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

The PEP Puzzle: Finding the Right Fit for Your Retirement Plan

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, Benchmarking & Monitoring Fees & Partners, Communication, DC Plan Sponsors, Documents & testing, financial wellness, PEP, PEPs, Plan design, Retirement Plan Fees, Retirement Plan Participation, Retirement readiness

Pep Retirement Plan Pooloed Employer Plan

PEPs may be one of the retirement industry’s hottest topics, but don’t let the buzz fool you—just because it’s a PEP doesn’t mean it’s the...

Why Wealth and Retirement Are Converging at Work

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, AI for Retirement, artificial intelligence, benefit education, Change, collaboration, Communication, Convergence, DC plans, Employee Benefits, Financial Wellness, Health & Wellness, Retirement Committee, Retirement Plan Coverage, technology

The wealth management and retirement plan industries are becoming more connected as advisory firms, recordkeepers, and asset managers look for new ways to serve both...

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...

Why Today’s Fintech Record Keepers Are Succeeding Where Others Failed

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Trends, Adaptability, AI, AI for Retirement, Benchmarking & Fees (ERISA, retirement plan), Change, Communication, DC plans, Employee Benefits, evolving and adapting, Financial Wellness, Fintech Record Keepers, Recordkeeping, Regs and Regulators, Retirement Plan Participation

Fintech record keepers are gaining serious momentum in the retirement plan industry, raising billions in capital and serving a growing share of defined contribution plans. ...

Helping Younger Employees Understand the Value of Their 401(k)

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, benefit education, benefits committee, Communication, Company Contributions and Vesting, DC Plan Sponsors, education, Employee engagement, Employee happiness, employer match, Family involvement, financial literacy, Financial Wellness, Gen Z, generational gap in retirement planning, investment, Millennial saving, Millennials Delaying Milestones, Peer to peer learning

For younger employees, the value of participating in a 401(k) plan is not always immediately clear—which makes effective communication especially important. At a recent TPSU...

Vanguard’s 25-Year Data Shows Plan Design Is Doing the Heavy Lifting

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, 401k rollovers, 401k Trends, accumulation, AI for Retirement, Auto Portability, automation, Benefits integration, Communication, Digital Design, Digital Tools, Employee engagement, employer match, Fiduciary, Financial Wellness, Investments, Plan design, Plan Optimization, Plan Participation

Automatic enrollment, higher default deferral rates, and stronger employer contributions have reshaped America’s defined contribution retirement plan system over the past 25 years — and...

It Starts at the Top: How Leadership Engagement Strengthens a Retirement Plan

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, Benefits integration, CEO Engagement, collaboration, DC plans, Distribution, Effects of Compound Interest, Employee engagement, Employer Contribution, Fiduciary, Financial Literacy, Financial Security, Financial Wellness, participation, Retirement Committee, Retirement Readiness

What does a well-run retirement plan actually look like from the inside? At a recent TPSU program held at the Thunderbird School of Global Management...

Why Advisors and Record Keepers Need to Stop Competing — and Start Collaborating

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, Advisors and Record Keepers Collaborating, collaboration, Communication, Communication, DC plans, Fiduciary, Financial Advisors, Merging Retirement Plan, Plan design, Recordkeeping, Retirement Committee, Retirement Readiness

Participants in defined contribution plans have more tools than ever — and many still don’t know if they’re on track. That gap isn’t a technology...

Help Younger Workers Start Saving Sooner

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k rollovers, accumulation, auto enroll, auto escalate, auto re-enroll, automation, Benefits integration, collaboration, Communication, DC Plan Sponsors, Digital Tools, Early retirement, Education, education, Emergency Savings, Employee Benefits, financial literacy, Financial Wellness, Financial Wellness, Millennial saving, multi-generational workforce, participation, Plan design, Retirement Readiness, Retirement Savings Concern, student loan, Student Loan Debt

A new class of graduates and interns is entering the workforce this summer, and many will be making retirement planning decisions for the first time. ...

The Future of 401(k) Recordkeeping: Challenges, Opportunities, and What’s Next

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) advisor trust, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, AI for Retirement, Change, Communication, Compliance, DC plans, Fiduciary, Financial Advisors, Financial Wellness, Investments, Participant data, Record Keepers, Regs and Regulators, Retirement Income, SECURE 2.0, SECURE Act, Secure Act Changes

The retirement plan industry finds itself at an interesting crossroads. While recordkeepers continue to face pressure from declining fees, they are also being asked to...