True Return = Performance − Cost

2000–2026 · $10K/yr

If everyone switched

Small numbers. Big money.

Americans keep $4.8 trillion in target-date funds. Tiny percentages on that pile turn into billions.

$10.6B
a year, fees alone

$4.8T × 0.22 points. That is the gap between a 0.27% fund and a 0.05% index fund.

$959B
over 20 years, fees alone

The fee gap on $6.2T of 401(k) mutual-fund money, compounding at 7% for 20 years.

$216B
a year, S&P 500 vs target-date average

$4.8T × 4.5 points. 14.8% vs 10.3% net per year, 2012–2026.

$328B
a year, leader funds vs target-date average

$4.8T × 6.8 points. Ten leader funds averaged 17.1% net, 2012–2026.

Per saver: $334,520. $10,000 a year since 2012 grew to $676,220 in the leader-fund average and $341,700 in the average target-date fund. About 49.7 million savers use target-date funds (70M participants × 71%). Multiply and you reach as much as $16.6 trillion, or $12.1T at the $7,300 average saver. That is a ceiling, not a forecast. It assumes everyone saved the full amount every year and stayed all-stock through every crash.

Why 401k Heroes

Know what you hold. Keep more of it.

As inflation keeps eroding the dollar and our ability to stay ahead, taking any advantage we can to raise investment performance is a net positive for American participants. I am not here to create a conspiracy theory about the financial system. I am here to create awareness of the true performance of what about 80 million Americans are invested in—and may not even know.

401(k)s are still one of the most beneficial investment accounts: a reduction in taxable income, a company match if available, and a long performance history. What most of us don't realize is that when a plan auto-enrolls you, it usually puts you in a target-date ("timed") fund based on your age. The bigger issues are the cost and the over-diversification of these funds. Timed funds are spread into large cap, small cap, bonds, and cash. Essentially the entire market.

Target-date funds on average cost about 5 to 8 times what a low-cost index fund charges—closer to 8× versus the cheapest S&P 500 institutional shares, about 5× versus a typical index equity fund. In 2008 the average was even higher. Fees alone do not take 20–30% of ending wealth. The full gap versus a low-cost stock index, once you count what the fund owns, has been that large or larger. Do you really want to leave that much on the table?

The mission of 401k Heroes is to help participants reduce investment cost and concentrate their investments in higher-performing funds.

About 80 million: DOL EBSA active participants in 401(k)-type plans (~79–83 million in recent years). ICI separately cites about 70 million active 401(k) participants. Auto-enroll default: Vanguard How America Saves 2026 — among plans with a QDIA, 98% use a target-date fund (61% of Vanguard plans use auto-enrollment). Expense multiples: ICI TDF 0.27% (2025) vs VINIX 0.035% (~7.7×) or vs ICI index-equity 0.05% (~5.4×). Higher past cost: ICI TDF average 0.67% in 2008. Wealth gap: fee-only drag ~4% over 26 years at 0.28% vs 0.035%; FFFFX vs VFINX Yahoo path 2000–2026 left about 38% less ending wealth.

The one equation

Same deposits. Same years. $621,182 apart.

Put $10,000 in every January from 2000 to today. That is $270,000 of your money. A popular high-cost target-date fund turned it into about $1.02 million. A plain S&P 500 index fund turned it into about $1.64 million. The math is one line: what the fund earned, minus what it charged you.

Target-date fund

Low-cost leader

Calculation. $10,000 deposited each January; valued Oct 23, 2026. Window starts at the later of Jan 2000 or the fund’s first price on Yahoo, so some pairs cover fewer years (shown). Net return comes from Yahoo adjusted prices, which are already after fees. Performance = net + today’s expense ratio, an approximation. Fees are not counted twice. * = approximate expense ratio. Leader funds are 100% stock; target-date funds hold bonds on purpose, so they swing less. Past results do not promise future ones.

The story

Your fund chose for you. Check its math.

Most 401(k) money lands in a target-date fund by default. Nobody asked what it costs or what it owns. Two questions matter.

Punch 1 · Cost alone

Pay less. Keep more.

Hold the growth rate still. Change only the fee. $10,000 each January for 26 years. Gross return 7% for every row. Net = 7% − expense ratio. That is cost alone.

Avg target-date · 0.28% fee · 6.72% kept
$702,715
VINIX · 0.035% fee · 6.965% kept
$730,735
VITAX · 0.09% fee · 6.91% kept
$724,339

Calculation. Start-of-year deposits (annuity due), matching this site. VINIX ends $28,020 ahead of the 0.28% fund; VITAX $21,624 ahead. Expense ratios: ICI/Morningstar asset-weighted target-date ~0.27% (2025; was 0.29% in 2024 — we use 0.28% midpoint); VINIX 0.035% (Vanguard prospectus); VITAX 0.09% (Vanguard). Same gross on purpose — so this is not a race of what the funds own.

History · Not the model

Real prices. Real gaps.

Now put the fee model down. Use Yahoo adjusted prices (already after fees). $10,000 each January. Do not count the expense ratio twice.

FFFFX · Freedom 2040 · since 2000 · 6.23% kept
$1,016,785
VFINX · S&P 500 · since 2000 · 8.22% kept
$1,637,967
VITAX · Info Tech · since 2004 · 14.93% kept
$2,830,212

Calculation from Yahoo adjusted NAV, valued Oct 23, 2026. FFFFX and VFINX: 27 deposits ($270,000 in), 2000–2026. VITAX began Mar 25, 2004 — 23 deposits ($230,000 in), not 26 years. Gap vs FFFFX: VFINX +$621,182; VITAX +$1,813,427 on a shorter clock. Most of that gap is allocation (target-date funds hold bonds on purpose; VITAX is concentrated tech and swings harder).

Punch 2 · Concentration

Own the leaders.

The biggest U.S. companies drove most of the gains. Funds that hold more of them, like Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) and Technology Select (XLK), went further. Same $270,000 in since 2000.

S&P 500 · VFINX
$1,637,967
Nasdaq-100 · QQQ
$3,154,707
Tech sector · XLK
$3,524,413

Concentration cuts both ways. QQQ fell about 80% from 2000 to 2002. VITAX is higher volatility than a broad index or a target-date fund. A saver near retirement can be hurt badly by that. This is history, not advice.

401kheroes.com · Growth − cost = true return · Cited sources · Data as of Oct 15, 2026

The 30-year mix model

Thirty years. $10,000 a year. The typical 401(k) mix grew 9.4%, cost 0.46%, and kept 8.9%. The same mix in index funds grew 9.5%, cost 0.12%, and kept 9.4%.

Growth − cost = true return. $10,000 went in on the first trading day of each year, 1997 to 2026: $300,000 in all. The typical mix uses EBRI/ICI 2023 weights: 37% equity funds, 44% balanced and target-date funds, 6% stable value, 5% bonds, 5% company stock, 1% money (rescaled to 100%). Target-date funds hold 42% of all 401(k) assets. The index mix ended with $130,630 more (+9.1%). Every figure is hindsight, after fund costs, with proxy funds. None of it is a promise.

Typical 401(k) mix · 30 years
9.39%growth−0.46%cost=8.93%true return a year
$10,000 a year, 1997–2026. Proxy mix from EBRI/ICI 2023 weights. Ended with $1,440,475; fees paid $48,883.
Same mix in index funds · 30 years
9.50%growth−0.12%cost=9.38%true return a year
Same weights, index funds (VFINX, VBMFX and others). Ended with $1,571,105; fees paid $13,445.
Top-5 index funds · 30 years
10.69%growth−0.13%cost=10.56%true return a year
Average of VIGRX, VINIX, VTSMX, NAESX, VEXMX, picked with hindsight. Ended with $2,010,288; fees paid $17,696.
The payoff · $300,000 in · hindsight, after fund costs

$10,000 on the first trading day of each year, 1997 to 2026. Fees paid: $48,883 in the typical mix vs $13,445 in the index mix. Both mixes are proxies built from the same EBRI/ICI weights, not any one person's account.

Typical 401(k) mix
$1,440,475
Same mix, index funds
$1,571,105
Top-5 index funds
$2,010,288
+9.1%more money, index mix vs typical
$130,630 more
One real fund · Fidelity Freedom 2030 vs a 60/40 index mix

Same $10,000 a year. Freedom 2030 (FFFEX, 0.61%): grew 7.79%, cost 0.63%, kept 7.16%. 60/40 index mix (VFINX/VBMFX): grew 9.02%, cost 0.14%, kept 8.88%. Caveat: the glide paths differ, so this is not like for like. Fees paid: $57,745 vs $15,408.

Freedom 2030 (FFFEX)
$1,026,898
60/40 index mix
$1,426,225
+38.9%more at 30 years
$399,327 more
8.4% − 0.27% = 8.1%United States, 20 years, a year: growth − cost = true return for the average 2040 target-date fund, the usual 401(k) default (avg of VFORX, FFFFX, TRRDX from Yahoo adjusted NAV; cost: ICI 2025 asset-weighted 0.27%).
6.2% − 0.5% = 5.7%World, 20 years, a year: simple average of the 21 countries with a published OECD 20-year nominal return (Pensions at a Glance 2025, Table 9.3, already after investment expenses); cost from the 3 top-ten countries that report fees. Different portfolios and currencies than the US row.
92.9%of active large-cap US funds lagged the S&P 500 over 20 years (S&P SPIVA, year-end 2025). 85.6% lagged over 10 years, 89.9% over 15.

See the top ten ↓
Average 401(k) balance: $155,800 (Fidelity, Q2 2026)Median balance: $38,176 (Vanguard, 2024)84% of savers use a target-date fundOnly 72% of private-sector workers have a retirement plan at work (BLS)Hardship withdrawals: 1.7% → 4.8% of savers in 4 years (Vanguard)35% of non-retirees say they are on track (Federal Reserve)Auto-enroll plans: 94% join. Voluntary plans: 64% (Vanguard)Average 401(k) balance: $155,800 (Fidelity, Q2 2026)Median balance: $38,176 (Vanguard, 2024)84% of savers use a target-date fundOnly 72% of private-sector workers have a retirement plan at work (BLS)Hardship withdrawals: 1.7% → 4.8% of savers in 4 years (Vanguard)35% of non-retirees say they are on track (Federal Reserve)Auto-enroll plans: 94% join. Voluntary plans: 64% (Vanguard)

Chapter 01 · The top ten

The ten best index funds, ranked by total return.

Every fund below is a plain index fund with an expense ratio of 0.20% or less. Returns are total returns net of fees (dividends reinvested; a fund's NAV is already after its expense ratio). Pick a period and a contribution style. Default: $10,000 invested on the first trading day of each year (the same schedule as the hero), showing the ending balance, the gain, the gain as a % of money put in, and growth − cost = true return. Funds are ranked by cumulative total return.

$0
+0%
n/a

How "top ten" works: from all index funds in our dataset with an expense ratio of 0.20% or less and a full history for the period (bond funds included, which is why they rank near the bottom when few funds qualify), ranked by cumulative total return. Share classes of the same portfolio (for example VFIAX, VINIX, FXAIX and SWPPX) are collapsed into one row, showing the best-performing class, with the other classes named beneath it. At 30 years, only the funds with 30 years of price history qualify, so fewer than ten distinct portfolios appear.

30-year method: funds under 30 years old are excluded. The 30-year figures come from older Investor and Institutional share classes (for example VFINX for the S&P 500, VIGRX for growth, VTSMX for total market, VINIX since 1990). Newer Admiral classes (VFIAX, VTSAX, VIGAX) cost less and would have earned slightly more, but have not existed for 30 years.

$10,000-a-year method: one $10,000 purchase on the first trading day of each year from the start year to 2026 (for example 30 years: 1997 to 2026, $300,000 in), valued at 10/15/2026 from the same adjusted NAV history. Gain = ending balance − money put in. True return = money-weighted annual return (IRR) of those cash flows. Growth = the same IRR with today's expense ratio added back to the fund's daily returns; cost = growth − true return, close to the expense ratio. Fees paid = the expense ratio applied to the running balance each year. Historic expense ratios were often higher, so growth is understated and cost understated for older years.

Calculation: cumulative return = price on 10/15/2026 ÷ price at the start date − 1, using Yahoo Finance dividend- and split-adjusted NAV history, which is total return after fund expenses. "Before fees" adds today's expense ratio back to the annualized return (an approximation, since historical expense ratios were often higher). Fees paid = expense ratio × a $10,000 balance each year at the fund's net growth rate, using today's expense ratio. Our calculations; they match Schwab/Morningstar's published 5, 10 and 15-year figures within 0.4 percentage points (average gap 0.02).

Caveats: the ranking is picked with hindsight. Sector funds (VITAX technology, VENAX energy and others) are concentrated and far riskier than a broad index fund. Funds with a short history can't appear in longer periods. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results, and plan availability varies: your 401(k) may not offer these funds or share classes (we have not verified availability).

Chapter 02 · The world

How do other countries' retirement savers stack up?

The 401(k) is a US product. So we compare with the national workplace and mandatory retirement systems in the ten countries with the highest pension-plan participation in the OECD's table: Latvia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Costa Rica, Denmark, Chile, New Zealand, Israel and Switzerland. Where the OECD publishes no figure for a period, we say not published.

Ranking source: OECD Pensions at a Glance 2025, Table 9.1, participation in mandatory, quasi-mandatory or auto-enrolment pension plans as a share of the working-age population: Latvia ~100%, Sweden 99.4%, Netherlands 97.4%, Finland 93.0%, Costa Rica 91.2%, Denmark ATP "over 90%", Chile 87.6%, New Zealand 86.0% (auto-enrolment), Israel 83.6%, Switzerland 81.5% (next: Iceland 81.2%, Australia 78.6%). Participation rates are shares of the population, not member counts; the OECD table gives no member counts. The United States (38.4% in occupational plans) and Australia (78.6%) are shown for context only.

Return source: OECD Pensions at a Glance 2025, Table 9.3: geometric average annual investment returns of pension providers, in local currency, before tax and after investment expenses, to December 2024 (Australia June to June). The OECD publishes 5, 10, 15 and 20-year figures only, so 30-year is not published. Cumulative % and $10,000 values are our calculation, (1 + annual return)^years − 1.

Apples to oranges: pension providers hold balanced portfolios with bonds, so they are not all-stock funds. Returns are in each country's currency, the OECD's figures end in December 2024 while our index-fund data end October 2026, and the OECD US row covers US pension funds, not the 401(k) alone. No published average 401(k) return exists in comparable form. Real returns remove inflation; for the index funds we deflate using the US inflation implied by OECD's own US nominal and real figures, so real is shown through 20 years only.

Chapter 03 · If everyone switched

What if every US 401(k) saver moved to a low-cost fund?

A hypothetical, and a rough one. We take the money in US 401(k) plans today and ask what the cost gap alone could add over 5 to 30 years. Everything is framed as growth − cost = true return. Then we show a larger hindsight number, clearly labeled. Nobody can switch everything, and nobody should read this as a forecast.

Conservative · cost only$0

Hindsight · return gap, upper range$0

Chapter 04 · Two savers

Same paycheck. Same $10,000 a year. Different default.

Two coworkers put $10,000 a year into their 401(k) for the same period. One stays in a 2040 target-date fund and earns the Morningstar category average. The other picks a plain S&P 500 index fund (VFIAX, 0.04%). Drag the slider and watch the balances split.

Saver A · average 2040 target-date fund$0
Saver B · S&P 500 index fund (VFIAX)$0

The receipt nobody hands you

Fees are taken from your balance inside the fund, so you never see a bill. This is the bill for the median saver's account, using published expense ratios.

Starts at the Vanguard median balance ($38,176) and ICI's 0.27% average target-date expense ratio. Dollar figures are our calculations.

Chapter 05 · The default

You didn't pick it. It picked you.

98%

of plans that name a default investment use a target-date fund.

94%

of eligible workers are in the plan when it auto-enrolls them. Only 64% are when they have to sign up.

71%

of target-date investors put their entire account in a single target-date fund.

Myth vs. fact

Myth

"The target-date fund is the safe, smart choice, so it must be the best one."

Fact

It is a sensible default, not a performance leader. The average 2040 target-date fund returned a year over 10 years, while a plain S&P 500 fund returned . Part of that gap is the bonds and international stocks target-date funds hold.

Sources
Myth

"Fees of 0.3% or 1% are small. It's just pennies."

Fact

Fees are charged every year on the whole balance, so they compound. On the median saver's numbers below, a 1.09% fund versus a 0.05% fund costs over 25 years (hypothetical 7% return).

Sources
Myth

"Most people have a 401(k) at work."

Fact

About 72% of private-industry workers have access to any retirement plan, and only 53% participate. Part-timers: 43% have access to a 401(k)-type plan, vs 78% of full-timers.

Sources

Chapter 06 · Reality check

What middle- and lower-income savers need to hear.

The returns above are only half the story. Who gets to save, how much, and what happens when life hits matter just as much. Every number below is cited.

$38,176

median 401(k) balance. The average is $148,153, pulled up by high earners. The median is the typical saver.

4.8%

of savers took a hardship withdrawal in 2024 (in plans that allow them), up from 1.7% in 2020. Emergency money is coming out of retirement accounts.

7%

of non-retirees in households earning under $25,000 say their retirement savings are on track. At $100,000+, it's 59%.

"My retirement savings are on track" by family income

Average 401(k) balance by income

Median 401(k) balance by age

Hardship withdrawals, % of savers

59%

of workers at employers with under 100 employees have access to a retirement plan, vs 90% at employers with 500+.

37%

of adults could not cover a $400 emergency with cash or a card paid off at month end. 12% couldn't pay it at all. 4% cashed out retirement money in the past year.

14.4%

average total savings rate (employee + employer) at Fidelity, a record. Fidelity's benchmark is 15%. Vanguard says 12% to 15%.

Chapter 07 · Run the numbers

What this means for a median earner.

Inputs come from Vanguard: median balance $38,176, median participant income $89,000, median deferral 6.8% (about $6,052 a year), median employer match 4.0% of pay. Everything on this page below is our calculation at a hypothetical 7% gross return, not a forecast.

The cost of waiting

Start saving later and the first dollars lose the most compounding. Slide to see what a delay costs.

Start now$0
Start later$0
Cost of waiting$0

Hypothetical 7% annual return, monthly compounding, no fees or taxes, no match. Our calculation (see calc-median-saver).

Chapter 08 · Your move

Compare any two funds. Same time period.

Pick any two of the 30 funds we track, a time period, and whether to show returns net of fees (published) or before fees (net plus expense ratio).

Right now

Top 5-year performers

The five highest 5-year annualized returns among the 24 funds we track (bond funds excluded). Returns are as of 10/15/2026.

Note: This ranks our tracked list of common 401(k) lineup funds. It is not a screen of every fund on the market. Your plan may offer different share classes or funds. A strong 5-year record doesn't predict the next five years.

The centerpiece

Low-cost index funds vs target-date funds

Target-date funds are the default choice for most 401(k)s. ICI reports that 89% of plans offer them and 71% of participants own them. Here's how they compared with plain, low-cost index funds.

VFIAX (S&P 500 index, 0.04%) finished ahead of Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 by $0
VFIAX
VTSAX
FFFFX
TRRDX
VFORX

FundTypeExpense ratio5 yr10 yr15 yr20 yr

Annualized total returns, without load, as of 10/15/2026 (Schwab/Morningstar). 20-year figures are our calculations from adjusted NAV history. "—" means the share class is less than 20 years old.

Fair fight check

Not apples to apples. A 2040 target-date fund isn't 100% stocks. VFORX holds about 25% bonds and about 29% international stocks (as of 8/31/2026). Much of the gap comes from that mix, plus fees. The S&P 500 also had an unusually strong run.
But the cushion was thin. From 2007 to 2009, VFIAX fell 55.2% from peak to trough. VFORX fell 51.6%, FFFFX 54.1%, and TRRDX 53.5% (our calculation). The bond cushion saved only a few points.
Fees compound too. FFFFX charges 0.66% and TRRDX 0.59%, versus 0.04% for VFIAX/VTSAX. That's 15 to 16 times the cost for each dollar invested, every year.

The scoreboard

All tracked funds: 5, 10, 15, 20 & 30 years

Click any column to sort. Index funds are marked Index, active funds Active, and target-date funds Target-date.

FundCategoryExp. ratio5 yr10 yr15 yr20 yr30 yr

Data as of 10/15/2026. Annualized 5, 10 and 15-year figures: Schwab fund research (Morningstar data). Cumulative, $10,000, 20-year and 30-year figures are our calculations from Yahoo Finance adjusted NAV history (total return after fund expenses). A dash means the fund is younger than the period.

Who the system pays

Fees & over-diversification

Every basis point you pay goes to someone else. Here's what the data says about 401(k) costs.

1.09%Simple average expense ratio of equity mutual funds in 2025. Because 401(k) money is concentrated in cheaper funds, participants paid an asset-weighted 0.27%. ICI 2025
0.05%Asset-weighted average expense ratio of index equity mutual funds in 2025. ICI 2025
28%DOL's example: a 1-point fee difference cuts a 35-year balance by 28% ($227,000 vs $163,000). U.S. DOL
0.67% → 0.27%Average target-date fund expense ratio, 2008 vs 2025. Costs fell, but many popular series still charge more than double that. ICI 2025

Fee-drag calculator

Presets:
Low-cost ending balance
Higher-cost ending balance
Lost to fees

Monthly compounding at (gross return − fee)/12, with contributions added each month. Illustrative only. Actual returns vary.

Over-diversification: paying for layers

Many target-date funds are funds of funds. Each underlying fund has its own manager, and the bundled fee pays for all of them. A single total-market index fund already owns thousands of stocks.

49holdings in Fidelity Freedom 2040 (FFFFX), mostly Fidelity "Series" funds · 0.66%
30holdings in T. Rowe Price Retirement 2040 (TRRDX) · 0.59%
27holdings in American Funds 2040 TD R-6 (RFGTX) · 0.36%
6holdings in Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 (VFORX), mainly 4 index funds · 0.08%
3,514holdings in one fund: Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTSAX) · 0.04%

What the fee is worth to the manager (illustrative calculation)

FFFFX reports $36.8B in total assets. At 0.66%, that's roughly $243 million a year. VFORX, with $120.3B at 0.08%, would bring in roughly $96 million. So Fidelity Freedom 2040 collects about 8 times more per dollar managed.

Assets × the expense ratio shown. This is rough: total assets can include other share classes with different fees, and expense ratios also pay for operating costs, not just profit. Asset data as of 7/31/2026 (FFFFX) and 8/31/2026 (VFORX).

Active managers vs the S&P 500 SPIVA U.S. Year-End 2025

Chapter 09 · Do this tonight

Check your plan's funds. It takes 10 minutes.

  1. Find the fee. Log in and open your plan's fund lineup. Write down each fund's expense ratio. Your plan's annual fee disclosure lists them.
  2. Look for the cheap index fund. Search the lineup for "index", "500" or "total market". Compare its expense ratio and 10-year return with your current fund using the tool above.
  3. Change future contributions first. Redirect new paychecks, make sure you capture the full employer match, then decide whether to move your existing balance. Steps for the biggest providers are below.

Share a stat

Download a card or copy the text. Each card carries its source.

Take action

How to change your fund allocation

Most 401(k)s have two separate switches. Future contributions controls where new paycheck money goes. Existing balance (exchange, transfer, or rebalance) moves money you've already saved. Changing one usually doesn't change the other.

  1. Check your lineup. Look for the lowest-cost broad index fund (S&P 500 or total market) in your plan's fee disclosure.
  2. Change future contributions so they add up to 100%.
  3. Move your existing balance with an exchange, transfer, or rebalance. Watch for redemption fees or trading limits.
  4. Save the confirmation number. Trades placed before market close usually settle at that day's price.

The five largest U.S. recordkeepers by corporate 401(k) assets (P&I, year-end 2023 data) are Fidelity, Empower, Vanguard, Alight, and Principal. Menu names vary by employer plan.

Outside the U.S.

Steps from major workplace retirement providers in the UK, Australia, and Canada. These are examples; we haven't verified a global market-share ranking.

The detail

Every fund. Every number.

Net return is after fees (Yahoo adjusted prices). Start = later of Jan 2000 or first price. $10,000 each January, valued Oct 23, 2026. * = approximate expense ratio.

Top ten target-date series (2040 vintage)

State Street’s 2040 K share has no Yahoo history, so its 2035 fund (SSCKX) stands in. American Century is not included yet.

Ten low-cost leader funds

Worldwide

The average saver

Vanguard’s plans averaged $6,102 to $8,327 a year in total contributions from 2004 to 2013, a mean of $7,314. We model $7,300 a year. At that pace since 2000, FFFFX reached $742,253, VFINX $1,195,716 and XLK $2,572,822. Today the average Vanguard balance is $167,970; the median is $44,115. Most people did not save every year.

Sources & method

Data as of October 15, 2026. Fund returns (1/3/5/10/15-year annualized, without load) and net expense ratios come from Charles Schwab's mutual fund research pages, which use Morningstar data. Schwab and Morningstar don't publish 20-year figures there, so we calculated those from Yahoo Finance's dividend- and split-adjusted NAV history using (NAVend/NAVstart)1/20−1. The same method reproduces the published 5/10/15-year numbers within about 0.3 points.

Hero and top-ten calculations: $10,000 a year means one purchase on the first trading day of each year (30 years = 1997 to 2026, $300,000 in), valued 15 Oct 2026; true return = IRR after fund expenses; growth = IRR with today's expense ratio added back; cost = growth − true return. The typical mix uses EBRI/ICI 2023 asset weights (37% equity, 44% balanced, 6% stable value, 5% bonds, 5% company stock, 1% money, rescaled). SPIVA: 92.9% of large-cap active funds lagged the S&P 500 over 20 years (year-end 2025). All hindsight.

Calculations: Growth of $10,000 = $10,000 × (1 + annualized return)years, using the cited returns. The $500/month figures assume a purchase at the first trading day of each month at adjusted NAV, valued on 10/15/2026, with no taxes or plan fees. "Timed funds" in our original brief means target-date (lifecycle) funds.

    Not financial advice. 401k Heroes is for educational purposes only. It does not give investment, tax, or legal advice. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results. All investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Index and target-date funds have different risk profiles. Fund availability, share classes, and fees vary by plan. Check your plan's disclosures and consider a qualified fiduciary adviser before making changes.
    © 2026 401k Heroes · 401kheroes.comData as of Oct 15, 2026 · Updated Oct 16, 2026Back to top ↑