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

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...

Why Retirement Advisors Are Expanding Into Wealth Management

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k Advisor, 401k News, benefit education, Communication, Consolidation, Convergence, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, Employee Benefits, Financial Advisors, Financial Wellness, Managed Accounts, Retirement Readiness

The lines between retirement plan consulting and wealth management continue to blur, creating new opportunities for advisors who can serve both employers and individual participants. ...

Recordkeepers Are Betting Big on PEPs

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Managed Accounts, 401(k) Plan Management, 401k plan, bundling, Changing Recordkeepers, Communication, DC Plan Sponsors, DC plans, Financial Wellness, Independent TPA, Investments, PEPs, Plan design, Plan Participation, Recordkeepers & PEPs, Recordkeeping, recordkeeping, Retirement Readiness

More than 50,000 employers have now joined a pooled employer plan, and recordkeepers are racing to capitalize on the growth. A recent PlanAdviser article highlights...

Is Convergence the Future of Retirement Benefits? Empower Just Bet Big on It

By Fred Barstein / 401(k) Plan Management, benefit education, Client connection, Communication, Consolidation, Convergence, DC Plan Sponsors, Economy, Financial Advisors, financial stress management, Financial Wellness, Health & Wellness, healthcare, hiring, Investments, managed financial stress, recordkeeping, Retirement Readiness

Empower just closed a $340 million deal to acquire Milliman’s retirement and benefits administration business — adding about 750,000 DC and 780,000 DB participants across...

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...