Which make the 3 and 5 year returns seem so-so, and the 1 year return seem tremendous.

Well, the 1 year return is from 3/31/03 (the market low) to 3/31/04 (the market high), so it's probably accurate.

The 3 year return includes the 2002 market decline and the 5 year return also includes the 2000 market decline--hence the 1 year looks great while the 3 and 5 year not so great.

I'm finding it difficult to find out what *MY* contributions have been in the 4 years...It seems company plans are not very helpful in letting the participant find out what they contributed, and what was gained (or lost).

Don't you get quarterly statements from your 401K? Or at least end-of-year? Those statements should tell you how much was contributed by you, by your employer (if there's a match), and how much was gained/lost over the period covered.

2old