This video is from more than two years ago, but it underscores the importance of being vigilant about your the details of your employer's retirement plan.  Good planning requires an understanding of the fees you're paying for any investment, but particularly for investment plans where it's easy to hide fees.

One startling case from the video:  an employee in a John Hancock-administered plan was told by the administrator that expenses amounted to .1% of assets in the plan, which would be very inexpensive.  In the employee's case, the expenses would have amounted to $404.23 in the given year.  In reality, that employee paid $14,552.26 in fees! In other words, more than 97% of the fees were hidden.

The recently signed Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act has permanently raised the maximum FDIC coverage amount to $250,000.This maximum had been temporarily increased from $100,000 in the midst of the financial crisis, and was set to return to that level on Jan. 1, 2014.  The permanent increase is now retroactive to Jan. 1, 2008.

This amount applies to the total amount for a depositor at a given institution, for a given type of account.  In other words, an individual can typically have a savings account with up to $250,000 and an IRA with $250,000, and have all of the funds covered in the event of a bank failure.  However, that depositor will exceed the maximum coverage if he or she has two savings accounts with $200,000 each.  An easy solution for that situation is to place one of the accounts with another bank.

For more detailed information, see the FDIC site at http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/dis/index.html.

It is worth noting that no depositor has lost funds since the FDIC was established in 1933.

Just in case you thought I was the only one harping on the skewed incentives that guide the actions of most purveyors of financial services to the public, I bring you another voice.  In Stewards vs. Salesman, Cale Smith of Islamorada Investment Management writes on this very topic.

For those with a basic understanding of Roth IRAs, the concept of a Roth 401k should be pretty straightforward.

The Roth 401k allows savers to have tax-advantaged savings deducted from their paychecks and invested in a manner that is just about the same as traditional 401ks.  As with their IRA counterparts, the big difference between the Roth and traditional 401k is that the Roth allows earnings on those contributions to grow tax-free, whereas they are taxed when withdrawn from a traditional 401k.

Of course, the chief downside to earning that indefinite tax protection is the fact that after-tax dollars are used for the initial contributions.  This negates one of the key attractions associated with 401k plans - the fact that funds contributed to the plan are protected from taxes at the time of the contribution.  Whether or not it’s worth foregoing that tax advantage to gain the benefit of eternal tax-free earnings depends on your situation.

Income and Contribution limits

Contribution limits for the Roth 401k are the same as those for traditional 401k plans.  For 2011, that means that individuals can contribute up to $16,500 or 100% of their earnings.  Taxpayers over 50 can contribute up to $22,000.

A big advantage that the Roth 401k has over the Roth IRA is that there are no income limits for contributions to the 401k version.  That makes the Roth 401k especially suitable for higher-income earners.

Early withdrawal rules

Loans and early distributions are treated in the same manner as traditional 401ks.  You should talk to a plan administrator to ensure you understand the implications of early withdrawals from your specific plan.

What about employer matches?

The  employer match is basically the same as a traditional 401k.  The important thing to note is that employer contributions are made with pre-tax dollars, so taxes will be due when those funds are withdrawn.  That obviously doesn’t cancel out the attractiveness of free money from your employer, but it has to be taken into consideration for planning purposes.

Rollovers

Much like the standard 401k-to-IRA rollover process, Roth 401ks can be rolled to Roth IRAs when employment is terminated.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to participation in Roth 401k plans is the fact that relatively few employers offer them.  That is changing, but if your employer doesn't offer the option...ask them why not.