Choice between two 403b companies...

[marcus0aurelius]

My employer offers a no-match 403b (sad face... but there's a pension that I'll never be vested in? Also sad face). The only two reasonable options are Tiaa-Cref and Fidelity. TC offers 4 or 5 reasonable fee index mutual funds at 0.06%. They all seem pretty similar and one is international. Fidelity offers an S&P index fund at 0.035%, and 15-20 others at 0.07-0.09%. All kinds of different index funds in there. I'm leaning toward Fidelity, and putting most into the lowest cost option with some money in the other funds. I'm wondering what people here think though.

Thanks

[terran]

They are both good options. Most 403b's I've looked at that offer a choice between the two seem to have better funds offered by Fidelity than TIAA-CREF, but my wife's employer only offers a TIAA-CREF option and it is full of excellent Vanguard funds. If you want a more informed answer you might want to post the fund options for each and people will be able to give you a better idea. What you should be looking for is a total stock market index fund (S&P 500 is a good second choice), and international index fund, and a bond market index fund, all with the lowest fees.

[marcus0aurelius]

I didn't even see the FSKTX when I was looking before. That makes it more of a winner to me. The best Fidelity options are:

FID 500 INDEX INST (FXSIX) 02/17/1988    Stock Investments    Large Cap      0.035%
FID TOT MKT IDX INS (FSKTX) 11/05/1997    Stock Investments    Large Cap      0.035%
FID LG CP GR IDX PR (FSUPX) 06/07/2016    Stock Investments    N/A      0.07%
FID LG CP VL IDX PR (FLCHX) 06/07/2016    Stock Investments    N/A      0.07%
FID SM CAP IDX PR (FSSVX) 09/08/2011    Stock Investments    Small Cap      0.07%
FID INTL INDEX PR (FSIVX) 11/05/1997    Stock Investments    International      0.08%

All the rest are above 0.1% fees (There are hundreds).

The TIAA options are:
TIAA Traditional Annuity - Group Supplemental Retirement Annuity    Guaranteed
Guarantees are based on the claims - paying ability of TIAA
   -- 0 Stars    3.29%    3.36%    3.70%    --    6/30/2016    -- / --    
TIAA-CREF Large-Cap Value Index Fund (Institutional)    Equities    4 Stars    2.84%    11.26%    6.07%    8.99%    6/30/2016    0.06% / 0.06%
   
TIAA-CREF International Equity Index Fund (Institutional)    Equities    3 Stars    -9.59%    1.92%    1.78%    7.25%    6/30/2016    0.06% / 0.06%
   
TIAA-CREF S&P 500 Index Fund (Institutional)    Equities    5 Stars    3.93%    12.02%    7.36%    8.94%    6/30/2016    0.06% / 0.06%
   
TIAA-CREF Small-Cap Blend Index Fund (Institutional)    Equities    3 Stars    -6.46%    8.60%    6.31%    10.15%    6/30/2016    0.06% / 0.06%
   
TIAA-CREF Social Choice Equity Fund (Institutional)    Equities    3 Stars    2.12%    10.47%    7.01%    4.66%    6/30/2016    0.18% / 0.18%

   
After that the expenses go up fast. Fidelity seems like a clear winner here now that I see the total stock market index fund.