by Teresa Kuhn, JD, RFC, CSA, Authorized Bank on Yourself Advisor and President, Living Wealthy Financial Group
If you have a 401 K plan, you might be able to relate to this:
A friend of mine’s dad used to live for the time when he got his plan statement. It was the highlight of his month, validating the good decision he made to put his whole nest egg into one safe, secure basket. He couldn’t wait to see how much he had accumulated since the previous month…
Fast forward a couple of years and my, how things have changed. My friend’s father doesn’t even open his statements anymore, because he is afraid to. He knows that like millions of other Americans, he has had thousands of his 401 K dollars hijacked by the economic crisis. Gone… vanished… POOF!
Two years away from retirement, this hard-working, thrifty man who thought he was doing everything right is now faced with the very real possibility that he may have to work a lot longer that he planned. All because of one ugly truth that no one bothered to tell him:
401K’s are not necessarily the safe vehicle they were marketed to be.
When the current economic crisis hit, millions of ordinary Americans saw their “safe and secure” 401K accounts losing hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, a lot of those people were at or near retirement and had little time to recoup that lost money. Then, to add insult to injury, many of them also discovered another dirty secret:
Many 401 K plans contain hidden, but very costly fees.
According to an article on thestreet.com:
“A 25-year-old employee who currently has around $25,000 in his or her retirement account, and whose annual contributions (and employer matches) total only $2,500, in a plan that is allocated 80% to stocks and 20% to bonds, could forfeit more than $660,000 by age 65 – if the plan charges excess fees totaling just 1% a year.”
Just 1% in excessive fees can hurt you… big time! And, if your fee is charged based on a percentage of your balance.then becoming a diligent saver actually hurts you.
What if there was something you could do to help you avoid paying unnecessary fees and help you get back some of the thousands of dollars you’ve been giving away simply because you don’t know the alternatives? Would knowing this information help you reach your goal of having a safe, prosperous retirement? I believe it would.
That’s why I sponsor webinars and workshops to educate ordinary people on how they can become their own sources of financing for major purchases, business expansion, college tuition, etc.
Using this simple, but effective system, you can accumulate wealth more quickly and safely than you ever thought possible, and accelerate the process of getting out of debt.
One of the ways I assist people in securing their wealth is to sponsor live workshops and online webinars. These information-packed one hour sessions are designed to provide you an introduction to the system I personally use to safeguard and grow my wealth without incurring unnecessary risk.
I know not everyone will qualify to use my system, and the purpose of these presentations is not to persuade you to do so. I simply believe that everyone can benefit from learning as much as possible about how money really works.
