Just noticed another negative allocation to my MBCBP. This was suposed to return 4-5% reliably. I'm beginning to regret not opting out. Are we able to see the fees and performance of the plan? It was suposed to track the blackrock fund performance but is not actualy invested in that fund. I question the oversight. I am roughly break even since inception while my other low risk investments are up. These quarterly reviews have become discouraging.

 

Long-term the MBCP will be the conservative part of my 401K allocation. I'm already winning by being tax defered and not paying the almost 2% union dues. So about 5% earnings average last year. I bet it ends up 5ish% earnings this year. No regret in the long run by opting in the MBCP.

 

April the S&P was down- same as the other month that delivered a negative return- I'm hoping the year over year return will be in the range it was advertising. But I would like to know the fund it is in and have been unable to locate that

 

There hasn't been a long run yet, to regret or not. 😅

In response to NotEnough, Being the conservative part of our retirement plan, just by not paying 35% in taxes and 2% dues, I feel like we are money ahead compared to the cash option. Another 4-5% would be great, and I'm glad you're watching, but a quarter here or there that is down, is fine by me. It's too early to judge, but like you, I hope it's being managed properly.

Where do you go to see this info? Is it just on NetBenefits?

 

I agree that it is early but with 60% bonds and 40% equities I figured on more stable returns. Two negatives allocations this early has me concerned and looking for more transparency. I definately don't need daily updates however, 17% (and 18% eventually) of my last 4 months of yearly earnings going into this is $25K per year. That is a significant amount to blindly accept quarterly allocations that are negative.

 

If you are 59.5 and not happy about how the program is working, pull it out. Depending on how it's done, you may pay taxes but no menalties. But either way you will not have to pay the dues, and that already puts you ahead. That was one of the discussions on the 'To-opt-out-or-not' thread back at the time when that was an option.

 

Not for nothing.. you dont have to "blindly accept" anything. The PWA language is fully transparent as to how the money is invested. Ill quote in case you dont have a PWA handy:

"The investment strategy for the MBCBP will target an allocation of:
a. 40% to global public equity markets in a manner similar to the MSCI All Country World Index
b. 60% to U.S. intermediate bonds in a manner similar to the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index."

According to the documentation from last summer, this allocation closely tracks the "LIRIX" fund offered by Blackrock. The summary prospectus from that fund states:

"As of March 31, 2024, the Fund held approximately 41% of its assets in Underlying Funds designed to track particular equity indexes, approximately 59% of its assets in Underlying Funds designed to track particular bond indexes"

On a cursory look, my MBCBP investment return tracks almost perfectly with LIRIX, as advertised.

How is the MBCBP not "transparent" if a) it is fully disclosed how the funds are invested (just like any other public fund), and b) it tracks very closely to a public fund that was disclosed before you opted into the plan. If you could look on your Fidelity account and see the money attached to the "LIRIX" ticker symbol, would that feel more "transparent" to you?

FWIW, based on the performance of LIRIX in May, Id fully expect a positive allocation. Regardless of that, performance over one month means absolutely nothing when discussing investment options for retirement. Ask anyone who was in VOO or QQQ during 2022. Some months were bloodbaths. That does not mean that VOO or QQQ are bad investments over time, quite the contrary.

 

Agree on all counts. I'm running pretty conservative but showing right at 14% YOY for my other accounts, while the spouse is at around 17%.

My look at the MBCBP showed 4.43 since inception, which would linearly run out at just under 9% for the full year.

Of course, both sets of numbers reflect a pretty sharp hit over the past couple of months which has already worked its way back in the past couple of weeks. Throw in the savings of taxes and union dues.......feel free to do your own math.

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/lirix

Or add LIRIX to your Apple Stock watch list

April was a blip in an otherwise shallow growth fund.

 

My S&P500 index funds are up 25% since October 2023. I'm so glad I opted out of the stupid MBCBP.