Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. This is not your father's boring personal finance show.

It’s important to get the most out of your day. But you can take the quest for productivity too far resulting in burn out. Find the productivity sweet spot. During Andrew’s recent burnout, he realized he was taking the need for productivity too far. Sometimes you just need a night vegging out in front of a video game. We’re all motivated by different things, the key is to find out what motivates you so your productivity isn’t scattered and ineffectual. External forces, internal? Are you a morning person or a night owl? Knowing what moves you is important to get moving. If you have a month to do a project does it take you a month or three days? If it takes you a month, is the whole thing done the last day of that month? Do you like a stark space or one full of clutter and color? Are you a list maker? Especially for your long term list, go through it once in awhile and make sure you still need to do all the things you wrote down. Crossing things off is satisfying but things change and still doing something just because it’s on the list is anti-productive. Make sure you focus your productivity. Every minute doesn’t have to be accounted for, that’s how your get burn out. Show Notes Better Than Before: Mastering Habits of Our Everyday Lives Patreon: Donate here to keep LMM ad free. LMM Tool Box: All the tools you need to be more productive. Featured Image Photo Credit: “Xbox One Controller” by mastermaq on Flickr

  Larry Ludwig from Investor Junkie is our guest today to explain what the Federal Reserve is, does, and why you need to know. Put simply, the Fed sets monetary policy and either adds or removes money from the system. There are twelve regional Feds across the country to help manage local banks. It was created in 1913 as a way to prevent feature economic disasters. Bit of a fail I think. The chairperson is appointed by the president but is supposed to operate independently of the government. Prior to 1971, we operated on the gold standard so the Fed made sure the amount of money matched the amount of gold. Now we operate on a “faith based” system where we rely on the government to determine the value of money. In order to help stimulate the economy after the crash, the Fed allowed banks to borrow money at 0% interest. The rate has been that low for seven years. Lowering the interest rates is meant to stimulate the economy. When rates are low, people can borrow money to buy things they couldn’t afford before. When interest rates are raised, that means that the economy is doing well and is at nearly full employment. The Fed is also tasked with keeping inflation/deflation in check. They have not always been successful but the average rate of inflation has been about 3% since the Fed’s creation. The Fed also determines how much cash banks must have in reserve. Ultimately it’s productivity that grows an economy and not slight of hand by the Fed. And a lot of economists consider all this smoke and mirrors to be merely kicking the can down the road, just delaying the next 2008 style melt down. Is the Fed good or bad? That’s up for debate. The Fed has helped pull us out of crisis but did they create the crisis in the first place? Are they creating artificial cycles? What can you do to protect yourself against the whim of the Fed? Make sure to have a good asset allocation strategy. Aside from that and repatriating, there isn’t much else you can do. It’s good to understand the Fed but ultimately, invest your money in the LMM set it and forget it style and don’t worry too much about what they are doing. Show Notes White Beer: A crisp, summer beer. Investor Junkie: Larry’s site dedicated to helping you become a better investor. The Creature from Jekyll Island: A look at the Federal Reserve. Betterment: Don’t worry about the Fed and invest your money. Patreon: Want to keep LMM ad free? Donate now!

Today we interview Benjamin Miller from Fundrise. Fundrise is a crowdsourcing site that allows anyone to invest in real estate. Real estate can be a great investment but you need some serious money to do it. Not anymore. Fundrise allows you to invest small or large amounts of money in various properties. We even wrote a full review of Fundrise – you should check it out! The commercial real estate market has outperformed other investment vehicles for the last thirty years. It would be great if we could all become commercial land lords but most of us probably don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting around. With Fundrise, you need $1,000 to open an account. They have dozens of people looking at hundreds of possible investments. Finding a good commercial real estate investment isn’t easy. Fundrise negotiates the deal and writes then check and then offers the opportunity to investors. The investment management fee ranges from .33-.50% per year. How fast can you pull your money out of Fundrise? Not as quickly as you can with something like Betterment. Their notes have an average age of two years. You don’t have to be an accredited investor to invest through Fundrise. They have worked with the SEC to open certain investments to anyone who has the $1,000 minimum. You don’t want this to be a huge part of your portfolio but as the average returns are around 13%, this type of crowd sourced investing is something to seriously consider. There isn’t a deal for investors who aren’t accredited right now but Benjamin suggests setting up an account so you can see when there is a deal that you can get in on. Show Notes Fundrise: Crowd sourced real estate investing. Fundrise Extinction: Cool subway ad! Fundrise Internet: Next to be extinct. Fundrise Jobs: Welcoming all out of work bankers. River Horse Baltic Porter: Aged in Peruvian rum barrels. Molson Canadian: It’s the NHL play offs,what else would you drink?

Yeah, backdoor Roth IRA sounds pretty badass – badass but complicated.  Many of us have tossed around the idea of having a traditions IRA or a Roth but what if you can have the best of both worlds? There are not many times in life that allow us to have our cake and also to eat it, but this is one of those times. Quick IRA Re-Cap We could do a year of shows devoted to all things IRA and there would still be questions. They are confusing so here is a bit of a refresher on the basics. IRA stands for an individual retirement account. It’s a tax-advantaged investment vehicle to save for retirement. There are several kinds, including SIMPLE, SEP, Traditional, and Roth. The last two are the ones we will be talking about today and the two that are most commonly used. Traditional IRA A traditional IRA lets you invest pre-tax income into an account that will grow tax-deferred. The money is not taxed until you withdraw it. You can withdraw funds after age 59.5. Putting money into a Traditional IRA lowers the amount of taxable income for the year you made the contribution. Not only does it lower you adjusted gross income, doing so can help you qualify for other tax breaks like student loan interest deductions or child tax credits. Roth IRA A Roth IRA is similar to a Traditional, but the money is taxed up front and not upon withdrawal after age 59.5. Roth contributions (but not earnings) can be withdrawn without penalty and tax-free at any time. After five years have elapsed after the first contribution, you are allowed to withdrawal up as much as $10,000 of the earnings penalty-free to pay for certain qualified expenses. Contribution Limits Both Traditional and Roth’s have the same contribution limits, $5,500 per year for 2016 ($6,500 if you’re aged 50 or older.) But there are income limits for high earners. If you’re single and earn over $129,000 or file jointly as a married couple and earn over than $191,000 you are forbidden to contribute to a Roth IRA entirely! Penalties Withdrawals from a Traditional are considered regular income, and if you are younger than 59.5 when you make the withdrawal, the amount you take out will be hit with an early withdrawal penalty of 10%. You can pull contributions to a Roth anytime without tax or penalty. The rules for earnings are different. If it has been less than five years since your first contribution, you may be taxed on earnings even if the funds are used for one of the exceptions described below. Exceptions The thought of locking up your money for so long puts many people off the idea of an IRA, but there are exceptions: You can use up to $10,000 from your Traditional or Roth IRA toward the purchase of your first home. You can use IRA money to pay for higher education expenses not only for yourself but also for immediate family members (your spouse, children, and grandchildren). There is no dollar limit. You can make withdrawals to pay for unreimbursed medical expenses if those expenses are more than 10% of your adjusted gross income, or to pay for health insurance premiums for you, your spouse or children during a period of unemployment. Which is Right for You? If you expect your tax rate to be the same in retirement or higher than it is now, the Roth IRA is a stronger choice. A traditional IRA makes more sense if you expect your tax rate to be lower in retirement. But what if you could have the best of both worlds? There are not many scenarios in life that allow us to have our cake and also to eat it, but the MF has figured one out when it comes to IRA’s. Why rollover 401K? The best reason to roll an old 401K into an IRA is that there are a lot of hidden fees in some 401k’s and the investment options a...

What is a robo advisor and should you use one? Larry Ludwig from Investor Junkie joins us to tell us what we need to know. A robo advisor is an on-line money management service that uses automated algorithms to give investment advice. It takes humans out of the equation. These are companies like Betterment, which was the first robo advisor, Wealthfront, and Personal Capital. They are geared towards younger people who are comfortable with transacting business on-line and are less expensive than traditional investment advisors. Robo advisors use a lot of complicated math but basically they look at past returns to determine future returns. A problem with some robo advisors is that while they’re tax efficient within their portfolio, they don’t all have an over all picture of your investments so are not tax efficient overall. A robo advisor should be easy to use and inexpensive. Larry recommends Betterment above the others. Robo advisors aren’t perfect but it’s better than just throwing your money into an account and hoping for the best. And if you are the set it and forget it type, they’re the easiest way to do that. Show Notes Son of a Peach: An American wheat ale. Investor Junkie: Larry’s site about all things investing. Betterment: The easy way to invest. Personal Capital: Invest with confidence. WiseBanyan: Free financial advisors.  

A few months ago we did an introduction to bonds episode. We wanted to get a little deeper into the topic and a listener, Eric, agreed to help us out. As you heard in the disclaimer, this is a complex topic. Stick with it though, it will all make sense by the end of the episode. There are many types of bonds but the most basic description would be, a bond is an IOU. A coupon is the interest payment and you get that on a semi-annual basis until the bond matures. At maturity, you get the face value back. A government bond is a treasury bond. These are often the benchmark that other bond rates are based on. Agency bonds are issued by government-sponsored agencies like Fannie May. Mortgage-backed securities are mortgages sold off by the mortgage lender. Corporate bonds are what many of us are familiar with. These are sold when a company needs to raise money. A municipal bond is issued by a city, town, state, or even a water company to fund expenses. Even Yankee Stadium has bonds! The yields are lower but from a tax stand point, they are a good investment. Bonds are affected by interest rates and their credit ratings. Triple A is the highest rating. Anything rated below Triple B- is considered a junk bond. Since most of our audience are buy and hold investors, we don’t need to be concerned with bond pricing on a day to day basis. You just need to be happy with the coupon payments you will receive and the credit rating of the bond. This is why Treasury bonds are a good investment for buy and holders. Phew, get all that? Show Notes Backpocket Brewing Penny Whistle: A Bavarian wheat with spice notes. Betterment: The easy way to invest.

  Obama Care has made health insurance accessible to more people but it’s confusing to navigate. Thomas will tell us his story of signing up. Having wider access to health insurance is great, but you still have to go through the process of picking a plan and signing up. If you’ve tried and given up, take heart. Thomas did it and you can too. The ACA has an open enrollment period. The next one is November 1,2015-January 31,2016. There are certain exceptions to this time period that you might be eligible for if you missed the last sign up. There are several tiers of care to choose from. The lower costs plans usually have higher deductibles so make sure you check the deductible before choosing a plan. Thomas’s father lost his coverage which is why Thomas had to strike out on his own even though he’s 23. If you are 26 or younger, you can still be covered under a parent’s policy. The cheapest option for Thomas was about $205 a month. He chose a plan that is $258 a month because of the smaller deductible. And he has dental insurance for an additional $17 a month. There are hard ship exemptions you may be eligible for so you can avoid being fined. You can also get a tax credit for buying coverage if you are self employed. We’re looking for an expert to do a really deep dive on this subject for you. We just wanted to get something out because it may not be too late for you to get signed up for coverage. Going though all this is a pain in the ass for sure but you’ll be fined if you aren’t covered and having insurance gives you peace of mind. Show Notes Betterment: The easy way to invest.

  Burnout can happen to the best of us. Even those of us at Listen Money Matters. But you can bounce back. A break and a few deep breaths and back on track. Job burn out is not uncommon. Especially for vacation deprived Americans. But we can’t all quit and go live on the beach. So we have to recover somehow. You may have noticed that LMM went from three episodes a week to one. Andrew just hit the wall to be honest. As most of you know, he works a full time job in addition to LMM. He also puts a lot of pressure on himself to get the best product he can out. Well, that is a recipe for burn out and that’s what happened. If you start to feel burn out coming on, the first step is to only do what is absolutely essential. Let the rest of it fall away. You can pick up the non-essential stuff when you get some equilibrium back. Have a cut off time, especially if you work from home. After X hour, you don’t do anything work related, no calls, no e-mails. You do something you enjoy, make dinner, go for a walk, spend time with your family. If your work is largely mental, go out and do some physical work sometimes. Chop wood, build a bookcase, rake some leaves. That kind of physical tired is so different from mental tired. It feels better and makes you sleep better. Take a vacation! Lie and say you’re going to a silent retreat and cell phones and lap top are banned. Tell them you’re studying indigenous tribes somewhere remote and there is no wi-fi. Just make something up that allows you to have an undisturbed break. The damn place won’t crumble without you. The little steps you take to head off a total melt down, will be better for you, your job, and your employer in the long term. Show Notes Ybor Brown Ale: A malt forward brown ale. Abita Purple Haze: A rasberry flavored lager. PS: Andrew is needing a bit of love you guys. Can you please take a moment and drop him an email at listenmoneymatters@gmail.com and let him know that we will riot en masse if LMM dies?

Being completely burnt out can happen to the best of us and it is not uncommon. Especially for vacation deprived Americans. But we can’t all quit and go live on the beach. So we have to recover somehow. You can bounce back. A break and a few deep breaths and back on track. We did an episode on burnout which generated a ton of emails and still does. Many of you have suffered or are suffering burnout yourselves. What can we do about it and what can we do to prevent it in the future? What Is Burnout? “Burnout is a psychological term that refers to long-term exhaustion and diminished interest in work.” That’s the technical definition. In real speak, “fed up with this shit!”  The Symptoms Do you know the difference between being physically tired versus mentally tired? I’m a big fan of physically tired. Being tired from a long hike, a good run, helping your best friend move out of their fifth-floor walk up. That kind of tired quiets the mind and lets you sleep like a baby. Mentally tired sucks and it’s the kind of tired that being burnt out produces. When you’re mentally tired, your brain won’t shut up. It’s the kind of tired that won’t allow your thoughts to stop long enough to let you rest. Being burnt out can also result in cynicism and detachment. “This job sucks. Things will never get better.” “Nothing I do makes any difference.” “This job creates nothing of value in the world. I sit at a desk eight-plus hours a day and don’t engage my brain at all.” Hard to find motivation with those kinds of thoughts ringing in your head. Being burnt out sucks the meaning and engagement out of work life. The Causes When the economy tanked in 2007-8, many employers began laying off workers. Those lucky enough not to lose their jobs now were expected to do the work of two, sometimes more, people. And they did it and did it without complaint lest they be next. By mid-2014, all 8.7 million jobs lost were replaced. But in the interim, a lot of people got burnt out. During that time, people felt a lack of control. They felt they had no control over things like scheduling, what assignments they got, the amount of work they were now expected to make up in the face of layoffs. Because people were now expected to take on work once handled by someone else, expectations were unclear. And if you had a question about how to do something, there was no one to ask. The person that used to do it was long gone. Workplace dynamics weren’t exactly pleasant either. If it was you or the guy next to you, you would be looking for any reason to throw him under the bus and he was doing the same to you. Not exactly a healthy, supportive environment in which to spend eight or more hours a day. Where Does It Happen? Well, work is the most likely spot but not the only place it can happen. Even stuff you normally enjoy can burn you out if you do too much of it. I had a friend who liked playing soccer in the organized leagues in the city. He was a keeper and a pretty good one. Eventually, people he played with who also played on other teams, started calling him when they needed a ringer for a playoff game or when the regular keeper couldn’t make it. Eventually, he got sick of playing soccer, something that had once been an enjoyable pass time. Or those parents, usually mothers, who get sick of doing everything around the house and go on strike. They refuse to cook, clean, or do laundry until they get some help. Usually, they fold because a house full of kids can stand dirt, smelly clothes,

Today we’re answering listener questions. Student loans, home equity loans, over paying your mortgage and a day in the life of a data engineer. We love to answer your questions on the podcast. If you are wondering, odds are someone else in the audience would like to know too. 1. I miscalculated and took out too much in student loans. Should I pay it back right away? Yes, pay it back if you don’t need it. Pay off the higher interest rate loan first. 2. Should I take out a home equity loan to pay for roof repairs? Yes, a home equity loan will have a lower interest rate than a personal loan or heaven forbid, putting it on a credit card. 3. Should we use Betterment as a savings account for a down payment, to bulk pay student or car loans, and as a place to keep a 3-6 month emergency fund? If you’re going buy a house in less than five years, no. Yes to the loans again applying the five year rule. Yes to keeping your emergency fund there. 4. How to allocate extra money to mortgage payments versus to a retirement fund or emergency fund? It’s almost never best to over pay the mortgage. It’s better to throw extra at the retirement account. If you do want to pay extra to the mortgage, pay more than once a month to cut down on the interest you pay. 5. What’s a typical day for a data engineer? Data engineer is a niche job so it commands good money. Andrew has an undergrad in info technology. He pulls data from various sources, builds warehouses to store it, and gathers insight from the culled data. He goes to lots of meetings. Show Notes Betterment: The easy way to invest. Patreon: Help support LMM.  

Balance is important in all aspects of life, including your financial portfolio. Find out what well-balanced means when it comes to your portfolio. What makes up a well-balanced portfolio? Andrew breaks it down for us. Part of it depends on your age. The younger you are, the more risk you can afford. Diversity is important too. Many Americans have the majority of their wealth locked up in their home. Owning stocks and having retirement accounts is important too. If your employer offers any matching, take it. Even if you have debt, it’s free money! Have some money invested internationally. Vanguard’s International Developed Market ETF can get you there. US investments only account for one-third of the world’s market so by only investing in US companies, you’re missing out on the rest of the world. Never spend more than one-third of your take-home pay on rent. The same percentage goes for owning a home. The home you live in should not account for more than one-third of your wealth. If you like to buy individual stocks, one company should never make up more than 10% of your investments. Make sure you have an emergency fund. Six months of expenses is the gold standard but get something together if you can’t manage that just yet. Keep 6-8 weeks expenses in a checking account. Any start into investing is a good start. Once you have a handle on what you’re doing, make sure you follow these tips to help perfect your portfolio. Show Notes Personal Capital: The investing version of Mint. LMM Ultimate Investment Strategy: Andrew lays out a blueprint for you.

  Today we break down listener Sylvain’s financial life. What is he doing right, what is he doing wrong, and what could he be doing better? Our This Financial Life series is back. One of our listeners lays out his financial picture for us and we critique it. Sylvain immigrated to the US from France in 2009. He does not have student loan debt because education is heavily subsidized in France. He’s now a permanent resident working for a private company. He currently lives in the Berkeley area which is expensive. Sylvain and his wife bring in about $7,000 a month and spend between $4-5,000. They share a credit card, split the bills, have $10,000 each in an emergency fund and are saving for a home. They expect to spend about $500,000 to buy a place. The money they are saving toward a home is invested currently. They discuss finances once a month. Sylvain was leery of getting a credit card but wanted to build credit in the US. He only uses it when he has the cash to pay it off immediately which is how we should all use our cards. He has a 401K which he plans to use to fund his retirement. Sylvain is doing well. His family has an emergency fund, they pay off their credit cards every month, have their savings invested and have a retirement account. And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to start packing for France. A few of you probably had the thought too. Show Notes Patreon: Help support LMM Betterment: The easy way to invest. Mint: Start tracking your spending today.

  We haven’t done a five questions for awhile. Today it’s back! Andrew and Thomas answer five questions submitted by our listeners. Today we answer questions about bonds, interest rates, and one of our favorite subjects, retirement. 1.  If you’re young and looking to grow wealth, why bother have 10 or even 5% invested in bonds? If you’re in your early 20’s, go ahead and go 100% stocks. As you get closer to retirement, you move more to bonds. This is what a life cycle fund does for you. 2.  Am I going to incur a lot of fees if I take money in and out of my Betterment account frequently?  When you pull money out, Betterment will let you know the tax implications of doing so. That’s one of the reasons we tell you to buy and hold. But even with the taxes, you will almost always make more in Betterment than making dick interest in a savings account. The bigger question is why Joe is not leaving that money alone. 3.  Wouldn’t it be beneficial to have a traditional IRA for your working life, retire, wait a year, and then withdraw the money?  Yes, your tax rate will be lower after retirement. You can even start slowing converting to a Roth. 4.  How does the Fed lowering or raising interest rates affect me?  Banks offer us loans with interest rates that are based on the Fed rate. The higher the Fed sets it, the higher the interest rate the banks will charge us to borrow money. 5.  I have unvested stock options. What are the implications of exercising them before the IPO?  It depends on the price. You could clean up or you could end up under water. The most important thing to consider is the taxes. Thanks everyone for sending in your questions! Show Notes Patreon: Help support LMM Keegan Ales Hurricane Kitty: An India pale ale. Betterment: The smart way to invest. PS:  Gawd, PF nerds don’t know who Vince Lombardi is! Embarrasing.

There is $1.2 trillion of outstanding student loan debt in the US; the average balance is $29,000. Interest rates vary widely for student loans, but if you have a loan with an interest rate of 6-8%, that is too damn high! Are you one of the 40 million Americans struggling with student loan debt? Let’s talk about how you can start paying off student loan debt, faster. Drowning in Debt There is $1.2 trillion of outstanding student loan debt in the US; the average balance is $29,000. Interest rates vary widely for student loans, but if you have a loan with an interest rate of 6-8%, that is too damn high! We want to help you start paying off student loan debt, faster. You also may have several different loans that you have to keep track of. If you are in either or both of these situations, you should consider refinancing those loans. Refinancing loans means you save money by lowering your interest rate, and we have learned that the two most expensive things in life and interest and taxes. The less we can pay in both, the more money we have and the more money we have, the faster we can achieve financial freedom. SoFi SoFi specializes in refinancing and consolidating student loans. They offer two choices; fixed rate and variable rates. Fixed rate loans have, well, fixed rates. The interest rate doesn’t change during the fixed rate period of the loan. This makes it easy to budget in your loan payment because you know the amount you owe each month will remain constant. SoFi offers fixed rates starting at 3.50%. Variable rate loans have an interest rate that changes with the prevailing interest rate. Variable rates are usually based on changes to a well-known index. SoFi uses the one month LIBOR. This means your rate can change monthly which makes it harder to plan into your budget. The upside to this type of loan is that the rates can be very low, starting as low as 2.14%. There is a cap on how high that rate can go, though. SoFi caps the rate for student loans at 8.95 or 9.95%, depending on the term. Which option should you choose? That 2.14% is pretty tempting. If you’re a high earner who has a lot of extra cash to throw at the loan, the variable rate might be your choice. You can pay down a big chunk of the loan while the interest rate is low so even if it rises, you will still have saved money because you shortened the length of the loan and paid a lot of it off while the rate was low. If you don’t like uncertainty or are going to need several years to pay off your loans, then stick with fixed rate. Loan consolidation means combining multiple loans into one loan from a single lender. Consolidating just makes life easier. You have one lender and one loan to deal with and keep track of. The more your finances are spread around, the easier it is to let something slip through the cracks which can cost you money and damage your credit. Better Rates and Better Service Typically when you refinance your student loans, you get approved, and the lender doesn’t expect to hear from you again unless it’s via check (or auto pay). But that’s not the case at SoFi. If you lose your job through no fault of your own, you can apply for SoFi’s Unemployment Protection Program. SoFi will put your loans into forbearance for up to one year over the life of the loan in increments of three months at a time. SoFi also provides one-on-one career counseling, interviewing and negotiation strategies, and help with resumes and managing your online presence. Proceed with Caution While SoFi offers some great perks, there is a possible downside to refinancing student loans, and not just with SoFi, but with any lender. If you have a federal student loan, there are several programs that you can take ad...

We are anti-fee at LMM whether they be bank fees, credit card fees, or investing fees. Uri Levine from FeeX joins us to discuss avoiding investing fees. You probably go out of your way to avoid having to pay a $3 ATM fee but you might be losing much, much more than a few dollars through investing fees. Americans pay $600 billion in investing fees every year. That is 4% of the Gross Domestic Product! On an individual basis, you lose about one third of your retirement money to these fees over time. Types Of Fees Expense Ratio: This fee is charged for mutual funds, ETF’s and no-load funds.  Expense ratio is what it costs an investment company to operate a mutual fund. Expense ratio is determined by a yearly calculation. The fund’s operating expenses are divided by the average dollar value of its assets under management. Operating expenses are taken out of a fund’s assets and lower the return to a fund’s investors. Plan Fee: If you have a 401(k), the provider may be charging you a plan fee for the privilege of holding your money. Your bank is already doing that! Advisory Fee: If you use a financial advisor, you’ll be charged a percentage fee. This is often negotiable. Real Dollars You might know what percentage you are paying but how much is that in real dollars? The average actively managed fund charges 1.25%. That doesn’t sound like much but over time, it adds up. It adds up to a lot. If you invest $100,000 in a fund with a 1% annual fee, which is less than average, it will cost you nearly $28,000 over twenty years, according to Securities and Exchange Commission calculations. If you had that $28,000 to invest, you would have earned another $12,000. How To Pay Fewer Fees Tailored investing advice is expensive. It might seem like paying a “highly trained expert” would guarantee higher returns than all those slobs who can’t afford an advisor are getting but a big chunk of those returns will be eaten up by fees and commissions. Under 1% is a good percentage to look for and you’ll find fees that low and lower with Index Funds and ETF’s. The average traditional index fund has a fee of 0.74% and the average ETF fee is 0.44%. Vanguard’s lowest fee fund is the Vanguard 500. The fee is 0.17%. Betterment charges a fee of 0.35% on the first $10,000 invested. If you’re choosing funds through your employer, it’s likely that no one in your HR department is an expert investment advisor so don’t count on them to explain the fees to you or even know what you’re talking about. Read the prospectus of each choice. That’s where you’ll find information about the fees charged. If you don’t like what you see, do some research on your own to find a fund with better fees and suggest it be included in the choices. FeeX As the saying goes, if you want something done right, or in the case, fairly, you’ll have to do it yourself. Uri was once charged thousands of dollars in fees on a retirement account. After lots of phone calls and time wasted on hold, he got the fees waived. But it made him wonder how many other people were being charged fees and if they were even aware of it. So he did the only logical thing; started a company to help root out those hidden fees and find alternatives. That’s when FeeX was born. FeeX will analyze your investments to uncover where you are paying fees and how much you’re paying. They will then find you cheaper alternatives with the same asset allocation.