With the change from quarterly to yearly I’m changing my 401 investment to 6%. I was doing significantly more but I feel like is WF is going to do the bare minimum, then I should as well. I will probably take the difference in what I was doing and open up an IRA or something.
Am I the only one doing or feeling this way?
Yeah! Stick it to yourself to show them you mean business!
To those that say the choices are poor, you have no clue as the State Street index funds are some of the cheapest in the industry. Anyone with any financial knowledge at all knows how to make their own target fund with the cheaper indexes.
I wouldn't do that but it's your future and retirement.
Depending on what you plan to stop contributing to 401(k) and move to IRA, you might be in for a big surprise.
There are much lower limits in IRA (Roth or traditional $7,000 max in 2020). So you'd be planning on moving more, you're SOL. Better off contributing to 401(k) – plus Roth or traditional IRA (max, if you can).
Your choice of words I.e. “getting around company policy” is nonsensical when the policy does not apply uniformily to all employees not they should. Please read company policies before making malicious insinuations about others. You must be an old timer.
You would know if you had to. We have to attest to it yearly. I think all of Wholesale and the Private Bank. I’m sure there are more that I’m unaware of. We didn’t when I worked in Branch Banking.
Thanks, that makes sense. So I’d imagine that for the majority of employees, those disclosure rules do not apply.
1ayj+17Blt6wH
It depends on that LOB you are in. If your LOB works with publicity traded companies you would have access to information that would be considered private info. So for insider trading purposes, those LOBs have to disclose their and their spouses, children and if they manage anyone else’s finances their investment activity. And it has to be approved by WF.
Wait we are supposed to disclose any outside investment accounts? I have IRAs with Vanguard and have never disclosed anything.
@ayj is incorrect. You can contribute to both as 401k and an IRA as long as you stay under the maximums for both and are eligible
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/07/401(k)_ira.asp
While I know a few who disobey the policy (with ETrader accounts) I don’t recommend it. Not at a time when WF is looking to fire all of us. Additionally, it’s very easy to request approval to buy or sell anything. I’ve done it a few times. At one point I had a few questions about what I was able to do so I called and asked that department. They were very helpful. As long as you don’t have inside info you shouldn’t get declined. Did you know you don’t have to disclose mutual funds when you buy directly from the fund? You only would if a broker handles it for you.
Post ID: @obc+17Blt6wH
How do you get around WFC’s company policy about not having outside accounts?
@OP - for whatever it’s worth: am in the 250k+ bracket and will continue to contribute 6% to get the full match. Anything above that 6% level goes to another firm. We put an additional 14% after tax and allocate between IRAs and a Brokerage account with Fidelity. The choices are far superior than Wells Fargo’s 401k plan and you get much better service. Yes it’s after tax money and that’s certainly an argument, but we are talking having access to investment choices with annualized returns that will make a huge difference in the long run, compared to the underperforming choices under the WF 401k plan.
OP here. Thank you nww+17Blt6wH for the insight. It’s helpful to be reminded that I shouldn’t shoot myself in the foot cause I’m disappointed in my employer.
@tpo+17Blt6wH- while WF did reverse their decision about the 6% match for earners who make more than 250k, I unfortunately and far far away from this tax bracket. Your tone and approach to me is unneeded and unhelpful.
For whatever it’s worth: I reduced my contributions, to the minimum required to get the match, when my firm was acquired by WFC because the selections were so terrible compared to my old firm. Also because I was not happy with WFC in general. Those Target Funds are low-performing and have such high fees. I was rebelling, but wish I had thought it through more.
Truth is, in the end, I hurt myself because I wasn’t contributing as much during the years when the market was lower. And I missed out on the power of compounding. Low-performing would still have been better than what I cheated myself out of by not contributing the maximum.
I would only consider an IRA, or a different strategy, if you set it up for automatic deductions.
As a contributor, I’m pro-employee and anti-WFC management. But if there’s one thing you can learn from me whether you agree with my opinion of the bank or not: Contribute as much as you possibly can as early as you can.
And, as stated on another thread- don’t let the WFC company stock build up beyond 10-15% of your total 401K value, as recommended by professionals.
Good luck.
The only thing revered was the limit to 250k earners. Tell us again who doesn’t read?
Either you don’t work for WF or you don’t read. They have reversed their decision.
you can't contribute to an IRA because you have a 401(k) available
If you can contribute to a Roth IRA elsewhere m do it, the WFC 401k funds are garbage and growing money there is difficult.
I would continue contributing to your WF 401k plan with no changes. I would closely review the investment selections you chose for this plan relative to today’s market outlook and asset allocation etc. The amount that goes directly into your retirement plan conversely lowers your taxable income. I would also believe opening up another IRA elsewhere other than WF will require you to disclose outside accounts etc. Too much hassle. And if you are planning to begin the search for another position over the next 12 months the issue resolves itself. All the best!
Not a bad idea as IRA's have better investment options.
Make sure you are within the income limits and are able to deduct the IRA contributions, otherwise you're better off maxing out the 401k. I would get advice from a CPA or Financial Advisor.