In the most recent episode, the fine folks at 403bwise.org asks the question, “Why are most 403b options bad or terrible?” Answer – Fees, hidden costs, and surrender fees that enrich the insurance companies, and take the hard earned money from teachers.
Teachers are pretty much on their own when navigating their 403b/457b selection, the school district, union, and regulatory authorities typically do little or nothing to protect teachers from being sold terrible 403b’s. There is no fiduciary requirement when selling teachers these products, unlike other retirement plans such as 401k which require the best interest of the employee be considered when recommending investment advise.
So, how can teachers protect themselves? Education of course! There are resources available to teachers to help them navigate their retirement. But how to find them? A great place to start is at 403bwise.org. There teachers can find information about 403b resources, links to the 403bwise Facebook Group, and contact information for individuals willing to help teachers get the help they need to plan and invest for their best retirement. Best of all, the help teachers get from the 403bwise is totally free. Why are they doing all of this great work for free, because they are teachers, former teachers, or like me, married to teachers.
If you are a teacher in Ohio, please reach out to me, I am willing to help you with your questions. I don’t charge anything for my help, and I don’t sell any investment products or give specific advise about investments. I did write a book for Ohio teachers, and if you are interested in reading it, you can find it here. However, you need not buy the book to talk with me. Please contact me through this website, or on Facebook through my page.