July 24, 2025 • 24 mins
We explore how to maximize your 401(k) balance and integrate it effectively into your overall retirement strategy.
• 401(k) plans emerged in 1979, giving workers an automatic way to save for retirement without employer-provided pensions
• Most Americans lack proper education on 401(k) investing, contributing blindly without understanding rules or optimal strategies
• We discuss how to start with your employer match and gradually increase contributions, especially after receiving raises
• Consider Roth 401(k) options for tax-free growth but recognize the immediate impact on take-home pay
• Early withdrawals before 59½ trigger penalties, but leaving a job after age 55 may create a penalty-free access opportunity
• Consider diversifying smartly beyond company stock and be aware of hidden mutual fund fees that may silently erode returns
• Your 401(k) doesn't have to be a standalone retirement plan but could be one component that integrates with other assets
• Watch time horizons - younger investors may consider being more aggressive while those approaching retirement may need more protection
• Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) often require careful planning, especially with multiple 401(k) accounts
For a complimentary consultation about your retirement plan, visit masterplanretire.com or call 770-980-9262. We'll analyze your current situation and provide a 10,000-foot view of your retirement strengths and weaknesses.
Have a topic or question you'd like Mark and Evan to address in a future episode? Email us at info@masterplanretire.com or call 770-980-9262.
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Evan (00:06):
How can I maximize my 401k balance?
Hey folks, welcome back andthank you for joining us.
Welcome to Retirement Roadmapwith MasterPlan Retirement
Consultants.
My name is Evan and with me, asalways, retirement planner Mark
Fricks.
During the show, we're going tolook at how you may be able to
boost your 401k balance and howit may fit in with your overall
(00:28):
retirement plan, mark.
A vast majority of Americans in2025 have what we call tax
deferred money A lot of that in401ks, iras, things like that.
It's a pretty considerableamount of their assets.
Mark (00:42):
That is the majority of their assets.
That's the way we've beensaving since 1979, when the
ERISA laws came out, created the401k and it gave workers a
great opportunity to almostautomatically save.
You almost don't see it leavingbecause it's just not part of
your paycheck.
Kind of the same way we paytaxes right, but it's less
painful.
And then, of course, if acompany matches, it's free money
(01:04):
.
So yeah, it's been a great wayto accumulate money.
It's in the market.
Markets grow over time.
You know the pushback or thenegative is, of course you've
got taxes as it comes out.
But still it's a great tool andthe more you can do with that
the better.
Evan (01:19):
Yeah, when they came out in 1979, early 80s, they started
rolling them out, doing awaywith more pensions, putting more
of the responsibility on theemployee versus the employer
with pensions.
They didn't put too many peoplethrough classes or hand them a
handbook of 401ks and you oranything else like that you tell
(01:40):
the story all the time.
You didn't know what you werepicking when they introduced
this new fangled 401k.
We don't get training asemployees on how to invest or
even what the rules are.
Mark (01:48):
And we still don't.
They didn't in the beginningand they don't now.
And so people are playing inthe market to use probably not
the best word in the world butthey're playing in the market
with very little knowledge.
And so, as you said, I've toldthe story very quickly.
I think it was 1981, my firstcorporate job, and they came in
after I'd been there six monthsand said hey, you can open a
(02:09):
401k.
And I said, great, what is that?
And then, and they didn'treally know, you know the HR
department, you know they'rejust like well, you just choose
an amount of money to put inthere, we're going to match this
much, and then you just need topick some mutual funds.
I this much.
And then you just need to picksome mutual funds.
I said, oh, perfect, what's amutual fund?
And so it's just really blindlyentering the market and not
(02:30):
knowing how to maximize it,which we're going to talk about
today, how much to put in there.
And then, of course, when I gotmy next job, if I remember, I
think I ended up spending whatwas in there.
I wasn't educated about it andhow to handle it.
Evan (02:42):
Yeah, you don't know, especially when you're young, in
your 20s.
It happened to me and I hadsome bills I needed to pay.
I wasn't earning a bunch ofmoney, my income was super low,
starving artist early 20s and Isaw my bills piling up and I saw
a couple thousand dollars in a401k.
Hey, let's just do this.
I'm young, no big deal.
But once all was said and doneon that phone call, on that
(03:03):
withdrawal, seeing how much cameout wasn't even fully vested
the amount that was in thereversus what ended up in my
pocket.
Mark (03:09):
And you had no idea, and I had no idea, I was going to do
that.
Evan (03:11):
I had no idea.
Mark (03:12):
You're like I can pay all my bills and when you get your
money, you're like I can pay twoof my bills.
That's right, whatever it maybe.
Again, lack of education, andthat's true in in a lot of
different areas of retirementplanning.
We work with a lot of federalworkers and they're not educated
about their system and theirpension and how their stuff
works, which is why we teach somany classes for federal workers
(03:33):
, both online.
By the way, if you're a federalworker, visit the website
masterplanretirecom, look underevents and it will talk about
upcoming classes for that and,of course, everything else we
teach as well.
Evan (03:44):
So, starting out to maximize your 401k, first of all
, don't stop auto-enrollment.
Many employers start you at 3%.
That might not cut it long-term, but you can boost your
contributions each year,especially after a raise, to
build a stronger foundation forretirement and legacy.
Mark (04:00):
That's the perfect time to do it.
Pay yourself first.
If you get a 5% raise andlegacy, that's the perfect time
to do it.
Pay yourself first.
If you get a 5% raise, bumpyour 401k maybe by 1% or
whatever.
Also, let's make sure you alsohave some cash as well, though
let's be careful with this.
If you're maxing out your 401kand you have $300 in the bank
(04:23):
and you have an emergency, willyou go to get the money?
Either a credit card or a 401k,which is going to be a penalty.
So do make sure you're feedinga little bit into a savings
account as well.
But again, maximizing that 401kis baby steps.
Start off with what you can andthen add to it as you can.
Evan (04:36):
And these days, especially if you are between jobs, trying
to find a new positionsomewhere, looking at the
benefits that the job providescan be a make or break for some
people and check that out beforeyou accept a job.
Because if they're matching,have a good percentage that
they're contributing, that can,for the long run especially,
that can really be a great greatdeal and those that don't know.
Mark (04:58):
You know a good match is at least three percent.
Five is a really good match andI know a few companies do even
more than that.
But yeah, that's a question youneed to ask.
It's not just about them askingyou questions.
Hey, what are you going to giveme, because there are other
jobs out there, Right?
Evan (05:12):
and that's a great segue to grab the match.
If your employer offers a 401kmatch, contribute enough to get
every penny that is offered onthat match.
That's free money, just forshowing up and being smart,
basically.
Mark (05:31):
Exactly.
An example, of course, is againif they match 3%, then put in
3% as soon as you can and again,keep growing it.
Evan (05:34):
I mentioned earlier, when I made my withdrawal in my 20s
on my 401k, I was not fullyvested.
Know your vesting schedule.
Leaving a job before you'refully vested could cost you
employer contributions.
Think strategically beyond justthis position before making
that career move.
Mark (05:52):
Yep, yeah, again the vesting schedule.
What Evan's referring to is thefact that the longer you work
there, the more the match isactually yours, right, and so if
it's a 10-year vesting orfive-year vesting, I'm not
saying you need to stay therethat long, but do keep that in
mind.
Evan (06:07):
Yeah, so Mark did mention be careful about contributing
too much if you're not able tofinancially, but you do want to
maximize those and make sure youcan look at what you are able
to do, work with your financialand tax professional to take
full advantage of the limits.
So there's up to $23,500, andthat's not including the
(06:28):
catch-up contributions.
That's per year.
That can go a long way whencompounded over time.
Mark (06:31):
Yeah, and I know it's hard to do that in the early years.
But as you get older,especially if you have kids, as
they get older they maybe getout of college.
That's why they have thecatch-up contribution provision
starting at age 50.
You could put more in because,hey, you know they realize that
in those early years you're justtrying to make ends meet.
Sometimes you try and getgroceries paid.
You know the kids are indaycare or whatever.
So as you get older, alwaystake a look at how much can we
(06:53):
boost that up?
Evan (06:54):
That's right, and a lot of 401ks these days are now
offering Roth options.
See, if your 401k offers a Roth, that can be, but it comes out
tax-free as well.
But consider it carefullybecause once you start
contributing to the Roth, you donot get that deduction that.
(07:15):
You're the same as you would ifyou were putting it to the
traditional side of the 401k, sothat will affect your paycheck
a little bit.
Mark (07:22):
Yeah, that's why it's a great time to maybe, when you
get a raise, start putting thatraise into the Roth, because
you're not going to see a changein your paycheck.
But, like you said, if all of asudden I'm taking, say I'm
contributing 10%, I say, okay,I'm going to put 5% into the
Roth.
From now on your paycheck isgoing to go down a little bit.
So take baby steps, just do 1%or 2% at a time, say, hey, that
(07:42):
wasn't too bad, I can do another1% or 2% and go from there.
So be very careful about that,be very strategic.
Evan (07:48):
Yeah, and you can still get your match.
If you're contributing 5% andthe match is 5% from your
employer, you can contributeyour 5% into the Roth portion.
You don't have to put it in thetraditional portion.
However, employers still haveto contribute to the traditional
side.
I don't, in my opinion, I thinka lot of things would have to
change before an employer wouldbe incentivized to put their
(08:10):
match into the Roth portion.
They get so many tax breaks,things like that.
Mark (08:13):
Yeah, I don't see that happening, even if they start
allowing it, which I think theymay allow it now.
I think I've seen one or twoplans that maybe allow it, but
from a standpoint of that match,they're going to put it into
the traditional part, as long asI can see in the future.
Evan (08:28):
Yeah.
Don't cash out early, all right.
So tapping into your 401kbefore age 59 and a half can
trigger taxes and a 10% penalty,or worse, as we mentioned, with
the vesting schedule earlier,it sets your future self back by
cutting off compoundinginterest and shrinking your
legacy potential.
We know emergencies happen.
(08:49):
Sometimes you don't have achoice but to go to your 401k
but understand the penaltiesinvolved.
There are some options before59 and a half for pulling out
penalty free from your 401k.
There's first-time homebuyers.
Certain medical or emergencyneeds qualify as well, but by
and large you need to know thepenalties in place there.
Mark (09:10):
And research that carefully because you know,
maybe you think you do qualify,you take it out and you get a
tax bill.
It can hit you pretty hard, sobe careful with that.
Just know your options.
Again, talk to your CPA, yourfinancial advisor.
We have the answers, yeah.
Evan (09:25):
And another interesting option.
It's a little off the beatenpath from what we're discussing
but it's also on withdrawals.
If you are 55 or older between55 and 59 and a half and you
decide to leave that employerand you have a 401k with that
employer, as long as that 401kis still there, you actually can
make penalty free withdrawalsafter 55 from that 401k.
(09:49):
A lot of people who want toretire a little bit earlier
maybe they're retiring at 55,they retire, they've got this
401k.
But A lot of people who want toretire a little bit earlier,
maybe they're retiring at 55.
They retire, they've got this401k.
But they start maybe they'retalking to an advisor who's not
fully thinking or not thinkingin their best interest they
start rolling over their 401k todifferent IRAs to try to set up
their retirement plan.
Well, they just lost thatpenalty-free withdrawal because
(10:11):
the IRAs themselves are still 59and a half like 401ks.
But that last 401k at youremployer you have that liquidity
for those four and a half years.
Mark (10:20):
Yeah, and that's why, when we work for folks from 55 to 59
and a half, we will leave somein that 401k.
We'll kind of figure out okay,we got this many years, this
much liquidity, let's leavemaybe 20% in the 401k or
whatever.
Go ahead and get the rest of itto work in better ways and more
diversification, but leavingsome in that 401k or thrift
(10:40):
savings plan or whatever.
And again, I've seen so manyadvisors that I've had to come
behind and kind of clean upmesses because they rolled the
whole thing over because theywanted to make the money on it
or get the commissions on it orget the management fees on it or
whatever.
Evan (10:54):
nd just made a mistake, or just didn't know, just wasn't
thinking.
Mark (10:56):
Just didn't know, and that's where you know it's good
to work with people that havebeen around a while, know all
these rules and make surethey're again in your best
interest.
A fiduciary, yeah.
Evan (11:13):
Now speaking of leaving that job, roll it over.
Mark (11:14):
Don't start over so if you change jobs, a direct rollover
into an IRA or a new 401k helpsyou avoid taxes and penalties
while keeping your retirementsavings on track and growing
yeah, I don't like leaving a401k at an old company and I
typically like and again, everysituation is different but
you're better off in most caseshaving somebody take a look at
it and it may be in your bestinterest to roll the majority
over into a private personal IRA, because the the world is your
(11:37):
oyster.
You know, in a 401k, you knowyou're limited to 10, 20, 30, 40
, 50 mutual funds in the world.
You're you're unlimited.
I mean, there's so many thingsyou know, as I talked about in
class.
You know you can buy a rentalhouse in an IRA.
You can't buy a rental house ina 401k.
You can buy precious metalsphysical in an IRA.
You can't do that in a 401k.
(11:57):
You can get actively managedportfolios of individual stocks
in an IRA.
Most of the time you can't getthat in a 401k.
So it does open up the worldbut again, it's not always hey,
let's do it all, let's do aportion, but when you change
jobs, make sure you havesomebody take a look at that
that is a fiduciary again andsee what is in your best
interest.
That's right.
Evan (12:18):
And a big one.
Watch those fees.
High fees can quietly eat awayat your growth.
Review your options again witha financial professional.
Keep more money working for you.
See, I think there's aconfusion with 401ks.
People think that they'regenerally low fee and they can
be, but in general they're moreon the higher end of fees, not
(12:40):
only because of the plan itself,but each mutual fund without a
401k has its own individual feeand, like you've said before, if
you don't read the prospectuson that mutual fund, you don't
know what fee you're paying.
Mark (12:52):
Yeah, may be two percent.
You know, and it's um kind ofhidden in the prospectus.
Uh, studied, studied down, Ithink about five years ago,
determined that 401ks on averagewere some of the most expensive
investment vehicles.
And again we we want to usethem because of the match and
everything else, the automaticcontributions, but again they
(13:13):
can be pretty expensive.
You start looking at thoseindividual mutual funds.
A nice international fund, 1.75percent is coming out.
You just don't see it.
It's inside that fund.
And so people come in and sayno, I'm only paying 25 dollars a
quarter as a fee, or what Isaid.
Evan (13:27):
Let's take a look at that and see for sure and it doesn't
mean that a high fee mutual fundis bad for you.
It kind of depends on what itstrack record is, what you need
as far as diversification.
But just keep in mind you arepaying a higher fee for
something that is not activelymanaged.
Mark (13:40):
Right, right and again.
That's the benefit of manytimes moving some of that form
of gate into IRAs, either whenyou change jobs or get a certain
age or leave a company.
Evan (13:53):
Yeah, and I like that too, about the international funds
or something that might be alittle more robust.
Diversify smartly.
Don't fall into home countrybias.
Spread your investments acrossasset classes, tax treatment
styles and global markets.
Real diversification happensinside the portfolio, not across
brokerages.
Mark (14:09):
And be careful if you work for a company that has an
option to buy their stocks.
I'm not saying it's good or bad, but I've seen some people come
in here and 90% of their 401kwould be in their company stock
and I can understand the feelingof you know this is my company
and I know it's strong.
We have good workforce orwhatever.
But no company is perfect andyou know there's a changeover.
If you look at the Dow Jonesover the last hundred years,
(14:32):
every 20 or 30 years there aresome different companies in
there, ones that have entered it, ones that have failed.
I mean you look at the GEs andcompanies big, huge companies
that were too big to fail thatfailed, you know, or at least
certainly dropped in value.
So, as you said, diversify,including your company stock as
well.
Evan (14:52):
Yeah, we see that around here a lot.
We've got a lot of bigcompanies in Atlanta.
We've seen a lot of folks withCoca-Cola 401ks and they have a
ton of positions in Coke andfortunately Coke's a relatively
healthy company, especially thelast few years.
But that's the opposite ofdiversification.
That's all your eggs in onebasket.
So, yeah, be careful on that.
(15:12):
And that can be hard too.
You put in, you have thatloyalty to your company.
You put it in for years andyears.
People maybe this is you ormaybe this sounds strange to you
, but people really do have anattachment to those shares,
especially after years and years.
They have that built-in loyalty.
It can be really hard to pullthe trigger.
Then, on the other hand, somepeople are like it's time to
(15:32):
retire, get rid of it all we'regetting out.
So yeah, just keep that in mind.
Mark (15:37):
I don't know how many people remember Enron.
Enron this has been many yearsago and I don't even remember
all the details at this point,but a company was so large, too
big, to fail A lot of thosefolks in fact I think they had
pensions with them as well A lotof the pensions failed their
stock price, they went away andthese people were just
devastated.
I think that happened withanother tech company, I don't
(16:00):
know, 15 years ago that hadsplit off from, I think, bell
South or when the breakup cameabout, maybe 20 years ago.
But again, no single company isperfect and just diversify.
Evan (16:12):
Right Plan for RMDs Now.
If you're younger and you'rejust trying to figure out how to
maximize your 401k, maybeyou're not even thinking about
RMDs at this moment, butrequired minimum distributions
once you turn 73 for most peopleright now.
If you're younger, it's morelikely when you're 75, but
you're required to takedistributions.
That's from 401ks and IRAs, andthere are some tricky things
(16:35):
with that as well to consider.
You can't aggregate all yourIRA RMDs.
You cannot do that with 401ks.
Each 401k has its own RMD.
You can't take the full amountfrom another 401k and expect the
other to be covered.
You got to plan for that, andnot only to make sure you're
taking them, but consider thetax implications as well.
Mark (16:55):
Yeah, and as to your taxable income, of course,
that's why we love the Roth noRMDs on that.
So if you don't need it, youdon't take it, and so you just
let it grow tax-free.
And when you do need it, itcomes out tax-free.
So even if there was an RMD, atleast it's tax-free, but not an
RMD until you pass away and oryour spouse has gone as well.
Then whoever inherits it willhave to pay.
(17:16):
Take it out over a 10-yearperiod, but still it's tax-free.
Evan (17:20):
That's right.
You can start to see now howstrategic some of these things
have to be building RMDs intoincome plans, tax strategies,
things like that.
We do that every day with ourclients and much more.
We have to figure out how allof these money retirement
aspects fit together, because weknow if you make a change in
one area it's going toinevitably affect other areas.
(17:41):
If you are interested indiscussing your own retirement
folks, go to our website,masterplanretirecom, or give us
a call 770-980-9262.
We offer complimentaryconsultations to discuss your
own retirement, no stringsattached.
We'll run a series of reportsfor you 10,000 foot view of your
own retirement and see whereyour strengths and weaknesses
(18:03):
are.
Mark (18:04):
Yeah, take advantage of it .
These reports are veryrevealing.
No, as Evan said, there's nocost, no strings attached.
We're not trying to reelsomebody in or whatever.
We want to reveal to you whereyou're at, and then you take a
look at that and go hey, I thinkI do need help.
It's almost like going to adoctor Sometimes we're afraid to
because we're afraid we'll findout something's wrong.
The sooner you find outsomething's wrong in your
(18:25):
finances and retirement, thesooner we can work on it and get
it healthy.
That's right.
Evan (18:30):
Another big part of the 401k.
Know your time horizon.
I've just talked about RMDs.
That's a very specific age, butwhat if you're in your 20s or
30s?
You need to know your timehorizon, not only for well,
mainly for diversificationpurposes, to make sure that you
are allocated correctly.
Because, let's say, you are inyour 20s and you don't realize
(18:53):
that most of your money and your401k is in a money market or a
bond fund or something reallyconservative.
You're really missing out onthe opportunity.
You have to be a little bitmore aggressive in your
investments.
On the other hand, let's sayyou are getting close to
retirement and maybe you are insome really aggressive funds
that are more aggressive thanyour risk tolerance.
And hey, if I've got two yearsbefore retirement, I don't know
(19:16):
if I can take a big market hitlike 25% drop or something.
Know your time horizon.
Know your risk tolerance.
Mark (19:22):
Well, you know, bear markets happen on average every
five years.
So a bear market is a 20% ormore drop in a major index Dow
Jones S&P 500.
And so if that happens everyfive years, it could be in three
years, it could be in sevenyears.
Even if it's not a bear market,it could be a correction which
is 10% or more.
You know.
So if you're a year away andyou lose 25% of your 401k,
(19:45):
you're probably not retiring ina year and a half.
You probably have to work awhile longer.
So again, if you're workingwith someone or this is
something we do every day, as wecan either manage a 401k or at
least take a look at yours oncea quarter or whatever, and say
you know, we need to kind oflighten up on this.
Hey, we need.
You're 25 years old, we need tobe more aggressive, or whatever
it may be.
So this is not a generalrecommendation, just kind of
(20:08):
more of a general statement.
Be careful with that timehorizon, as Evan pointed out.
Evan (20:12):
Really important.
Your 401k does not live in avacuum.
It is not in its own bubble.
You need to start looking atyour 401k of how not that your
401k is your retirement plan,because a 401k is not a
retirement plan.
It is an account meant forretirement clients who sometimes
(20:34):
we roll over their 401k.
Maybe they're not at that pointyet and so they still have a
401k and then some outsideaccounts IRAs, roths, insurance
products, whatever.
All of those are tools.
So if you are setting up yourretirement plan, understand how
your 401k fits with your otherbuckets.
Just a real quick example wouldbe maybe you have an
(20:54):
opportunity to be moreaggressive with some of these
buckets over here.
That's maybe actively managedaggressive portfolio.
They're trading whenever theyneed to, and maybe your 401k.
You're using that as maybeyou're more moderate or you're
more conservative.
Just, it goes per client.
It could be different foranybody, but understand how it
(21:16):
fits within your overallretirement plan.
Mark (21:18):
Absolutely.
And again, how much to leave inthere?
How much to roll over?
When do you roll it over?
Again, I do not like rollingover a 401k plan to a new
company 401k plan, so get helpwith that.
I'm not saying it's alwayswrong, but it's typically not a
great idea.
But Evan's exactly right.
You've got other things goingon.
Something else we look at, evan, as you know, is let's say,
(21:39):
somebody is putting in 5% intotheir company the 5% they're
getting a match, but now theycan put a little bit more in.
Maybe put that into a or IRAthat is being separately managed
, up to $8,000 if you're overage 50.
Is it $7,000 if you're underage 50?
(22:04):
I don't memorize those kind ofnumbers, folks.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
It changes so often.
Mark (22:10):
Absolutely so.
Again, that gives you anopportunity for different levels
, different types of investing.
Evan (22:15):
Now, a reason you might want to keep some money or roll
over your 401k to your new 401k.
Maybe you are having financialdifficulty or in debt or need to
take a loan from your 401k.
That's an option as well.
You can take loans up to acertain amount from your 401k,
but keep in mind when you arestarting to move your 401k
around if you have a loan onyour 401k, do not exceed that
(22:38):
amount when you're withdrawing.
Mark (22:40):
Yeah, you had to pay taxes on it, yeah, so you have to be
careful of that.
Evan (22:44):
Mark, should I have an IRA and a 401k?
Mark (22:47):
Just as I kind of mentioned, I think it's a good
idea I think if you get someextra money and you've already
reached your match, always takeadvantage of the match.
I think definitely having acouple of professionally managed
IRAs.
Again, you mentioned theactively managed portfolios.
These are portfolios that arebeing computer monitored using
algorithms and so they're ableto hopefully try to look into
(23:09):
the future a little bit betterNot perfect, not risk-free, but
performing, based on studies,and so that will give you again
different flavors.
I like different flavors ofinvestments and so maybe I've
got a dividend portfolio beingactively managed over here, a
growth stock portfolio over here, a sector rotation different
(23:30):
flavors because differentportfolios do different in
different markets.
Evan (23:34):
It depends on the job you need to accomplish, and you
don't know what tools you needfor what job until you have a
plan.
That's right.
Mark (23:40):
That's right.
So I hope this has been ahelpful show.
This is, I think, goodinformation.
You can always go back andre-watch it on the website
masterplanretirecom.
But any closing thoughts?
Evan (23:52):
Yeah, just go to the website.
Obviously links to more videosof our radio show, but also
retirement resources, seminarschedules, things like that.
Mark (24:01):
But come see us soon.
Okay, until we see you remember, plan well and prosper, take
care.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
This was Retirement Roadmap Radio with Mark Fricks
of Master Plan RetirementConsultants.
To schedule a complimentaryconsultation, go to
masterplanretirecom or call770-980-9262.
Thanks for listening andremember plan well and prosper.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
All matters discussed during this show are for
informational purposes only.
Each individual situation mayvary and the opinions expressed
here may not apply to everyone.
Materials presented arebelieved to be from reliable
sources and no representationscan be made as to its accuracy.
All ideas and informationshould be discussed in detail
with one of our qualifiedrepresentatives prior to
implementation.
Advisory services offered byMaster Plan Retirement
Consultants.
A registered investment advisorin the state of Georgia, Mark
Frick's and Master PlanRetirement Consultants are not
affiliated with or endorsed bythe Social Security
(24:46):
Administration or any othergovernment agency.
How can I maximize my 401k balance?
Hey folks, welcome back andthank you for joining us.
Welcome to Retirement Roadmapwith MasterPlan Retirement
Consultants.
My name is Evan and with me, asalways, retirement planner Mark
Fricks.
During the show, we're going tolook at how you may be able to
boost your 401k balance and howit may fit in with your overall
(00:28):
retirement plan, mark.
A vast majority of Americans in2025 have what we call tax
deferred money A lot of that in401ks, iras, things like that.
It's a pretty considerableamount of their assets.
Mark (00:42):
That is the majority of their assets.
That's the way we've beensaving since 1979, when the
ERISA laws came out, created the401k and it gave workers a
great opportunity to almostautomatically save.
You almost don't see it leavingbecause it's just not part of
your paycheck.
Kind of the same way we paytaxes right, but it's less
painful.
And then, of course, if acompany matches, it's free money
(01:04):
.
So yeah, it's been a great wayto accumulate money.
It's in the market.
Markets grow over time.
You know the pushback or thenegative is, of course you've
got taxes as it comes out.
But still it's a great tool andthe more you can do with that
the better.
Evan (01:19):
Yeah, when they came out in 1979, early 80s, they started
rolling them out, doing awaywith more pensions, putting more
of the responsibility on theemployee versus the employer
with pensions.
They didn't put too many peoplethrough classes or hand them a
handbook of 401ks and you oranything else like that you tell
(01:40):
the story all the time.
You didn't know what you werepicking when they introduced
this new fangled 401k.
We don't get training asemployees on how to invest or
even what the rules are.
Mark (01:48):
And we still don't.
They didn't in the beginningand they don't now.
And so people are playing inthe market to use probably not
the best word in the world butthey're playing in the market
with very little knowledge.
And so, as you said, I've toldthe story very quickly.
I think it was 1981, my firstcorporate job, and they came in
after I'd been there six monthsand said hey, you can open a
(02:09):
401k.
And I said, great, what is that?
And then, and they didn'treally know, you know the HR
department, you know they'rejust like well, you just choose
an amount of money to put inthere, we're going to match this
much, and then you just need topick some mutual funds.
I this much.
And then you just need to picksome mutual funds.
I said, oh, perfect, what's amutual fund?
And so it's just really blindlyentering the market and not
(02:30):
knowing how to maximize it,which we're going to talk about
today, how much to put in there.
And then, of course, when I gotmy next job, if I remember, I
think I ended up spending whatwas in there.
I wasn't educated about it andhow to handle it.
Evan (02:42):
Yeah, you don't know, especially when you're young, in
your 20s.
It happened to me and I hadsome bills I needed to pay.
I wasn't earning a bunch ofmoney, my income was super low,
starving artist early 20s and Isaw my bills piling up and I saw
a couple thousand dollars in a401k.
Hey, let's just do this.
I'm young, no big deal.
But once all was said and doneon that phone call, on that
(03:03):
withdrawal, seeing how much cameout wasn't even fully vested
the amount that was in thereversus what ended up in my
pocket.
Mark (03:09):
And you had no idea, and I had no idea, I was going to do
that.
Evan (03:11):
I had no idea.
Mark (03:12):
You're like I can pay all my bills and when you get your
money, you're like I can pay twoof my bills.
That's right, whatever it maybe.
Again, lack of education, andthat's true in in a lot of
different areas of retirementplanning.
We work with a lot of federalworkers and they're not educated
about their system and theirpension and how their stuff
works, which is why we teach somany classes for federal workers
(03:33):
, both online.
By the way, if you're a federalworker, visit the website
masterplanretirecom, look underevents and it will talk about
upcoming classes for that and,of course, everything else we
teach as well.
Evan (03:44):
So, starting out to maximize your 401k, first of all
, don't stop auto-enrollment.
Many employers start you at 3%.
That might not cut it long-term, but you can boost your
contributions each year,especially after a raise, to
build a stronger foundation forretirement and legacy.
Mark (04:00):
That's the perfect time to do it.
Pay yourself first.
If you get a 5% raise andlegacy, that's the perfect time
to do it.
Pay yourself first.
If you get a 5% raise, bumpyour 401k maybe by 1% or
whatever.
Also, let's make sure you alsohave some cash as well, though
let's be careful with this.
If you're maxing out your 401kand you have $300 in the bank
(04:23):
and you have an emergency, willyou go to get the money?
Either a credit card or a 401k,which is going to be a penalty.
So do make sure you're feedinga little bit into a savings
account as well.
But again, maximizing that 401kis baby steps.
Start off with what you can andthen add to it as you can.
Evan (04:36):
And these days, especially if you are between jobs, trying
to find a new positionsomewhere, looking at the
benefits that the job providescan be a make or break for some
people and check that out beforeyou accept a job.
Because if they're matching,have a good percentage that
they're contributing, that can,for the long run especially,
that can really be a great greatdeal and those that don't know.
Mark (04:58):
You know a good match is at least three percent.
Five is a really good match andI know a few companies do even
more than that.
But yeah, that's a question youneed to ask.
It's not just about them askingyou questions.
Hey, what are you going to giveme, because there are other
jobs out there, Right?
Evan (05:12):
and that's a great segue to grab the match.
If your employer offers a 401kmatch, contribute enough to get
every penny that is offered onthat match.
That's free money, just forshowing up and being smart,
basically.
Mark (05:31):
Exactly.
An example, of course, is againif they match 3%, then put in
3% as soon as you can and again,keep growing it.
Evan (05:34):
I mentioned earlier, when I made my withdrawal in my 20s
on my 401k, I was not fullyvested.
Know your vesting schedule.
Leaving a job before you'refully vested could cost you
employer contributions.
Think strategically beyond justthis position before making
that career move.
Mark (05:52):
Yep, yeah, again the vesting schedule.
What Evan's referring to is thefact that the longer you work
there, the more the match isactually yours, right, and so if
it's a 10-year vesting orfive-year vesting, I'm not
saying you need to stay therethat long, but do keep that in
mind.
Evan (06:07):
Yeah, so Mark did mention be careful about contributing
too much if you're not able tofinancially, but you do want to
maximize those and make sure youcan look at what you are able
to do, work with your financialand tax professional to take
full advantage of the limits.
So there's up to $23,500, andthat's not including the
(06:28):
catch-up contributions.
That's per year.
That can go a long way whencompounded over time.
Mark (06:31):
Yeah, and I know it's hard to do that in the early years.
But as you get older,especially if you have kids, as
they get older they maybe getout of college.
That's why they have thecatch-up contribution provision
starting at age 50.
You could put more in because,hey, you know they realize that
in those early years you're justtrying to make ends meet.
Sometimes you try and getgroceries paid.
You know the kids are indaycare or whatever.
So as you get older, alwaystake a look at how much can we
(06:53):
boost that up?
Evan (06:54):
That's right, and a lot of 401ks these days are now
offering Roth options.
See, if your 401k offers a Roth, that can be, but it comes out
tax-free as well.
But consider it carefullybecause once you start
contributing to the Roth, you donot get that deduction that.
(07:15):
You're the same as you would ifyou were putting it to the
traditional side of the 401k, sothat will affect your paycheck
a little bit.
Mark (07:22):
Yeah, that's why it's a great time to maybe, when you
get a raise, start putting thatraise into the Roth, because
you're not going to see a changein your paycheck.
But, like you said, if all of asudden I'm taking, say I'm
contributing 10%, I say, okay,I'm going to put 5% into the
Roth.
From now on your paycheck isgoing to go down a little bit.
So take baby steps, just do 1%or 2% at a time, say, hey, that
(07:42):
wasn't too bad, I can do another1% or 2% and go from there.
So be very careful about that,be very strategic.
Evan (07:48):
Yeah, and you can still get your match.
If you're contributing 5% andthe match is 5% from your
employer, you can contributeyour 5% into the Roth portion.
You don't have to put it in thetraditional portion.
However, employers still haveto contribute to the traditional
side.
I don't, in my opinion, I thinka lot of things would have to
change before an employer wouldbe incentivized to put their
(08:10):
match into the Roth portion.
They get so many tax breaks,things like that.
Mark (08:13):
Yeah, I don't see that happening, even if they start
allowing it, which I think theymay allow it now.
I think I've seen one or twoplans that maybe allow it, but
from a standpoint of that match,they're going to put it into
the traditional part, as long asI can see in the future.
Evan (08:28):
Yeah.
Don't cash out early, all right.
So tapping into your 401kbefore age 59 and a half can
trigger taxes and a 10% penalty,or worse, as we mentioned, with
the vesting schedule earlier,it sets your future self back by
cutting off compoundinginterest and shrinking your
legacy potential.
We know emergencies happen.
(08:49):
Sometimes you don't have achoice but to go to your 401k
but understand the penaltiesinvolved.
There are some options before59 and a half for pulling out
penalty free from your 401k.
There's first-time homebuyers.
Certain medical or emergencyneeds qualify as well, but by
and large you need to know thepenalties in place there.
Mark (09:10):
And research that carefully because you know,
maybe you think you do qualify,you take it out and you get a
tax bill.
It can hit you pretty hard, sobe careful with that.
Just know your options.
Again, talk to your CPA, yourfinancial advisor.
We have the answers, yeah.
Evan (09:25):
And another interesting option.
It's a little off the beatenpath from what we're discussing
but it's also on withdrawals.
If you are 55 or older between55 and 59 and a half and you
decide to leave that employerand you have a 401k with that
employer, as long as that 401kis still there, you actually can
make penalty free withdrawalsafter 55 from that 401k.
(09:49):
A lot of people who want toretire a little bit earlier
maybe they're retiring at 55,they retire, they've got this
401k.
But A lot of people who want toretire a little bit earlier,
maybe they're retiring at 55.
They retire, they've got this401k.
But they start maybe they'retalking to an advisor who's not
fully thinking or not thinkingin their best interest they
start rolling over their 401k todifferent IRAs to try to set up
their retirement plan.
Well, they just lost thatpenalty-free withdrawal because
(10:11):
the IRAs themselves are still 59and a half like 401ks.
But that last 401k at youremployer you have that liquidity
for those four and a half years.
Mark (10:20):
Yeah, and that's why, when we work for folks from 55 to 59
and a half, we will leave somein that 401k.
We'll kind of figure out okay,we got this many years, this
much liquidity, let's leavemaybe 20% in the 401k or
whatever.
Go ahead and get the rest of itto work in better ways and more
diversification, but leavingsome in that 401k or thrift
(10:40):
savings plan or whatever.
And again, I've seen so manyadvisors that I've had to come
behind and kind of clean upmesses because they rolled the
whole thing over because theywanted to make the money on it
or get the commissions on it orget the management fees on it or
whatever.
Evan (10:54):
nd just made a mistake, or just didn't know, just wasn't
thinking.
Mark (10:56):
Just didn't know, and that's where you know it's good
to work with people that havebeen around a while, know all
these rules and make surethey're again in your best
interest.
A fiduciary, yeah.
Evan (11:13):
Now speaking of leaving that job, roll it over.
Mark (11:14):
Don't start over so if you change jobs, a direct rollover
into an IRA or a new 401k helpsyou avoid taxes and penalties
while keeping your retirementsavings on track and growing
yeah, I don't like leaving a401k at an old company and I
typically like and again, everysituation is different but
you're better off in most caseshaving somebody take a look at
it and it may be in your bestinterest to roll the majority
over into a private personal IRA, because the the world is your
(11:37):
oyster.
You know, in a 401k, you knowyou're limited to 10, 20, 30, 40
, 50 mutual funds in the world.
You're you're unlimited.
I mean, there's so many thingsyou know, as I talked about in
class.
You know you can buy a rentalhouse in an IRA.
You can't buy a rental house ina 401k.
You can buy precious metalsphysical in an IRA.
You can't do that in a 401k.
(11:57):
You can get actively managedportfolios of individual stocks
in an IRA.
Most of the time you can't getthat in a 401k.
So it does open up the worldbut again, it's not always hey,
let's do it all, let's do aportion, but when you change
jobs, make sure you havesomebody take a look at that
that is a fiduciary again andsee what is in your best
interest.
That's right.
Evan (12:18):
And a big one.
Watch those fees.
High fees can quietly eat awayat your growth.
Review your options again witha financial professional.
Keep more money working for you.
See, I think there's aconfusion with 401ks.
People think that they'regenerally low fee and they can
be, but in general they're moreon the higher end of fees, not
(12:40):
only because of the plan itself,but each mutual fund without a
401k has its own individual feeand, like you've said before, if
you don't read the prospectuson that mutual fund, you don't
know what fee you're paying.
Mark (12:52):
Yeah, may be two percent.
You know, and it's um kind ofhidden in the prospectus.
Uh, studied, studied down, Ithink about five years ago,
determined that 401ks on averagewere some of the most expensive
investment vehicles.
And again we we want to usethem because of the match and
everything else, the automaticcontributions, but again they
(13:13):
can be pretty expensive.
You start looking at thoseindividual mutual funds.
A nice international fund, 1.75percent is coming out.
You just don't see it.
It's inside that fund.
And so people come in and sayno, I'm only paying 25 dollars a
quarter as a fee, or what Isaid.
Evan (13:27):
Let's take a look at that and see for sure and it doesn't
mean that a high fee mutual fundis bad for you.
It kind of depends on what itstrack record is, what you need
as far as diversification.
But just keep in mind you arepaying a higher fee for
something that is not activelymanaged.
Mark (13:40):
Right, right and again.
That's the benefit of manytimes moving some of that form
of gate into IRAs, either whenyou change jobs or get a certain
age or leave a company.
Evan (13:53):
Yeah, and I like that too, about the international funds
or something that might be alittle more robust.
Diversify smartly.
Don't fall into home countrybias.
Spread your investments acrossasset classes, tax treatment
styles and global markets.
Real diversification happensinside the portfolio, not across
brokerages.
Mark (14:09):
And be careful if you work for a company that has an
option to buy their stocks.
I'm not saying it's good or bad, but I've seen some people come
in here and 90% of their 401kwould be in their company stock
and I can understand the feelingof you know this is my company
and I know it's strong.
We have good workforce orwhatever.
But no company is perfect andyou know there's a changeover.
If you look at the Dow Jonesover the last hundred years,
(14:32):
every 20 or 30 years there aresome different companies in
there, ones that have entered it, ones that have failed.
I mean you look at the GEs andcompanies big, huge companies
that were too big to fail thatfailed, you know, or at least
certainly dropped in value.
So, as you said, diversify,including your company stock as
well.
Evan (14:52):
Yeah, we see that around here a lot.
We've got a lot of bigcompanies in Atlanta.
We've seen a lot of folks withCoca-Cola 401ks and they have a
ton of positions in Coke andfortunately Coke's a relatively
healthy company, especially thelast few years.
But that's the opposite ofdiversification.
That's all your eggs in onebasket.
So, yeah, be careful on that.
(15:12):
And that can be hard too.
You put in, you have thatloyalty to your company.
You put it in for years andyears.
People maybe this is you ormaybe this sounds strange to you
, but people really do have anattachment to those shares,
especially after years and years.
They have that built-in loyalty.
It can be really hard to pullthe trigger.
Then, on the other hand, somepeople are like it's time to
(15:32):
retire, get rid of it all we'regetting out.
So yeah, just keep that in mind.
Mark (15:37):
I don't know how many people remember Enron.
Enron this has been many yearsago and I don't even remember
all the details at this point,but a company was so large, too
big, to fail A lot of thosefolks in fact I think they had
pensions with them as well A lotof the pensions failed their
stock price, they went away andthese people were just
devastated.
I think that happened withanother tech company, I don't
(16:00):
know, 15 years ago that hadsplit off from, I think, bell
South or when the breakup cameabout, maybe 20 years ago.
But again, no single company isperfect and just diversify.
Evan (16:12):
Right Plan for RMDs Now.
If you're younger and you'rejust trying to figure out how to
maximize your 401k, maybeyou're not even thinking about
RMDs at this moment, butrequired minimum distributions
once you turn 73 for most peopleright now.
If you're younger, it's morelikely when you're 75, but
you're required to takedistributions.
That's from 401ks and IRAs, andthere are some tricky things
(16:35):
with that as well to consider.
You can't aggregate all yourIRA RMDs.
You cannot do that with 401ks.
Each 401k has its own RMD.
You can't take the full amountfrom another 401k and expect the
other to be covered.
You got to plan for that, andnot only to make sure you're
taking them, but consider thetax implications as well.
Mark (16:55):
Yeah, and as to your taxable income, of course,
that's why we love the Roth noRMDs on that.
So if you don't need it, youdon't take it, and so you just
let it grow tax-free.
And when you do need it, itcomes out tax-free.
So even if there was an RMD, atleast it's tax-free, but not an
RMD until you pass away and oryour spouse has gone as well.
Then whoever inherits it willhave to pay.
(17:16):
Take it out over a 10-yearperiod, but still it's tax-free.
Evan (17:20):
That's right.
You can start to see now howstrategic some of these things
have to be building RMDs intoincome plans, tax strategies,
things like that.
We do that every day with ourclients and much more.
We have to figure out how allof these money retirement
aspects fit together, because weknow if you make a change in
one area it's going toinevitably affect other areas.
(17:41):
If you are interested indiscussing your own retirement
folks, go to our website,masterplanretirecom, or give us
a call 770-980-9262.
We offer complimentaryconsultations to discuss your
own retirement, no stringsattached.
We'll run a series of reportsfor you 10,000 foot view of your
own retirement and see whereyour strengths and weaknesses
(18:03):
are.
Mark (18:04):
Yeah, take advantage of it .
These reports are veryrevealing.
No, as Evan said, there's nocost, no strings attached.
We're not trying to reelsomebody in or whatever.
We want to reveal to you whereyou're at, and then you take a
look at that and go hey, I thinkI do need help.
It's almost like going to adoctor Sometimes we're afraid to
because we're afraid we'll findout something's wrong.
The sooner you find outsomething's wrong in your
(18:25):
finances and retirement, thesooner we can work on it and get
it healthy.
That's right.
Evan (18:30):
Another big part of the 401k.
Know your time horizon.
I've just talked about RMDs.
That's a very specific age, butwhat if you're in your 20s or
30s?
You need to know your timehorizon, not only for well,
mainly for diversificationpurposes, to make sure that you
are allocated correctly.
Because, let's say, you are inyour 20s and you don't realize
(18:53):
that most of your money and your401k is in a money market or a
bond fund or something reallyconservative.
You're really missing out onthe opportunity.
You have to be a little bitmore aggressive in your
investments.
On the other hand, let's sayyou are getting close to
retirement and maybe you are insome really aggressive funds
that are more aggressive thanyour risk tolerance.
And hey, if I've got two yearsbefore retirement, I don't know
(19:16):
if I can take a big market hitlike 25% drop or something.
Know your time horizon.
Know your risk tolerance.
Mark (19:22):
Well, you know, bear markets happen on average every
five years.
So a bear market is a 20% ormore drop in a major index Dow
Jones S&P 500.
And so if that happens everyfive years, it could be in three
years, it could be in sevenyears.
Even if it's not a bear market,it could be a correction which
is 10% or more.
You know.
So if you're a year away andyou lose 25% of your 401k,
(19:45):
you're probably not retiring ina year and a half.
You probably have to work awhile longer.
So again, if you're workingwith someone or this is
something we do every day, as wecan either manage a 401k or at
least take a look at yours oncea quarter or whatever, and say
you know, we need to kind oflighten up on this.
Hey, we need.
You're 25 years old, we need tobe more aggressive, or whatever
it may be.
So this is not a generalrecommendation, just kind of
(20:08):
more of a general statement.
Be careful with that timehorizon, as Evan pointed out.
Evan (20:12):
Really important.
Your 401k does not live in avacuum.
It is not in its own bubble.
You need to start looking atyour 401k of how not that your
401k is your retirement plan,because a 401k is not a
retirement plan.
It is an account meant forretirement clients who sometimes
(20:34):
we roll over their 401k.
Maybe they're not at that pointyet and so they still have a
401k and then some outsideaccounts IRAs, roths, insurance
products, whatever.
All of those are tools.
So if you are setting up yourretirement plan, understand how
your 401k fits with your otherbuckets.
Just a real quick example wouldbe maybe you have an
(20:54):
opportunity to be moreaggressive with some of these
buckets over here.
That's maybe actively managedaggressive portfolio.
They're trading whenever theyneed to, and maybe your 401k.
You're using that as maybeyou're more moderate or you're
more conservative.
Just, it goes per client.
It could be different foranybody, but understand how it
(21:16):
fits within your overallretirement plan.
Mark (21:18):
Absolutely.
And again, how much to leave inthere?
How much to roll over?
When do you roll it over?
Again, I do not like rollingover a 401k plan to a new
company 401k plan, so get helpwith that.
I'm not saying it's alwayswrong, but it's typically not a
great idea.
But Evan's exactly right.
You've got other things goingon.
Something else we look at, evan, as you know, is let's say,
(21:39):
somebody is putting in 5% intotheir company the 5% they're
getting a match, but now theycan put a little bit more in.
Maybe put that into a or IRAthat is being separately managed
, up to $8,000 if you're overage 50.
Is it $7,000 if you're underage 50?
(22:04):
I don't memorize those kind ofnumbers, folks.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
It changes so often.
Mark (22:10):
Absolutely so.
Again, that gives you anopportunity for different levels
, different types of investing.
Evan (22:15):
Now, a reason you might want to keep some money or roll
over your 401k to your new 401k.
Maybe you are having financialdifficulty or in debt or need to
take a loan from your 401k.
That's an option as well.
You can take loans up to acertain amount from your 401k,
but keep in mind when you arestarting to move your 401k
around if you have a loan onyour 401k, do not exceed that
(22:38):
amount when you're withdrawing.
Mark (22:40):
Yeah, you had to pay taxes on it, yeah, so you have to be
careful of that.
Evan (22:44):
Mark, should I have an IRA and a 401k?
Mark (22:47):
Just as I kind of mentioned, I think it's a good
idea I think if you get someextra money and you've already
reached your match, always takeadvantage of the match.
I think definitely having acouple of professionally managed
IRAs.
Again, you mentioned theactively managed portfolios.
These are portfolios that arebeing computer monitored using
algorithms and so they're ableto hopefully try to look into
(23:09):
the future a little bit betterNot perfect, not risk-free, but
performing, based on studies,and so that will give you again
different flavors.
I like different flavors ofinvestments and so maybe I've
got a dividend portfolio beingactively managed over here, a
growth stock portfolio over here, a sector rotation different
(23:30):
flavors because differentportfolios do different in
different markets.
Evan (23:34):
It depends on the job you need to accomplish, and you
don't know what tools you needfor what job until you have a
plan.
That's right.
Mark (23:40):
That's right.
So I hope this has been ahelpful show.
This is, I think, goodinformation.
You can always go back andre-watch it on the website
masterplanretirecom.
But any closing thoughts?
Evan (23:52):
Yeah, just go to the website.
Obviously links to more videosof our radio show, but also
retirement resources, seminarschedules, things like that.
Mark (24:01):
But come see us soon.
Okay, until we see you remember, plan well and prosper, take
care.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
This was Retirement Roadmap Radio with Mark Fricks
of Master Plan RetirementConsultants.
To schedule a complimentaryconsultation, go to
masterplanretirecom or call770-980-9262.
Thanks for listening andremember plan well and prosper.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
All matters discussed during this show are for
informational purposes only.
Each individual situation mayvary and the opinions expressed
here may not apply to everyone.
Materials presented arebelieved to be from reliable
sources and no representationscan be made as to its accuracy.
All ideas and informationshould be discussed in detail
with one of our qualifiedrepresentatives prior to
implementation.
Advisory services offered byMaster Plan Retirement
Consultants.
A registered investment advisorin the state of Georgia, Mark
Frick's and Master PlanRetirement Consultants are not
affiliated with or endorsed bythe Social Security
(24:46):
Administration or any othergovernment agency.
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