401(k) Calculators
401(k) Fees Calculator
The Department of Labor's own example: a 1 percentage point fee difference over 35 years cuts your final balance by 28% — on money you already saved, with zero further contributions.
See what fees actually cost you
Defaults to the U.S. Department of Labor's own published example — edit any field to model your own numbers.
Same starting point, same return — just a lower fee
Identical everything else, just a higher fee
Assumes fees compound as an annual drag on returns. This is a planning estimate — actual fee structures and returns vary by plan and investment choice.
The government's own example
The Department of Labor publishes this exact scenario in its official guidance on 401(k) plan fees: someone with 35 years until retirement, a $25,000 current balance, and a 7% average annual return — with no further contributions at all. At 0.5% in fees, that balance grows to roughly $227,000. At 1.5% in fees — just one additional percentage point — it grows to only about $163,000. The 1% fee difference alone reduces the final balance by 28%, purely from the compounding drag of a slightly higher ongoing cost.
What "1% higher fees" actually means
A 1% difference sounds trivial in isolation, and that's exactly the problem — fee disclosures present costs as small annual percentages, not as the dollar impact decades of compounding actually produce. The same dollar taken out every year as a fee is a dollar that never gets the chance to compound alongside everything else in the account. Over a multi-decade horizon, that steady, repeated drag compounds into a genuinely enormous gap.
The fee you see isn't always the fee you pay
What's considered reasonable in 2026
| Fee level | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Under 0.5% | Generally considered good — common for low-cost index funds (0.05%-0.15%) |
| 0.5% - 1% | Typical range for many actively managed funds |
| 1% - 1.5% | On the higher end — worth scrutinizing, especially in a smaller plan |
| Above 1.5% - 2% | Considered high by most industry benchmarks |
Smaller plans tend to run notably higher: one industry benchmark (the 401k Averages Book) puts the average investment expense for plans with 25 participants and $250,000 in assets at 1.37% — meaningfully above what larger, economy-of-scale plans typically charge.
What you can actually do about it
- Check your plan's fee disclosure document — federal rules require it to be provided, and it should show both investment and administrative costs in dollar terms, not just percentages.
- Compare index fund options within your plan against any actively managed alternatives — a broad-market index fund often costs a fraction of an actively managed fund with similar risk and historical return.
- If your plan's overall costs are genuinely high, contribute enough to capture any employer match, then consider directing additional retirement savings to a lower-cost IRA before maxing out the 401(k) further — weighing that against the 401(k)'s payroll-deduction discipline and higher contribution limits.
The core fee-impact example is drawn directly from the U.S. Department of Labor's official published guidance on 401(k) plan fees (dol.gov), and this calculator's underlying formula was validated to closely reproduce the DOL's own published figures. Additional fee-layer and benchmark figures verified across multiple independent 2026 retirement plan industry sources. This is a planning estimate — review your specific plan's fee disclosure documents for exact figures.
Frequently asked questions
Before you assume your 401(k) fees are fine.
How much do 401(k) fees really cost over time?
According to the Department of Labor's own example, a 1 percentage point fee difference over 35 years reduces a retirement account's final balance by 28% - purely from compounding, with no additional contributions factored in.
What is a good 401(k) expense ratio in 2026?
Generally under 0.5% is considered good, with low-cost index funds commonly running 0.05% to 0.15%. Fees above 1.5% to 2% are considered high by most industry benchmarks.
Is my fund's expense ratio the only fee I'm paying?
Often not. Additional layers like 12b-1 fees, sub-transfer agent fees, administrative charges, and revenue sharing arrangements can meaningfully increase your all-in cost beyond the single expense ratio number most people check.
Why do smaller 401(k) plans tend to have higher fees?
Larger plans benefit from economies of scale in recordkeeping and investment management costs. One industry benchmark puts average fees for small plans (25 participants, $250,000 in assets) at 1.37%, notably above larger-plan averages.
Should I move money out of my 401(k) if fees are high?
Generally, contribute enough to capture any employer match first, since that's typically worth more than the fee drag. Beyond the match, some savers direct additional retirement savings to a lower-cost IRA if their 401(k)'s overall costs are genuinely high.