Operations
Uncover hidden 401(k) and investment fees with Empower Personal Dashboard
“Our retirement accounts and investments have high expense ratios and hidden administrative fees eating into returns.”
The short answer
Aggregate your 401(k), brokerage, and bank accounts into Empower Personal Dashboard using read-only encryption to diagnose hidden investment fees and track holistic cash flow. Run the built-in Investment Fee Analyzer to calculate mutual fund expense ratios and administrative fees that shave returns over time. Viewing consolidated monthly spending alongside net-worth projections reveals cash-flow leaks and guides low-cost index allocation.
- ~2 hours/week back (estimated)
- 20 minutes to set up
- Easy difficulty
How we estimated that: Assumes 2 hours per quarter saved compared to manually pulling 401(k) prospectus PDFs and calculating weighted expense ratios across disparate accounts. This is a model, not a measurement — check it against your own numbers, because if the assumption does not match your business the figure will not either.
What you'll need
- Empower Personal Dashboard free tier
Comprehensive free investment fee analyzer and retirement readiness tracking.
Free until: Free indefinitely with unlimited connected accounts, net worth calculation, spending tracking, and the Investment Fee Analyzer.
Watch the pricing: The core dashboard is free. Empower monetizes by offering optional wealth management advisory services charging 0.49% to 0.89% AUM for portfolios exceeding ,000 (pricing checked 2026-09-18). Advisory services are completely optional.
Pricing checked 2026-09-18 — source.
Step-by-Step Implementation
We are not paid by any tool listed here. If a cheaper or better option exists, that's what you'll see.
Pricing above was checked on 2026-09-18. Vendors change their terms without notice, and free tiers do get withdrawn. We take no money from any vendor listed here. If something on this page is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
Watch the quick setup (58s)
Original tutorial by Twoguysfinance · Watch full video on YouTube →
How to set it up
- Create a free Empower Personal Dashboard profile
Sign up on Empower's portal and verify your identity with multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Link your 401(k), IRA, and brokerage accounts
Connect your retirement plan administrators, brokerage custodians, and operating bank accounts via read-only financial aggregators.
- Run the Investment Fee Analyzer
Open Planning > Fee Analyzer to examine the annual expense ratios, advisory fees, and administrative charges across all underlying holdings.
- Benchmark against low-cost index alternatives
Review Empower's projected lifetime fee drag calculator to determine how much compounding return is lost to high fees and adjust fund allocations toward low-cost index options.
Common questions
- Does Empower Personal Dashboard cost anything?
- No. The personal dashboard software is free on the entry plan with no mandatory fees. Empower generates revenue through optional wealth advisory management for accounts with over ,000 in assets (0.49% to 0.89% AUM, pricing checked 2026-09-18), but utilizing the dashboard does not require enrolling in advisory services.
- Can Empower initiate money transfers or trade stocks in my external accounts?
- No. The dashboard maintains strict read-only aggregation with 256-bit encryption and multi-factor authentication. It cannot initiate fund transfers or trades in your linked accounts.
Last reviewed 2026-09-18. Tools change — if something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.
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