A “one size fits all” approach to retirement plans can be surprisingly detrimental because it overlooks the diverse financial situations, goals, and risk tolerances of participants. While default features like target date funds or auto-enrollment create a strong baseline for participation, they often assume all individuals in the same age group have identical needs.
At a recent TPSU program at the University of Denver, Jania Stout—president of Prime Capital Financial Retirement and Wealth and a longtime TPSU adjunct lecturer—joined the discussion on how plan sponsors can avoid common missteps. Her presentation, 10 Things You’re Still Doing Wrong, was designed to help fiduciaries identify and correct overlooked mistakes. When asked to name just one, she called out overconfidence in default plan features. While she supports tools like auto-enrollment, auto-escalation, and target date funds, she stressed that they are not a complete strategy. Fiduciaries must regularly review whether target date funds truly align with participant needs, assess fees, and explore more tailored plan design options. “Not every 45-year-old is exactly the same,” she noted, warning that a blanket approach can leave significant gaps.
Jania also pointed out that while automation boosts participation, it can unintentionally limit participant engagement. Her advice: use auto features as a foundation, but pair them with ongoing education and personalized strategies. Defaults are a starting point, she emphasized, but true fiduciary excellence comes from going beyond the minimum to adapt and meet participants where they are.
Read the Full Transcript Here:
Fred Barstein:
Greetings. This is Fred Barstein, CEO and founder of TPSU and 401kTV. Just completed a program here at the University of Denver. Beautiful campus. Beautiful day, 80-plus degrees, and I’m here with our adjunct lecturer, Jania Stout, who is also the president of Prime Capital Financial. Do I have that right?
Jania Stout:
Yes, at Prime Capital Financial Retirement and Wealth.
Fred Barstein:
All right.
Jania Stout:
Yeah, it’s a tongue twister, yeah.
Fred Barstein:
That’s too much for me to do. Prime Capital is enough. So tell us a little bit about Prime Capital and your role?
Jania Stout:
Prime Capital, we are a national retirement and wellness firm. We have 40 offices all over the country with over 200 advisors. We do wealth management, but we also have a big focus on retirement plans and financial wellness.
Fred Barstein:
Great. Well, today, as the adjunct lecturer, thank you for being one, you have been for a long time, you talked about, what is it, the 10 biggest mistakes?
Jania Stout:
Yeah, the 10 things you’re still doing wrong.
Fred Barstein:
Or that you should-
Jania Stout:
Or might be not doing right, yeah.
Fred Barstein:
Our audience has a very limited attention span, so we can only get one, although you have promised that you’ll write an article?
Jania Stout:
Absolutely.
Fred Barstein:
Very good. So what’s the number one, if you could only pick one, what would it-
Jania Stout:
It’s tough because they’re all so important, but I would say the overconfidence in the default system, meaning relying solely on auto enrollment, auto escalation, and target date funds, and thinking that’s all you need to do. Because I think as a plan sponsor and as a fiduciary, there’s more that needs to be done.
Fred Barstein:
What needs to be done?
Jania Stout:
Well, I think you need to look at not only the fees and the funds, but are the target date funds that you defaulted, is that solving exactly what you need? Not every 45-year-old is exactly the same, so there are other solutions out there that plan sponsors need to be evaluating.
Fred Barstein:
Right, and sometimes, even though we’re big advocates of that, auto features, it limits engagement too, right?
Jania Stout:
That’s right. And by the way, I’m a fan of auto solutions. I don’t want to say it’s bad, but just believing that that’s all they need to do. And I mean, I think that making sure that we’re looking at other things beyond the auto solutions is important.
Fred Barstein:
Right. And you’ve been doing TPSU for a long time. Why should a plan sponsor attend?
Jania Stout:
There is no place to go to get ongoing education or get education, but also be in a room with your peers, and I think that’s probably the best feedback I get from my clients is that just sitting around the table with other like-minded HR professionals and sharing what’s stressing them out and what’s frustrating, or what are some of the positive things they’ve done. There are other resources out there that are probably just all online, whereas this is in person, and I really like that.
Fred Barstein:
Great. Well, thank you again for your support of TPSU, and thank you for watching 401kTV. Please stay tuned and look for a TPSU program near you as well as a virtual option.
