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Grok+17 agents401k Plan Decoder: Is My 401k Any Good?
Audit a 401k's fund fees, match fine print and vesting math to see the real dollar cost of the plan.
$5
401k Plan Decoder: Is My 401k Any Good?
Example session with this skill installed
I'm 30, earn $120k, and my plan matches 50% up to 6%. The fund I'm in has a 0.85% expense ratio; the lineup also has an S&P 500 index at 0.04% and a target-date 2060 at 0.85%. I plan to stay 3 years but vesting on the match is a 5-year cliff. Decode this for me.
- Read your context and instructions
- Compiled the 401k plan decoder
401k Decode: workplace retirement plan
1. The verdict
Contribute the full 6% (anything less declines $3,600 a year of guaranteed money), but understand that on a 3-year plan with a 5-year cliff you may forfeit all of it. The 0.85% fund costs roughly $186,000 over a career versus the 0.04% index in the same lineup. The one change worth making this week: move contributions to the low-cost broad-market option, which is a cost decision, not an investment pick.
2. The fee decode
Assumptions: $7,200/yr contributions (6% of $120k), 7% gross return, 35 years to age 65, no salary growth.
- At 0.04%: projected ≈ $1,034,000
- At 0.85%: projected ≈ $848,000
- Fee drag: ≈
$186,000 over the career, from one fund choice. Admin fees: not disclosed in what you provided; request the 404a-5 notice.
3. Match & vesting math
- Formula: 50% of the first 6% → $3,600/yr at $120k.
- True-up: the documents provided are silent. If the match is computed per paycheck without an annual true-up, hitting the annual limit early forfeits match for the remaining pay periods.
- Vesting: 5-year cliff. Leaving at year 3 forfeits
$10,800 plus growth back to the employer. Your own contributions are always yours.
4. Fund lineup triage
| Fund | Expense ratio | Cost tier | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 Index | 0.04% | 🟢 Low | The cheap broad-market building block in this lineup |
| Your current fund | 0.85% | 🔴 High | 21× the index's cost for the same market exposure class |
| Target Date 2060 | 0.85% | 🔴 High | Layered costs; check whether an index-based target-date series exists |
5. Feature decode
- Roth 401k:
[to confirm]— documents silent; matters for anyone expecting higher taxes later. - After-tax contributions / in-plan conversion:
[to confirm]. - Loans:
[to confirm]— if offered, check whether separation triggers immediate repayment. - Brokerage window:
[to confirm]— sometimes the only route to low-cost funds in a poor lineup.
6. Questions for HR / the administrator
- Is there an annual true-up on the match? Please confirm in writing.
- Please send the 404a-5 fee disclosure and the summary plan description.
- Is the vesting cliff or graded, and does any prior service count?
- Is there a Roth option, an after-tax option, or a brokerage window?
This is a plain-language reading, not legal/financial advice — laws vary by jurisdiction; confirm anything load-bearing with a qualified professional.
Connects securely to your tools. The creator never sees your data.
What you get
About this skill
The problem
Nobody reads the 401k enrollment packet, which is how a 0.85% expense ratio quietly eats six figures of compounding over a career, and how a per-paycheck match without a true-up forfeits money to people who front-load.
What it does
- Converts every relevant expense ratio and admin fee into dollars over your career, assumptions labelled.
- Applies the match formula with the fine print: per-paycheck vs. annual true-up, and vesting forfeiture at your expected tenure.
- Triages the fund lineup by cost tier and points to the cheap broad-market building blocks.
- Decodes plan features: Roth option, after-tax contributions, loans, brokerage window.
- Lists the questions for HR or the administrator and the documents to request.
Why this beats prompting it yourself
A general prompt says index funds are cheaper. This skill enforces a severity scale, computes the fee drag in dollars on your numbers, checks the true-up clause most people never hear of, and decodes cost and structure without ever picking investments.
Use cases
- Reviewing a new employer's plan during enrollment.
- Auditing an existing 401k to move out of high-fee funds.
- Checking whether front-loading contributions will forfeit match.
- Deciding whether to use the Roth 401k or brokerage window.
Known limitations
Not investment advice and never recommends specific funds or allocations. Fee projections are illustrations with labelled assumptions. Needs the fee disclosure (404a-5) for full accuracy; features the documents don't mention are marked to confirm.
How to install
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- 1
Download the ZIP
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- 2
Unzip into your skills folder
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- 3
Ask your agent to use it
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