All-Inclusive 401(k) Pricing

The US Labor Department is currently auditing 401(k) plans of all sizes because of a trend that may violate current pension laws. Many companies, especially smaller businesses, are shifting plan administrative expenses to plan participants, knowingly or unknowingly. This shift of plan expenses comes in the form of "hidden fees" that are routinely deducted from each participants' retirement savings by some plan providers and mutual funds. Because of lax reporting requirements, no one really knows how much money changes hands behind the scenes, but it is estimated that excessive fees may be as much as $1.5 billion per year, and growing.

In the 401(k) arena, expense fee disclosure, whether to plan participants or plan sponsors, has been notoriously confusing and unclear. The impact of these confusing hidden fees on plan participants' retirement accounts can be very significant over time. As example, consider a hypothetical 401(k) investment such as a mutual fund, with deducted expense fees of 1.3 percent versus one with fees of just .3 percent. Applied to an initial 401(k) investment of $5,000, with regular annual investments of $5,000 returning 10 percent, and compounded over 15 years, the difference between the "low-fee" investment and the "high-fee" investment adds up to $15,398. That's a significant sum deducted from a participant's retirement savings.

Policymakers and plan sponsors seeking to structure well-managed 401(k)s for their aging workforces are beginning to acknowledge the negative impact hidden fees has on eroding pension accumulations for retirement. What might appear to be a small difference in deducted investment fees can result in substantial differences in eventual retirement benefits.

We at Pension Systems Corporation, distributor of 401(k) Easy, has always worked hard to keep 401(k) plans as affordable as possible for our clients, many being small and very small companies.

Our policy is not to accept any rebates or revenue sharing of fees deducted from our clients' plan assets ... period! Entities that provide 401(k) plans, including mutual funds managers, fund distributors, asset custodians, asset trustees, investment brokers and advisors, and plan administrators and record-keepers. These entities typically earn at least a portion of their compensation from asset-based fees extracted from plan assets; 401(k) Easy is an exception from the norm.

Today the typical American household saving for retirement in a 401(k) will pay nearly $155,000 in un-necessary, excessive, mostly hidden 401(k) fees and commissions to brokers, agents and administrators.

Participants in 401(k) Easy plans are NEVER charged fees on their personal investments, including revenue-sharing fees, agent and broker commissions, or recordkeeping fees. Our 401(k) Easy plans being a clear exception, the vast majority of small 401(k) plans are larded with various "marketing fees" that 401(k) participants unknowingly pay. These unnecessary marketing fees include revenue-sharing fees, agent and broker commissions, and rebates to third-party administrators for pre-packaging mutual funds into the 401(k) plans. Demos.org, a well-regarded national non-profit research organization, calculates these unnecessary, non-essential marketing fees cost the typical 401(k) investor approximately $155,000 in lost value for the lifetime of his or her account!

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Most 401(k) savers are unaware they are paying unnecessary marketing fees and advisors commissions, extracted from their 401(k) accounts. It's a national scandal --- and reduces the typical 401(k) value by nearly $155,000!

The vast majority of 401(k) participants in smaller plans are charged annual fees deducted directly from their 401(k) investments they do not know about or understand. According to a study of 401(k) fees by AARP (AARP.org), "When plan participants were asked whether they pay any fees for their 401(k) plan, eight in ten (83%) reported that they did not pay any fees." For example, a 30-year old who saves $250 a month in the 401(k) may be charged approximately $136,000 in unnecessary, non-essential Marketing Fees by age 65. For more examples of the losses caused by 401(k) Marketing Fees to various sample investors, please click here.

Published record-keeping fees for a company with 15 employees and $1 million in assets

• 401(k) Easy (www.401keasy.com):  $995
• Ubiquity 401(k) (www.myubiquity.com):  $1,100
• Wellington 401(k) (www.wellington401k.com):  $1,350
• Employee Fiduciary 401(k) (www.employeefiduciary.com):  $1,500
• Sharebuilder 401(k) (www.sharebuilder401k.com):  $1,080

Published record-keeping fees "plus "all-in" hidden and marketing fees for a company with 15 employees and $1 million in assets
401(k) Easy (Standard)	: $995 + [No "all-in" hidden and marketing fees -- EVER!	= $995 per year complete!
Ubiquity 401(k)	: $1,100 + ["All-in" hidden and marketing fees of 0.72% to 1.89% of $1 million]	= $8,550 to $20,250 per year
Wellington 401(k)	: $1,350 + ["All-in" hidden and marketing fees of 0.72% to 1.89% of $1 million]	= $8,550 to $20,250 per year
Employee Fiduciary	: $1,500 + ["All-in" hidden and marketing fees of 0.08%]	= $2,300 per year
Sharebuilder 401(k)	: $1,080 + ["All-in" hidden and marketing fees of 0.65% of $1 million]	= $7,580 per year

So it's not rocket science to understand why many plan providers in the 401(k) industry are blowing smoke to make any discussion about hidden or "all in" 401(k) fees confusing and bewildering. There is a great deal of money at stake, and all this smoke clouds the fact that many small employers are unknowingly offering their employees 401(k) plans laden with hidden fees.

Hidden and "all-in" 401(k) fees are getting noticed by the news media and the legal profession via class-action law suits, and some 401(k) plan providers that made fortunes mining hidden fees are now scrambling to cover their tracks. They are generating the kind of PR confusion many of us remember from years past, when major tobacco companies tried to explain to Americans that smoking was not hazardous their health. Many in the 401(k) industry are launching the same kind of PR assault, confusing and clouding the issue, but what is really at stake is the end of their 401(k) hidden fee gravy train, pure and simple.

As you can see above, the 401(k) Easy annual fee is based solely on the size of the employer, not the plan design options you select for your plan. This flexibility is not industry-standard - particularly regarding investment flexibility. Though we do charge a modest per-incident fee per 401(k) loan disbursement, distribution, QDRO, compliance test correction or hardship withdrawal.

Apologies for the repetition. We simply want to be clear that the above annual fees really are all-inclusive.

One of the great things about 401(k) Easy is its adaptability. Our IRS-approved prototype 401(k) plan includes a host of plan design options, which we detail below, and our online administration and participation systems - your Plan Sponsor Gateway and Plan Participant Gateway - contain further customization flexibility.


401(k) Easy plan design options include:


Visit our Order & Customization section to view the exact choices currently available under each of these plan design options.

Under federal regulations, the one-time 401(k) Easy set-up fee may be refundable in the form of a federal tax credit. New 401(k) Easy plans qualify to receive this federally-mandated dollar-for-dollar refund, but there are some restrictions, so please consult your tax advisor before signing up for 401(k) Easy to make sure you qualify.

401(k) Easy plans are IRS-approved as employer-trusted, which means you never have to hire - and thus never have to pay - any 401(k) trustees.

401(k) Easy has no hidden fees. As explained above, the only fees we charge are (1) the one-time plan and system setup fee and (2) the annual fee (the one based upon plan size). The only other fees that we would charge are (1) a per incident charge for 401(k) loan disbursements, distributions, QDRO's, compliance testing corrections and hardship withdrawals, (2) a plan amendments fee (for changes to your chosen plan design options), and (3) a plan termination fee (for plans exiting 401(k) Easy).

In the 401(k) arena, expense fee disclosure, whether to plan participants or plan sponsors, has been notoriously confusing and unclear. The impact of these confusing hidden fees on plan participants' retirement accounts can be very significant over time. As example, consider a hypothetical 401(k) investment such as a mutual fund, with deducted expense fees of 1.3 percent versus one with fees of just .3 percent. Applied to an initial 401(k) investment of $5,000, with regular annual investments of $5,000 returning 10 percent, and compounded over 15 years, the difference between the 'low-fee' investment and the 'high-fee' investment adds up to $15,398. That's a significant sum deducted from a participant's retirement savings.

With 401(k) Easy there are never any "hidden fees" or asset-based fees to contend with, so expense disclosure is a breeze for plan sponsors. In fact, 401(k) Easy reports to plan participants directly, in their online account statements, that no hidden or other fees are charged.

We keep our 401(k) plans as affordable as possible for our clients, many being small and very small companies.

401keasy.com We do not accept any rebates or revenue sharing of fees deducted from our clients' plan assets unless those fees can be returned to the plan or used to offset plan expenses. Entities that provide and support 401(k) plan investments include mutual funds managers, fund distributors, asset custodians, asset trustees, investment brokers and advisors, and plan administrators and record-keepers. These entities typically earn at least a portion of their compensation from asset-based fees deducted from plan assets.

401(k) Fee Disclosure Website

We set-up a special website (www.401kfundslookup.com) to help explain and partially satisfy the 401(k) service provider fee and 401(k) investments fee disclosure requirements under ERISA 408(b)(2).

The information in this special website assists plan participants in both understanding the impact fees have on their 401(k), and making informed investment decisions.

Plan conversions involve administrative work on our part before we can get your new 401(k) Easy up and running. Rarely is it necessary for us to charge a conversion fee, but if your current plan is extremely complicated, a nominal conversion fee will be described before any work begins.

Your current 401(k) provider may charge plan termination fees, as it likely has some administrative expenses involved with closing down your existing plan. Contact your current plan provider to learn about any plan termination fees.

You can view all the plan design options available with 401(k) Easy by scanning through our Conversion Plans Order Form. If you have specific questions, contact us or submit a Conversion Plan Order Form and mark "Unsure. Please contact..." as applicable. Submitting an order form is the most expedient way for us to serve you, even if all you want at the moment is answers to conversion-related questions, because the order form collects pertinent information we likely need to answer your questions. Submitting an order form IN NO WAY obligates you to actually placing an order - no money changes hands - but the form does gather the data we need to accurately answer your 401(k)-related questions. Oh, and of course we do NOT share your data with any party.

401(k) Easy comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee on everything but the one-time plan and software customization fee (and plan conversion fee, if any). Because the setup fee is non-refundable, we created a fully functioning demo version of our 401(k) system for people to try out before they order their actual 401(k) Easy plan.


Our goal at 401(k) Easy is to ensure that all our clients and their employees have 401(k) plans they feel good about. If your company purchases 401(k) Easy and then down the road decides the self-service administrative approach is not the right approach for you, give us a call: We can convert your 401(k) Easy plan into a traditional, full-service plan that will still allow for 24/7 online access for plan participation but with professionals handing the plan administration for you.

The US Department of Labor created a worksheet to assist consumers in comparing 401(k) providers. We have filled in information regarding 401(k) Easy. If you would like to fill-in information regarding additional 401(k) products, print the PDF version.

	Standard	(Competitor)
SETUP FEES (ONE-TIME CHARGES AT THE PLAN'S OUTSET)
New Plan Fee - Baseline Component	$595	$____
New Plan Fee - Per-Participant Component	None	$____
Conversion Plan Fee (in addition to the above New Plan Fee)	None	$____
Federal Document Filing Fee	None	$____
ANNUAL FEE - BASED ON PLAN ASSETS
Asset-Based Fees	None	$____
ANNUAL FEE - BASED ON PLAN SIZE
1 Eligible Employee (plus spouse)	$495	$____
2-4 Eligible Employees	$695	$____
5-10 Eligible Employees	$895	$____
11-15 Eligible Employees	$995	$____
16-20 Eligible Employees	$1,295	$____
21-25 Eligible Employees	$1,595	$____
26-30 Eligible Employees	$1,795	$____
31-35 Eligible Employees	$1,995	$____
36-40 Eligible Employees	$2,195	$____
41-45 Eligible Employees	$2,395	$____
46-50 Eligible Employees	$2,595	$____
Annual "per participant" fee	None	$____
ADMINISTRATION / RECORDKEEPING FEE
Annuity Contract Administration Fee	None	$____
Daily Valuing and Updating of Account Balances	None	$____
Distribution Processing Fee	$30	$____
Loan Origination Fee	$30	$____
Loan Tracking Fee	None	$____
Participant Statement and/or Balance Inquiry Fee	None	$____
Payroll Processing Fee	None	$____
Trust-To-Trust Investment Transfer Fees	None	$____
PLAN COMPLIANCE & TESTING SERVICES
Nondiscrimination Testing	None	$____
ANNUAL TAX REPORTING
IRS Form 5500 Information	None	$____
Annual Audit Report	None	$____
PLAN DOCUMENT AMENDMENT FEE
Mandatory Plan Amendment Fees	None	$____
Plan Document Determination Letter Fee	None	$____
Plan Transfer Fees	None	$____
INVESTMENT OPTION FEES
Access to Brokerage Window	None	$____
Back-End Load Mutual Funds Commissions	None	$____
Front-End Load Mutual Fund Commissions	None	$____
No-Load (Commission-Free) Mutual Funds	None	$____
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT EXPENSE RATIO
Equity Funds (No-Load)	20 BPS per year	$____
Bond Funds (No-Load)	15 BPS per year	$____
Specialty Funds (No-Load)	40 BPS per year	$____
Average Expense Ratios of No-Load Funds	25 BPS per year	$____
"HIDDEN" EMBEDDED INVESTMENT EXPENSES
12-B1 Fees	None	$____
Fund Turnover Charges	None	$____
Rebalancing Fees	None	$____
Sales Loads and Commissions	None	$____
Soft Dollars	None	$____
Sub-Transfer Agent (Sub-TA) Fee	None	$____
Transaction Fees	None	$____
Wrap Fees	None	$____
ADDITIONAL EXPENSES
Annuity Termination Charges	None	$____