Thrive Wealth http://thrivewealth.com/blog Building Wealth Begins Now Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:12:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 en The Best 401(k) Plans http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3946 http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3946#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:12:12 +0000 admin http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3946 As a followup to my earlier post about the worst 401(k) plans, here’s a look at Business Week’s list of the best 401(k) plans. Once again, these were rated based on criteria like participation rate, default rate, fees, and employer match. The full list includes fifty plans. I’ve listed below the twenty best 401(k) plans.

Twenty Best 401(k) Plans

  1. Saudi Arabian Oil
  2. Bank of New York Mellon
  3. Greenwich Capital Markets
  4. Southwest Airlines
  5. Piper Jaffray
  6. Nucor
  7. FedEx
  8. Amgen
  9. McDermott Will & Emery
  10. Chevron
  11. Mosaic
  12. Exxon Mobil
  13. ConocoPhillips
  14. Hercules
  15. Latham & Watkins
  16. Sun Microsystems
  17. Pfizer
  18. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals
  19. MBIA
  20. Church & Dwight

Once again, plans were rated on a wide variety of factors, including participation rate, default rate, fees, and employer match. While the inclusion of participation rate might introduce a bias for or against certain types of employers, I’d still rather see my plan on this list as compared to the other one.

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]]> http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=3946 The Worst 401(k) Plans http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3945 http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3945#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:12:12 +0000 admin http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3945 Curious as to how your 401(k) plan compares to others? Business Week just published a list of the worst 401(k) plans based on criteria such as participation rate, default rate, fees, and employer match (see also “The Best 401(k) Plans). The full list includes fifty plans. I’ve listed the twenty worst plans below.

  1. Darden Restaurants
  2. Big Lots
  3. RadioShack
  4. Zale
  5. Compass Group USA
  6. Bob Evans Farms
  7. MPS Group
  8. O’Reilly Automotive
  9. Best Buy
  10. Pep Boys
  11. CSK Auto
  12. Lowe’s
  13. Whole Foods Market
  14. Bon-Ton Stores
  15. Safeway
  16. Northrop Grumman
  17. AutoNation
  18. Penske Automotive Group
  19. TCF Financial
  20. OfficeMax

The full list is heavily populated with restaurant chains and retailers. Other notable names include Borders, Kohls, Walmart, Burger King, Target, JC Penney, and Home Depot. Is your employer listed?

Oh, and here’s a bit of 401(k) trivia for you… Total 401(k) holdings across the United States stood at $3 trillion at the end of 2007. Fast forward one year to the end of 2008, and… Poof. $2.4 trillion. That’s $600B that just evaporated.

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]]> http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=3945 Free Money from Lending Club - $25 Signup Bonus http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3944 http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3944#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:12:12 +0000 admin http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3944 The good folks at Lending Club have offered to provide FCN readers with a $25 signup bonus* just for opening a Lending Club account. As you might recall, I recently gave away $100 to one lucky Lending Club account holder. This time around, there’s something for everyone!

Here’s how it works…

1. Visit Lending Club using a link in this post
2. Open and activate a lender account
3. The $25 will be automatically deposited in your account shortly

That’s it. You can then lend the money out and start earning interest. Note that there are some eligibility requirements for opening a Lending Club account (must be 18, certain states excluded, etc.), but those should quickly become apparent when you click through.

*Note: The signup page won’t say anything about the bonus, but they’ll be able to track and credit you using the special link in this post.

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]]> http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=3944 The Best Car Makers - 2009 Edition http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3943 http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3943#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:12:12 +0000 admin http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3943 Consumer Reports just published their Annual Auto Issue, and guess what?

“The best vehicles are built by Honda, Subaru, and Toyota. They make well-rounded cars that excel across the board…”

That’s not to say that every model made by these companies is highly recommended. In fact, the Honda Element, Toyota Yaris, and Toyota FJ Cruiser scored low enough that they weren’t recommended.

Amongst domestic automakers, Ford came out on top. However, they were only the 12th best carmaker out of the 15 under consideration. Suzuki, General Motors, and Chrysler brought up the rear (in that order).

This is what CR has to say about Chrysler:

“Overall reliability of Chrysler vehicles, which was average last year, dropped to below average this year. No Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep vehicles are recommended.”

Yes, you read that right… Consumer Reports doesn’t recommend a single Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep model. Ouch.

What about GM’s claim that they build 19 cars that get at least 30 mpg on the highway? That’s technically true, but those cars are “a relatively low percentage of [their] fleet.” Moreover, CR has found that “even non-SUVs from Detroit tend to have among the worst fuel economy in their class.”

The good news for GM is that their newest models actually performed reasonably well in CR’s testing, though their reliability still lags behind the competition. Similarly, Ford has some models that do quite well, but most fall somewhere in the middle of the pack. And Chrysler? Well…

“Most models… have noisy, inefficient, unrefined powertrains; subpar interiors; and poor visibility.”

It’s hard to believe, but they’ve actually gotten worse since last year, when they tied for last place with Suzuki.

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]]> http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=3943 Weekly Roundup - Witless Edition http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3942 http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3942#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:12:11 +0000 admin http://thrivewealth.com/blog/?p=3942 While I’d love to write some sort of witty introduction to my link roundup, I just don’t have it in me tonight. Instead, let’s just get to the links. What follows is a list of twelve recent articles that caught my eye.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that two of my fellow bloggers, Jim and JD, have started an internet radio show called The Personal Finance Hour. It’s currently scheduled for Monday evenings at 6PM Eastern, though they’re hoping to get a better time slot if they can build a large enough following.

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