80 percent of mutual funds and wallstreet fund managers fail to beat the market each year. While this is a figure that has been in the news with increasing frequency over the last year or two, it is a number an old friend quoted to me roughly a decade ago. Beyond suggesting that this has been a whisper topic for some time, it is more interesting given the source. At that time, my old friend was a wallstreet analyst. The condo on the upper east side, the house on the lake in West Chester, and savings sufficient to retire before the age of 45 or 50 are all a consequence of the fees paid (by you) and the 20 percent prospect of beating an index fund. In his defense, he was providing analysis for institutional buyers — i.e., those who should know better. Nevertheless, if you are not interested in doing your own research and investing, Ryan is right and in agreement with WB … an index fund is probably better … unless you can get into a legitimate value fund (Tweedy Brown, etc.).

Thanks, Wall Street.

Great, now I have to do research on something distasteful, and hope I can find a good mutual fund out there. Otherwise, I’m going back to the index fund option, which I had originally.

A separate account can be opened as part of your 401(k) plan, whereby you can transfer money from your current 401(k) into the separate account and trade on the open market.

There is an annual fee of $100 for the separate account.

Of course, they do not have any information about this online. I had to call to get the scoop.