NEW YORK — It's tough enough to save for retirement without having to sweat over hidden fees in your 401(k). But if you are overlooking a "leak" in your pension plan, it can dribble away thousands of the dollars you'll be depending on for a comfortable retirement.

That leak comes from all the fees that can be levied on your account year after year, writes money columnist Albert Crenshaw for AARP magazine.

Unfortunately, only a handful of workers appear to understand what's going on.

According to a poll sponsored by AARP, 83 percent of workers don't know how much they pay in such fees — and most do not realize they pay any fees at all.

Consider the case of a 30-year-old worker with $25,000 in a 401(k) plan. If that account earns 7 percent and incurs fees of 0.5 percent a year, without another contribution, the total payout to that worker at age 65 would be $227,000. However, if that same account incurs fees of 1.5 percent a year, the extra 1 percent will shave off $64,000, or 28 percent, of the payout, which would be reduced to $163,000.

But help may be on the way. To offset the situation of information that's scant, scattered all over the place or simply overwhelming (as in fat mutual fund prospectuses), the U.S. Department of Labor has proposed regulations that would require that workers receive clear and complete explanations of the fees imposed on their 401(k) accounts.

In the meantime, pay close attention to your retirement account. While most employers do a good job of insuring that their 401(k) plans are free of unnecessary fees, make sure that your choices are no-load mutual funds, meaning they don't cost you a percentage to get into and get out of.