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

As the Lines Blur, the DC Market Race Heats Up

By Fred Barstein / 401k plan, 401k Trends, Adaptability, AI, AI for Retirement, Changing dynamics, Consolidation, Convergence, DC Market Race, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, DOL Guidance, Employee Benefits, Fiduciary, Financial Advisors, financial wellness, Retirement Plan Advisor, Retirement plan management, Retirement Readiness, RPA Consolidation

The defined contribution market once had fairly clear lanes. Retirement plan advisors served one part of the market, while institutional investment consultants largely stayed in...

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...

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...

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...

Recordkeepers Can’t Win on Products Alone Anymore

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, Fiduciary, Financial Advisors, financial literacy, Financial Wellness, Investments, Modernize Retirement Plans, Private Wealth & Retirement Planning, Recordkeeping, Retirement Advisory, Retirement Readiness

Nearly 11,000 Americans turn 65 every day. The industry knows how to help people save. Helping them spend is a different problem. Joshua Dietch, a...

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,...

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...

Are PEPs Really Going Mainstream?

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, Benefits integration, Communication, Convergence, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, Fiduciary, Financial Security, Financial Wellness, Investments, PEPs, pooled employer plan, Retirement Plan Committee, Retirement Readiness, SECURE 2.0, Secure Act Changes

Pooled Employer Plans have grown rapidly since being authorized under the SECURE Act of 2019, with assets now estimated at $30 billion to $40 billion....

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...