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Recent Posts
- Another Year, Another Reminder: Fees Still Matter – Especially for Small Plans
- There’s a hard truth in life, and I learned it the long, slow, and silent way: if you don’t speak up for yourself, you’ll be passed over, stepped on, and probably volunteered to clean up after someone else’s kugel spill. As I wrote in Full Circle, back in my teenage years at Young People’s Synagogue at East Midwood Jewish Center, I played the role of the dutiful nice guy. You know, the one who showed up early, stayed late, and never got the title—kind of like the unpaid intern who’s somehow also your carpool ride. Leadership roles were doled out like parts in a high school musical directed by someone’s passive-aggressive older cousin. The person assigning them? A college student named Adam. And every year, Adam gave me the same role: guy who does everything and gets nothing. He made people co-officers who didn’t even show up. He passed me over for president like it was a sacred tradition. And what did I do? Nothing. I sat there quietly, like a mensch with a clipboard, smiling through clenched teeth and rationalizing, “Maybe next year.” Spoiler: next year never came. Fast forward a couple of decades, and the stakes are a little higher now than who leads Shabbat announcements. I’m running my own law firm, negotiating retainers, and trying to deliver ERISA compliance without losing my mind—or my voice. So when a client recently slighted me, again and again—ignoring my reasonable request to revise a retainer agreement—I remembered Adam. And I remembered that feeling. The one where you know you’re being taken for granted, but you stay silent because it’s easier. Only this time, I wasn’t seventeen. This time, I said something. Actually, I said everything. I warned one of the client’s employees, “I’ve got one foot out the door.” A week later, I picked up the other foot and walked. I quit. And it felt… amazing. Liberating. Like finally being promoted to president of a synagogue you no longer care about. Here’s the truth: no one’s coming to rescue you. No one’s handing you the title, the recognition, or the revised contract. If you’re waiting for fairness to find you, it’s probably stuck in traffic behind a bar mitzvah procession. So speak up. For your fees. For your worth. For your teenage self who should have gotten the gavel instead of the handout flyer duty. Because being silent doesn’t make you righteous—it just makes you invisible.
- Speak Up, or Prepare to Be Stepped On (and Possibly Assigned to Kiddush Duty… Again)
- Josh Itzoe Launches Fiduciary U: A New Era in 401(k) Committee Education
- Forfeitures, Fiduciary Failures, and Cigna: Another Lesson in ERISA Risk
Recent Comments
- John O'Reilly on You Might Be Gold, But They May Not See It
- Dale F. Smith on “Experienced” Plan Provider can mean a lot of things
- Steve on Make a sure a plan provider change is for the right reason and not to make someone $$$$$
- Dale F. Smith on Yale Law Professor scares 6K Plan Sponsors and everyone missed the point
- Sherry Gensemer on The High Fee Open MEP becomes a High Fee MEAP
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Categories
Monthly Archives: June 2025
There is a difference between TPAs
In any service industry, there’s a wide range of quality and pricing. People often tell me I focus too much on third-party administrators (TPAs), but that’s where I’ve spent a lot of my career—as an ERISA attorney and former TPA … Continue reading
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There is a cost to those free plans
There’s nothing wrong with “free” — unless there’s a hidden cost lurking beneath the surface. Small business plans that don’t require filing a Form 5500 might sound great on paper, but when you look closer, you realize the real cost … Continue reading
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Workplace Retirement Plans: Participation Is Up, But So Is Financial Stress
Retirement plan participation is up, but don’t pop the champagne just yet. According to Morgan Stanley at Work’s just-released State of the Workplace Report, while more employees are enrolling in their 401(k) plans, many are also slamming the brakes on … Continue reading
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DOL changes opinion letter program
The Department of Labor just announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is giving its opinion letter program a much-needed facelift. For those of us who’ve been around the retirement plan block a few times, this is welcome news—because … Continue reading
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Fidelity’s Q1 2025 Retirement Data: Encouraging Signals, But Let’s Keep It Real
Fidelity just dropped their Q1 2025 retirement analysis, and while average balances for 401(k), 403(b), and IRAs dipped slightly due to market volatility, there’s some good news buried under the market noise: participants didn’t panic. Contribution rates remained strong, with … Continue reading
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Get the lowest share price possible
Here’s that in Ary Rosenbaum’s voice — clear, direct, with a personal anecdote to drive the point home: I’ve talked a lot about institutional share classes, revenue sharing, and the alphabet soup of fund share classes. Maybe I was getting … Continue reading
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Well, that didn’t take long. In what’s becoming a routine political tug-of-war, the Trump administration (yes, back again) has rescinded the Biden-era Department of Labor (DOL) guidance cautioning plan sponsors against offering cryptocurrency in 401(k) plans. To quote every compliance officer I’ve ever met: here we go again. Now let me be clear—I love crypto. I believe in decentralization, innovation, and financial technology that isn’t stuck in the Stone Age of paper checks and fax machines. I think crypto has a role to play in the future of retirement planning. But like any shiny new object in the retirement space, it needs to be handled with a mix of curiosity, caution, and common sense. Just because the DOL has backed off doesn’t mean you should go rushing to throw Bitcoin into your investment lineup like it’s a Target Date Fund. Fiduciary responsibility doesn’t vanish with a policy shift. ERISA didn’t change overnight. If I were ever to offer crypto in a 401(k)—and I’m not saying I would, just if—I certainly wouldn’t do it through some fly-by-night crypto wallet company that promises the moon, charges you the stars, and stores your coins on a server in someone’s basement. No, I’d use a trusted custodian—someone with experience, infrastructure, insurance, and a track record of not disappearing when the market tanks. Because let’s not forget: plan sponsors have a duty of prudence. That means understanding what you’re offering, why you’re offering it, and how it fits into the larger plan structure. Offering crypto in a plan isn’t inherently imprudent—but doing it with the wrong partner absolutely is. So while the political pendulum swings, let’s remember our job hasn’t changed. We’re still here to protect participants, build smart plans, and avoid ending up as the cautionary tale at the next ASPPA conference. Stay curious. Stay cautious. And please—if you’re going to offer crypto in a 401(k), don’t let a Reddit thread be your due diligence.
Absolutely. Here’s your piece in the voice of Ary Rosenbaum—refined for tone, rhythm, and clarity while keeping the conversational, legal-insider style you’re known for. When I was in law school, I was the editor of the student magazine. One semester, … Continue reading
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Crypto in 401(k) Plans? Sure—But Let’s Not Lose Our Minds
Well, that didn’t take long. In what’s becoming a routine political tug-of-war, the Trump administration (yes, back again) has rescinded the Biden-era Department of Labor (DOL) guidance cautioning plan sponsors against offering cryptocurrency in 401(k) plans. To quote every compliance … Continue reading
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Late 5500s: The Maddening Decision Not to Use the DFVCP
There are few things more maddening, more viscerally frustrating, than watching a plan sponsor or service provider steer themselves into the abyss out of sheer pride or ignorance—or worse, some toxic blend of both. But in the twilight centuries of … Continue reading
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The Check’s in the Mail? Why That’s a Problem for Your 401(k)
Two years ago, a guy named Handy tried to do something that should be dead simple in 2025: roll over his $114,000 401(k) after changing jobs. He was 33, building toward his future. But instead of a clean, secure digital … Continue reading
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