fiduciary responsibility

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...

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...

The Value of an Independent TPA

By Fred Barstein / Committees, Fiduciary, Financial Wellness, Independent TPA, investment, Plan design, TPA Landscape

Following a recent TPSU program at Bellevue College, Larry Shoemaker, Principal at Hunnex & Shoemaker, spoke with TPSU Founder and CEO Fred Barstein to discuss...

The Retirement Years No One Plans For

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, accumulation, Adaptability, CEO Engagement, Communication, Compensation, Emergency Savings, Fiduciary, Financial Wellness, generational gap in retirement planning, Independence planning, Medicaid, multi-generational workforce, Retirement planning, retirement security, Retirement System, social security

The retirement planning industry was built for a population that retired at 65 and died at 75. That population is gone. By 2030, every baby...

Financial Literacy Drops to 10-Year Low as Gen Z Struggles Most

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, Adaptability, AI for Retirement, Authenticity, benefit education, Changing dynamics, Communication, Confidence, DC Plan Sponsors, education, Employee engagement, Employee feedback, Employee training, Fiduciary, Fiduciary Liability, financial literacy, financial stress management, Financial Wellness, Gen X, generational gap in retirement planning, Retirement Readiness

Americans’ financial literacy has fallen to its lowest level since tracking began a decade ago, with younger workers and women showing the widest gaps—and a...

Financial Stress Is Reshaping Employee Benefits & Retirement Saving

By Fred Barstein / Adaptability, benefit education, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, Employee Benefits, Employee engagement, Employee happiness, Fiduciary, financial stress management, Financial Wellness, Health & Wellness, Investments, retirement committee, Retirement Income, Retirement plan management, Retirement Plan Participation, Retirement Readiness

Financial Stress Employee Benefits Retirement Saving

More employees are feeling financially overwhelmed — and ironically, many are responding by cutting back on the very workplace benefits designed to help them long...

Financial Stress Is Pushing Workers to Cut Back on Benefits Contributions, Including 401(k) Savings

By Fred Barstein / Communication, Company Contributions and Vesting, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, Due Diligence, Emergency Savings, Employee Benefits, Employee happiness, Fiduciary, financial stress, financial stress management, Financial therapy, financial uncertainty, Financial Wellness, funds, inflation concerns, investment, Retirement Income

More than half of U.S. employees say financial stress is affecting their work, and many are responding by reducing contributions to the very benefits designed...

Six Plan Governance Blind Spots and How to Fix Them

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, 401k Trends, Adaptability, Audit, Benchmarking & Fees (ERISA, retirement plan), Benchmarking Fees, benefits committee, Compliance, Cyber Security, DC Plan Sponsors, erisa, ERISA Advisory Council, fee lawsuits, Fiduciary, Fiduciary Liability, Financial Advisors, investment, Legislation, participation, Plan governance

Running a retirement plan involves a lot of moving pieces—service providers, investment options, fees, compliance requirements—and it’s easy for fiduciaries to get so deep into...

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...