The first and most obvious question is how comfortable you feel with managing your own money. If you think that you understand the ins and outs of the situation and feel that you have handled your expenses appropriately in the past, it may be the case that you don’t need an adviser to help you iron out the details of your finances. It’s also completely possible to get good advice without spending money on an adviser—friends, family members, the Internet, and other resources all have a lot of input to offer on things that might help you make a better decision.

That being said, financial advisers do have their benefits. Those who pursue the help of an adviser are said to earn as much as 3% more profit than those who did not. Having an objective outsider with experience in the field taking a look at your finances certainly won’t hurt; the question is simply whether or not it would be worth the cost.

Advisers are most useful at helping you responsibly handle your savings at key points in your career. Setting aside the appropriate amount of savings from your 401(k) while you’re still working greatly benefits you later in life. Advisers are also helpful with deciding how much savings to take out once you are nearing retirement. If you don’t feel fully comfortable managing your money at these important times in your life, consider investing in a financial adviser to move forward with more confidence.

It may be more advisable to consider the fees before the returns. Because of natural and inevitable fluctuations in the market, returns can be very difficult to measure, and it’s much more reliable to base your decisions on how the fees will affect you first. If a fund’s costs are high at present, you can expect them to be high in the future. Low fees, similarly, are more likely to remain low. The same consistency can’t be said for returns; the result of a great risk could push returns to one extreme or to another.

With new requirements on fee disclosures, it will become much easier for investors to evaluate fees for 401(k) funds. More transparent fees will also produce greater competition between providers to offer lower prices.

It is still necessary, of course, to evaluate a fund’s performance and reputation. You want to consider the risks they take and the success they have or have not experienced as a result. Different funds have different things to offer you, and it’s understandable to be hesitant about making a decision. As a general rule, though, you should weigh your means against fees when deciding in the end.