For those who are fortunate enough to have access to the ExxonMobil Savings Plan through Exxon Mobil Corp, you’re looking at a refreshingly low-cost 401(k) with some solid building blocks. It’s not flashy, but honestly, that’s part of its strength. There are no exotic funds or complex gimmicks here — just a few core ingredients that, if mixed well, can create a resilient and long-term investment recipe. You’ll see.
If you’re just starting out (or don’t want to mess around)
If you’re new to all this or just don’t have the mental bandwidth to fiddle with allocations, you’re not out of luck. The Balanced Fund Units in this plan is a decent default. It holds about 75% stocks and 25% bonds, which is a bit more aggressive than a classic 60/40 mix, but not reckless. It’s also ultra low cost — expense is only 0.0151%, which is almost nothing.
Think of a balanced fund as a one-stop shop. It’s well diversified and automatically rebalances. It might not win awards for innovation, but it quietly does its job. If you want a second opinion, there’s a pretty good argument out there that even a 60% stock allocation might be plenty.
So unless you have strong opinions or specific needs, starting with the Balanced Fund Units isn’t a bad idea. You can always revisit later.
For those with some investing experience (or want more control)
If you want to go a bit deeper — maybe you’ve managed a brokerage account before, or just want to decide where every dollar goes — then you’ll want to build a custom asset allocation using the RAID approach. It’s a four-step framework to construct a disciplined portfolio. Simple in theory, harder in practice, but doable.
Step 1: Risk Assessment
How much stocks should you hold? It depends on your age, income, job stability and your stomach for volatility. You can start with a few guiding questions on this page.
Step 2: Asset Allocation
This plan gives you enough to work with. You can create a diversified mix from:
- Equity Units (large-cap US stocks)
- Extended Market Units (mid/small-cap US stocks)
- International Equity Units (developed markets)
- Bond Units
No REITs or emerging market funds, unfortunately. But that’s not a dealbreaker. Based on what’s available, a simple and sensible moderate portfolio might look like:
- 42% in Equity Units + Extended Market Units (you can do 30% Equity Units, 12% Extended Market)
- 18% International Equity Units
- 40% Bond Units
These allocations are loosely based on templates from this page. Keep it simple, don’t overthink. Diversification still works.
Step 3: Investment Selections
Use the index funds wherever you can. The Equity Units, Extended Market Units, International Equity Units and Bond Units are all incredibly cheap — 0.0025%, 0.02%, 0.025% and 0.02% respectively. That’s better than most Vanguard funds. Costs matter more than most people realize. Use the low-fee building blocks. Ignore the rest.
Step 4: Disciplined Rebalancing
Markets will bounce. Your portfolio will drift. Once a year, take 30 minutes to rebalance — sell what’s grown too much, add to what’s lagging. That’s it. No need to check weekly. Actually, please don’t. Staying the course and saving more does more than trying to be clever.
For active investors or those who worry a lot about losses
Now, if you’re the kind of person who watches markets closely or feels nervous when your portfolio drops 10%, you might be better off using a more dynamic strategy. MyPlanIQ offers premium portfolios with tactical models that reduce stock exposure during downturns. These models aren’t magical but are useful tools for managing risk. Especially in retirement or close to it.
Some use it to build an overlay — like staying mostly invested but dialing down during market stress. Others follow a fully tactical model. Either way, if you’re interested in that route, it’s worth exploring.
ExxonMobil Savings Plan Investment Options Review
Here’s what’s available in this plan (see this for details):
- Common Assets Portfolio — short term fixed income one year maturity
- Equity Units — expense 0.0025%
- Extended Market Units — 0.02%
- International Equity Units — 0.025%
- Bond Units — 0.02%
- Balanced Fund Units (75% stocks / 25% bonds) — expense 0.0151%
- ExxonMobil Stock
This is a very clean menu. Almost all core asset classes are covered. You’ve got:
- US Stocks: Equity Units, Extended Market Units
- International Stocks: International Equity Units
- Bonds: Bond Units
There’s no REIT or emerging markets fund. But that’s not uncommon. What’s more notable is that all of these are extremely low cost index funds. That’s rare. Many 401(k) plans charge 0.5%-1% for equivalent exposure. For example, Vanguard total stock market index fund admiral version has 0.04% expense ratio. This is already considered to be the lowest among all index funds. But ExxonMobil’s 0.0025% makes the expense almost ignorable in this case. ExxonMobil participants are lucky here.
There are no actively managed bond funds like PIMCO or Dodge & Cox — so nothing to highlight on that front. Same for actively managed stock funds. But honestly, with index funds this cheap, it’s hard to complain.
One word of caution: ExxonMobil Stock is available, but think hard before going overweight on your employer’s stock. It’s already your paycheck. No need to double your exposure.
In short, the ExxonMobil Savings Plan gives you just enough to build a solid, ultra ultra low cost portfolio. Diversification and extremely low cost makes this plan as one of the simplest and best 401(k) plans.