Navigating Your 401(K) Switch: A Guide To Investment Changes

Changing the weight of different asset classes in your portfolio is a practice known as rebalancing, but you can also change your investments without rebalancing. Making investment changes on your 401(k) can be done entirely online, and takes only a few steps. Making changes to your 401(k) portfolio can help you make sure that your retirement savings are in line with your unique situation and financial goals. Before making changes to your investment account, make sure you’ve considered all of the investment options in your 401(k) plan.

Rebalancing - changing asset class weight in your portfolio

Rebalancing is the practice of changing the weight of different asset classes in your portfolio. Financial planning experts suggest that investors should be more aggressive when you have a long investment horizon until retirement, as this will allow you to ride out market volatility and increase your potential for higher returns. However, as you approach retirement, you should be increasingly conservative to protect what you've gained.

Rebalancing can be done by changing future allocations, which is a less precise method as it will be difficult to land on the exact allocation desired. There may also be delays in when your allocation request is processed by your broker, and once your allocation is corrected, you'll need to change it back to the actual desired allocation.

If you want to rebalance your portfolio, you can do so by changing your allocation for your next pay period. For example, if you have a $21,000 portfolio and want to get back to 75% equities/25% bonds, you can rebalance by changing your allocation for your next pay period.

It's important to make investment decisions based on both your short-term financial situation and your longer-term investment horizon. For example, as you move through your career and approach retirement age, you may want to choose less risky asset classes, such as those heavier in bonds, in order to protect the returns you’ve seen and avoid undue losses. On the other hand, if you’ve noticed that your account isn’t growing at the rate you’d like, and you still have a long investment horizon (i.e., won’t be retiring for a decade or longer), it may make more sense to lean into stocks and other asset classes that could increase your overall investment performance and allow you to see greater returns over time.

To view the investments available in your 401(k) and make changes to your investments, follow these steps on NetBenefits.com after you log in. Find your Retirement Plan and click “Quick Links”. You may also consider contacting your 401(k) team by phone for questions about your specific plan and alternatives which may be available to you.

Investment options - consider all investment options in your 401(k) plan

When making investment decisions, it is important to consider both your short-term financial situation and your longer-term investment horizon. For example, as you move through your career and approach retirement age, you may want to choose less risky asset classes, such as those heavier in bonds, in order to protect the returns you’ve seen and avoid undue losses. On the other hand, if you’ve noticed that your account isn’t growing at the rate you’d like, and you still have a long investment horizon (i.e., won’t be retiring for a decade or longer), it may make more sense to lean into stocks and other asset classes that could increase your overall investment performance and allow you to see greater returns over time.

Rebalancing your portfolio is a way to change the weight of different asset classes in your portfolio. This can be done by changing future allocations instead of rebalancing slower and lazier. This is a much less precise method of rebalancing a 401(k), as it will be very difficult to land on the exact allocation desired. In addition, there may be delays in when your allocation request is processed by your broker; once your allocation is corrected, you'll need to change it back to the actual desired allocation.

Making investment changes on your Fidelity 401(k) can be done entirely online, and takes only a few steps. Making changes to your Fidelity 401(k) portfolio can help you make sure that your retirement savings are in line with your unique situation and financial goals. As a general principle, financial planning experts suggest investors should be: more aggressive when you have a long investment horizon until retirement, because you’ll be able to ride out market volatility to increase your potential for higher returns; increasingly conservative as you approach retirement, to protect what you’ve gained.

To view the investments available in your 401(k) and make changes to your investments, follow these steps on NetBenefits.com after you log in. Find your Retirement Plan and click “Quick Links”. You may also consider contacting your 401(k) team by phone for questions about your specific plan and alternatives which may be available to you.

In companies that don’t offer automatic enrollment as an option, employees will need to work with their HR department and retirement plan provider to get their 401(k) set up. Participants need to decide how much they want to contribute and they may need to choose their investments. They can also opt to take advantage of autopilot settings, and can roll over a 401(k) from a past job into their new one.

Auto-pilot settings - opt for autopilot settings to make changes easier

If you want to change your 401(k) investments, you can opt for autopilot settings to make the process easier. You can roll over a 401(k) from a past job into your new one and decide how much you want to contribute.

Rebalancing is a way to change the weight of different asset classes in your portfolio. This is a less precise method of rebalancing a 401(k), as it will be very difficult to land on the exact allocation desired. There may be delays in when your allocation request is processed by your broker; once your allocation is corrected, you'll need to change it back to the actual desired allocation.

Before making changes to your investment account, make sure you’ve considered all of the investment options in your 401(k) plan. Financial planning experts suggest investors should be more aggressive when you have a long investment horizon until retirement, because you’ll be able to ride out market volatility to increase your potential for higher returns. As you approach retirement, you should be increasingly conservative to protect what you’ve gained.

As you move through your career and approach retirement age, you may want to choose less risky asset classes, such as those heavier in bonds, in order to protect the returns you’ve seen and avoid undue losses. On the other hand, if you’ve noticed that your account isn’t growing at the rate you’d like, and you still have a long investment horizon (i.e., won’t be retiring for a decade or longer), it may make more sense to lean into stocks and other asset classes that could increase your overall investment performance and allow you to see greater returns over time.

Making investment changes on your Fidelity 401(k) can be done entirely online, and takes only a few steps.

Retirement planning - view investments and make changes on NetBenefits.com

To view the investments available in your 401(k) and make changes to your investments, follow these steps on NetBenefits.com after you log in. Find your Retirement Plan and click “Quick Links”. Click the “Manage Investments” tile, which will take you to the “Change Investments” tab on the NetBenefits website.

RPB’s retirement plan includes three tiers of funds, which offer participants varying levels of involvement and effort in their retirement investment decisions. You can click any of the investments from the Investment Performance & Research page to see more details. Fund fact sheets are produced by Morningstar and available by clicking on the fund name on the NetBenefits website or going to RPB.org/factsheets.

Before making changes to your investment account, make sure you’ve considered all of the investment options in your 401(k) plan. Making investment changes on your Fidelity 401(k) can be done entirely online, and takes only a few steps. Making changes to your Fidelity 401(k) portfolio can help you make sure that your retirement savings are in line with your unique situation and financial goals.

As a general principle, financial planning experts suggest investors should be: more aggressive when you have a long investment horizon until retirement, because you’ll be able to ride out market volatility to increase your potential for higher returns; increasingly conservative as you approach retirement, to protect what you’ve gained.

It’s important to make investment decisions based on both your short-term financial situation—and your longer-term investment horizon. For example, as you move through your career and approach retirement age, you may want to choose less risky asset classes, such as those heavier in bonds, in order to protect the returns you’ve seen and avoid undue losses. On the other hand, if you’ve noticed that your account isn’t growing at the rate you’d like, and you still have a long investment horizon (i.e., won’t be retiring for a decade or longer), it may make more sense to lean into stocks and other asset classes that could increase your overall investment performance and allow you to see greater returns over time.

Financial goals - make changes to your portfolio to align with your financial goals

Making investment changes on your 401(k) can be done entirely online and takes only a few steps. Changing the weight of different asset classes in your portfolio is a practice known as rebalancing—but you can also change your investments without rebalancing. Making changes to your 401(k) portfolio can help you make sure that your retirement savings are in line with your unique situation and financial goals.

As a general principle, financial planning experts suggest investors should be more aggressive when you have a long investment horizon until retirement, because you’ll be able to ride out market volatility to increase your potential for higher returns. Increasingly conservative as you approach retirement, to protect what you’ve gained. Before making changes to your investment account, make sure you’ve considered all of the investment options in your 401(k) plan.

Participants need to decide how much they want to contribute and they may need to choose their investments. They can also opt to take advantage of autopilot settings, and can roll over a 401(k) from a past job into their new one.

It’s important to make investment decisions based on both your short-term financial situation—and your longer-term investment horizon. For example, as you move through your career and approach retirement age, you may want to choose less risky asset classes, such as those heavier in bonds, in order to protect the returns you’ve seen and avoid undue losses. On the other hand, if you’ve noticed that your account isn’t growing at the rate you’d like, and you still have a long investment horizon (i.e., won’t be retiring for a decade or longer), it may make more sense to lean into stocks and other asset classes that could increase your overall investment performance and allow you to see greater returns over time.

Investors willing to rebalance their portfolio slower (and maybe a little lazier) can do so by changing future allocations instead. This is a much less precise method of rebalancing a 401(k), as it will be very difficult to land on the exact allocation desired. In addition, there may be delays in when your allocation request is processed by your broker; once your allocation is corrected, you'll need to change it back to the actual desired allocation.

Frequently asked questions