Pension plans are on the way out. The 401k plan has become the default retirement vehicle for the majority of American workers. But just because it is called a 401k plan doesn’t mean that they are all the same.
The 401k industry has put up all kinds of roadblocks and red tape to hide the costs and performance of the individual plans against each other. Why would they do this? I could guess that each plan has it’s own reasons to be opaque instead of transparent.
That being said, I ran into a site today that is trying to put some metrics to the madness. I highly recommend checking out Brightscope’s 401k Rankings to find out how your company’s 401k plan compares to others in your industry.
As an employee, you have a say in how your 401k plan is managed. Work with your Human Resources Department to make sure that your retirement plan is managed well so that you can better enjoy the fruits of your labor in retirement.