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

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...

Let’s Rethink the Role of 401(k) Loans in Retirement Planning

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Loans, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, benefit education, Employee happiness, Fiduciary, Financial Wellness, investment, managed accounts, Retirement Income, Retirement planning

Borrowing from a 401(k) is often treated as something participants should avoid whenever possible. Taking money out of a retirement account means less money invested...

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...

Target-Date Funds Are the Default Choice — But They Can’t Be a Default Decision

By David Witz / 401k plan, Benchmarking & Fees (ERISA, retirement plan), Benchmarking Fees, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, DOL, education, erisa, Fiduciary, Fiduciary, Participant data, Participant Retirement Outcomes Financial Visualization, Retirement Readiness, Target Date Funds

The Investment Company Institute reports that approximately $4.9 trillion was invested in target-date strategies at year-end 2025.[1] A clear indication that Target-date funds (“TDFs”) have...

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...

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...

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...