Planet Money Question of the Day: Would you invest your retirement savings in a fund managed by Goldman Sachs?

The short-answer: Not a chance.

A few more extended thoughts.

The mention some new “target-date funds that would provide guaranteed income in retirement.” I wonder if this is just an awkward phrasing for Goldman Sachs-branded target-date funds that are just like the others already out there (i.e. funds whose risk portfolio and asset mix changes automatically over time), or if these are some sort of new, annuity-type product with genuine future-income guarantees.

Goldman Sachs is also promoting funds that invest asset classes that the average 401(k) participant has no business dabbling in. The professionals might know enough about them; you and I don’t, so it’s best to just stay away. They might sound trendy and sophisticated, but if no other lesson is taken from recent Market Mischief, let us take this one:

Finally, they may draw book-keeping and marketing distinctions between their “market maker” function and their asset management business, but I don’t. Values matter; corporate culture is pervasive; and the ability of people  and institutions to compartmentalize is grossly overrated. A somewhat crass analogy, if I may: Would you marry a drug dealer? I hear he’ll take real good care of you when he’s not peddling crack on the playground.

For the record, I wouldn’t put my money with Fidelity, either, and so far I haven’t heard their name mentioned in any of the recent shenanigans. As I say above: Whether we win or lose, they win. That’s how they designed the system.

via Would You Trust Goldman Sachs With Your 401(k)? – Planet Money Blog : NPR.