America's Best 401k Launches Free Tool to Reveal 401(k) Plan Fees For Business Owners & Employees
New and Improved Fee-Checker Marries Big Data with Crowdsourcing
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Sept. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --America's Best 401k today announced the launch of its upgraded fee-checker tool, which gives business owners and their employees easy access to a snapshot of the fees they pay for their retirement plans and the resulting impact upon investment returns. Employees who participate in workplace retirement plans, and business owners who sponsor them, can access the fee-checker for free at www.showmethefees.com.
"The vast majority of the more than 533,000 401(k) plans in America are smaller plans with small and midsize businesses, and most of them pay much higher fees, as a percentage of plan assets, than larger plans at big companies," said Tom Zgainer, CEO and founder America's Best 401k. "Large company plans typically pay far less than 1% in annual fees, compared with 1-2% or more paid by most small plans. It's not a level playing field and there is no reason it shouldn't be," he added. "Our new and improved fee-checker gives these business owners, and their employees, a quick and easy way to get a clear picture of how much money 401(k) plan providers are draining from their retirement account. For many, it's a startling wake-up call."
Business owners that switch to a lower-cost and better-performing 401(k) plan could save their employees hundreds of thousands of dollars over the long term. They could also protect themselves from an accelerating wave of litigation against 401(k) plan providers and businesses, large and small, for not adhering to fiduciary standards in selecting and administering their plans and failing to put the interests of the employees first.
The fee-checker's new features leverage the power of big data and crowdsourcing to create a comprehensive database of 401(k) fees and provide an even more accurate estimate of investment-related fees for all 401(k) plans. The upgraded fee-checker allows users to search ALL 401(k) plans by the name of the business and provides an estimate of the investment-related fees in each company's retirement plan based upon data from Form 5500 IRS filings and America's Best 401k's own extensive database of 401(k) plans. Once small business owners upload their actual plan disclosure forms, which are often 25-50 pages long and difficult for anyone but a financial professional to decipher, America's Best 401k will provide an even more detailed analysis and breakdown of the costs of their 401(k) plans—for free.
"We've collected and analyzed thousands of fee disclosures since launching America's Best 401k, and the database that helps to power our fee-checker is extremely robust," added Josh Jenkins-Robbins, Chief Strategy Officer, America's Best 401k. "For those familiar with Zillow's home value 'Zestimates,' we use a similar method to generate estimates of the percentage of plan assets participants are paying out in fees," he said. "Once the business owner uploads a plan disclosure document, our team will provide an even more detailed analysis of the exact impact of fees upon retirement savings accounts."
For media inquiries, please contact Jami Schlicher, JConnelly, at 973-850-7309 or [email protected].
About America's Best 401k
We are disruptors. We remember what most plan providers have seemingly forgotten: the money in 401(k) plans is the possession of real people. People with families. Families that deserve to have the benefits of the money they have had the discipline to sock away. In a sense, we are freedom fighters. Freedom from expensive 401(k) plans and underperforming investment options. America's Best 401k offers plan sponsors and participants freedom from expensive 401(k) plans and underperforming investment options. For more information, visit americasbest401k.com.
SOURCE America's Best 401k
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