When the 401(k) retirement plan was born in 1981, it wasoriginally designed as a way for employees to defer extra savingsor bonus money on a pre-tax basis. Today, the 401(k) has eclipsedthe traditional defined benefit (DB) plan to become the primaryvehicle for financing retirement in America.

According to an AARP study, 401(k) plans are estimated to cover69 percent of the work force that participates in anemployer-sponsored plan, while the coverage of DB plans has shrunkto 31 percent. As financial advisors, it's our duty to ensurethat participants are educated about the importance of utilizingtheir 401(k) to create Paychecks for Life®. However, it's alsoour duty not to charge excessively high plan fees, especially sincethose fees will need to be disclosed in 2012.

When you're educating plan participants and helping to create astable financial future for them, you may find it difficult todetermine the amount for reasonable plan fees. Because excessivelyhigh plan fees can eat into the accumulating balance ofparticipants, the income that balance can sustain into retirementcan be much lower than expected. How advisors can determine what isreasonable is hotly debated within the industry.