How do I find out what fees I am paying in my 401(k)?

Two documents you already receive: your statement (funds and balances) and the annual participant fee disclosure — the 404(a)(5) notice — which plans are legally required to send and which lists every fund’s expense ratio plus any administration fee. Most people have never read theirs. Copy those numbers in here and the all-in cost falls out; no account linking, no credentials, nothing uploaded.

What is a normal amount of 401(k) fees?

Broad index funds run 0.03–0.2%, active funds cluster around 0.5–1%, and anything past 1% deserves a hard question. On top of fund costs, many plans charge an asset-based administration fee — 0.1–0.5% is common, and small-employer plans often run higher. The analyzer weights every fund by its balance and folds the admin fee in, because the number that matters is the all-in percent, not any single fund’s.

Why do small-looking fees matter so much?

Because they compound against you for decades. One percent sounds like nothing next to a 7% return — but it is a seventh of your growth, taken every year, including the years the market loses money. Over 30 years, paying 1% instead of 0.05% typically erases roughly a fifth of the final balance. The chart shows both lines on your own numbers, which lands harder than any rule of thumb.

What can I actually do about high fees?

Inside the plan: check the menu for index options — most plans have at least an S&P 500 fund at a fraction of the cost, and moving future contributions costs nothing. Beyond that, the common framework is: always contribute enough to get the full employer match (an instant 50–100% return no fee can eat), and raise the fee question with HR — employers are fiduciaries, and expensive menus have lost lawsuits. What to hold is your decision and your adviser’s; this tool shows what holding it costs.

Are there fees the expense ratio does not include?

Yes — which is why the projection here is a floor, not a ceiling. Funds carry internal trading costs that never appear in the expense ratio, some share classes route “revenue sharing” back to the plan’s recordkeeper, and target-date funds can layer their own fee on top of the funds they hold. If your disclosure lists a wrap or advisory fee, add it to the admin fee field.

Is my financial information private here?

It never leaves your browser unless you sign in, in which case it syncs to your own account and is deletable any time from My profile. The incumbent fee analyzers require linking your accounts through an aggregator — handing over credentials to measure fees is a strange trade, and it is the one this tool exists to refuse.

Tools · Finance

401(k) fee analyzer

The fees in your retirement plan are printed on a disclosure you receive every year and have probably never read. Copy your funds in from it, and see the number that matters: the all-in annual cost — every expense ratio weighted by its balance, plus the admin fee — then what that costs you by retirement against a low-cost index benchmark. No account linking; the analyzers that require it are the reason this exists.

Questions people actually ask

How do I find out what fees I am paying in my 401(k)?: Two documents you already receive: your statement (funds and balances) and the annual participant fee disclosure — the 404(a)(5) notice — which plans are legally required to send and which lists every fund’s expense ratio plus any administration fee. Most people have never read theirs. Copy those numbers in here and the all-in cost falls out; no account linking, no credentials, nothing uploaded.
What is a normal amount of 401(k) fees?: Broad index funds run 0.03–0.2%, active funds cluster around 0.5–1%, and anything past 1% deserves a hard question. On top of fund costs, many plans charge an asset-based administration fee — 0.1–0.5% is common, and small-employer plans often run higher. The analyzer weights every fund by its balance and folds the admin fee in, because the number that matters is the all-in percent, not any single fund’s.
Why do small-looking fees matter so much?: Because they compound against you for decades. One percent sounds like nothing next to a 7% return — but it is a seventh of your growth, taken every year, including the years the market loses money. Over 30 years, paying 1% instead of 0.05% typically erases roughly a fifth of the final balance. The chart shows both lines on your own numbers, which lands harder than any rule of thumb.
What can I actually do about high fees?: Inside the plan: check the menu for index options — most plans have at least an S&P 500 fund at a fraction of the cost, and moving future contributions costs nothing. Beyond that, the common framework is: always contribute enough to get the full employer match (an instant 50–100% return no fee can eat), and raise the fee question with HR — employers are fiduciaries, and expensive menus have lost lawsuits. What to hold is your decision and your adviser’s; this tool shows what holding it costs.
Are there fees the expense ratio does not include?: Yes — which is why the projection here is a floor, not a ceiling. Funds carry internal trading costs that never appear in the expense ratio, some share classes route “revenue sharing” back to the plan’s recordkeeper, and target-date funds can layer their own fee on top of the funds they hold. If your disclosure lists a wrap or advisory fee, add it to the admin fee field.
Is my financial information private here?: It never leaves your browser unless you sign in, in which case it syncs to your own account and is deletable any time from My profile. The incumbent fee analyzers require linking your accounts through an aggregator — handing over credentials to measure fees is a strange trade, and it is the one this tool exists to refuse.

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