401k Advisor Archives - 401k Plan Optimization, Compliance, Investment & Partners

Ted Benna Has a New Idea: A Retirement Savings Plan for Lower Earners

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, benefit education, Client connection, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, Employee engagement, employee retention, Fiduciary, financial stress management, Financial Wellness, Retirement plan management, Retirement Plan Participation, Retirement Readiness, Retirement Savings Concern

Ted Benna, the Father of the 401(k), is 84 years old and has a regret. The 401(k) he helped create has worked well for higher...

Why Auditors Are Warming Up to Pooled Employer Plans

By Fred Barstein / 401k Advisor, 401k plan, Audit, Auditor, Benefits integration, Communication, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, Employee feedback, Fiduciary, Financial Wellness, Investments, Multiple Employer Plans, PEPs, pooled employer plan, Retirement Plan Participation

Retirement plan administration has never exactly been a thrill ride — but Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs) are giving plan sponsors a reason to pay attention. ...

Why Retirement Advisors Are Expanding Into Wealth Management

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, 401k News, benefit education, Communication, Consolidation, Convergence, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, Employee Benefits, Financial Advisors, Financial Wellness, Managed Accounts, Retirement Readiness

The lines between retirement plan consulting and wealth management continue to blur, creating new opportunities for advisors who can serve both employers and individual participants. ...

Fiduciary Duty Doesn’t End With a Good Hire

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, benefit education, benefits committee, Benefits integration, Client connection, Confidence, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, DOL Guidance, Due Diligence, education, Employee engagement, Fiduciary

Plan sponsors are held to a fiduciary standard most never trained for — on top of the job they were actually hired to do. Understanding...

Not All Adviser Conflicts Are Equal, But None Should Be Ignored

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, Benchmarking & Monitoring Fees & Partners, Benchmarking Fees, Convergence & Advisor M&A, Documents & testing, erisa, Financial Advisors, Financial Wellness, Investments, IRA Roll overs and Roll ins, Managed Accounts, One-on-on consulting, Participant data

The financial services industry has largely normalized compensation arrangements that create conflicts of interest. Other professional fields—tax and legal—figured this out long ago and largely...

What Today’s Retirement Plan Participants Are Really Looking For

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, benefits committee, Changing dynamics, Communication, Creative approach, DC Plan Sponsors, Employee engagement, participation, Plan design, Plan Participation, Retirement Committee, Retirement Income, Retirement Plan Participation, Retirement Readiness

For many workers, retirement still feels like a distant goal—especially when today’s financial priorities include rising costs, student loans, housing expenses, and everyday bills. Yet...

TPSU Launches “TPSU for Health Plan Fiduciaries” Program

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, 401k Trends, Changing dynamics, Client connection, collaboration, Communication, Education, Financial Wellness, Health & Wellness, healthcare, TPSU for Health Plan Fiduciaries

The Plan Sponsor University (TPSU) has announced the launch of TPSU for Health Plan Fiduciaries, a new educational initiative focused on the growing financial, regulatory,...

Improving Participant Retirement Outcomes Through Better Financial Visualization

By Fred Barstein / 401k Advisor, artificial intelligence, benefit education, Client connection, Communication, DC Plan Sponsors, Fiduciary, Financial Wellness, Participant Retirement Outcomes Financial Visualization, participation, Retirement Readiness

Participant Retirement Outcomes Financial Visualization

Small increases in retirement plan contributions can have a significant long-term impact, yet many participants struggle to fully understand what those changes mean for their...

Private Credit Leaders Say It’s Time to Drop the “Semi-Liquid” Label

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, Collective Investment Trust, Communication, DC Plan Sponsors, DOL, DOL Guidance, erisa, Fiduciary, global retirement trend, investment, Participant data, Private Credit Semi-Liquid Label, Regs and Regulators, Retirement planning

The private credit industry is doing some soul-searching—and one of the first casualties may be the term “semi-liquid.” That was a key theme at this...

AI Is Changing Retirement Plans And Fiduciary Risk Is Evolving With It

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) advisor trust, 401k Advisor, AI, AI for Retirement, artificial intelligence, Cyber Security, Data privacy, DC Plan Sponsors, erisa, Fiduciary, Improving Outcomes, Plan design, Risk Management, rpaDD

Artificial intelligence tools are showing up in more corners of retirement plan operations: record-keeping, investment advice, participant communications. That’s creating new questions for plan sponsors...