Monthly Archives: May 2026

Plan sponsors spend a lot of time worrying about the market. Is it too high? Too low? Are we heading into a recession? Should we swap out funds before the next downturn? It’s a natural instinct—but it’s also the wrong … Continue reading →

Plan sponsors love a good illusion. And the biggest one in the 401(k) world is this: if the recordkeeper is doing a lot, they must be responsible for a lot. They’re not. Recordkeepers are service providers. Very important ones. They … Continue reading →

Every now and then, the industry rolls out a headline that sounds like it belongs in a late-night infomercial. “Boost your retirement income by 30%.” No extra savings. No extra work. Just one simple tweak. This time, the hook comes … Continue reading →

There’s a dangerous assumption in the retirement plan world: that people who fall for scams somehow weren’t paying attention. That they should have known better. That’s nonsense. A 58-year-old woman in Michigan recently lost part of her 401(k) after being … Continue reading →

Plan sponsors love to say participants don’t engage. They don’t enroll, don’t increase deferrals, don’t rebalance. The conclusion? Participants are lazy. No, they’re not. They’re human. And humans are wired for inertia. We avoid decisions, delay action, and stick with … Continue reading →

There are phrases in the retirement plan business that should set off alarms. Not the obvious ones—those usually get handled. It’s the quiet, casual ones that do the real damage. And none is more dangerous than this: “We’ll fix it … Continue reading →

You just described one of the most underrated killers of otherwise good ideas: bad timing. That autograph show didn’t suddenly become worse. Same vendors, same celebrities, same concept. What changed? The calendar. And the calendar is undefeated. Running on Good … Continue reading →

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 →