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

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...

When Should Participant Preferences Shape Retirement Plan Decisions?

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k News, benefit education, Benefits integration, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, Employee Benefits, Employee engagement, Employee feedback, Employee Survey, Employee training, employer match, erisa, Fiduciary, financial literacy, Financial Wellness, Retirement plan management, Retirement Plan Participation

Participant feedback can offer valuable insight into what employees want from their retirement benefits. But translating those preferences into plan decisions requires plan sponsors and...

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...

AI Can Help Run Your Plan But Fiduciaries Still Own the Mistakes

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, AI, AI for Retirement, Benefits integration, cybersecurity, erisa, Fiduciary, Financial Wellness, Financial Wellness, Independent TPA, managed accounts, TPA Landscape

AI is showing up in more corners of plan administration: personalized communications, claims processing, investment reviews, even committee minutes. The time savings are real. But...

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...

Why Plan Sponsors Are Taking a Closer Look at PEPs & MEPs

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, Changing dynamics, DC Plan Sponsors, Employee Benefits, Employee engagement, Fiduciary, Financial Wellness, MEPs, PEPs, Plan design, pooled employer plan, Retirement planning, Retirement Readiness

For many HR teams, retirement plan oversight is competing for attention with an already crowded list of responsibilities. That pressure is helping drive new interest...

RPA Aggregators Enter the Shakeout Phase

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, Consolidation, Financial Wellness, Retirement Plan Advisor, RPA Aggregator Roundtable, RPA Aggregators, RPA Consolidation

The RPA aggregator market may be heading for a shakeout. After years of aggressive dealmaking and a “buy for scale” mindset, the next phase of...

Small Plans, Big Shift: Who’s Built for the Next Retirement Market?

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, Client connection, Communication, Convergence, DC Plan Sponsors, Employee engagement, Financial Wellness, Recordkeeping, Retirement Advisor Specialist, Retirement plan management, Retirement planning, Small Balance Retirement Acccount, small business, Small business retirement plans, workplace benefits

Small businesses and gig workers are opening a new lane in workplace retirement savings, but much of the industry is still driving with an old...

Making Retirement Plan Complexity Easier to Understand

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, AI for Retirement, benefit education, benefits committee, Client connection, Communication, education, Employee engagement, Employee happiness, Fiduciary Training, Financial Wellness, Participant Retirement Outcomes Financial Visualization, payroll integration

Plan sponsors face an increasingly complex retirement plan environment, from evolving legislation and compliance requirements to fiduciary responsibilities and plan design decisions. For many, the...