The earliest members of thebaby boom generation turn 65 in 2011, so that it comes as little surprise that retirement concerns are on their thoughts.
One advantage of staying in the 401(k) is having access to a stable value fund. IRA's can't have these. They are available only to company plans. Principal value is insured in nearly all scenarios. Small haircuts in case there is a mass exodus in the plan, as in company bankruptcies. Stable value funds might be lifesavers in a market crash. You do not lose one dime.
Many insurance company supplied products are group annuities that invest in separately managed accounts, for which they hire a manager to run the money. While the fund is managed like the mutual fund, it does not have the same value per unit as the mutual fund has per share. The SMA also does not have the exact same cash flow as the mutual fund,so though the manager may the same holdings, the investments could be made at different times, based on when contributions come in. Finally, the complete fees are different in an insurance merchandise and likely are greater compared to mutual fund itself.
The trading cost on the exchange as well as the price shown on your 401(k) statement may differ, but the quantity of units you possess might fix for this. I've that situation in among my retirement accounts. The amount of cash is correct but the unit price and also the quantity of units held differ from exchange to plan statement. As long as you got all the amount of money you should have, that's what matters.
Here's your first rule: Do not panic. Typically, the best advice for people investing for the long haul---and your retirement could nicely continue 30 years---is to pick a suitable asset allocation strategy, invest in low cost mutual funds, rebalance regularly and stick with your plan to guard against the all-too-common mistake of buying high and selling low.
