401(k) Plan Review Request
Five minutes, no documents needed. Tell us how your plan is set up today and what you know about its fees. We'll compare your current bundle with unbundled options and show you each piece priced on its own.
Your 401(k) bundle, piece by piece
Most small-company 401(k) plans are sold as one bundle with one price, often taken quietly from participants' accounts. Every plan needs the same five jobs done. Seeing each one priced on its own is the only way to know whether the bundle is a good deal, and as plan sponsor, reviewing those fees is the employer's responsibility.
One provider, one price
- Plan document
The legal plan: eligibility, match, vesting, loans, Roth - Administration & testing
Annual nondiscrimination and top-heavy tests, limits, Form 5500 - Recordkeeping
Participant accounts, website, payroll feed, statements - Custody & trust
Holds the plan's assets - Investments
The fund menu, and any adviser who selects it
One bill, or none you can see. Menu is mostly the provider's own funds: no individual stocks or bonds, no life insurance, few defensive choices.
Each job priced and chosen on its own
The legal plan: eligibility, match, vesting, loans, Roth$ priced
Annual nondiscrimination and top-heavy tests, limits, Form 5500$ priced
Participant accounts, website, payroll feed, statements$ priced
Holds the plan's assets$ priced
The fund menu, and any adviser who selects it$ priced
Each piece can be compared and replaced on its own, with room for low-cost funds, a brokerage window for stocks and bonds, and Qualified Life where the plan allows. The trade-off: more providers to coordinate.
A 401(k) does not need an actuary
Pension and cash balance plans (defined benefit) need an enrolled actuary each year. A 401(k) (defined contribution) does not: its annual testing is administrative compliance work done by a third-party administrator. Ask what you pay for it, who does it, and whether a safe harbor design could remove most of the testing.
Five questions for your 408(b)(2) fee disclosure
- What do I pay, in total dollars, for each of the five jobs?
- How much comes out of participants' accounts vs. the company's?
- Who does the annual testing, and what are their credentials?
- Can participants hold individual stocks and bonds, or life insurance?
- When were these fees last benchmarked against the market?
Educational overview, not legal or tax advice. Plans with 100 or more participants with account balances also need an independent audit. AIB can help compare your current bundle with unbundled options and coordinate with your TPA. You don't need to move your plan to add Qualified Life.