The fees charged by investment companies managing 401(k) retirement accounts are the focus of attention from several fronts.

Most find their eyes glazing over with boredom when reading about the fees charged by investment managers. But those same people with 401(k) accounts might find their minds focusing quickly when they learn that a fee only a fraction of a percent higher than average can cost them tens of thousands of dollars over three or four decades.

In Washington, 401(k) accounts are at the center of two stories. In one, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case brought by employees of California-based utility claiming that their employer did not do enough to avoid excessive investment fees, and this cost them thousands of dollars in lost returns.

Also in Washington, President Barack Obama has proposed tougher regulations on financial brokers managaing retirement accounts when it comes to those brokers disclosing hidden fees or special incentive payments they receive for steering money to one investment manager over another. The White House, whose proposal is supported by the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), says these sorts of conclicts of interest cost savers millions annually.

A recent national report found so-called “conflicted advice” results in 401(k) accounts paying higher fees and earning lower returns. The Council of Economic Advisers suggested the higher fees inflicted trim about $17 billion from IRAs across the country every year.

These warnings about the cost of higher fees, which are often invisible to the averge investor, should cause everyone with a 401(k) or IRA (Individual Retirement Account) to ask their broker for a simple breakdown of all the fees and a comparison to industry averages.

The cost of slightly higher fees might seem like a nickle-and-dime issue, and one that is hardly worth bothering about. But that might be the thinking behind the investment companies charging higher fees — a good way to make or steal a large amount of money is to charge just a tiny bit more to millions of investment accounts.

Despite changes in federal law a few years ago designed to make 401(k) fees more visible, the average investor will have a difficult time finding or undertanding the fees being charged against their account.

Even investment professionals have admitted that they find it difficult to uncover and understand all the fees applied to retirenent accounts.

Not unlike the bank fees that became a target of consumer outrage, and eventually congressional action, the fees charged by investment companies for 401K) retirement accounts should be getting more attention. Investors should ask to see a break out of any all fees — there will likely be more than one fee, and fund statements do their best to bury fee information.

It might not seem worth the trouble to research fees in a 401(k) account to see if total fees amount to 1 percent a year or or .8 percent or .15 percent, but even slightly higher fees, multiplied over 30 or 40 years, can mean tens of thousands of dollars in lost investment returns.

The current national focus on fees should motivate anyone with a 401(k) account to ask for a full explanation of any and all fees that are charged against the account. Failing to understand fees, and to make sure they are reasonable, can cost retirees tens of thousands of dollars in retirement savings — and that’s the way some in the industry would like to keep it.