401(k): Your Road to Retirement Security

Savvy employees know that the 401(k) is one of the most important components of what Albert Brooks (in Lost in America) so plaintively called the "nest egg." Unfortunately, not everyone knows much about how their employer's 401(k) plan operates or how their portfolios can bring vastly different rates of return depending on where their investments lie. Hosted by Pam Krueger, a financial television news journalist, this brief overview introduces the 401(k), examines the differences between stocks and bonds and their various combinations in mutual funds, and explains the relationship between risk, rate of return, and time, as applied to workers in age groups ranging from 20s-50s. Currently being sold to corporations for $395, the steeply discounted price for libraries is still not much of a bargain. The information is simply too basic, and viewers will find nothing here they won't also learn from back issues of Money magazine, general financial information websites, or even more-detailed and less expensive videos such as Understanding and Managing Your 401(k) (VL-11/95), which is priced at $19.95. Not a necessary purchase. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)