Few people are under the illusion that retirement is going to be easy, given costs of living and the faltering health of Social Security. It may be harder than many understand, as thousands of dollars disappear from retirement accounts in 401(k) fees. Source of article:

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Not perfect

To be able to keep dealings honest, you would expect both parties to give all necessary info to each other. It is called “information asymmetry” when one party knows more than another party. There are technically laws in the marketplace that require corporations to give customers all the info, but it does not always take place. You cannot always expect everyone else to be honest.

Just like that, the charges associated with a 401(k) plan are not always disclosed. The fees were not fully given by most employers in a Government Accountability Office survey done recently. According to the New York times, employees and employers will both get more information about charges associated with 401(k) accounts after new legislation passes.

Yes, they exist

According to a Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies survey, 71 percent of respondents with a 401(k) plan do not have any idea that there are fees on the account. Not everybody knows about the charges, according to Time magazine. They are just like other investment accounts though.

One thing to keep in mind is that a 401(k) is an investment portfolio, not a savings account. That is something a lot of people do not understand. Costs for administration, trading shares and marketing expenses will all be charged, just like they would with a mutual fund, according to Daily finance.

Time magazine points out that some 401(k) plans will have charges as high as 3 percent when mutual funds generally have it at around 1 percent.

Can be considerable

When using a third party service, 401(k) plans will actually be charged with extra fees such as investment management fees, according to the New York Times. Brokers are making these charges.

Hidden fees make it extremely hard for corporations to even realize the amount of cash they are putting to the plans. About 50 percent of those companies surveyed in the GAO survey were mistaken about the amount of cash they were putting to the plan. One business though it was only paying $3,800 a year to share benefits with workers, but really the company was paying $62,000 a year.

With all the extra charges, you will lose a ton of cash inside your account that might be used for retirement. The average person pays about $20,000 over a 20-year period, or $248 a year, in 401(k) fees, according to the Investment Business Institute. Time explains that a Demos survey found that these fees could drop the amount of money as part of your final account by 30 percent. You may not end up with as much cash as you envisioned with the fees being taken out like this.

Sources

New York Times

Daily Finance

Time