<prompt> Human: Basically, my employer offers no 401k matching, and all of the available funds have fees in the 1.4-2.2 range. Their target retirement date funds are literally backed by the Vanguard LifeStrategy funds, but with an extra 1.2 taken off the top.Ive maxed my Roth contribution for this year, and Im putting an extra 1000 a month into a non-tax-advantaged brokerage account, mainly in index ETFs. What else should I be doing?Assistant: Even with the higher fees, you might want to consider the 401k due to the tax benefits. Human: I agree with the idea to re-think your participation. If you only plan to stay in his job a few years, then the tax benefit will be great enough to cover the fees. Having the investments sheltered from tax for many years is a big advantage and when you change jobs you can move them to a better plan or your own IRA with better options. Sometimes employers realize their 401k is an employee anti-retention plan and even improve the plan, so theres still hope, but you will have options in any case.Assistant: Im definitely very happy with the job, but realistically, in this industry, 5-7 years is considered a long run with a company.I realize that doing the 401k is probably in my long-term interests, but just on principle, I dont want to give these fund managers a single dime of my money, because it validates their business model. If I cant find reasonable alternatives, Ill just have to suck it up and lobby for better fund options.  <response>: So either you pay these fund managers money or you pay the government money taxes. You choose :- 