Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Par tech 401 K retirement plan: Online chat | My lessons learned

Dec. 8, 2021

Introduction

I did not spend any time ( less than 60 minutes) from 2010 to 2018 related to my 401 K plan with par tech. I found out my mistake until November 2018, and I missed SPX 500 gain 300% from 2007 to 2018, and my account has balance around $8000 dollars with annual gain 1% from 2007 to 2018, and I learned that it is life and we all live once, and we have to live and learn, and share with others to build a good community around us. 

My chat | Message center | Charles Schwabs  

Chat Started

11:41 AM
Getting Connected
11:41 AM
RPS Team Connected
11:41 AM

12/8/2021 Schwab Retirement Plan Services, Inc. provides recordkeeping and related services with respect to retirement plans and has provided this communication to you as part of the recordkeeping services it provides to the Plan. Trust, custody, and deposit products and services are available through Charles Schwab Bank. ‎2020© Schwab Retirement Plan Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

11:41 AM
Kelley W Connected
11:41 AM

Hi Jianmin, how are you today?

11:41 AM
very good.
11:41 AM

Good to hear! I see you have some questions about the advisory fee on the plan, is that correct?

11:42 AM
Yes.
11:42 AM

So what exactly is your question about that advisory fee?

11:42 AM
I do not have to pay fee before, but last 12 months the fee came out. What is the trigger for this fee? How to avoid if possible?
11:43 AM

Let me take a look and see when that fee changed and the plan started implementing it.

11:44 AM
Sure.
11:45 AM

Ok, so it looks like a notice was sent out on 2/27/2020 that the fee structure of the plan had changed and was effective as of 4/1/2020.

11:49 AM
So can I make the change, invest once a year instead of multiple times and pay advisory fee multiple times.
11:51 AM

The overall reason for the fee change was for transparency. Fee had always been paid by the plan participant, but in a different manner. As of 4/1/2020 there is a separate recordkeeping and investment advisory fee which is charged to your account. But there is also a credit back into your account for any funds you're invested in that may result in revenue sharing.

11:51 AM
I mean those dividends are got charge so many times.
11:51 AM

The changes are for all plan participants and you are unable to reduce or eliminate those fees.

11:52 AM
I mean that there is option to leave dividend not invested, so that dividends can be kept in money market first, if needed, I will make purchase manually.
11:53 AM

So whenever you see an Investment Expense Reimbursement, that is the fund giving you money back for expenses. Before you didn't see that on your account as it just reduced the fee. Now you see how those reimbursements and the fee.

I am not sure I understand you question about leaving dividends uninvested.

All dividends are invested into the fund they originated from, there is not a way to change that within the 401k.

11:54 AM
I see. I also noticed that I have small balances for a few funds, less than $10 dollars, how can I clean those funds and avoid fee?
11:55 AM

So there are no fees associated with placing investment transactions on the account. You can place a rebalance or you can place individual transfers from those funds with residual balances into another fund.

11:58 AM
Thank you for the answer.
How many times I can do rebalance in a year?
11:58 AM

There are no limits on rebalances, but there are 3 funds that have trading restrictions. Meaning if you sell out of them you will not be able to do a rebalance or transfer back into those funds for 30 days. So if one of these restrictions is triggered you will not be able to rebalance the account until that restriction is lifted. You can place individual transfers into other funds during that time though if you want to make changes to your investments.

12:00 PM
Just double check: advisory fee will get reimbursed based on your following statement:
So whenever you see an Investment Expense Reimbursement, that is the fund giving you money back for expenses. Before you didn't see that on your account as it just reduced the fee. Now you see how those reimbursements and the fee.
12:01 PM

Yes that is right. You will now see those fees and reimbursements on the account whereas before you did not.

12:03 PM
Do you know how often the reimbursement will happen? How many times in a year? I did see once but I forgot without your remind.
12:04 PM

Based off the account history it is likely this will occur quarterly as that is when plan fees are applied the your account.

12:05 PM

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