When I was younger, I was a pessimist. Everything to me, like a bad grade in Civil Procedure I was the end of the world and I realized eventually, that it wasn’t. I learned optimism is easier to manage than pessimism.
A recent survey by Rebalance shows that almost 75% of Americans surveyed do not know how much they are required to pay in fees to manage their retirement accounts. Over half of Americans surveyed (57%) falsely believe that they pay either no fees or very low fees, to maintain their retirement investment accounts. Also, nearly one-quarter don’t even know how much they pay in fees.
Being now an optimist, while their numbers aren’t great, it was worse when plan sponsors didn’t think they paid anything for plan administration. Plan sponsors now get fee disclosures and plan participants also get fee disclosures on daily valued 401(k) plans. The survey clearly shows that we still have a job to do in terms of education and communication, but it’s better than it used to be.
