As the issues with the pension plan progress, there is another retirement plan issue that needs to be reviewed: the fees associated with 403(b) and 401(k) accounts.
Many at SRHS are participating in the 403(b) or participating in retirement savings via their spouse’s employer. They should have assurances that the plan is maximizing the retirement, and not being used to funnel fees back to the hands of administration. Locally, this has affected employees at Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
Why is this important? Hidden fees in these plans can have a huge impact on your savings:
If a company does right by its workers, it finds low-cost, well diversified, smart investment choices, many experts say. But Schlichter says some companies offer workers mutual funds with fees that are way too high. Sometimes, he says, the companies get kickbacks for that.
And over time, he says, “it’s hugely devastating. A 1 percent difference in fees over a 35-year work career makes a 28 percent difference in the retirement assets available to that worker. So this is huge. It may mean that the employee has to extend their work another six or seven years instead of retiring when they wanted to or their lifestyle in retirement is severely hurt.”
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