401(k) Investing: How to Pick the Best Funds

Updated
401(k) Investing: How to Pick the Best Funds

Being smart with your retirement investing is the key to financial security. But many investors don't know how to choose the best funds from their 401(k) plans. What should you look for?

In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, talks about how to pick the best funds in your 401(k). Dan notes that most companies have limited options for investing in retirement accounts, forcing you to make some tough choices. But Dan suggests focusing on low costs, avoiding expensive fund options in favor of simple solutions like index funds or ETFs such as the SPDR S&P 500 and Vanguard Total Stock if they're available. Dan also advises that you look to see if your 401(k) has a brokerage option that gives you the opportunity to buy individual stocks, but you should also be wary of extra costs involved with the brokerage option compared with the discount brokers you're familiar with. Dan concludes that you can usually find good options in your 401(k), even if they're more limited than you'd prefer.

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The article 401(k) Investing: How to Pick the Best Funds originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Dan Caplinger and The Motley Fool have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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