Audit your 401(k) fees, protections, and rollover options like an ERISA attorney would.
Based on: 401(k) ATTORNEY: Don't Touch Your 401(k) Until You Watch This by Erin Talks Money | Erin Moriarity
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What if the 401(k) you've been contributing to for years is quietly draining your retirement savings — and you'd have no idea because no one told you where to look? Most people assume their employer has everything handled. They assume the fees are reasonable, the investments are solid, and the protections are automatic. Sometimes that's true. Often, it isn't.
Here's the uncomfortable reality: your 401(k) can carry fees as high as 2% of your balance every single year. On a $300,000 account, that's $6,000 quietly disappearing before you see a single return. And that's just the fees. Do you know if your plan advisor is legally required to act in your best interest? Do you know whether rolling over to an IRA would actually cost you more? Do you know if you have free access to a financial advisor you've never been told about? Most people don't — and that gap costs them real money.
Imagine sitting down with a retirement attorney — someone who has spent her career protecting employees under federal ERISA law — and getting a plain-English breakdown of exactly what to look for, what to ask, and what to never do with your retirement account. That's exactly what Erin Moriarity of Erin Talks Money did, bringing in ERISA attorney and law partner Bonnie Triel to walk through every major decision point a 401(k) participant faces.
This checklist distills that entire conversation into a step-by-step action guide you can use right now. It covers how to read your annual fee disclosure, how to benchmark your plan against industry standards, how to verify whether your advisor is a true ERISA fiduciary, what to do with your old 401(k) when you change jobs, how ERISA protects you in ways an IRA never could, and how to start building your retirement income picture five years out.
This is the checklist you hand your past self and wish you had a decade ago. Pick it up, work through it this weekend, and finally know exactly where your retirement money stands.
Every checklist item comes with actionable notes to guide you — things like "Don't forget to do this before you start," "Avoid this common mistake," or "Set a reminder for 30 days out." Nothing vague, just clear next steps.
+ 25 more action items inside...
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