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

Connecting Health Benefits and 401(k) Savings

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, benefit education, Benefits integration, CEO Engagement, Communication, DC Plan Sponsors, Employee Benefits, Employee engagement, Financial Advisors, Financial Wellness, Financial Wellness, Health & Wellness, Health Savings Account, Healthcare & other benefits, investment, Lifestyle Benefits, Retirement Readiness

Financial wellness decisions rarely happen in isolation. Employees are often weighing health plan costs, household budgets and retirement savings at the same time — which...

Small Business Retirement Plans: Is Predictable Pricing Part of the Answer?

By Fred Barstein / 401k plan, Client connection, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, Employee Benefits, Employee engagement, employee retention, Fiduciary, Financial Advisors, Financial Wellness, recruiting, retirement income, Small business retirement plans

Small business owners overwhelmingly see the value of offering a retirement plan. But keeping one affordable and sustainable as the business grows can be another...

Ted Benna Has a New Idea: A Retirement Savings Plan for Lower Earners

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, benefit education, Client connection, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, Employee engagement, employee retention, Fiduciary, financial stress management, Financial Wellness, Retirement plan management, Retirement Plan Participation, Retirement Readiness, Retirement Savings Concern

Ted Benna, the Father of the 401(k), is 84 years old and has a regret. The 401(k) he helped create has worked well for higher...

Employees Feel Better About Their Finances, But Employers Are Overestimating How Much

By Fred Barstein / 401k plan, benefit education, Benefits integration, Communication, Convergence, DC Plan Sponsors, Employee Benefits, Employee engagement, Employee feedback, Employee happiness, Employee training, Employer Contribution, employer match, Financial Wellness, Financial Wellness, Health & Wellness, Healthcare & other benefits, HR, investment, multi-generational workforce, Retirement Income, Retirement Readiness, workplace benefits

Employee financial well-being has reached a four-year high, but employers are more optimistic about their workforce’s financial health than employees themselves. Bank of America’s 2026...

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...

What Really Drives Change in Retirement Plans?

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, 403b plans, Change, Changing dynamics, Convergence, DC Plan Sponsors, Employee Benefits, Employee engagement, Financial Wellness, Retirement Plan Advisor, retirement plan innovation, Retirement Plan Participation, WealthManagement.com

Change in the 401(k) and 403(b) market is often shaped less by plan sponsors themselves and more by the advisors who guide them. Advisors are...

How One Anonymous Survey Reshaped a Company’s Medical Plan

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, benefit education, Benefits integration, CEO Engagement, collaboration, Communication, Creative approach, DC Plan Sponsors, Emergency Savings, Employee Benefits, Employee engagement, Employee feedback, Employee Survey, Fiduciary, Financial Wellness, Health & Wellness, Health Savings Account, healthcare, Healthcare & other benefits, HR, Ideal Plan, Improving Outcomes, Lifestyle Benefits, participation, Retirement Happiness

An employee benefits survey gives organizations a direct line into what their workforce actually values, rather than relying on assumptions or industry benchmarks alone. It...

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...