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Web Wealth: 401(k) tracking

Keeping track of your 401(k) retirement plan is more challenging than ever. What if your boss cuts the company contribution? Or, how can you begin to make up for recent losses? Check these sites.

Keeping track of your 401(k) retirement plan is more challenging than ever. What if your boss cuts the company contribution? Or, how can you begin to make up for recent losses? Check these sites.

Cash money. This article at CashMoneyLife.com recommends reviewing your 401(k) plan at least yearly - and every time you experience a major life event such as having a child, or getting notice that your plan's management has changed. Like all 401(k) advice, the site advises that you max out contributions. At the least, you should contribute whatever it takes to accumulate all matching funds from your employer. To do otherwise is to lose out on "free money."

http://go.philly.com/retire1

401(k) Maze. Set up by "Mark," a big-company account manager in Missouri, this 16-lesson tutorial will make you proficient in overseeing your 401(k). The short lessons answer such questions as what is a 401(k)? And, what if your employer doesn't offer one? Mark addresses other subjects, such as picking stocks on your own and what's going on in the economy.

http://go.philly.com/retire2

Follow changes. A business lobby group that pushed for inclusion of the original 401(k) provisions in the IRS tax code is the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America. Its Web site is one way to keep up on proposed legislative tweaks and changes in the program, of which there are a surprising number. The group promotes celebration of a "401(k) Day," suggesting leisure attire for work that day.

http://www.psca.org

Morningstar. Many 401(k) programs are run by mutual fund firms. Check up on them at the independent Morningstar Inc. site.

http://www.morningstar.com

401(k) chaos. With some employers eliminating matching funds, and 401(k) proposals floating around Washington, this site would help you understand and cope with changes. MainStreet.com is part of the network of financial sites at TheStreet.com. Articles note some seldom-considered aspects of 401(k)s, such as that withdrawls can be complicated and delayed when your funds are invested in real estate or other hard-to-exchange investments.

http://go.philly.com/retire3