I recently began a new job that mandates 6% retirement investing, deducted from your paycheck. They authorize Fidelity, Lincoln Financial, VALIC and TIAA-CREF as carriers that we can choose from. How do I compare them against one another? My husband has an IRA, so we were thinking of becoming more invested (literally), actively managing our savings and going the mutual fund route. I am 23, he is 25, so retirement is is about half a century away for us. Are mutual funds appropriate for this situation? We have an investment property that currently generates a small amount of income for us each month, too. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.