Send ProPublica Your 401(k) Plan to Help Us Report on Retirement Fees

Please tell us about one plan at a time. If you've moved jobs and have plans with more than one employer, please fill out a new form for each plan.

Every company is required by law to give employees an annual disclosure that lists the 401(k) or 403(b) plan's investment options, the historical performance of those investments, and information on fees. We need to collect as many examples of these disclosures as possible. If you can, please submit a copy of your plan's disclosure. Note: We are not asking for anything that shows your account balances. This may take up a few minutes. We really appreciate your time and help.

Financial service providers are required by law to provide a disclosure to the plan sponsor (the employer) of fees and costs. It would help our reporting to collect as many examples of these disclosures as possible. We are primarily interested in the disclosures for the company administering the plan (the recordkeeper), investment advisers and consultants. If you can, please submit copies of these disclosures here or email them to 401k@propublica.org. This disclosure might include a reference to section 408(b)(2) of ERISA. It might be called something like "explanation of fees and services."

ADP: Here's how you can locate your plan's disclosure:

1. Log in to mykplan.adp.com.
2. Hover over "plan information."
3. Click on "plan details and disclosures."
4. Under "participant fee disclosure," click "view" to view the document.
5. Download the document.

Charles Schwab: Here's how you can locate your plan's disclosure:

1. Go to schwab.com and log in. Click on your 401(k) or 403(b) account.
2. Near the top of the page is a row of options. Click "history and statements."
3. Under the title are three tabs. Click on "statements and reports."
4. In the "document" column, click the most recent "fee and investment notice."
5. Download the form.

Empower: Here's how you can locate your plan's disclosure:

1. Go to empower.com/login-v1 and log in to your 401(k) or 403(b) workplace account.
2. After you log in, look at the middle right side of the webpage. There will be a search bar with the phrase "I want to ... ." Select the option "view statements and documents."
3. This link will bring you to a list of statements and documents for your account with the following columns: "date," "category" and "description."
4. Use the "description" column to locate the document titled "investment return and fee comparison." If the document is not listed on the first page, you can use the search box at the top of the table to look for it. Type "investment return and fee comparison" and hit enter. You can check that your notice is the most recent by looking at the date column.
5. Click on the document link, which will open a PDF. Download the form.

Fidelity: Here's how you can locate your plan's disclosure:

1. Go to netbenefits.fidelity.com and log in to your 401(k) or 403(b) account.
2. From the dashboard, select your account on the left under "accounts & benefits."
3. You should see a heading with your account/employer name. Under this heading is a navigation bar. Select the rightmost option, "plan information."
4. You should see a list of links. Select "required disclosure information."
5. Download the form.

John Hancock: Here's how you can locate your plan's disclosure:

1. Log in to myplan.johnhancock.com
2. Scroll down to the navy blue box at the bottom of the page. Under the "my investments" column (third from the left), click on "view fees & performance."
3. You should see a page that says "fees and performance of all funds" with links to monthly disclosure document reports.
4. Click on the latest document that includes a table of fees. It may be called a "disclosure document."
5. Download the document.

Nationwide: Here's how you can locate your plan's disclosure:

1. Log in to login.nationwide.com/access/web/login.htm. 
2. Click on your personal profile page. 
3. At the top of your personal page, select the pulldown tab labeled "my Account."
4. From the "my account" menu, click on the option labeled "plan information." 
5. From the "plan information" page, select the "disclosures" tab. There should be an option to download the "participant fee disclosure" document.
6. Download the form. 

Principal: Here's how you can locate your plan's disclosure:

1. Go to accounts.principal.com and log in to your 401(k) or 403(b) account.
2. Look at the top left of the page. There will be a dropdown menu called "my accounts.” Click it and select your account.
3. Below the heading "employer sponsored account” is a series of drop-down menus. Click the first, "overview," and select "plan information & forms."
4. Under "notices," you should see a form titled something like "ERISA 404 participant fee disclosure."
5. Download the form.

TIAA-CREF: Here's how you can locate your plan's disclosure:

1. Go to auth.tiaa.org and log in to your TIAA-CREF account.
2. At the very top of the page is a series of dropdown menus. Select "plan & learn." Then, under "resources" toward the right, select "all resources."
3. On the "all resources" page, scroll down a bit until you see "research, performance & news" and then select "retirement investments."
4. Near the top of the page, under "choose a plan to explore investments," you’ll see your plan listed. Click on "plan & investment notice" to the right.
5. Download the form.

Transamerica: Here's how you can locate your plan's disclosure:

1. Go to transamerica.com/login/individual and log in to your account through the "retirement plan" option.
2. On the top right, you’ll see a heading that includes a dropdown menu, "documents and forms." Click on "forms."
3. You'll see a list of hyperlinked options with a text box below that says "important information about your plan."
4. Click on "get information about your plan’s investments, associated fees and documents."
5. Click on the tab that says "plan documents."
6. Scroll down to "plan related notifications," where there is a list of hyperlinked documents. The document might be named something like "important fund and fee information — annual disclosure."
7. Download the form.

Vanguard: Here's how you can locate your plan's disclosure:

If you log in to Vanguard through my.vanguardplan.com, here’s how you can locate your plan’s disclosure: 

1. Go to my.vanguardplan.com and log in to your 401(k) account.
2. Look at the top navigation bar. Find the "shortcuts" dropdown and select "access documents." There will be two options: "plan information" and "plan documents." Select "plan documents."
3. On the "plan documents" page, look under the heading "current plan notices." You'll see a list of forms, each with a "download Now" link.
4. Find the PDF titled "fee Disclosure." 
5. Click "download now."

If you log in to Vanguard through ownyourfuture.vanguard.com, here’s how you can locate your plan’s disclosure: 

1. After you log in, look at the top navigation bar. Find the "documents" menu and hover or click it. Click the "forms & applications" option.
2. Next, click to "plan communications."
3. Scroll through until you see "annual participant fee disclosure notice." 
4. Click on the document and download it.

Locating Your Plan's Disclosure

Usually, this disclosure can be found on the website of the financial company that handles your company’s plan (the recordkeeper). Try looking for a menu or section of the site that features "plan information," "disclosures" or "resources."  

There is not one standard name for this disclosure, but here are some examples of what it might be called:

• Notice of investment returns and fee comparison
• Investment performance and expenses
• Summary plan disclosure notice
• ERISA 404(a)(5) disclosure 

You'll know you have the right document when you see a chart listing all of your plans' investment options, their performance over time and the associated fees for each option. The fees associated with the investments in your plan might be called an "expense ratio," "investment expenses" or "asset-based fees."

Here are a couple of images of what the charts in these reports can look like:

If you cannot locate the form, there are other ways to obtain it. Your employer might have also mailed and/or emailed it to you. You are also entitled to ask your human resources department for a copy. 

Here is some language that people have used to obtain these records from their human resources department: 

Hi there,

I am trying to find the annual disclosure for our retirement plan. This document lists the administrative expenses for our plan along with a comparative chart of the investments, their historical performance and their associated fees. It is required under 404(a)(5) of ERISA. Could you please send me a copy of our last disclosure or tell me where to find it?

Thanks.