457b Advice

[ktammaro]

I am a newbie to the FIRE Movement and have not been taking advantage of the 457b that I have access to. The fees concern me, though. What are your thoughts? Thank you for your advice in advance!

FEE DISCLOSURE
The PARS 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan is being offered through San Bernardino City Unified School District. TCG Investment Advisory Services LP has been hired by the District as the investment advisor and fiduciary to the plan and receives an advisory fee of 0.45% of account assets annually. PARS is the Trust Administrator and handles the ongoing administration of the Plan for annual fees equal to 0.95% of account assets valued at $0 to $2,500,000, 0.75% of account assets valued at $2,500,001 to $5,000,000, 0.50% of account assets valued at $5,000,001 to $20,000.000, 0.33% of account assets valued at $20,000,001 and over. An additional charge of $15.00 will be  applied for one-time lump sum distributions, $1.50 per recurring electronic payments, or $3.50 per recurring check payments. If applicable, a
$20.00 charge will be applied for stop payment requests, a $5.00 charge for a 1099R reissue and a $50.00 charge for any 1099R revision requests. If requesting a loan, a loan origination fee of $50.00 per loan and an annual loan maintenance fee equal to $25.00 per year shall apply. All fees will be deducted directly from participant accounts. I understand that these fees will be deducted from my account.

[terran]

Yeah, that's pretty ugly. Looks like an expense ratio of 1.4% before you even get to the expenses of the underlying investments. What investment options are available and what are those expenses?

Here's one way to think about it that lets you compare the tax savings to the fees depending on how long you plan to work there (when you leave you can roll out to an IRA with lower fees): https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/401(k)#Expensive_or_mediocre_choices

[ktammaro]

Thank you for the link! I really appreciate that excellent information. I can choose to invest 100% in the Vanguard 500 Index (VFINX). I guess that I just need to calculate if the tax benefit overrides the fees. I make $77,500, so that puts me in the 22% tax bracket.