NJ District Goes from C to F
October 24, 2023
Last week I wrote about a district that went from an F grade for its 403(b) plan to a C grade. Sadly, this week I'm writing about a New Jersey district that went from a C to an F.
North Brunswick Township School District Before
The previous list wasn't great. It was too long and contained too many high cost vendors. Plus it included a company (Equitable) that was fined $50 million by the SEC for failing disclose certain fees, but it least it had one low-cost option: ASPire Financial Services.
- ASPire Financial Services
- Brighthouse (formerly Metlife)
- Corebridge Financial (formerly AIG and formerly VALIC)
- Equitable (AXA)
- Lincoln Investment, LLC
- National Life Group (AKA Life of the Southwest, AKA National Mutual Benefit)
- New York Life Insurance & Annuity Corp.
- Orion Portfolio Solutions (formerly FTJ FundChoice LLC)
- Primerica Financial Service (AKA PFS Investments)
- Security Benefit
North Brunswick Township School District Now
While it's great to have fewer vendors, it's not great when they are all high-fee companies. Gone is the one low-cost option (ASPire Financial Services). Just as egregious is the fact they kept the company (Equitable) that was fined by the SEC. This is now an F-rated 403(b) plan.
- Brighthouse (formerly Metlife)
- Corebridge Financial (formerly AIG and formerly VALIC)
- Equitable (AXA)
- Security Benefit
The only possible decent option here is if Security Benefit offers it's lower cost InvestMyself product. But it would only make this a D plan. You can read more about InvestMyself here. Note that Corebridge offers excellent pricing for the single vendor plan it offers Chicago Public Schools. The reason? It was forced to compete. Maybe North Brunswick Township should go single vendor. But alas, legislation is pending in New Jersey that would PREVENT districts from going single vendor.
New Jersey Has 403(b) Issues
You can read more about this state's myriad of 403(b) woes here.
Stay wise and well (While Bruce Springsteen might be from the Garden State, New Jersey, your 403(b) plans are anything but boss).
