Take a look at this interesting article by Smart Money where the the author discusses a survey stating that many Americans are not seeking help with managing and understanding their 401(k)s. I can relate to the sentiment and I probably would have answered the survey in a similar fashion as many of the survey takers.
Why? Because I don’t put a lot of stock into advice of so called “experts”. Finding a good retirement planning lawyer or financial advisor is tough. Giving advice is easy, giving good advice, it seems, is not.
The article does a good job discussing that many American feel that retirement planning is something they all need to do. People understand that they should be watching and managing their 401(k)s. However, people also do not have much trust in professional in this economy.
My wife and I have had discussions about our retirement plans often. We have both changed jobs and we know that we need to do something with our old retirement accounts because they are doing nothing but losing money. We get monthly “statements” which basically show that our balance is dropping every month. The question is quickly becoming: who needs the “experts” and why should I be investing when my returns are so crummy?
As a MN estate planning lawyer, I know that people are concerned about their retirement accounts. I know that people want help with them, but I also completely understand that the so-called help of experts who don’t do anything but charge fees is not desirable to anybody.
