Orange Alert on your 401k!

[Lear70]

Usually I just let my 401k paperwork drift across towards the filing cabinet seeing enogh 4's, 5's, and 6% per quarter runs always makes me smil so I pass them along. These kind of 24% to 28% per year returns weren't my brilliant brain child, but rather friends of many of us here at Pinnacle chasing that love of flying in a 2nd career.

However, suddenly at Cynnical airlines we were forced to do business wth a new 401k provider who was supposed to aswer all out question, and boy did we? You betcha; almost every question required a phone call to the person who should OBVIOUSLY been at the meeting themselves, and even after all that, we have... nothing. No real control, it's all loocked out as of now. What funds you hae will go into "similar funds of type", meaning that if your cautious they'll put you into cautious. If you're aggessive (as most pilots are) you go for the higher return on your investment. Sad to say, that's not how it went down.

I'm certain every other airline's 401k is doing just as bad (and outside the aviation sector as well). I also know that we have a lot of people in the Flightinfo community who used to do other things, namely finance, so I ask the following:

Will someone with some serious financial background who is currently an airline pilot and as such will have not only the information but the proper knowledge of how to best apply that knowledge PLEASE HELP US to make sure our 401k's are proberly set up and best maintained??!!

 

[BEXFlyer]

Put down the glue, man.

 

[wood pecker]

Avoid Primerica unless you want every answer to be - buy our life insurance, look at how happy your wife and kids will be. Check ripp off report.com for other stories. If you do hire a Financial advisor check credentials. The Primerica guy is not a financial advisor. Their card even states - independent representative for Primerica life insurance company. They are similar to a "pyramid scam" looking to feast on your friends.

 

[rudderdog]

Are they actually using Primerica as a 401k provider?

 

[Lear70]

That's the biggest problem we're running into. We were using Mass Mutual and although their people were somewhat helpful, but most of our really good advice came from guys I flew with regularly.

Now we're running into the same deal where the new company we've switched to is pushing funds they must have some vested interest in (the mix of stocks in each fund is absolutely abyssmal - they stocks that comprise each fund seem to work against each other at times...?

Also, the last company made professional financial counselors available from outside the company at little or no charge; the new one hasn't and quite frankly, I haven't educated myself enough to get really good at investing and don't make enough to hire a professional investment counselor just for 401k crap.

Hence the request for any of our more business-oriented professionals who haunt the board to point those of us in the same boat in the right direction.

 

[Redneck]

Obligatory Disclaimer- I am not a financial advisor and this is my personal opinion

I Like Dodge and Cox Balanced. It doesnt have anything fancy about it, but is been around since 1931 and for the last 10 years has been beaten the S&P500 by about a percent and a half, with about half the volatility, and you dont pay much of a premium in expenses, its no load with only a .54% expense ratio, compared to Vanguards S&P index fund at .18%.
http://quicktake.morningstar.com/Fund/Snapshot.asp?Country=USA&Symbol=DODBX

 

[Bandit60]

If you are relatively young don't be worried about the performance of you 401k right now. Remember you are trying to do dollar cost averaging. In fact, it is not a bad thing that the funds are down right now. This means for every dollar you put in you are going to get more shares. Hopefully 10-20 years down the road the funds will be much higher than today and you will be sitting pretty.

Maybe you should watch your 401k so much if it is going to give you heart attacks every day

 

[PHX767]

Slow down there, wood pecker

I am a Primerica representative as my side business. It's a good, and honest business. Citigroup is the parent company.

First of all, the 401k's and all registered securities business is through Smith Barney.

The standard method of getting new business is through referrals. If the client getting the FREE financial needs analysis does not provide any referralls, so be it. In this day of the no call lists, that's about the only way to get business with having seminars, which I still do occaisionally.

Not everyone needs insurance. Some need none at all. It's based on a formula called DIME for simplicity. A LOT of people are woefully underinsured. Insurance is a gamble. You hope you win by staying alive to the actuarial age. If you don't, the insurance company pays and your beneficiaries win.

There are about 8 financial tools that I have available. Nobody needs all 8.

Having said that, a lot of representatives seem to have been to aggressive sales boy class. That's unfortunate. I believe in the low key, fact based approach. It works. Also, this type of business seems to thrive on attempting to build by recruiting more sales people. I haven't recruited one person and I am doing a modest amount of income.

Sorry you had a bad experience, but please don't run a company down because of one over zealous representative. A while back, I had an agent from a competing company try a sales pitch that was totally out of line. Unbelievable.
Goes to show you that all marketing companies get this syndrome. Any of your friends do Amway? They really come on strong.

BTW, I did a search of Primerica on the rippoff.com site and all I got was some general info.

Take care,
phx