wife has 403b thats been losing money..

[hondo7]

What are my options to get rid of it? its through AXA who has been terrible in my experience so far. she got it last may and has contributed close to $5k in it since then. Currently it sits in value at $200 less than shes contributed. She is a school teacher and has a great pension ahead of her but wanted to put something back. I am just looking for a rollover option that makes sense. IF there isn't a practical option to continue investing I am ok with cashing it out if that is an option. But I would like for her to continue saving for retirement.

[BarkyardBQ]

We need to know what she's invested in within the 403b.
All the fund options, names, ticker, and expense ratio.
What are the fees for the account.
Does she have other options for the 403b besides AXA?
Does she have access to a 457b?


-200 from 5k seems completely normal for the current market conditions. We started last January and we're basically flat with 6 figures invested. Short term volatility will make your early contributions +- all over the place. It's irrelevant in now as you should see growth over the life time. But let's review your options and see what can be done.

[MustacheAndaHalf]

Look at the expense ratio rather than past month or year of performance.  The expense ratio is they money they take from your account each year, while past performance doesn't predict future performance (according to the SEC).

[arebelspy]

What other provider options does she have?

Axa has slick salesmen, but a terrible product.

[ender]

What are my options to get rid of it? its through AXA who has been terrible in my experience so far. she got it last may and has contributed close to $5k in it since then. Currently it sits in value at $200 less than shes contributed. She is a school teacher and has a great pension ahead of her but wanted to put something back. I am just looking for a rollover option that makes sense. IF there isn't a practical option to continue investing I am ok with cashing it out if that is an option. But I would like for her to continue saving for retirement.

The SP500 is down slightly since last May, so depending on when she contributed it's entirely possible that it is completely expected that her investments lost money.

[Derrian]

If your wife started investing in May, the SP 500 was around 2100 and had high valuations for several months before the market started to dip. If a 4% drop in value (-$200) is making you nervous, I would highly suggest you reevaluate your risk tolerance and your asset allocation.

On a separate note, see if your wife can shift away from AXA. They have VERY expensive funds with high fees and hidden costs. AXA is by far the most aggressive 403b provider I have encountered and do very well with getting individuals to invest in their accounts without reading about the costs. Your wife should definitely call her district HR office to see if there are other 403b providers such as fidelity or vanguard, which offer much less expensive funds.

[Indexer]

We need to know the fund options and expense ratios. That is the most important thing.

Losing $200 the past year is actually pretty normal. No surprise there.

I'm not instantly worried about AXA. The best 403b7 I've ever seen outside of a Vanguard plan was actually a Metlife plan that had Vanguard funds in it. So it actually might have good options, but we need to know all the options in order to really help.

[arebelspy]

I'm not instantly worried about AXA. The best 403b7 I've ever seen outside of a Vanguard plan was actually a Metlife plan that had Vanguard funds in it. So it actually might have good options, but we need to know all the options in order to really help.

Dollars to donuts it's in an annuity with a high ER, and expensive to get out of.

[BlueMR2]

We need to know the fund options and expense ratios. That is the most important thing.

Losing $200 the past year is actually pretty normal. No surprise there.

This, for sure.  That'll tell you the long term expectations more than anything else.

Despite so many of my funds being up this year (over last year), two of my US equity heavy funds took a beating.  The segments they are in just are not doing as well as the rest of the market.  Annoying, yes, butt doesn't mean I'll bail out on them just because they're down while others are up.