401k Matching Investing

[JetOneTV]

Hello, 1st off, I want to thank you to this forum and to everyone who was already provided advice so far.

I have an employer match between me and her - I have 5%, and she has 6%

I have Voya, and the list of options available I've never heard of until checking it out; there was some other stuff, but I didn't want to bother Voya's Retirement Stock settings.

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My Employer 5% Match - My Employer Stock Options Below - besides the - "about 10 different "Life Cycle Retirement Funds" from 2025 - 2060".

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BlackRock Non-US Equity Index
BlackRock MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. Index Fund M - MSCI ACWI ex USA Net - Dividend Return Index

MFS International Equity - MFS International Equity Fund Class 4

ArrowMark Small Cap Growth - RETIREMENT SAVINGS PLAN Russell 2500 Growth Index

BlackRock Ext Equity Mkt Index
Extended Equity Market Fund T - Dow Jones U.S. Completion - Total Stock Market Index

BlackRock Equity Index - Equity Index Fund J - S&P 500® Index

BlackRock U.S. Debt Index Fund - U.S. Debt Index Fund M
Bloomberg Barclays, U.S.

Prudential Core Plus Bond Fund of the Prudential Trust Company Collective Trust Unit Class 5

Bloomberg Barclays, U.S.

Galliard Stable Value - Conservative – Money Markets

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Her Employer 6% Match

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BLACKROCK INTL EQTY INDEX TST

BLACKROCK RUSSELL 1000 INDX TR

BLACKROCK RUSSELL 2000 INDX TR

INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND

LARGE CAP EQUITY FUND

REAL ASSETS FUND

SMALL MID CAP EQUITY FUND

about 10 different MY RETIREMENT FUNDs from 2025 - 2065

I've been told mostly to use an INDEX FUND for the whole thing - "S&P 500® Index" or "Total Stock Market Index"?

I've seen on other platforms like ACORNS use the following

Large Company Stock - Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)

Small Company Stocks - The iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR)

Government Bonds - The iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF (ISTB)

Medium Company Stocks - The iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH)

International Company Stocks - The iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF (IXUS)

Corporate Bonds - The iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG)

So I don't want to pick the wrong things for her and me before going into this... any advice would be great.

[NeverTubetheGoose]

You are probably going to get a lot of different opinions on this. Everyone has their own risk tolerance and personal preferences. I like the Booglehead method but I like to be a little more aggressive so I use less bonds than is recommended for my age. It's simple and easy. Your retirement funds should be set it and forget it, with rebalancing when you feel you should (I have mine set up to auto rebalance at 6 months). That said, based on what you have available I would go with:

You-Blackrock equity index, Blackrock non-US equity and Blackrock US debt

Her-I would go with a target date fund

Asset allocation would depend on ages and risk tolerance.

[iced]

They're all exchange funds, just focused on different things. Large cap, medium cap, growth, etc. The question is what's your risk tolerance and timeline? Larger caps are going to be smaller risk than small cap, and growth is going to be lower risk over long-term than dividend.

No matter what you do, you'll be ok in the long term. The best choice you can make is to max out both of those contributions -- if you each make $100,000/year, you're talking $11,000 in bonus contributions right there. If you both max out your 401ks, you're at $50,000/year saved just in 401ks. Once you start adding in ESPP, Roth, and other after-tax savings, you could be on a decent path to a reasonable retirement in a few decades.

[Citylights18]

First off you want to at least read up as to what are in the different funds. There is a difference between a fund which tracks the S&P 500 and one that tracks NASDAQ, even if both are growth funds. S&P 500 includes more "value" representation than the tech growth which drives NASDAQ.

Bonds are entirely different because what moves their price correlates to the treasury yeilds. As yields for the 30, 10, 1 go down, bonds go up. At the moment yields are about as close to zero as they're going to get.

If say you had moved your portfolio to bonds in Feb 2020 and held to Apr 2020 that would have been a good play. Likewise if you flipped from bonds to a NASDAQ dominated fund in Apr 2020 and held to Sep 2020 it would be another solid move. Its best to reallocate when the market realigns. Be aware though the funds do pay a dividend, sometimes annually so you may want to hang around in one of them for the payout.

One thing to consider, and a good reason to meet with a financial planner is that when you go to retire you'll have to pay taxes on that 401k liability and you can set up withdraws to minimize taxes. There is a school of thought that it is better to just max out the Roth IRA contribution because you won't have to pay future taxes on it whereas with the 401k you will. Especially if you and your wife are thinking two different retirement dates. Though getting the employer match is a good idea as a starting point.

[CBartowski]

I agree with everyone else, they all have valid points. Bottom line: do some soul searching and figure out your tolerance, that truly is key when looking at investment vehicles (age, when do you want to retire, tax implications, etc). Another poster mentioned meeting with a financial planner, its a great move. Many will do a consult for free, now thats in hopes of getting your business but hey.

The only addition I have to others is diversification. I clearly have no idea what your assets look like but what I've had to focus on, also having match from 2 separate sources, is dont have overlapping investments. For example, if you put your 401k money in say an S&P index and bonds but also have a seperate brokerage or HER 401k, I would at least consider having your funds in seperate indexes, vehicles, risk tolerances, etc. This will allow some extra protection and flexibility. If yours is in an index fund, put hers in bonds, or something like that.

It bears noting, I have precisely the square root of jack squat financial certifcations and am just some rando in the interwebs, but those are my thoughts. I've found this strategy to be relatively effective for my personal positions. When the indexes (where most of my 401 funds are) go down, many times my personal brokerage with individual stock picks actually do okay and stay at least modestly in the green so my overall position is relatively defensive.

Good luck, and don't leave that match money on the table! Free money!