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

The Five Qualities That Set Great Retirement Plan Advisors Apart

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) advisor trust, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, 401k plan, benefit education, Client connection, Communication, Confidence, Creative approach, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, education, Employee engagement, erisa, Fiduciary, Financial Literacy, financial stress management, Financial Wellness, Health & Wellness, managed financial stress, participant education, Retirement Plan Advisor, Retirement Readiness

What makes a great retirement plan advisor? Is it investment knowledge, fiduciary expertise or something more personal? Technical expertise is important, but being a truly...

Could AI Make 401(k) Education More Personal?

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Participant Education, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, AI, AI for Retirement, artificial intelligence, benefit education, Communication, Confidence, DC plans, education, Employee engagement, Employee feedback, Employer Contribution, Fiduciary, Financial Wellness, Retirement Happiness

What if plan sponsors could pinpoint which employees need help with their 401(k) and offer education tailored to them? After a recent TPSU program at...

11 Years of Change: What Matters Most to Retirement Plan Sponsors Today?

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Participant Education, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, 401k plan, benefit education, benefits committee, Changing dynamics, Client connection, DC Plan Sponsors, education, Employee engagement, financial stress management, Financial Wellness, participant education, peer-to-peer education, Retirement readiness

A lot has changed in the retirement industry over the past decade. From investment options and financial wellness to private markets and evolving target date...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Why Personalized Retirement Education Matters for Employees

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Trends, adult learning, benefit education, Communication, DC Plan Sponsors, education, Employee engagement, Fiduciary, Financial Literacy, Financial Wellness, Healthcare & other benefits, Plan Participation, Retirement Readiness, workplace benefits

Personalized Retirement Education For Employees

A 401(k) statement can feel like a foreign language — market jargon, fund names, percentages that seem to shift for no reason. For many employees,...

Fiduciary Duty Doesn’t End With a Good Hire

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, benefit education, benefits committee, Benefits integration, Client connection, Confidence, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, DOL Guidance, Due Diligence, education, Employee engagement, Fiduciary

Plan sponsors are held to a fiduciary standard most never trained for — on top of the job they were actually hired to do. Understanding...

Aligning 401(k) Auto-Escalation With Employee Pay Raises

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k rollovers, Adaptability, auto enroll, auto escalate, Auto Portability, auto re-enroll, benefit education, benefits committee, Benefits integration, Client connection, DC Plan Sponsors, education, Employee engagement, Employee happiness, employer match, Financial Wellness, HR

Increasing employee retirement contributions can be difficult when workers worry about reducing their take-home pay. Thoughtful plan design, however, can make higher savings rates feel...

The Five Qualities That Set Great Retirement Plan Advisors Apart

Making Retirement Real: Helping Participants Budget for the Future

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

Why Personalized Retirement Education Matters for Employees

Fiduciary Duty Doesn’t End With a Good Hire

Aligning 401(k) Auto-Escalation With Employee Pay Raises

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