How to tell if your 401(k) is a dud

There's a lot to like about employer-sponsored retirement plans like the 401(k): They're convenient (funded via automatic payroll deduction), offer tax savings (contributions lower a participant's taxable income, and investments grow tax-free) and many companies sweeten the deal by pitching in their own money to encourage employees to save.

Potential awkwardness on annual Boss's Day aside, the recent rash of worker uprisings over 401(k) fees is a good rallying cry for all investors to take a closer look at their workplace retirement plan.

The quality of a 401(k) comes down to the breadth of investment options, the management fees charged on those investments and the plan's administrative costs.

According to research from the Investment Company Institute and BrightScope, the average 401(k) offers 25 investment choices.

The best 401(k) plans offer an array of low-cost mutual funds that let investors cover as many bases as possible.

[...] although index mutual funds are known for their low fees, beware of expense ratio markups there, too.

Go directly to the source for this information (via your plan's 401(k) prospectus or the administrator's website) since the expense ratio on a fund purchased in a 401(k) may be different from what's posted on a fund company's own website.

Some 401(k)s include a brokerage window — the option to open a self-directed account within the plan — which opens up the world of outside investment choices such as bonds, certificates of deposit, exchange-traded funds, other mutual funds and individual stocks.

Talk to your human resources department, benefits committee or even the chief financial officer to push to include lower-fee investment options in the plan.