What You Need to Know About Private Equity In Your 401(k)

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Full disclosures and conditions can be found in the podcast description. I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand.
It's time for some money rehab. You've probably heard people say that private equity is where the real money is made, and they are not wrong.
For decades, some of the biggest returns have come from investments that happen before a company goes public. That's how big pensions, university endowments, and billionaires have been compounding their wealth forever now.
They get in early, they ride it out, and they cash in when the company

finally IPOs or sells for a fortune. But here's the thing.
Regular investors, people like you and me, we have been locked out of this game. The 401k options, for example, have been mostly public stocks and bonds.
Maybe a little bit of real estate sprinkled in, but no venture capital, no private buyout deals,

no unicorn startups until now. Because something major just happened.
President Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Labor and the SEC to make it easier for private equity and also things like private credit, infrastructure, products, even crypto to make their way into your retirement account, specifically your 401k. At first glance, this sounds like a major win.
Finally, retail investors get access to the same high growth companies that billionaires have been using for decades. Companies are staying private for longer, right? IPOs are slowing down.
And if you want to grow your money, you've got to go where the growth is. That is definitely what you'll hear from people in the private equity firms.
And trust me, they are thrilled about this. But we have to have an honest conversation about why this is happening.
Because it's not happening because private equity firms suddenly care about your financial future. They are opening the doors because they need something from you.
They need your money. Private equity has a problem, a liquidity problem.
They've got assets locked up in companies that are not exiting, deals that are stalling, and funds that need fresh capital to keep going. They've already taken plenty of money from the wealthy, and now they are coming from the largest untapped pool of cash in America, your retirement savings.
Trillions of dollars sitting in 401ks just waiting to be put to work. And that is the real story.
Now, could this still be good for us? It depends. In some cases, having a small slice of private markets in your retirement plan could boost diversification and maybe even returns.
You'll probably see this through your target date fund or a managed portfolio where a small percentage like 5 or 10 percent gets allocated to private assets. Big names like BlackRock and Vanguard are already starting to build these funds.
They're being rolled out at some of the largest 401k providers. But this isn't the same as buying a simple index fund.
Private equity comes with strings attached. Your money is going to be locked up for longer periods of time.
These funds don't offer the same daily liquidity you're used to. That means if you need to pull out money early, you might not be able to.
And then there's the fees. Private equity funds are really expensive, like really, really expensive.
You might be paying four or five times more than you would a typical index fund. Management fees, performance fees, sometimes extra fund expenses, God knows what.
It all adds up and it directly eats into your returns. And here's the other thing no one likes to talk about.
Transparency. Public stocks report quarterly earnings.
They have very strict financial reporting. You can track performance on your phone any day of the week, anytime you'd like.
Private equity? You're now relying on internal valuations. You might not really know how your investment is performing for years.
So yes, the door is finally open and you can technically invest like a billionaire. But don't mistake access for advantage.
Just because you can invest in something doesn't automatically make it a smart move. You have to understand the trade-offs here.
Less liquidity, higher fees, less transparency, more complexity. Now, if you want to explore these options, cool.
Here's what I would recommend. First, look at your 401k investment options.
You'll probably start seeing funds labeled as private market allocation or alternative assets inside target date funds or blended funds. If you're curious, read the fine print.
Ask your plan provider about fees, about liquidity terms, and about how performance is tracked. Second, if you want to invest, keep it small.
5%, maybe 10% if you have a higher risk tolerance. Private equity is not the place to be putting a huge portion of your retirement money, especially not when the fees are this high and the liquidity is this low.
And finally, ask yourself, why? Why is the door opening now? After decades of shutting out regular old investors, why is private equity suddenly so eager to let us in? The answer is, they need our money. And if you don't understand the product, chances are you are the product.
And for today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. New investment options are exciting as heck.
But your job isn't to chase what's shiny. It is to build steady, long-term wealth.
You don't need to follow the billionaires into every risky investment. You just need to follow a strategy that actually gets you to your goals and keeps you there.
Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin.
Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoie. Our researcher is Emily Holmes.
Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your money questions, moneyrehab at moneynewsnetwork.com to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me.
And follow us on Instagram at moneynews and TikTok at moneynewsnetwork for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you.
No, seriously, thank you.

Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself,

which is the most important investment you can make.