Pure Benchmarks · Comparison

Vanguard 401k Benchmarking Tools: What Vanguard Provides and What to Add

Short answer

Vanguard 401k benchmarking tools come in two kinds. For employers, Vanguard publishes How America Saves and industry benchmark reports that compare a plan’s design with similar plans. For participants, the required annual fee and performance disclosure lists each fund’s one, five and ten-year returns beside a broad market index, along with its fees as a percentage and per $1,000. Neither shows how your own account did against other investors. Independent tools fill that gap: Empower’s free dashboard checks fees, Morningstar Investor analyzes the funds, and Pure Benchmarks ranks a linked account against real investors in the same risk category.

People searching for Vanguard 401k benchmarking tools are usually trying to answer one of two questions. An employer wants to know whether the plan it offers through Vanguard is competitive. An employee wants to know whether their own account is doing well. Vanguard’s published material is built mostly for the first question. This page sorts the available tools by which question they answer, so you can see what you already have and what you would need to add.

Benchmarking tools for a Vanguard 401(k)

Tool	Who it is for	What it benchmarks	Price
Vanguard How America Saves and industry reports	Employers and plan committees	Plan design and participant outcomes against other plans	Free to read
Annual 404(a)(5) fee and performance disclosure	Participants	Each fund’s 1, 5 and 10-year returns against a broad market index; fees	Provided by the plan
Empower Personal Dashboard	Individuals	Fees inside your accounts, through its Retirement Fee Analyzer	Free
Morningstar Investor	Individuals	The funds inside the account: overlap, style and cost	$249 a year or $34.95 a month
Pure Benchmarks	Individuals	Your account’s return against real investors in the same risk category	Free account

Read from each provider’s public pages between September and October 2026. Pure Benchmarks is our own product and is not affiliated with Vanguard.

Tools Vanguard provides to employers

Vanguard publishes How America Saves, its annual study of the plans it administers, and a set of industry benchmark reports, a small business edition plus 16 industry editions, that show sponsors how their plan design compares with others in their industry. Vanguard has also published a total cost of ownership approach to comparing recordkeeping fees, which argues that base per-participant fees alone give an incomplete picture. These are plan-level tools.

The disclosure every participant already receives

Federal rules under ERISA section 404(a)(5) require plans to give participants an annual disclosure with each investment option’s performance over one, five and ten years beside a broad-based market index, and its fees shown as a percentage of assets and as a dollar amount per $1,000 invested. It is often titled investment performance and expenses. It is the closest thing to a benchmark tool most participants have, and it is about the funds, not about your account.

Independent tools for your own account

Empower’s free Personal Dashboard includes a Retirement Fee Analyzer that shows the expense ratios inside linked accounts and what they cost over time. Morningstar Investor, at $249 a year or $34.95 a month, analyzes the funds you hold for overlap, style and cost. Pure Benchmarks, our own product, measures the account’s own return after contributions and ranks it against real investors in the same risk category, on a free account.

Why the S&P 500 is the wrong yardstick for most 401(k)s

Most 401(k) money sits in target-date funds or a mix of stock and bond funds. Comparing that mix with an all-stock index makes it look poor in rising markets and strong in falling ones, regardless of how well it was managed. A fair benchmark matches the share in stocks and bonds, or compares you with investors holding a similar mix, which is what a risk-matched peer benchmark does.

A simple routine for a Vanguard 401(k)

Once a year, read the fee and performance disclosure and note the expense ratio of every fund you hold. Check whether your account return removes your own contributions and the employer match. Compare that return with a benchmark matched to your stock and bond mix or with a peer group at the same risk level. And look at any changes you made during the year, since moving between funds after a market drop is one of the most common sources of a shortfall.

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Frequently asked questions

Does Vanguard have a 401(k) benchmarking tool?

For employers, Vanguard publishes How America Saves and industry benchmark reports comparing plan design across plans. For participants, the annual fee and performance disclosure compares each fund with a broad market index. Vanguard does not publish a tool that ranks your own account against other investors.

How do I benchmark my Vanguard 401(k)?

Measure the account’s return with your contributions and employer match taken out, then compare it with a benchmark matched to your stock and bond mix or with investors holding a similar mix. Independent tools such as Pure Benchmarks, our own product, do this on a linked account.

What is the 404(a)(5) disclosure?

An annual notice plans must give participants. It lists each investment option’s one, five and ten-year performance beside a broad-based market index, and fees as a percentage of assets and per $1,000 invested.

Is How America Saves useful for participants?

As context. It shows typical participation, savings rates and balances across Vanguard plans, which helps you see where you stand on saving. It does not measure your own investment results.

Is Pure Benchmarks affiliated with Vanguard?

No. Pure Benchmarks is an independent product. It ranks linked accounts against real investors in the same risk category on a free account.

Keep exploring

See how retirement portfolios at a specific firm rank against real peers:

New here? Read the portfolio benchmarking FAQ or the Pure Benchmarks blog.

This page is an information baseline for comparison only. It is not investment advice and not a recommendation to buy, sell, replace, or transfer any specific asset, account, or firm. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All figures shown are illustrative.