Early 20’s Need Retirement Plan Investing advice

Hello Terry,
I writing because I’m lost and don’t know what to-do. I just enrolled in my employers 401k plan and they have given me the options of self management with no fees with online advice and guidance included. The other option is to allow them to manage my account for a fee of 0.5% per 10k. At 4.13$ a month to manage anything under 10k seems high… I’ve only manage to save 1000 on a min wage salary. What should I do?

Terry Says:  Great question — and a very smart analysis!  At your stage, you’ll do just fine on your own by investing in the diversified S&P 500  index fund that is surely offered by your plan.  Just keep doing it — on a regular basis every month — no matter what the headlines say!  If you get really scared, that will be the time you should come back to my website for encouragement — because I always get the pulse of the investor and write a column of encouragement at those stressful times!  You have a long way ahead of you to grow your money, so keep using this investment idea for at least the next 10years.  Then you can consider diversifying — and perhaps paying for their advice!