ANSWER to Q1:

There are many poor 403b providers out there. For some idea of the magnitude
of this problem, see the article
http://www.forbes.com/home/forbes/2005/0425/100.html in Forbes Magazine. You
mentioned that one of your 403b choices is Lincoln. Let me preface this by
saying that I have examined YOUR Lincoln plan, but in my experience, there
are only 3 good 403b providers and none of them is named Lincoln. The last
Lincoln 403b I evaluated started with onerous mortality charges and went
downhill from there. (TIAA-CREF, Vanguard, or Fidelity are usually the "good
guys" in the 403b world). Typically the only guys who will defend Lincoln,
AIG-Valic and their ilk are the guys making the commission on them.

There have also been some articles on how bad some 403bs are in the Wall St
Journal, but I cant seem to put my fingers on them. Another good 403b
website is www.403bwise.com. Go there; check out the beginners guide.



ANSWER to Q2:

Off the top of my head, without doing the research into it and without more
details of your specific situation, I'm really not 100% sure if your plan to
use the 403b for the home down payment is appropriate (did I CMA enough
<G> ?). I have seen this strategy work well in the past. One caveat; you
should never invest in "equities" (stocks or stock funds) if you plan to use
the funds in less than 5 years. Therefore, you should use a money market
fund, maybe an ultrashort bond fund, or verify that enough of your CREF
TRADITIONAL fund (assuming you use TIAA CREF) can be withdrawn without
penalty when you are going to need it. TIAA CREF has a great 800 number
staffed with good people who should be able to help you

HTH,




Dr. Barry Kaplan, EA, CFP®

barry[at]NOSPAMcambridgesouthern.com

Cambridge Southern Financial Advisors

Comprehensive Fee-Only Personal Financial Advisors





<dmcrane[at]gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1145230761.197236.41790[at]u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
- quote -

dmcrane[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

Having dealt with both, I'd say TIAA-CREF is the better choice. They
are far and away easier to deal with than Lincoln from a customer
service standpoint. They tend to have better and lower-expense fund
choices too. But, YMMV, of course.

My employer has two options for a 403b plan: Lincoln Financial Group
and TIAA-CREF.
I am 30 and have nothing saved for retirement yet. I also want to save
for a house(first-time buyer) and I believe that I can take out up to
$10000 for a down-payment without penalty. I have just started the
company pension plan too.

1.Does anybody have any preference between these two?

2.Any problems/issues with putting extra pre-tax money into 403b to be
used as a down-payment on a house later?

thanks