457(b) Investment Options

[tophdna]

Hello,

I am 24 and I'm a teacher. I'm looking to invest in my job's provided 457(b). They sent me a booklet but I'm a little overwhelmed. I have read JL Collins stock series and I'm very interested in picking an investment option that is like VTSAX. I reviewed all of the options I was given and cannot find anything close to resembling that.

I'm looking for an index fund that has a low expense ratio. Could any of you perhaps review my options and give me some insight in what you would choose? I have a long career ahead of me and want to make sure to choose the best option. (i'm looking to possibly do 100% stocks at this moment and then change my AA later on. Of course I need to email and ask if they allow me to do that on my own and i don't have to pay someone to do it).

Thank you for your help! I'll attach a photo I took of the options.

[terran]

State Street Equity 500 idx adm / FINX looks like your winner. A 0.21% net expense ratio isn't good, but it's not terrible either.

See Approximating the total stock market from Bogleheads for how you can flesh out the rest of your accounts to make your overall asset allocation just about the same as VTSAX given that your 457 will be invested in an S&P 500 fund, although if you don't have other accounts being invested only in the S&P 500 wouldn't be that bad either (80% of VTSAX is the S&P 500 anyway).

[letired]

Hm, I'm also not seeing an index. I'm a bit confused because the thing called "State Street Equty 500 Idx Adm" sounds promising and like it ought to be an S&P500 index fund, but when I look up the ticker "FINX", it is some sort of tech fund. It might be worth confirming that is the ticker and/or getting a copy of that fund's prospectus.

If that does not turn out to be an index fund, I'd go with the appropriate lifecycle fund. The expense ratio isn't stunning, but it isn't awful and you're still pretty early on, so it's probably still worth doing for the tax break and tax free growth.

It might also be worth dropping a note to HR/the finance department/whatever and politely ask why they aren't offering an S&P500 or total market index fund. There are some assorted resources around for how to get the conversation started about getting better investment options.

[terran]

Hm, I'm also not seeing an index. I'm a bit confused because the thing called "State Street Equty 500 Idx Adm" sounds promising and like it ought to be an S&P500 index fund, but when I look up the ticker "FINX", it is some sort of tech fund. It might be worth confirming that is the ticker and/or getting a copy of that fund's prospectus.

Yeah, that's kind of weird, but many of what look like tickers here, don't seem to work, so I'd just ignore. I think sometimes those are internal to the plan.

Given the same I think this is the fund, which is an S&P 500 index: https://www.ssgafunds.com/product/fund.seam?ticker=STFAX