The Evolving Retirement Industry: What Advisors Need to Know
The retirement industry has evolved dramatically over the past decade, bringing new challenges and opportunities for advisors and plan sponsors. Participants now expect more from their retirement plans—demanding better tools, personalized guidance, and clear paths to turn their savings into sustainable income. At the same time, new regulations and a growing focus on financial wellness have reshaped how employers manage their plans. Advisors must help plan sponsors meet these demands while staying compliant and offering value to participants.
Fred Barstein, CEO of TPSU and 401kTV, sat down with Todd Barden, a long-time TPSU lecturer and founder of Great Lakes Retirement Plan Consultants, after a TPSU program at Marquette University. With nine years of experience lecturing at TPSU, Todd has seen how retirement plan priorities have shifted over time.
In the past, plan discussions focused on investments, plan design, and the early stages of behavioral finance. Today, the focus is on helping participants navigate complex financial needs, ensuring compliance with regulations, and prioritizing financial wellness. Todd praised TPSU’s unique university-led approach, where plan sponsors learn by engaging directly with peers and experts. This interactive setting not only deepens understanding but also equips sponsors with practical strategies to meet the changing needs of their workforce.
Read the Full Transcript Here:
Fred Barstein:
Greetings. This is Fred Barstein, CEO and founder of TPSU and 401kTV. Just completed a program for TPSU at Marquette University, right downtown Milwaukee. And I’m here with our esteemed adjunct lecturer, Todd Barden. So Todd, okay, if we ask you a few questions.
Todd Barden:
Absolutely, thanks Fred.
Fred Barstein:
Thanks. Tell us a little bit about your firm.
Todd Barden:
Yeah. So Great Lakes Retirement Plan Consultants we founded here in Milwaukee in 2006. We’ve grown and changed and morphed through the years and just happy we could participate in the event today.
Fred Barstein:
So Todd, you’ve been a lecturer for nine years at TPSU. It’s one of our longest tenured lecturers here. You’ve seen a lot of things change. So what did you see? What was prevalent? What people talked about the biggest issues nine years ago and what is it today?
Todd Barden:
That’s a great question. I think nine years ago, things were much different, right? 2015, it’s even hard for me to think back that far, Fred, but I am. In 2015, it was mainly about investments coming out of that era after 9/11, of course, and things of that nature. So I think the perspective was, how do we grow the money and what do we do and plan design and behavioral finance was just starting in infancy. So I think those were the three areas that I saw that time.
Now today, it is a totally different concerns. We have participants that work for companies that are more demanding than they’ve ever been, and maybe for the right reasons. So I think they’re asking better questions. They’re more demanding. They require more handholding. I think that’s number one.
Number two, I think the new regulations and things, we see this from time to time, it’s been a number of years. Now we have new compliance, new ideas. And then I think the last is part of the whole financial wellness and income and things of that nature. How it pertains back to, because if I’m the participant and someday I’m going to take this money, I need to get an income and I need to be able to live and support myself and my family. I think that’s more of the forefront. And how do we do that? So I think careful planning, access to certified financial planners, access to having a financial plan. I think those are the table stakes today.
Fred Barstein:
We’ve come a long way from 401k being a supplemental savings plan to really the main source of retirement for many, many Americans. Well, thank you for your long tenure.
Todd Barden:
Yes.
Fred Barstein:
Why do you think a plan sponsor should attend a TPSU? It’s a long day, right?
Todd Barden:
It is a long day, but as you know, it’s the nation’s only university-led education. And I know from being part of programs at UCLA or recently Harvard in July, that we all learn in that setting of a university. And it not only puts us with great lecturers that can teach us things, but I know myself personally, I learned by being with others. The interaction and I think that’s the secret sauce. The secret sauce is people in a room asking other plan sponsors, “Well, what are you doing? And how is that working?” And I think that’s a special moment to see that happen.
Fred Barstein:
And that’s how adults learn.
Todd Barden:
They do.
Fred Barstein:
By interacting. Well, great. Thanks again for your time and your support of TPSU. And thank you for watching for 401kTV. Please stay tuned.
Todd Barden:
Thank you.
