Most 401(k) brokers & recordkeepers charge fees as a percentage of total plan assets. Often when the fee is first put in place it seems reasonable, but over time, as the plan grows in value, the amount you pay skyrockets. My firm and our recordkeeping partners charge fees based on the number of employees you have in the retirement plan, factoring in our expected workload. We are best fit for smaller professional firms (doctors, dentists, attorney’s engineers, tech companies) with a stable employee count and rising plan assets.

Your employees. The expense is usually not invoiced—it is taken out of investment earnings pro-rata, so owners and senior employees with the largest account balances pay the most.

Sponsors of retirement plans have a fiduciary duty to evaluate and monitor 401(k) fees. It’s not personal – it’s business.

Not always. The only way to definitively uncover plan costs is to ask your recordkeeper for a copy of the 408(b)(2) fee disclosure notice.

Ask your 401(k) recordkeeper who prepared the filing to verify your fees and compare the fees listed on your Form 5500 to your plans fee disclosure notice. If the recordkeeper made a mistake, ask them to revise Form 5500.

No. We can offer most any fund. In fact, you are not required to offer any Vanguard mutual funds. Our job is to recommend only the best investments available.