Could the FTC Save Consumers from Hidden 401(k) Fees?

What are Hidden 401(k) Fees?

Providers of 401(k) plan administration services such as asset custody, participant recordkeeping, Third-Party Administration (TPA), and investment counselling can charge direct and indirect fees. The method of payment differs amongst the charge types. Indirect fees lower the returns on plan investments and might be paid by the employer or distributed among plan participants.

Because indirect costs lack the transparency of direct fees, they are commonly referred to as hidden 401(k) fees. Fee disclosures, plan financials, and participant statements are included in 408b-2 and 404a-5 fee disclosures, financial statements, and participant statements. Indirect fees are hidden in 404a-5 fund expense ratios and can be estimated in 408b-2 fee disclosures.

Here are three primary forms of hidden 401(k) fees:- 

1. Mutual fund companies include these fees in the operating expenses of specific share classes and then pay them to plan service providers as revenue sharing. The two most frequent 401(k) income sharing types are 12b-1 and Sub-Transfer Agency (sub-TA) fees.
2. Wrap fees – Variable annuities are widely available as 401(k) plan investments from many insurance firms. A variable annuity is essentially a mutual fund with an annuity contract wrapped around it. The wrap can increase the mutual fund cost by adding administrative fees, sales commissions, and surrender charges.
3. Sales Loads – Mutual fund companies can add a load to their funds’ shareholder expenditures, a sales commission type. A front-end load is paid when shares are purchased, and when shares are sold, a back-end load is paid. A, B, and C shares are the most prevalent load-paying share classes.

How to lower your 401(k) costs?

Here are three strategies that can lower your 401(k) cost and boost your retirement savings:- 

Calculate your Plan Cost-

Start by reviewing your 401(k) account statement, which you may access online or have mailed to you at least once a quarter. A participant fee disclosure notification (PDF) detailing your plan’s total expenses will be sent to you at least once a year. These documents will reveal the expenditure ratios of your funds (the annual percentage of your assets deducted for management charges) as well as your plan’s administrative fees.

It’s also crucial to look for any warning signs that your expenses are higher than they should be. Some funds, for example, levy an additional layer of expense known as 12b-1 fees, which are used in part to cover marketing costs and typically average 0.25 per cent per year. That data may be mixed in with the expense ratio, making it difficult to distinguish. However, the fund’s prospectus and annual report will detail it, as well as any commissions paid to acquire and sell the fund.

What to do: Once you know your 401(k) plan’s all-in costs, compare them to those of similar-sized plans. Huge plans, such as those offered by Fortune 500 organizations, often incur rock-bottom costs of 0.5 per cent or less as a rule of thumb.

Invest in Low-Fee Funds

Looking for less expensive investment choices is one of the simplest ways to cut expenditures. Index funds, which match the performance of a market benchmark and sometimes charge only 0.3 per cent to 0.5 per cent, are typically the best bargains. According to surveys, index funds outperform actively managed funds throughout the medium and long run, partly due to their lower costs.

Institutional funds, which may include lower-cost share classes of retail funds or collective investment trusts, which are funds developed and managed for the plan, may be another low-cost choice if you work for a major firm. Institutional funds are often less expensive than retail funds because of their bigger asset size.

What to do: If your workplace offers a selection of low-cost index or institutional funds, you can utilize them to diversify your portfolio. If your plan has a target-date fund, you may be able to invest in index funds. These funds hold a pre-determined asset mix based on your retirement date; make sure the overall costs of the target-date fund are reasonable.

Consider an Exit Hatch

You can put money into a Roth IRA or a standard IRA to invest in low-cost funds if you’re eligible. If you’re married and your partner has a better retirement plan, make sure to take advantage of it. If you have more money to put away, you can contribute to your 401(k) for tax benefits or save in a taxable account in tax-efficient investments like a municipal fund.

What to do: Consider a better plan with lower 401(k) costs from your company. Employers have a fiduciary duty under federal law to provide reasonably priced options and monitor the plan’s quality. You can build a case for improvements after you’ve done your investigation. Your bosses might be receptive—after all, they’re undoubtedly invested in the strategy as well.

The Advantages of Direct 401(k) Fees

Direct 401(k) costs provide several advantages versus hidden fees, including transparency. There are also the following benefits:

Hidden 401(k) fees are generally based on a proportion of assets, so direct fees can better match service quality. As a result, their value grows in lockstep with the plan’s assets. Considering that the major driver of a 401(k) provider’s service quality is employee numbers, not assets, this is a concern. Because of this disparity, a 401(k) plan with many assets may pay substantially more costs for the same amount of administration services than a plan with fewer assets. That’s not right, and it’ll lead to a lot of costs. Direct fees might be calculated based on the number of people in the office.

Direct fees reduce conflicts of interest – Studies show that net of fees, index funds outperform most equivalent active funds over time. Index funds from renowned providers like Vanguard, BlackRock, and Schwab, on the other hand, have no hidden fees. A 401(k) provider may restrict access to these popular funds to generate hidden fees. Providers of 401(k) plans that only impose direct fees have no financial incentive to prevent them.

Direct fees can be more egalitarian – Participants will pay a varied rate of administration fees unless all 401(k) plan investments pay the same percentage of hidden expenses. As a result, members who invest in high-yielding funds will bear a disproportionate percentage of the administrative costs.

How the FTC Helps Consumers

You may be more familiar with the work of the Federal Trade Commission as a consumer or a businessperson than you realize. The Federal Trade Commission works with issues that affect every American’s economic life.

The FTC is the only federal agency with consumer protection and competition authority over a wide range of industries.

The Federal Trade Commission pursues vigorous and effective law enforcement; advances consumers’ interests by sharing its expertise with federal and state legislatures,as well as the US and international government agencies; offers practical and plain-language instructional programs for consumers and businesses in a global economy with fast-changing technologies; and develops policy and research tools through hearings, workshops, and conferences. The Bureaus of Consumer Protection, Competition, and Economics are in charge of the FTC’s work. 

Final Verdict

Savers will not only lose their principal in retirement if 401(k) fees are paid out; they will also lose the earnings the principal would have made if it had remained invested. This cost could be high due to compound interest’s strength.

Although 401(k) costs significantly impact retirement affordability, it is entirely lawful for 401(k) providers to hide some – or even all – of their fees today. Simply exposing hidden 401(k) costs hasn’t worked; employees and companies are still unaware of how much they’re paying.