Dropping Fees for 401(k)s

Here's a little bit of good news for people depending on 401(k)s as a cornerstone of their retirement savings: The fees on such accounts continue to decline. The average expense ratios for 401(k) accounts dropped by 2 basis points in 2012, the third straight year in which they fell.

The average expenses for equity funds held in 401(k)s are now 0.63 percent, and the expenses for bond funds are 0.50 percent. The expenses for hybrid funds, which invest in both stocks and bonds, are naturally in between the two, at 0.50 percent.

It's worth noting that 401(k) participants tend to enjoy much lower expense ratios than other investors. In 2012, while 401(k) investors in equity mutual funds were paying that 0.63 percent expense ratio, the average expense ratio on a stock fund sold in the United States was more than twice that, at 1.40 percent.