The market correction this week is going to do what all market corrections and crashes do, put a light and heat on the 401(k) industry. I’ve already seen articles calling the 401(k) a 101(k).
One of the reasons we got fee disclosure regulation was because of the spotlight on high fees because of people losing money in their 401(k) plans. When we were all making money in the market in the late 1990’s, none of us were harping or even caring about 401(k) fees.
Plan participants and the media only seem to care about 401(k) plans when the markets go south. It’s human nature. People like to complain and place blame when they lose money and they don’t complain when they make money.
Hopefully, the markets will rebound. If not, we’ll hear again how bad 401(k) plans are. It’s life and this is the life we chose when we became part of the retirement plan industry.