ShareBuilder 401k Launches New Tools for 401(k) Sponsors and Participants

Free Online Tools Help Calculate 401(k) Costs Quickly and Easily, Determine if Fees are Too High

News provided by

Oct 15, 2012, 12:08 ET

SEATTLE, Oct. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the Department of Labor's new rules requiring 401(k) providers to disclose fees more transparently, ShareBuilder 401k has launched a selection of new online tools and resources to help companies and their employees better understand their new 401(k) fee disclosure statements and determine if they're paying too much for their plan.

"The new 401(k) disclosures are intended to provide greater access to and understanding of 401(k) plans, but a lot of confusion remains," said ShareBuilder 401k President, Stuart Robertson. "These new tools are designed to help employees and employers better understand their 401(k) plans and inherent costs – and most importantly, learn ways to lower fees so they're positioned to save more for retirement."

A recent survey conducted by ShareBuilder 401k found that 83 percent of employers still have questions about their 401(k) fee disclosure notices and are unsure what to do next. To help guide employers and participating employees toward reducing 401(k) plan costs, ShareBuilder 401k has launched a series of new tools including:

For plan sponsors (business owners) www.401kcomparison.com offers quick and easy tools to help business owners compare their current 401(k) plan with a low-cost plan (priced at less than one percent in fees). In just 5-10 minutes, the tool requests information from a plan sponsor's new fee disclosure document and produces a five-year projection of the company's current plan versus a low-cost plan – including both employer-paid and employee-paid expenses.
For plan participants (employees) www.401kfeefighters.com offers tools to help employees calculate and understand their 401(k) fees, and provides tips to help lower plan expenses and maximize 401(k) savings. It also shares ideas on how to approach employers with ways to lower costs.

"Over the course of a career, the difference between paying one and two percent in 401(k) fees can be the difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars," Robertson said. "We're working to get the word out that if you're paying more than one percent in fund expenses and investment fees, you're paying too much. These tools are another way we help employers and employees understand the impact of these costs on their retirement and how to take action to save more of their money."

Since 2005, ShareBuilder 401k has made all of its pricing readily available on its website, and the company began advocating for an industry benchmark of less than one percent for "all-in" employee-paid fees in 2007. ShareBuilder 401k is not a fund provider and takes an unbiased approach in the evaluation and selection of funds with a focus on low-expense, index based investments from the leading ETF providers such as Vanguard, iShares, SPDR and PowerShares to create a powerful line-up from which participants can choose, including five model portfolios.

About ShareBuilder 401k

ShareBuilder 401k provides easy-to-use, cost-efficient 401(k) retirement plans for small businesses ranging from the self-employed to those with 1,000 or more employees. ShareBuilder 401k is a leader in providing 100 percent index-based ETF investments (plus a money market) in 401(k) plans. ShareBuilder 401k offers a suite of on-demand services that make it simple for employers and employees to open and manage their retirement plans online at www.sharebuilder401k.com. ShareBuilder 401k plans provide market-efficient investments and model portfolios that make it easy for employees to select smart investments to help them get on track to meet their retirement goals. Customers can also take advantage of ShareBuilder 401k consultants, customer success managers, and customer care agents to receive assistance in choosing and managing their retirement benefits.

Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the fund before investing. This and other important information is contained in the prospectus (located at http://content.sharebuilder.com/MgdCon/Core/QuotesResearch/ETFProspectus/) which should be read carefully before investing.

Advisory services are provided by ShareBuilder Advisors, LLC, a registered investment advisor. ShareBuilder Advisors, LLC, is a subsidiary of ING Bank, fsb. ING Bank, fsb, and its subsidiaries, including ShareBuilder Corporation, have been acquired by Capital One Financial Corporation and are no longer affiliated with ING Groep N.V. ("ING"). The trademarks ING, ING DIRECT, ING Lion, and the ING Lion logo, alone or as a part of any trademark, logo, work or domain name are trademarks of ING and are used by permission.

401(k) plans are: Not FDIC insured – Not Bank guaranteed – May lose value

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Alison Cahill Rouse
[email protected]
917-653-7592

SOURCE ShareBuilder 401k