This week the House Education & Labor Committee introduced the Fair Disclosure for Retirement Security Act of 2009, a bill that would require your 401(k) plan to clearly state all fees that it charged. Currently, the law doesn’t require your plan administrator to disclose all the fees and it’s often very difficult to find this information.
The bill requires 401(k) plans to include all fees in “basic investment information,” as it would disclosures on risks, returns, and investment objectives. The fees would include but not be limited to administrative fees, investment management fees, and transaction fees.
Plans would also be required to offer on low-cost index fund and disclose any financial relationships so that the company can determine if there are conflicts of interest.