By Investor's Report Card · September 18, 2026
For many people a 401(k) is their biggest investment, yet it's rarely checked against anything. Here's how to judge yours fairly.
Many 401(k)s are invested in a target-date fund: one fund holding a mix of stocks and bonds that becomes more conservative as your retirement year gets closer. A fund for someone retiring soon may hold close to half its money in bonds.
That means comparing it only with the S&P 500 isn't fair. In a strong stock year it will trail the S&P 500 because of its bonds, and in a bad year it should fall less. A fairer benchmark is a mix of stock and bond indexes close to the fund's own mix. Your plan's fund fact sheet shows that mix.
In Investor's Report Card you can compare an account with up to three indexes, and the grade uses their average. Choosing the S&P 500 and bonds, for example, compares the account with a half-stock, half-bond mix.
Your plan must give you a yearly fee and investment disclosure under U.S. Department of Labor rules. It lists each investment option's expense ratio, any plan administration fees, and each option's past returns next to a benchmark index. Look for it on your plan's website or ask your HR or benefits office.
Your 401(k) return isn't the same as the funds' returns, because you add money every paycheck and your employer may add a match. Those contributions are deposits, not gains. To see what your money really earned, count each contribution from its own date.
Investor's Report Card does this for you. Your plan sends a statement at least every quarter, and most plan websites show your balance on any day, so you can note your balance at the end of each month along with your contributions.
Investor's Report Card turns the numbers on your monthly statements into a report card: your account's real return, after deposits and withdrawals, next to the market indexes you choose, graded A+ to F.
This article is general information, not investment advice. Investor's Report Card is not a registered investment advisor and doesn't recommend any investment. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results.