401(k) Managed Accounts Archives - 401k Plan Optimization, Compliance, Investment & Partners

Could Voluntary Benefits Become the Next Target for ERISA Lawsuits?

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Participant Education, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, benefit education, Communication, DC Plan Sponsors, DOL, DOL Guidance, erisa, ERISA Advisory Council, ERISA Attorneys, ERISA Lawsuits, fee lawsuits, Fiduciary, Financial planning, Financial Wellness

Retirement plan sponsors have spent years navigating lawsuits about excessive fees and fiduciary responsibilities. Now, another category of employee benefits may be attracting plaintiffs’ attorneys’...

How State Retirement Mandates Are Reshaping the 401(k) Industry

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, 401k Trends, AI, AI for Retirement, DC plans, Digital Tools, Financial Advisors, Financial Wellness, Investments, Retirement Plan Advisor, Retirement plan management, State Retirement Mandates, technology

State Retirement Mandates 401(k) Industry

A small change can sometimes lead to much bigger consequences. That’s the idea behind the butterfly effect, and it’s playing out across the retirement industry....

Why Private Equity Is Betting Big on TPAs

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, AI, artificial intelligence, automation, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, Digital Tools, Plan design, Private equity, Retirement plan management, TPA Landscape

Third-party administrators (TPAs) haven’t always received the same attention as retirement plan advisors or wealth management firms. But that’s starting to change. Private equity firms...

Making Retirement Real: Helping Participants Budget for the Future

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Trends, benefits committee, Benefits integration, Communication, Confidence, DC plans, education, Employee feedback, Employee happiness, Fiduciary, Financial planning, Financial Wellness, participation

Saving for retirement can feel abstract, especially when participants haven’t considered what their life after work might actually cost. Following a recent TPSU program at...

Meeting Participants Where They Are: Making 401(k) Education Click

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, 401k plan, adult learning, Authenticity, benefit education, Client connection, collaboration, Communication, Confidence, DC plans, Employee engagement, Employee feedback, Employee happiness, Employee training, Financial Advice, financial wellness, Retirement Readiness

For many employees, understanding a 401(k) starts with a basic question: How does this actually work? It’s a question John Poole, Director of Participant Engagement...

How Plan Sponsors Can Better Engage Employees in Their Financial Lives

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, benefit education, Benefits integration, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, education, Employee engagement, Employee happiness, financial literacy, financial stress management, Financial Wellness

Employee engagement continues to be one of the most persistent challenges facing retirement plan sponsors, particularly as employees juggle retirement savings alongside healthcare costs and...

Vanguard’s Altruist Acquisition Raises New Questions for the 401(k) Industry

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, Convergence, Digital Design, Digital Tools, Recordkeeping, Target Date Fund, Vanguard’s Altruist Acquisition

Vanguard’s $4.3 billion acquisition of Altruist raises new questions about how the company plans to position itself across the retirement and wealth management markets. Altruist...

PBM Transparency Gives Plan Sponsors Greater Control

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, DC plans, Emergency Savings, Employee Benefits, Employee engagement, Financial Wellness, Financial Wellness, investment, PBM, pharmacy benefit management, Transparency

There is a growing shift in the pharmacy benefit management industry toward greater transparency. A PBM, or pharmacy benefit manager, helps employers and health plans...

Switching Recordkeepers Is Always an Option. That Doesn’t Mean It’s Easy.

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401k plan, Advisors and Record Keepers Collaborating, Data privacy, DC Plan Sponsors, fee transparency, Financial Wellness, Participant data, Plan Participation, Record Keepers, recordkeeping, Regs and Regulators

Anyone deep in the Apple or Android ecosystem knows the feeling. You could switch. Nothing is stopping you. But years of apps, passwords, photos, and...

Recordkeepers Can’t Win on Products Alone Anymore

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, Fiduciary, Financial Advisors, financial literacy, Financial Wellness, Investments, Modernize Retirement Plans, Private Wealth & Retirement Planning, Recordkeeping, Retirement Advisory, Retirement Readiness

Nearly 11,000 Americans turn 65 every day. The industry knows how to help people save. Helping them spend is a different problem. Joshua Dietch, a...