fast-tl

Is there a service available to hlep me pick choices available through my 401(k)? for the first 4 or 5 years, I had a 75/25 split between two funds that went nowhere, and I've doen much better the last couple of years with a split among 5 or 6 funds. I'm sure there's room for improvement. What are my sources of help?

I can't find ticker symbols for all the fund choices have tickers that allow me to plug them into MS-Money for evaluation, but being more fiscally responsible is one of my New Year's items. Gotta be on top of retirement. At this point I need to grow my nest pebble into a nest Ostrich egg! Plenty years remain before retirement.

Scribesoft

I'm slightly confused by your request.. but can you give us a list of available funds in your 401(k)? Are the Fidelity Freedom Funds available to you?

These bacisally "grow" with you as you go through life. Rather than having to manually switch from a more aggressive to more conservative mix over the years.... these funds automatically adjust based on your age and recommended holdings (at least as far as high/low risk, small/med/large cap, etc... go)...

Just a thought to start with. If they are not available to you, maybe you can learn a bit by reading how these funds change as you progress through your professional life.

doopstr

You 401k provider should be able to give you all the info you need regarding past performance of funds and what types of sectors the funds are investing in.

fast-tl

Soory if I wasn't clear. I have a list of the funds available to me in my plan. I'm trying to evalute which funds are best for me. There's a local radio show where the host says "fax me the list of your fund choices and I'll show you which are best fro you". I'm looking for that kind of service (or software even.) I don't know that I'm any good at choosing between the available funds and I thought there might be an easier "fund picker" On my provider's site, I can print a list of funds and their performance, but how do I choose the right mix for my age/needs (32 with wife and 2.5 kids)

CrockPot

i'm a strong proponent for index funds, and allocate a sizeable portion towards one that tracks the S&P Index (set it and forget it). the rest i allocate towards aggressive growth funds. i'm just a year or 2 behind you in age (also with kids), so aggressive would be the way to go at our relative young age. unfortunately, company 401K providers vary enormously as do their fund choices, it would be difficult for any of us to give exact advice as 1) we don't have insight to your funds' prospectus, 2) we don't have insight as to your growth/rish tolerance.

check out the links below to learn more about index funds:
http://www.fool.com/mutualfunds/inde...dexfunds01.htm
http://mutualfunds.about.com/od/indexfunds/

jdone

Good advice. Vanguard and T. Rowe Price offer the same thing. These were made for the people who want to use their time for something besides following their investments or who just don't care to learn about finance. All you have to know is your age, how much you want to contribute, and at least a vague idea of when you want to retire.

mamboking

Your 401K provider should have people that can help you choose what funds to mix and match according to your needs.

fast-tl

I just called the 401(k) provider. The funds I have are "institutional" funds, and they are not tracked in the market, so I can't simply plug them into Ms-Money. I have to visit the provider's website and track the performance there. Oh well, now I know. Thanks for the suggestions, guys.