With everything that goes on in our daily lives, it’s easy to forget about our retirement plan accounts which are setup to automatically help save for the future. Below are a few questions to consider to ensure your retirement accounts are up to date.
Have you created personalized login credentials to view your retirement account?
Not only is it a best practice to review your account periodically, but cyberfraud is on the rise in the retirement plan industry. Changing your login from the default will help protect your account.
Do you have beneficiaries designated for your retirement plan and are they up to date?
Many retirement plan providers allow for online designations but some plans still require paper forms. Please contact your Human Resources department if you are unsure of what your plan requires.
If your employer provides a matching contribution, are you contributing to the maximum matching amount?
For example, an employer may match up to 5% of pay, so at a minimum consider contributing at least 5% into the plan. If you contribute less than 5% of pay, you are leaving free money on the table! This is the amount your employer would have contributed to your account if you had only increased your contribution.
Have you reviewed your investment strategy or are you invested the same way you were when you first enrolled in the plan?
Your risk tolerance and time horizon until retirement may have changed since the last time you reviewed your account.
Is your account setup to automatically rebalance or do you need to manually rebalance your portfolio?
Target date funds and risk based asset allocation funds are automatically rebalanced, but if you elected a custom mix of investments, it is important to rebalance periodically.
Have you changed jobs and left a retirement account behind?
It is important to keep your address and contact information updated with prior retirement plan providers. This ensures you receive quarterly statements, annual notices and updates to the plan that could impact your account.
You should also consider whether consolidating multiple retirement accounts makes sense for you. Comparing plan fees, investment options, resources on the different provider websites and ease of managing your retirement savings are just a few items to take into account.
Reviewing these questions will help you remain diligent in managing your retirement accounts.
Please contact your RTD advisor or our Employer Retirement Plan Solutions team with any questions at retire@rtdfinancial.com. If you know of anyone that could benefit from talking through their options with a fiduciary advisor, let them know we may be able to help!