How much are you paying to invest in your 401k or IRA? You might see fees as an unavoidable cost of investing, but even a 1% fee could easily cost you more than a half million dollars over your investing lifetime. Fees not only erode how much money you have to invest now, but they lessen the amount of money that is compounding in your account year after year- the impact is twofold! Listen as we discuss the different types of fees, how to look for them, and then where to go in order to avoid fees altogether.
Additional Resources
- The Publix list of free prescriptions and honorable mention to Walmart’s $4 list (pdf)
- Here’s that great NerdWallet breakdown of how even a 1% fee can cost you big.
- Morningstar tracks and ranks different funds according to performance and low costs have the biggest impact.
- When it comes to fees, Vanguard and Fidelity do an incredible job keeps costs low.
- If you’re not sure of the fees hiding in your 401k, take 5 minutes and get a retirement account checkup over at Blooom or FeeX for free.
- And check out why I think you should probably consider an M1 account.
During this episode we both enjoyed a Bent De Garde by Braindead Brewing which you can find on Untappd. A big thanks to Jerrod and our friends out there in Dallas for donating this beer to the show! And if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts, Castbox, or wherever you get your podcasts- we’d love to hear from you.
Best friends out!
1 comment
Hi Guys,
I’m very interested in identifying the fees in my Roth IRA. You noted the links to Bloom and FeeX, but they seem to only apply to 401k accounts. Do you know if there is something similar for an IRA?
I know I have a high fee IRA based upon what I’ve heard over the last few months on the podcast. I started an account through a friend at Northwestern Mutual (the IRA is American Funds) when I was in college. Now it seems that I should switch but I feel bummed because my friend has been a great financial influence and help, but the fee numbers are too big of a red flag.
Thanks for the help and love the pod!!! Cheers.
John