The financial services industry loves confusing jargon. Workplace retirement plans, like 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and 457s are no exception. At this point, you have a recommended allocation for your plan that looks something like this:
Institutional 500 Index – 34%
Extended Market Index – 7%
Developed Markets Index -15%
Emerging Markets Index – 4%
Real Estate Index – 5%
Total Bond Market Index – 26%
International Bond Index – 9%
There are two important things to do with this allocation unless you’re setting up your plan for the first time. In that case, just do step one. Otherwise, please complete both activities.
Step 1: Allocate Ongoing Contributions
- This step designates how you want each of your payroll contributions to be invested among the available funds.
- Find the fund names we recommend and fill in the percentages that correspond with each. If this is your first time, the boxes will be blank.
- If you set up your plan previously, the fund allocations may already match the model we provided. If so, you’re done with step one, please move on to step two.
- If any of our recommended fund names do not appear, send us a list of what is available and we’ll update our recommendations.
Step 2: Rebalance/Reallocate your Existing Investments/Portfolio
- Find the location in your portal that approximately matches the description above.
- Here you will find a similar list of fund names and percentages, but they will not all match the percentages in the model provided. This is because the market has changed the weighting of your allocation since your last rebalance.
- In the boxes beside each fund name, fill in the percentages found in our recommended allocation. Then click save, continue, etc.
- Again, if any of the fund names do not match our recommendations, take a screenshot, and let us know.
If you’re unable to execute either step, please call the 800# to have a representative walk you through each step, click-by-click. While this homework item is annoying, it’s also very important. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need more help!
