rarely a factor used in evaluating an option, the same cannot be said for an ETF.
Expense ratios of both products: Assuming the ETF has a lower expense ratio, but also charges a commission, it is likely that you will have to hold the ETF a longer time period for its superior performance (due to the lower expense ratio) to compensate for the purchase and sale commissions. The time period will be a direct result of how much lower the expense ratio of the ETF is than that of the index mutual fund.
Availability of the product to track the desired index: Whereas both index mutual funds and ETFs have products that track common market indexes like the S&P 500, Russell 2000, and the Dow Jones Industrial Index, ETFs typically have more specialized funds available. Some examples include funds that invest solely in the China Small Cap, Consumer Stables, Biotechnology, and Malaysia indices.

One of the primary benefits of using an open architecture 401(k) plan provider is the ability to include either ETFs or index mutual funds in the plan’s core investment lineup or within a managed model. You will not be limited to proprietary products or to those that only pay revenue sharing. If your plan’s investment menu is not limited in this regard, a plan advisor should be able to implement strategies similar to those used in non retirement accounts to best achieve the stated investment goal of the model.

Mutual funds offer a lot of perks to investors. They are generally managed professionally and so are extremely an easy task to buy regardless of whether are increasingly becoming bought by the company or someone. You can find quite a few varieties of mutual funds and index mutual funds are some of the most well known and bought ones.
The option of index mutual funds is entirely your decision. You may find index mutual funds that are depending on huge cap stocks or those depending on wide range stocks obtainable available on the market. If you select one for you personally, bear in mind of the benefit of money management. The evaluation of the price ratio of the fund is essential to decide regardless of whether you’ll need to pay a good deal as management fees.

When it comes to purchasing index mutual funds the best strategy of doing so could possibly be by means of an investment broker.

Investment brokers have vast insight into the a range of mutual funds and you will be able to help you to get the exact right one out of the numerous packages and plans of index mutual funds available on the market nowadays. Another advantage of employing a fantastic investment broker is the reality they have long standing business relationships with a lot of organizations offering index mutual funds and you will be able to allow you to find the shares which you will want.

But planning to a fantastic investment broker is not one and just way to buy index mutual funds. Direct buy could be another easy strategy to get the shares you have been wanting to get. Direct purchasing entails working directly with all the mutual funds offering company to get your shares. To find out no third party involved with this kind of strategy of obtaining index mutual funds, you’ll have to maintain to the minimum investment requirement to make buying.

The fee will alter significantly with all the strategy you choose to buy index mutual funds. Should you be dealing with a fantastic investment broker, you’ll have to put aside the fee of consultation and brokering for the youngsters. This quantity changes as outlined by every brokers’ level of expertise or by means of the quantity of function they have prepared for one to buy index mutual funds. Although this may not be asked upfront, you’ll have to pay this quantity at any point of the purchasing process. Nonetheless when seeking at direct purchasing, no such third party is involved and you will almost certainly save that quantity. But, once you get shares from the business, it really is inevitable that some quantity of risk is involved once you will likely be dealing with your own personal knowledge and no expertise about the matter aside from your company representative.

One of the biggest benefits of mutual funds is that they provide the means for individual investors to achieve broad diversification in their investment portfolios. Although many wealthy individuals and institutions use mutual funds as at least the core of their portfolios, having considerable wealth is not necessary to construct a well-diversified portfolio with mutual funds. Indeed, it’s possible to assemble a well-diversified portfolio of mutual funds with as little as $100,000, a fairly well diversified portfolio with $50,000 and an adequately-diversified portfolio of index funds with much less.

Having a well-diversified portfolio is important for three reasons. First, diversification can best be described as not putting all of your eggs in one basket. Mutual funds are large diversified portfolios and thus provide automatic diversification within their respective asset classes. Investing in a number of mutual funds to spread your investable funds across a variety of asset classes increases your level of diversification and decreases your aggregate exposure to risk. As investment risk is measured in terms of volatility, decreasing aggregate risk decreases the volatility of the value of your portfolio, thus sparing you the roller coaster ride that you would experience if you held only a single asset class in your portfolio, such as large-cap domestic stocks.

Second, although expected return diminishes with risk, the relationship is disproportionate and favors return. Well-conceived diversification has the potential to considerably reduce the aggregate risk of your portfolio at the cost of a relatively small reduction in your expected return. So you get a much smoother ride for a minimal cost.

Third, over the past 25 years or so, there have been a number of studies conducted that have concluded that asset allocation accounts for between 90% and 96% of your success as an investor, where success is defined as maximizing return at a level of risk that is consistent with your level of risk tolerance. Individual security selection accounts for the rest of investors’ long-term success. Now, just being broadly diversified won’t get you into that 90% to 96% range, but it’s a big step in the right direction. A viable model that defines the composition of an efficient portfolio is required to allocate your capital across the various asset classes in a manner that will reap the full benefits of diversification.

Diversification and asset allocation are not synonyms, as diversification is just a part of asset allocation. Diversification is a matter of degree; it describes the degree to which you have diversified away company-specific risk. Full diversification within a market, in theory, eliminates all company-specific risk, leaving your portfolio exposed only to systematic risk, which is the risk inherent in the market as a whole. So, that brings up the obvious question: What is The Market?

The S&P 500, Russell 1000 and Wilshire 5000 are often used as proxies for “The Market.” But they’re only proxies for the U.S. stock market. To be fully diversified, you would have to be invested in all of the publicly traded securities (stocks, bonds, real estate and commodities) worldwide and your investments would have to be broadly diversified within all asset classes in that aggregation. This can actually be achieved by holding a collection of index funds.

Asset allocation describes how your capital is distributed to the diversity of asset classes you have chosen to hold in your portfolio, i.e., your investment universe. If you had chosen full worldwide diversification, your next step would be to determine how to allocate your capital across that aggregation of asset classes. One possibility would be to hold what’s known as the Market Portfolio. To do this you would have to invest in all those asset classes on a market capitalization-weighted basis. That would by definition be an efficient portfolio and constructing such a portfolio is possible with index funds. It’s also possible with regular mutual funds, but getting and maintaining the appropriate weightings would be pretty tricky and require a lot of time and effort.

Beyond the Market Portfolio, there are just about as many ways to select asset classes and allocate capital as there are portfolio managers, investment advisors and newsletter editors. Although they’re mostly based on the same financial theories, everyone has their own model and their own forecasts to fuel their models. But going any deeper into asset allocation would diverge too far from the topic of this article…diversification.

In real estate it’s location, location, location. In investing it’s diversification, diversification, diversification. You must be adequately diversified, otherwise you will be exposed to too much risk with respect to your expected return. And no asset allocation model can compensate for under-diversification, as your chosen degree of diversification defines the investment universe across which asset allocation must take place. With thousands of mutual funds to choose from, there’s no good reason for anyone to be under-diversified.

While most of us are familiar with the word “inflation,” few of us actually understand it. When you ask most people to define inflation, they refer to it as being “higher prices.” This isn’t technically correct. Inflation is actually devaluation (falling value) of our currency.

Because our currency falls in value, prices rise as a result. Because the people who sell us their goods and services have to pay higher prices due to the falling value of the currency, they transfer their losses to us(by raising prices), and if we have our own businesses, we in turn transfer these losses to our own customers.

It should be obvious that the person who makes the least amount of money in a situation like this will be hurt the most. Even if you make a lot of money, inflation combined with taxes will gradually erode your wealth over time. While most financial experts would have you believe that you need 401Ks, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, Roth IRAs, and a whole bunch of other financial instruments in order to build wealth, they are wrong.

The true secret to becoming wealthy is to keep your finances simple, and combine this simplicity with a large amount of discipline and frugality.

While it is important to invest, true wealth doesn’t come from investing in paper assets, or even large companies. It comes from investing in smaller ventures which bring the promise of higher return, but also carry a bit more risk. Most importantly, true wealth comes from saving money, not borrowing.

When it comes to building wealth, most people are like the hare of the famous parable “The Tortoise and the Hare.” Like the hare in the parable, they spend all their time racing to make more and more money, thinking that the next big raise, promotion, or job will be the key to their financial well being.

In contrast, the Bill Gates, Warren Buffets, and Jim Rogers of the world are more like the tortoise. It seems that they move slower at first, but after the hare has tired and exhausted itself, they gradually get ahead of it, and by the time the hare realizes what has happened, they have made it to the finish line.

While this is not to say that having a large income isn’t important, it is worthless by itself if one spends it all, and leads a life full of debt. A large income is equally worthless if it is all tied into paper or other worthless assets. Those who wish to become truly wealthy must always conserve their wealth, and invest it in things which have a high intrinsic value.

If you want to become financially well off, these are terms that you must understand. So many people today live out their lives being ignorant of these concepts, and they die in poverty simply because they didn’t take the time to read and think on articles such as this. No one in this world has your best interests in mind more than you do.

Therefore, it is your responsibility to get the necessary information which will allow you to make critical financial decisions. While I’ve often heard people say that “they don’t care about money,” these people are fools. You will either understand money or forever be a slave to it. Think about that a bit.

How should you invest your money? Should you contribute to your company’s 401k, put the money in a Roth IRA, or just buy mutual funds? Can you expect to receive any money from Social Security when you retire? How much of your retirement money will the IRS take in taxes? These are the important questions Rick Rodgers expertly answers in “The New Three-Legged Stool” with clear explanations, followed by practical, concise instructions to make the most with the money you have. This tax-efficient approach to retirement planning is one that readers will refer to again and again.

“The New Three-Legged Stool” refers to the three types of investments you should have, and balance properly to support your retirement. These three investments are Tax-Deferred Savings, After-Tax Savings, and Tax-Free Savings. Rodgers takes the reader through an explanation of why each of these types of savings is important, how to invest in it, and how to withdraw the money to achieve the maximum benefit at the time of retirement. Tax-Deferred Savings include company 401(k) plans and IRAs (including SEP and SIMPLE plans). After-Tax Savings include mutual funds, bank and brokerage accounts, and investment real estate-anything that isn’t technically a retirement account. Tax-Free Savings are Roth IRA’s and Roth 401(k)s that have no immediate tax benefits. Rodgers devotes considerable time to explaining the benefits and disadvantages of these investments, and why a healthy balance must be achieved among all three.

One of greatest strengths in “The New Three-Legged Stool” is the examples it offers in the form of various retirees’ stories. The book opens with “The Un-Funniest Story Ever Told” about a successful businessman with an estate worth over $4.4 million. Because the man never consulted a retirement planner or made an effort to do estate planning, when he passed away, his children ended up paying 85.8% of their father’s retirement account in taxes! Many more examples of retirees’ experiences are illustrated in the book, often comparing two people’s strategies to see which ends up being more beneficial.

Besides telling readers how to manage their money according to the current IRS tax laws, Rodgers provides an explanation of how the IRS functions, why it tries to get as much money as possible, based on the U.S. Government’s failure to handle its money properly, and the origins of Social Security, as well as the approaching crisis that by 2017 more money will be withdrawn than is annually contributed to Social Security.

Rodgers closes with advice on finding a good retirement advisor and how to do estate planning, including writing a will or setting up a trust to protect your hard-earned money so you will have enough for the remainder of your life and money left over for your heirs. Several useful charts accompany the discussions, illustrating how much money a person will need to live on, depending on current income, age of retirement, expected longevity, and when a person chooses or is required to draw income from various retirement accounts, including Social Security.

Rick Rodgers has produced a much-needed, well-organized, friendly to read, and refreshingly short book (202 pages) that will give readers much to think about and plan for, and which they will return to time and time again. I hope Rodgers will update the book as time goes by so it is current and future readers can equally benefit from it as tax laws change.

Rick Rodgers is well qualified to provide advice on tax-efficient retirement planning. He is an industry veteran of twenty-five years, has published numerous articles on investing in such publications as Wealth Manager, been a guest on TV and radio shows, and been quoted in “Investment News” and “Smart Money” magazine. In 1996, he founded Rodgers & Associates “to help families create and conserve their wealth in preparation for worry-free and dignified retirements.” For more information about Rick Rodgers and “The New Three-Legged Stool,” or to contact him for personal investment assistance, visit http://www.TheNewThreeLeggedStool.com