Am I allowed to manage my own 401K?

[Anonymous]

I have a small 401K that is managed by my local Edward Jones office. It never makes much money. I am tired of paying fees and think I could do a pretty good job at picking stocks. Plus the amount I have is so paltry that it wouldn't be the end of the world if I lost my money. (10K). Does the law allow someone to manage their own 401K by buying and selling stocks on E*trade or the like? Is this a good idea? I would like to play the stock market myself.

[Anonymous]

Is it a 401(k) or an IRA? Do you have it through your employer? If it is your employer's plan, you will be restricted by the terms of the plan. You are able to pick investments, but your investment options may not extend to individual stocks. If it is your IRA, you should be able to add an option to buy stocks. If Edward Jones doesn't offer this option, you can move your IRA to someone like Fidelity that does offer this option.

[Anonymous]

thank you very much!