Thread regarding IBM layoffs

I use the Financial engines to manage my 401K the fees are incredibly low , no where in the industry can you find this.Just pick your risk tolerance they will select and manage for you .I am making a fortune with them.I am retired , so no more contributing .

They’re helpful and depending what you need.
I really liked the person I worked with. Also this was three years ago.

Personally, I needed someone to help keep me accountable and I don’t think moneysmart was the outfit for me. And obviously it’s my responsibility to research and take actions.

"All the information you need can be easily found online. Just put your money in low cost index funds."

Folks, please don't take your financial advice from random posts on the internet (including from me). Low cost index funds can be right for you, if you are in the early stage of your career, a long way from retirement, and don't anticipate touching the money (grad degree? deposit on a house?) for five years. Otherwise you should get some proper advice based on your goals.

There are plenty of places online where you can get decent high-level guidance for little or even no cost, and MoneySmart is one of them. The Financial Engine thing also has good planning/prediction tools. There are plenty of others. If the advice you are getting is not based on your own circumstances - how much do you have? how much do you need? - it's worthless.

These kind of services are very much still needed - the big difference is that for the vast majority of people, they don't the expense of an individual advisor behind the recommendations.

It’s been around and available for a long time. I retired in 2013 and used it prior to leaving. Worthwhile service with no downside. Free advice, good information, no pressure.

If nothing else, they can be a useful sounding board to determine if you are planning well.
I talked to them many years ago and the net of the conversation was that I appeared to have a good plan. There was no push to invest in any products. I doubt they sold my information but who really knows.
I turned my 401K planning to the Fidelity sub-group. (used to be financial engines). This worked well as I grew tired of managing the account. My kids are CPA and MBA while I just did chemistry.
Retired in 2019 . Fat, dumb, happy, and debt free.

There's no need for those services anymore. All the information you need can be easily found online. Just put your money in low cost index funds. Pick an allocation and stick to it for the long term. S&P 500 or total stock market index funds seem to work well.