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As natural gas becomes more affordable, power plants are switching over from coal to save money. Since last March, power plants increased their natural gas use by 40 percent. Over the same time period, coal use fell to 57.6 million tons, down from 72.3 million ton in March 2011.

There are more than 50 million Americans with investments in 401(k) and other defined-contribution retirement-savings plans. They’re about to be getting more information about the fees they pay.

By one estimate, it could be sobering news.

Retirement-plan administrators have to provide detailed information to employers by July 1 about the fees they charge. Employers have to share that information with workers in their plans by Aug. 30, and once a year after that. The charges include investment-related fees and fees for administering a plan itself.

There is a terrible beauty in how America's constitutional system seems designed to stop big changes from ever happening -- or, more specifically, stops the majority of ordinary people from ever getting their hands on real power.

The 2009 CARD Act has been celebrated for helping consumers: The law limits interest rate hikes, fees, and other frustrating aspects of the credit card industry. Now, on the three-year anniversary of the bill’s signing, a report from the research and advocacy organization Demos suggests that it has successfully helped middle- and low-income households pay down their balances and avoid fees.

Here’s a question that you probably don’t want to answer honestly: What fees are you being charged by your 401(k) plan?

Don’t feel bad if you haven’t got a clue, because that puts you in the majority. An AARP study a few years back found that 65 percent of 401(k) account-holders didn’t know they were even paying fees.

Question: How much money are you paying in 401(k) fees?

Answer: Have you thought about buying a home lately?

Do you know how much your 401k is costing you? I would wager not, nor have you ever asked your employer about costs or looked in fund documents to find out. Chances are, it’s far too much and it’s eating away your retirement nest egg.

Upcoming Labor Department regulations mandating disclosure of retirement-plan costs are long overdue. Even then (I haven’t seen the final version yet), they may be so bureaucratic that millions may ignore them.

Retirement plan fees consume nearly one-third (30.3%) of an investor’s potential assets, a paper contends.

Here's the latest scary retirement statistic.

The average American couple could pay nearly $155,000 in fees for their 401(k) plans over their careers, reducing their eventual nest eggs by more than 30%, according to a new report.

REPORT: The Retirement Savings Drain: Hidden & Excessive Costs of 401(k)s