On a daily basis I encounter absolutely awful 401(k) plans. High fees, poor fund lineups etc. The small to medium size market offers nearly unlimited opportunity for improvement.I had an epiphany recently about 401(k) plans - their complexity - and that is because of two experiences in the last 12 months.Twice in the last 12 months, I've run into a 401(k) plan serving CPA firm employees that, among other services, audit 401(k) plans. The two plans were not in good shape - high fees, poor fund lineups. My initial reaction was, "Of all firms, how could a CPA 401k audit firm fail to manage their own 401k plan to a healthy state?"Answer: "It's not their expertise!" Auditing a 4o1k plan is a specific expertise and different from managing providers, costs and fund lineups in a 401k. They're not alone - it seems almost any type of company can mistakenly think they have the expertise to manage a 401k to a healthy state.If they had a fiduciary advisor - an RIA that has a team with the specific training, knowledge and experience in 401(k) oversight, provider management, cost structures, DOL fund lineup best practices - then their plan would be at the top level of health.The problem for all of us is blindness to our lack of expertise except where we are an expert. A second problem is assuming our 401k plan is in good shape. We "feel" our plan is good. We "like" our broker. The user interface looks good. You know what they say about assumptions! Check the assumption at the door and document facts not dream about feelings.And since the 401(k) plan houses other people's hard earned money - it is not to be taken lightly! Our friends hard earned retirement assets deserve our best fiduciary behavior.Don't assume the plan is in great shape and don't assume you have the expertise to judge the plan's level of health correctly and that you can make it better. You need a team with specific expertise to assess it and improve it.The team that has the expertise must constantly stay on top of the latest knowledge, trends, tools and techniques! You don't have the time to reach that level of expertise, much less, keep up with it!