Cover of When's The Last Time You Logged Into Your 401(k) Account?

When's The Last Time You Logged Into Your 401(k) Account?

When's The Last Time You Logged Into Your 401(k) Account?

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Bill and Andy Bush open with a deceptively simple question: when was the last time you actually logged into your 401(k)? From there, they walk listeners through a practical, no-math check-up of everything worth reviewing the next time you pull up the app — your balance, your contribution rate, whether you're leaving match money on the table, Roth versus pre-tax, how you're actually invested, your rate of return, beneficiaries, and old accounts you may have left behind. Along the way they tackle the traps that quietly derail savers: settling for an auto-enrollment default, a 30-year-old sitting in a target-date fund built for someone already retired, checking your balance so often that you sabotage your own returns, and forgetting that beneficiary designations don't follow you when a plan changes record keepers. The brothers close with the "$487,000 question" — is it enough? — and a run of C-words (clarity, context, confidence, conviction) that turn a quick login into a real sense of where you stand. ⏱ Episode Timeline & Key Topics 00:10 – Welcome & the One Question Bill kicks off by asking Andy when he last logged into his 401(k). Andy's answer — last week, to check his year-to-date numbers and confirm his investments still fit — sets up the episode's theme. 01:00 – What This Episode Covers (No Math Required) The brothers lay out the plan: a walk-through of what to look for when you log in. Their suggestion to listeners — pull out your phone or laptop and follow along in real time. 01:23 – Most Logins Are Now Mobile More participants are checking balances on the app than ever. Fidelity reports a majority of logins now come from mobile, while Vanguard sits a bit lower — a reflection of how people manage money today. 01:46 – Start With Your Balance The first and most obvious thing to check. It's the number most people look at first, and it anchors everything else in the review. 01:55 – Check Your Contribution Rate A common trap: savers get excited, enroll when first eligible, then never revisit their elections. "Life happens," and the contribution rate they set years ago quietly becomes the rate they still have. 02:30 – Is Your Contribution Moving You Toward Your Goal? Andy encourages listeners to connect the contribution to the destination. If you've paid off a car loan or freed up cash, consider directing some of it into the plan. Also worth knowing: how often your plan lets you change contributions, which varies from quarterly to every pay period. 03:25 – Rules of Thumb: 50/30/20 and 10–15% The brothers revisit budgeting guidance — 50% needs, 30% wants, 20% savings — and narrow it to the widely cited 10% to 15% of income aimed at retirement, including any employer match. 03:58 – Why 15%? The Math of a 40-Year Runway Andy explains the logic behind the T. Rowe Price 15% benchmark: contribute at that rate across a full working career and you reach 65 with real options. The habit of putting money in matters as much as how it's invested. 04:44 – Don't Settle for the Auto-Enrollment Default Many plans auto-enroll new hires at 3%, 4%, or 5%. That's a starting point someone else chose for you, not a decision you made — and it's rarely enough on its own. 05:18 – Auto-Escalation: Out of Sight, Out of Mind Some plans let you automatically bump your contribution 1% a year. It works precisely because it happens in the background, nudging your savings rate up without requiring willpower each year. 05:38 – Don't Assume the Match Is the Finish Line A classic match of 50% on the first 6% means a 6% deferral gets you a 3% employer contribution. Helpful, but the brothers are blunt: it's probably not enough to get you where you want to go. 06:36 – Roth vs. Pre-Tax There's tax favorability on both sides. Younger savers in lower brackets often lean pre-tax to stretch each dollar, while the Roth choice hinges on which end of your life you'd rather take the tax benefit. Roth has been available in 401(k)s for about two decades and is now offered by the vast majority of plans — and SECURE 2.0 now requires certain high earners' catch-up contributions to be Roth. 08:25 – What Are You Actually Invested In? Some participants set an allocation 10 or 15 years ago and never looked again. Whether that's a problem depends on your age and risk tolerance, because corrections happen — and a 10% drop feels very different on $50,000 than on $500,000. 09:22 – Don't Day-Trade Your 401(k) A 401(k) is a long-term vehicle, and most menus are built on mutual funds that price once a day. The brothers cite a striking pattern: participants who log in most often tend to see worse returns than those who set it and forget it. 10:40 – Target-Date Funds and Fitting the Allocation to You Target-date funds offer a single, age-appropriate option that rebalances over time. But allocations drift, and your mix has to fit you — not your brother or your coworker. Case in ...
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