You check 403(b) fees by reading 2 documents, the plan's yearly fee disclosure and your quarterly statement, which is where Midflorida Credit Union starts with every hospital plan.
Most people assume the statement lists every fee, but it doesn't. A fund's expense ratio is taken from the fund's return before you ever see it, so it never shows up as a dollar line. You find it in the disclosure's investment comparison chart.
The question often comes out this way: “I see my balance, but where do they actually show what I'm paying?” For a nurse between 10 and 15 years from retirement, that answer matters more now because each new contribution has years to compound.
Midflorida Credit Union wrote this for nurses and allied health workers with a hospital 403(b) or pension who need a practical way to read the mail that arrives between shifts.
By Hiroshi Tanaka, CFP — Retirement Planning Specialist | Reviewed by Robert Kim, AIFHiroshi builds retirement income plans using the bucket strategy, coordinating taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts.
The yearly fee notice
Reggie and Abena (hypothetical) found an unopened fee notice on the kitchen counter. Reggie, a respiratory therapist, thought the hospital covered every charge. Abena, an OR nurse, had never seen a comparable notice from her church-affiliated hospital.
The Department of Labor participant fee disclosure rule, 29 CFR 2550.404a-5, says ERISA-covered plans must send a chart of each investment option's expense ratio and plan-wide administrative fees at least annually. Quarterly statements must show the actual dollars deducted for administrative and individual fees. The paperwork is more useful than the usual shorthand, “my hospital pays the fees.”
A hospital may cover some costs while charging participants a flat quarterly recordkeeping amount or a percentage-based administrative fee. Look on the quarterly statement for “administrative fee” or “recordkeeping fee.” Then open the investment comparison chart and find each fund's expense ratio, usually shown as a percentage.
Expense ratios are not dollar lines on a statement. They reduce the fund's return before the return reaches your account. That is why a statement can look clean while a higher-cost fund quietly takes a larger share every year.
Many public and church-affiliated hospital 403(b) plans fall outside ERISA, so the Department of Labor notice may never arrive. Abena's church-affiliated hospital sent none. She had to ask each vendor for its fee sheet and her annuity contract, where “M&E” means mortality and expense charge and a “surrender charge” can apply when money moves out.
The two places charges appear
When the yearly notice never comes
Keep both documents: the statement shows dollar charges already deducted, while the disclosure reveals the fund expense ratios that never appear as a dollar line.
Who opens the envelope at home
Abena works nights, so envelopes pile up until Reggie gets home first and raises the subject. Pick 20 minutes on a day you are both off, put both 403(b) statements side by side, and agree on 1 question to send the plan: “Which charges are deducted from our balances, and where is each investment option's expense ratio?” A spouse often catches a fund-name change that the account owner has missed.
A 20-minute way to check 403(b) fees
Reggie and Abena first needed a quick inventory, not a stack of new accounts. If this is you, you have a hospital 403(b), have not opened the fee notice, and have 10 to 15 years before retirement, run this list against the most recent statement and disclosure.
Start with each fund's expense ratio and compare it with the plan's cheapest index option that owns the same type of investments. Next, multiply last quarter's dollar recordkeeping charge by 4. A flat $50 quarterly charge is $200 annually at any balance. Then inspect any annuity contract for an M&E charge, a surrender schedule, and the date that schedule ends.
A 0.5% gap costs $1K annually on $200K, $2K on $400K, and $3K on $600K. Those are annual figures before investment growth. To run the same math on your own balance, use the calculator on this site or multiply your balance by the fee gap on the back of a statement.
When Midflorida Credit Union finds 2 funds covering the same US stocks, it writes down which fund to keep and the dollar cost of each before suggesting a change. Fewer overlapping funds can make the account easier to explain at home.
The numbers worth circling
Duplicate funds add clutter
- Compare each fund's expense ratio with the cheapest similar index option.
- Multiply the latest quarterly recordkeeping charge by 4.
- Find any M&E charge, surrender schedule, and its end date.
- Flag 2 funds that do the same job.
- Compare fund names before and after a vendor change.
How much does an extra 0.5% cost by 65?
An extra 0.5% costs $2K annually on a $400K 403(b) balance, and a surrender charge should be compared in dollars with the fee gap left before its end date. For someone 10 to 15 years from retirement, sending new contributions to the lower-cost option now can avoid added fees while the old balance waits for a charge to expire.
Abena, 59, held $400K of the couple's $830K in 403(b)s inside an older annuity option charging 0.65% (hypothetical, round numbers). Another vendor in the hospital plan offered an index fund at 0.15%. The gap was 0.5%, so $400K × 0.5% = $2,000 annually.
Moving the old balance immediately would trigger a 2% surrender charge. $400K × 2% = $8,000. Her schedule ended when she turned 60, so Reggie and Abena compared $8K now with 1 more year of the $2K fee gap. Waiting 1 year cost $2K, which was $6K less than paying the charge.
They pointed Abena's new deferrals to the index fund right away. At 60, she could move the old balance without the surrender charge. If she works to 65, the change avoids 5 × $2K = $10K in extra fees before growth.
A vendor-to-vendor transfer inside the same 403(b) generally keeps the money tax-deferred, so the comparison here was the surrender charge against remaining fees, not a tax bill. Before Midflorida Credit Union suggested the vendor switch, it put both dollar amounts on Reggie and Abena's one-page roadmap.
The longer view is plain. Paying 0.5% extra on $400K for 12 years is $24K before growth, and it is more once you count the growth those fees never earned. The IRS higher catch-up for 2026 is $11,250 at ages 60 through 63, so those larger deposits deserve a look at where the deferral election sends them.
Lower fees do not repair an investment mix that is wrong for retirement in 3 years. A 0.15% fund invested entirely in stocks can still fall well below what Reggie put in during the year before he stops working.
The 1-year surrender-charge decision
Why catch-up deposits deserve attention
Before moving money out of a 403(b) option, compare the surrender charge in dollars with fees due until the schedule ends. If the charge is larger, redirect new contributions and wait to move the old balance.
| Decision point | Move at 59 | Wait until 60 |
|---|---|---|
| Surrender charge | $8K | $0 |
| Extra 1-year fees | $0 | $2K |
| Cost before age 60 | $8K | $2K |
| New deferrals | Index fund now | Index fund now |
| Savings from waiting | — | $6K |
What age changes the fee fix?
The fee check changes at 50, 55, 59½, 60, and 73 or 75 because contribution limits and withdrawal rules shift at those ages. Look at the third column first: it tells you what fee question belongs with the rule that turns on, even if retirement still feels years away.
The IRS permits an $8,000 catch-up for people 50 and older in a 403(b) during 2026. At ages 60 through 63, the 2026 higher catch-up is $11,250. Bigger deposits make a fund-cost difference matter more.
Three timing errors came into focus for Reggie and Abena. Paying a surrender charge 1 year before it disappears throws away $8K. Waiting until retirement leaves 6 years of $2K annually, or $12K before growth, if Abena works to 65. Selling before checking surrender or redemption charges can turn a simple fund change into an irreversible expense.
Fund exchanges inside a plan are usually reversible on a business day, though some plans limit round trips for 30 to 90 days. A surrender charge, once paid, is gone. Most plans also will not take money back after it has left, so check the contract before requesting a distribution.
A recordkeeper switch at Reggie's hospital moved his $430K into a default fund that cost 0.3% more than his old index fund. The notice went to an old address, and he paid about $1,290 annually without knowing. Compare fund names on the last statement before a recordkeeper change with those on the first statement after it.
The IRS says required minimum distributions begin at 73, or 75 for people born in 1960 or later. Account consolidation can reduce the number of statements to inspect, but compare every contract charge before moving money.
The dates that change the comparison
Charges that cannot be undone
| Age | Rule that switches on | Fee check to do |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | Catch-up: $8,000 extra | See which fund new money buys |
| 55 | Rule of 55 if you leave | Compare plan vs IRA costs |
| 59½ | 10% penalty ends | Ask about in-service options |
| 60–63 | Catch-up rises to $11,250 | Recheck funds for bigger deposits |
| 73 or 75 | RMDs begin | Fewer accounts, simpler RMDs |
Your fee question for Midflorida Credit Union
The question to ask Midflorida Credit Union is this: “Which of our 403(b) options carry a surrender schedule or a recordkeeping charge, and what would each fund change cost us in dollars before Reggie stops at 62?” It holds the conversation to the 2 numbers that matter: the charge to leave and the fee to stay.
The fee to leave and the fee to stay belong on the same line.
Frequently asked questions about how to check 403(b) fees
What happens if I move my 403(b) money while a surrender charge still applies?
Is a 0.5% difference in fund costs really worth the trouble?
My mom is a nurse who never opens her 403(b) mail; how can I help her find the fees?
Does my hospital pay the recordkeeping fees on my 403(b)?
Sources and further reading
This article contains general information only and is not individual investment, tax or legal advice. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Before making any decision, consult a financial advisor, tax professional or attorney who knows your situation.