I've never liked our possible providers in my school district, and am currently working on trying to get a Vanguard or t least Fidelity or Creff as options.
Basically we are limited to tax sheltered annuities through one insurance company or another, so when I stated contributingi picked AXA. After contributing for a few years I wondered why my returns were so mediocre, so here's what I found so far:
Fund cost vary, mostly between 1-2% annually (bad)
Even their limited index options are hovering between .8 and 1.2. %
They tack on 1.2% a year fees for "longevity costs"
There is a withdrawal penalty of 5% for all transfers that have not been in the account for 5 years.
There may be even more, but they make it almost impossible for an average human to find the true fees associated.
So I can continue to contribute, as well as max out our roths every year, but it really annoys me!
I was planning on posting with more complete financial information, but I'm not sure if this is the best musician forum for that.