“Zero-Fee” Retirement Accounts Can Cost Savers Nearly $1,400 a Year, PensionBee Research Finds

NEW YORK, Aug. 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- "Zero-fee" individual retirement accounts (IRAs) cost savers in ways most will never see, according to research published today by PensionBee, a leading online retirement provider. The new white paper, The True Cost of Zero, finds that "zero-fee" IRAs at major U.S. platforms generate revenue through six hidden mechanisms that rarely appear on a saver's statement.
        
Applied to a $107,000 IRA — the estimated median retirement savings for Millennials and Gen X — the analysis concludes that even under cost-optimized conditions, “zero-fee” IRAs carry hidden annual costs of 0.16% to 0.32% of assets, or roughly $160 to $340 a year on the modeled balance. However, under common saver behavior, that figure rises to approximately 1.3%, or roughly $1,400 a year.