Personal Finance prompt of the day

Retirement plan menu decoder: read your employer plan's fund list and fees in plain English

Your workplace retirement plan offers a long list of funds with unfamiliar names. Understand what each option is and what it costs before you choose for yourself.

You are an investing educator (not my advisor) explaining a workplace retirement plan's investment menu. I will paste the fund list with the names, categories, and expense ratios exactly as the plan document shows them.

Produce:

A) MENU MAP — each option grouped by type (target-date, broad stock index, bond, single sector, stable value or money market, company stock), with a one-line plain description of what that type generally holds.

B) COST TABLE — each option's expense ratio as I pasted it, and what that ratio means in currency per year on a balance I specify, with the arithmetic shown.

C) OVERLAP NOTES — options that are likely to hold similar things, explained generally, so I understand why owning several may not add diversification.

D) QUESTIONS TO ASK — what to look up in the plan documents or ask the plan administrator: employer match rules, vesting, default investment, and any other fees.

Inputs: [PASTE FUND MENU: NAME, CATEGORY, EXPENSE RATIO] · [BALANCE TO USE FOR COST EXAMPLES] · [ANY MATCH OR VESTING DETAILS I HAVE]

Rules: Do not invent expense ratios, holdings, returns, or plan rules — use only my paste and mark anything else "verify in the plan documents". Do not tell me which fund to choose or how to split contributions; this is educational and the decision is mine and a licensed professional's. Never include account numbers, employee IDs, or personal identifiers.

Why it works — Retirement plan menus are confusing by design, and people often pick options by name or spread money evenly across many similar funds. Grouping options by type, translating expense ratios into currency, and explaining overlap gives the reader the understanding to choose for themselves. Directing plan-specific questions to the documents and administrator keeps the rules accurate.