Reviewing and understanding 401k fees and expenses, fees on the Paychex 401k managed plan are extremely high

I'm concerned about high fees in my 401k funds managed through Paychex. Before I start depositing more money in this 401k plan I want to compare it to my prior 401k.

I don't have exact overlapping funds between my 401k with Employer A (managed by Fidelity) and my 401k with Employer B (managed by Paychex), but there is one fund that I think is nearly the same. The Employer A Fidelity managed 401k plan offers FIDELITY FREEDOM K 2030 FUND (FFKEX). The Employer B Paychex managed 401k plan has FIDELITY ADVISOR FREEDOM 2030 C (FTFEX). Finding expenses and fees is a bit challenging as the numbers are typically not broadcasted, but they have to be disclosed by law. The respective websites, www.401k.com (this points to Fidelity) and benefits.paychex.com, have this information, but it is not consolidated on a single page so it does take a little digging in each fund prospectus to get the numbers.
I chose these two to compare as I think they are basically the same or very similar type of funds. Both are managed by Fidelity, both have essentially the same goals and holdings:

FFKEX Description - Fidelity 401k

FTFEX Description - Paychex 401k

The investment seeks high total return until its target retirement date. The fund invests in a combination of underlying Fidelity domestic equity funds, international equity funds, bond funds, and short-term funds using a moderate asset allocation strategy designed for investors expecting to retire around the year 2030. It uses an asset allocation strategy that becomes increasingly conservative until it reaches 15% in domestic equity funds, 5% in international equity funds, 40% in bond funds, and 40% in short-term funds (approximately 10 to 15 years after the year 2030). Top 10 holdings Fid Series Investment Grade Bond F Fid Series All-Sector Equity F Fid Series Large Cap Value F Fid Disciplined Equity F Fid Series High Income F Fid Series Commodity Strategy F Fid Growth Company F Fid Series Int Growth F Fid Series Int Value F Fid Series 100 Index

The investment seeks high total return with a secondary objective of principal preservation. The fund primarily invests in a combination of Fidelity domestic equity funds, international equity funds, bond funds, and short-term funds using a moderate asset allocation strategy designed for investors expecting to retire around the year 2030. It uses an asset allocation strategy that becomes increasingly conservative until it reaches 15% in domestic equity funds, 5% in int equity funds, 40% in bond funds, and 40% in short-term funds (approximately 10 to 15 years after the year 2030). Top 10 holdings Fid Series Investment Grade Bond Fid Series All-Sector Equity Fid Series Large Cap Value Fid Series High Income Fid Series Commodity Strategy Fid Advisor Growth & Income I Fid Advisor Large Cap I Fid Series Int Growth Fid Series Int Value Fid Series 100 Index

And their chart comparisons are nearly identical:

FFKEK (blue) and FTFEX (red) comparison chart

Therefore I would imagine their fee totals would be close to the same number across my two 401k plans.

Wrong.

From the www.fidelity.com site where I access my 401k from Employer A, the fees for FFKEX are listed as:

FIDELITY FREEDOM K 2030 FUND (FFKEX) - Fidelity
Fees:
   Management Fee 0.00%
Expenses & Fees:
   Expense Ratio as of 05/28/2011 0.61% ($6.10 per $1000)

I think 0.61% is a reasonable number but I actually don't know. I would expect to see fees under 1% and it is under 1% by quite a bit. And the www.401k.com site conveniently has this pertinent information right along side these fee numbers:

For a mutual fund, the expense ratio is the total annual fund or class operating expenses (before waivers or reimbursements) paid by the fund and stated as a percent of the fund's total net assets. Where the investment option is not a mutual fund, the figure displayed in the expense ratio field is intended to reflect similar information. However, it may have been calculated using methodologies that differ from those used for mutual funds. Mutual fund data has been drawn from the most recent prospectus. For non-mutual fund investment options, the information has been provided by the trustee or plan sponsor. When no ratio is shown for these options it is due to the fact that none was available. Nevertheless, there may be fees and expenses associated with the investment option.

Keep in mind the cumulative effect of fees and expenses can substantially reduce the growth of your retirement savings,but is only one of many factors to consider when you decide to invest in an option. Visit the Department of Labor's website for an example of the long-term effect of fees and expenses.

Now let's check out the fund fees for FTFEX, which I believe is a roughly similar Fidelity fund offered through Paychex 401k services. I obtained this information through the paychex.com website in the Retirement Services portion of their website:

FIDELITY ADVISOR FREEDOM 2030 C (FTFEX) - Paychex
Fee Summary
  Gross Expense Ratio (03/31/2011). 1.26%
  Net Expense Ratio ............... 1.26%
  Management Fee ..................    NA
  12b-1 Fee ....................... 0.50%
  Other Expenses .................. 0.76%
  Redemption Fee ..................    NA

The total FTFEX fees are 1.26% ($12.60 per $1000). This is over 2 times the total fee that my Fidelity managed 401k plan applies for FFKEX which is essentially the same fund. The 'Other Expenses' line item alone is more than the Fidelity entire fees. What are 'Other Expenses' exactly? And I don't even know what a "12b-1" is but it will set me a back a few bucks at some point in time. I know these are not the same exact funds but this difference is dramatic and has to be very high compared to the industry average.  Time to do more digging into the details of these fees and why Paychex managed 401k fund fees seem to be at such high levels.