You recently graduated from college, and your job search led you to S&S Air. Because you felt the company's business was taking off, you accepted a job offer. The first day on the job, while you are finishing your employment paperwork, Chris Guthrie, who works in finance, stops by to inform you about the company's 401(k) plan. A 401(K) is a type of retirement plan offered by many companies. Such plans are tax-deferred savings vehicles, meaning that any deposits you make into that plan are deducted from your current pretax income, so no current taxes are paid on the money. For example, assume your salary will be $50,000 per year. If you contribute $3,000 to the 401(k) plan, you will pay taxes on $47,000 in income. There are also no taxes paid on any capital gains or income while you are invested in the plan, but you will pay taxes when you withdraw the money at retirement. As is fairly common, the company also has a 5 percent match. This means that the company will match your contribution up to five percent of your salary, but you must contribute to get the match. The 401(k) plan has several options for investments, most of which are mutual funds. As you know, a mutual fund is a portfolio of assets. When you purchase shares in a mutual fund, you are actually purchasing partial ownership of the fund's assets. The return of the fund is the weighted average of the return of assets owned by the fund, minus any expenses. The largest expense is typically the management fee, paid to the fund manager. The management fee is compensation for the manager, who makes all of the investment decisions for the fund.

S&S Air uses Bledsoe Financial Services as its 401(k) plan administrator. Here are the investment options offered for employees 1. Company Stock. One option in the 401(k) plan is stock in S&S Air. The company is currently privately held. However, when you interviewed with the owners, Mark Sexton and Todd Story, they informed you the comany stock was expected to go public in the next three to four years. Until then, a company stock price is simply set each year b the board of directors.

2. Bledsoe S&P 500 Index Fund. This mutual fund tracks the S&P 500. Stock in the fund are weighted exactly the same as they are in the S&P 500, minus expenses. Because an index fund purchases assets based on the composition of the index it is following, the fund manger is not required to research stocks and make investment decisions. The result is that the fund expenses are usually low. The Bledsoe S&P 500 index fund charges expenses of .15 percent of assets per year.

3. Bledsoe Small-Cap Fund. This fund primarily invests in small capitalization stocks. As such, the returns of the fund are more volatile. The fund can also invest 10 percent of its assets in companies based outside the United States. This fund charges 1.70 percent of assets in expenses.

4. Bledsoe Large-Company Stock Fund. This fund invests primarily in large capitalization stocks of companies based in the United States. The fund is managed by Evan Bledsow and has outperformed the market in six of the last eight years. This fund charges 1.50 percent in expenses.

5. Bledsoe Bond Fund. This fund invests in long-term corporate bonds issued by U.S. domiciled companies. The fund is restricted to investments in bonds with an investment grade credit rating. This fund charges 1.40 percent in expenses.

6. Bledsoe Money Market Fund. This fund invests in short-term, high quality debt instruments, which include Treasury bills. As such, the return of the money market fund is only slightly higher than the return on treasury bills. Beacause of the credit quality and short-term nature of the investments, there is only a very slight risk of nagative return. The fund charges .60 percent in expenses.

Questions: 1. What advantages do the mutual finds offer compared to the company stock?

2. Assume that you invest 5 percent of your salary and receive the full 5% match from S&S Air. What EAR do you earn from the match? What conclusion do you draw about matching plans? 2. Assume you decide you should invest at least part of your money in large capitalization stocks of companies based in the United States. What are the advantages and disadvantages of choosing the Bledsoe Large-Company Stock Fund compared to the Bledsoe S&P 500 Index Fund?