A lot of American retirement savings are in 401(k) retirement plans. These plans are provided by employers, but more often by third party administrators - always the case for smaller employers. These employers have little leverage with administrators, and account holders are often charged high administration fees - sometimes, unconscionable fees.

An article in USA Today online lays out the issue, along with a way to check on your own plan and its fees. The median fee seems to be about 1.5%. The article points out that if you put $20,000 in a 401(k) and earned 7% annually but paid a 0.50% annual fee it would grow to $70,000 in 20 years. Increase that fee to 1.5%, however, and the same funds would grow to only $58,000.

A 3% admin fee will take close to half the non-contributed growth in your 401(k).

Visit Brightscope.com to check out the rating and fees of your employer’s plan. Publication of ratings and fees can help employers to negotiate for lower fees. BrightScope ratings are based on the public Form 5500 data that plan sponsors must by law provide to the Department of Labor. Although it is the most accurate information that is available, the most recent data are from 2007. But that will change, because starting next year, the Labor Department’s data will be electronic and more easily accessible.

You may feel an uncontrollable desire to speak with your employer after visiting Brightscope.