Editor’s note: This is a transcript of the audio file.
Did you know that your 401(k) plan actually costs you money? In fact it does and you will soon find out exactly how many fees come attached to your retirement plan at work.
I’m Sheyna Steiner with the Bankrate.com Personal Finance Minute.
Recent research has shown that total plan costs on a 100-participant plan with a $50,000 average account balance range from 0.36 percent to 1.71 percent. That is a huge difference as fees can dramatically reduce returns over time.
Take an account with a starting balance of $25,000 for instance. Over 35 years, assuming no further contributions and an annual return of 7 percent, a difference of just 1 percent, between .5 percent and 1.5 percent, translates to $64,000.
401(k) plan participants can expect to learn exactly how much they’ve been paying this summer or fall. All this information isn’t free of course, the fee will run about $4 and you can expect that to be taken out of your account every quarter.
For more on this and other personal finance issues, visit Bankrate.com. I’m Sheyna Steiner.
