Monthly Archives: May 2026

There’s truth in what you’re saying, but let’s not turn it into a fairy tale. Yes, talent in the retirement plan business tends to surface. It’s too small a world, too relationship-driven, too reputation-based for real ability to stay hidden … Continue reading →

You can have the greatest idea in the retirement plan space—brilliant plan design, elegant auto features, some next-level decumulation strategy that actually solves a real problem—and it doesn’t matter if it lives in a vacuum. Because this business isn’t just … Continue reading →

You read enough U.S. Department of Labor / Employee Benefits Security Administration releases over the years and you start to realize something: the facts change, the villains rotate, but the plot is always the same—fiduciaries forget that this is not … Continue reading →

The Dayforce report (as covered by 401(k) Specialist) basically says this: after a few years of modest improvement, retirement savings took a step backward in 2025. Savings rates dipped from about 9.2% to 8.9%, participation ticked down, and more people … Continue reading →

Plan providers love to blame fees when a client walks out the door. It’s convenient, it’s easy, and most importantly, it avoids looking in the mirror. But in my experience, fees are rarely the real reason your best clients leave. … Continue reading →

Forfeitures are one of those things in a 401(k) plan that everyone thinks they understand—until they don’t. It’s a small line item, often buried in reports, but it has a way of creating outsized problems when it’s ignored. Most providers … Continue reading →

There’s a mindset in the 401(k) industry that if the phone isn’t ringing, everything must be fine. No complaints, no issues, no fires to put out—so why bother the client? That thinking is exactly how providers lose business. “No news … Continue reading →

Most plan sponsors I talk to don’t think their 401(k) plan is broken. Contributions are going in, participants have investment options, and nobody is banging down the door with complaints. On the surface, everything looks fine. That’s the problem. “Fine” … Continue reading →

Every year, the 401(k) Averages Book comes out and tells us something we already know—but somehow still manage to ignore. Fees are going down. That’s the headline everyone wants to celebrate. Investment costs continue to drop, recordkeeping is more competitive … Continue reading →

One of the most common things plan sponsors say is, “We don’t get any complaints about our 401(k).” It sounds like a good thing. It’s not. In most cases, no complaints doesn’t mean satisfaction. It means silence. And silence in … Continue reading →