I am excited to get to get the podcast kicked off this year with a fast paced and wide ranging conversation with Peter Mollouk, President & CEO of Creative Planning. The main focus was employee education, how it has evolved and where it could go from here, the roles automatic plan design features and education have in helping employees on their path to retirement, who should pay for employee education, and much more. Before we get started, if you are not subscribed to the podcast take care o...
Jan 28, 2022•37 min
As we take the turn into the holiday season, what will holiday shopping look like this year? Will the supply chain challenges, inflation, or other elements bring major changes? How could this impact the economy and financial markets? To help dissect all of this and more, I am happy to welcome back Rich Weiss, senior vice president and chief investment officer, Multi-Asset Strategies for American Century Investments. Also, don’t miss when Rich get’s his crystal ball out and gazes into it for 2022...
Dec 03, 2021•56 min
If you like 90’s movies references, if your curious about who TINA is and you want some good perspective on what is going on with the markets and economy, we have a great show for you today. Joining me is Adam Philips, CFA & CFP, Managing Director for Portfolio Strategy at EP Wealth. Great stuff, hopefully you learn as much as I did! As a reminder, if you are not subscribed to the podcast, do that today. You can go to your favorite podcast app and search 401(k) Fridays, or go to 401kfridays....
Nov 19, 2021•46 min
Over the years on the podcast we have talked about the generational preferences and trends of baby boomers, Gen X’rs and Millenials, But not Generation Z. To dig into them, I am happy to welcome back Nathan Voris, Director, Investments, Insights & Consultant Services at Schwab Retirement Plan Services. While the focus is on Gen Z, there are some great observations about financial stress, financial wellness, the financial impact of the pandemic and much more. We also really strive to tie thes...
Oct 29, 2021•43 min
As part of the evolving conversation around infrastructure and how to pay for it, some potential changes to workplace retirement plans were injected into the conversation. To shed some light on the topic I am happy to welcome back Sam Henson, a Senior Vice President and Chief Client Officer for Lockton Retirement Services. While it is anyone’s guess on what will happen with infrastructure, the important things to take away from our conversation today are the thematic changes to workplace retirem...
Oct 15, 2021•52 min
For years I have been using Vanguard’s annual “ How America Saves ” as a reference guide for retirement plan statistics and benchmarks. Today, I am excited to welcome Jeff Clark, a Senior Product Owner in Vanguard’s Strategic Retirement Consulting group and the lead author of How America Saves as well as other retirement research initiatives. As you might expect, this episode focusses on plan design, some statistics, its importance, trends and a few popular topics or ideas that have been discuss...
Sep 10, 2021•55 min
It's been a little while since we have had an episode to discuss what is going on in the world of 401(k) litigation. To dive into that, I am happy to welcome back Carl Engstrom, plaintiff’s attorney with Nichols Kaster to the podcast. As usual, Carl brings a very thoughtful and informed view on what is going on with 401(k) litigation, his thoughts on why some cases move towards settlement and others are dismissed, and the inevitable question of where things go from here. Buckle up, this episode ...
Aug 27, 2021•1 hr
Things are moving fast in the financial markets and economy. In turbulent times, the decisions you do or don’t make have a big impact on the future success of your retirement plan. To help digest some macro events and share a few 401(k) panic buttons to avoid, I am happy to welcome Jamie Battmer, Chief Investment Officer for Lockton Retirement Services to the podcast. I won’t steal Jamies thunder, but let’s just say I learned a lot of hope you get as much out of it as I did. Guest Bio Jamie lead...
Aug 13, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Save for retirement or save for college? This is the age old debate that many struggle with. To shed some light on the subject I am happy to welcome Peg Creonte, President of Government Savings at Acensus. During our conversation we delve into some of the similarities and differences between 529 plans and 401(k) plans, ways that employers as part of their total rewards or benefits offering can help their employees save or pay for the cost of higher eduction and offer input on whether an employer...
Jul 23, 2021•46 min
What does the future hold for 401(k) and other workplace retirement plans? Good question, and I am excited to have Josh Cohen, Head of Institutional Defined Contribution at PGIM and the host of the podcast “ The Accidental Plan Sponsor ” join me today. We take a few minutes to set the stage with some important retirement plan trends and milestones, then we jump into where we go from here. Josh shares the good, as well as where he things workplace retirement plans can improve in the future. Good ...
Jul 09, 2021•1 hr 1 min
If you have tried to buy almost anything in the last several months, there is a good chance it costs you more today than it did previously. These cost increases, or inflation, have been a dominant topic of conversation both at the proverbial water cooler as well as with economists. I can’t solve the water cooler part, but I am excited to welcome back to Frances Donald, Senior Managing Director & Head of Macro Strategy at Manulife Investment Management. We of course talk about inflation, and ...
Jun 04, 2021•55 min
You are probably wondering, first, how do you possibly make a full episode out of retirement plan document restatements and other related topics, and second, how do you make it interesting? Well, when you have Alison Cohen, ERISA Attorney and Partner at the Ferenczy Benefits Law Center, it is a piece of cake! Not much description need on this one, but plenty of good nuggets of info and best practices. Also, Alison mentioned a "Record Retention Policy Statement" which you can find a link to in th...
May 21, 2021•58 min
What a treat, today I am please to welcome Preston Rutledge, Founder and Principal of the Rutledge Policy group and previously Assistant Secretary of Labor for the EBSA and prior to that, senior tax and benefits counsel for Chairman Orrin Hatch on the US Senate Finance Committee. During our conversation we hit on a few good stories from his civil service days, talk about the concepts behind the SECURE Act and where we go from here, potential tax changes and the impact on retirement plans and muc...
May 07, 2021•58 min
Guest Bio Joshua Dietch is the group manager of Retirement Thought Leadership in Global Brand Marketing. Joshua is responsible for leading a team of researchers and writers who create retirement thought leadership in support of the firm's workplace retirement, intermediary, and institutional businesses. He also is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. Joshua’s investment experience began in 1995 and he has been with T. Rowe Price since 2017. Prior to this, he was employed by Strateg...
Mar 26, 2021•55 min
What do current equity valuations and bond yields potentially mean for returns in the coming decade? Today, Rob Arnott, Chairman of Research Affiliates gets out his crystal ball and shares his thoughts. If you have heard Rob on prior episodes of the podcast, you will know he is not shy and doesn’t pull any punches. More importantly, he also shares a some good ideas for retirement plans on how they can design investment menus by understanding where we are today and looking forward into the coming...
Mar 12, 2021•52 min
At least once a year it makes sense to check in on what our friends at the state run retirement plans are up to. Today, I am happy to have Katie Selenski, the Executive Director of CalSavers, the California State Retirement Plan and Dylan Giambatista, the with the new Vermont or Green Mountain Secure Retirement Plan. Katie shares some encouraging data on what they are seeing thus far from CalSavers and Dylan shares the unique approach Vermont took to creating their retirement plan. I learned a l...
Mar 05, 2021•1 hr 3 min
If you couldn’t tell, the COVID pandemic and its impact on the economy, retirement plans and individuals has really gotten me thinking. Along those lines, a recent presentation from this week’s return guest, David Blanchett, the head of retirement research for Morningstar’s Investment Management group, on Total Economic Worth, struck a chord. A very interesting concept that I felt was very applicable to retirement plans to help communicate the importance of saving today and how that translates t...
Feb 12, 2021•46 min
The financial markets have started the decade on a feverish pace despite a brief pandemic induced bear market. Today, Dr. David Kelly, CFA with J.P. Morgan Asset Management joins me to share his thoughts on where we go from here. As usual he has great insights on what it will take to get some inflation in the economy, what impact new policies from the Biden administration could have on financial markets, and with the current equity valuations and low interest rates, does that mean employers shou...
Jan 29, 2021•49 min
Happy New Year! I could not think of a better way to kick off 2021 than with an update from Pete the Planner on the impact of the pandemic on personal finances. Some of what he says you might expect, but the group of employees he feels are at the most risk will likely surprise you. That and a whole lot more are part of our conversation. As a reminder, if you have been enjoying the podcast please share with a friend, colleague, or peer group. Best thing to do is encourage people to search "401(k)...
Jan 15, 2021•55 min
Admittedly, when I develop topics and content for the podcast I am generally catering to the mid to large plan market. Today, I am excited to welcome Chad Parks, the Founder & CEO of Ubiquity Retirement + Savings to discuss the world of small retirement plans. As you will hear, Chad brings his years of experience and is not shy to share his perspectives. We talk about everything from how do you define a small plan, how they are similar and different from mid to large plans, to the launch of ...
Dec 04, 2020•58 min
If you have stable value investments on your mind, my conversation today with Debbie Vince & Ken Sommers of New York Life should address your questions or concerns. We start with Debbie providing some background on stable value investments, how they work and some pros and cons compared to other cash equivalent options in workplace retirement plans. Then we transition to Ken for his thoughts on the realities of managing stable value investments in an historic low interest rate environment. Gr...
Nov 13, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Could Retirement Income be the hot topic of 2021? It was supposed to be the hot topic of 2020, then we got a little derailed. To chat through this with be today, I am excited to have Doug McIntoch, Vice President of Investment with Prudential Retirement. We go through all the stuff you would expect us to. What is retirement income, what are the employer attitudes, what are employee attitudes, what are the lingering concerns despite the new protections provided in the SECURE Act. We also delve in...
Nov 06, 2020•57 min
Today’s episode came by request from several listeners, so thank you for that! The topic is retirement plan fees. My guest is Jim Scheinberg, Managing Partner of North Pier Search Consulting and North Pier Fiduciary Management. We started off with some basics on fees, then get into some of the tricker considerations such as how do you charge fees to plan participants, per head or pro-rata, how do you account for proprietary products when evaluating fees, whether institutional share classes are r...
Oct 09, 2020•1 hr 10 min
When it comes to M&A activity in the retirement service provider ecosystem, there has been a lot of activity to say the least. This is something my guest, Dick Darian, the CEO of Wise Rhino Group saw coming and has been actively involved in. During our conversation we hit on a few recent headline grabbing announcements, how the traditional lines between traditional service provider roles continue to blur and the argument for how all of this M&A activity benefits employers, their retireme...
Oct 02, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Tis the season for talk about elections and boy do we have that today. To lend some muscle to the conversation I have Nevin Adams with the American Retirement Association. We start at the top of the ticket as they say and discuss how who sits in the White House could impact retirement policy going forward, we hit on what that would mean to the priorities and focus of various government agencies, then we move to congress as a whole and hit on how influential races and committee leadership roles i...
Sep 25, 2020•1 hr 14 min
A few months ago, Vanguard made a significant announcement about the future of their recordkeeping business. To be honest, there was a lot of confusion and questions about the rationale, details and what the future holds for them. To address those and many more questions I am excited to have Dean Edwards, a Principal and Head of Institutional Strategy and Market Leadership with Vanguard join me on the podcast. Our conversation has a great beginning, middle and end. You don’t want to miss any of ...
Sep 18, 2020•1 hr 9 min
Hard to believe, but the economic and financial market impact of COVID-19 first materialized about seven months ago. Since then, we have been seen record breaking market volatility, a spike in unemployment, a recession in the U.S. economy, and dramatic changes to daily life and routines. With all that said, how are retirement savers weathering this storm? To share some details, I am excited to welcome back Nathan Voris, a Managing Director of Business Strategy with Charles Schwab Retirement Plan...
Sep 11, 2020•35 min
The 401(k) world if nothing else loves its acronyms. Today, I am excited to welcome Alison Cohn, a Partner and attorney with Ferenczy Benefits Law Center to the podcast! Alison brings her quick wit and enthusiasm to a conversation around PEPs, MEPs, and SEPs which can generally be confusing or just plan dull. With new regulations coming online, understanding the differences, pros and cons and decision points will be important as we head into 2021. Also, I loved her analogy involving ships and ba...
Sep 04, 2020•55 min
A major challenge for let's call it 40% of the workforce here in the United States is access to a retirement plan at work. Recently, several states have launched retirement plans to help provide more access to workers and close the coverage gap. To discuss this and more, I am happy to welcome back to the podcast, Lisa Massena, Principal at Massena & Associates. During our conversation Lisa shares her experience and insights helping launch the state retirement plan in Oregon and now actively ...
Aug 28, 2020•54 min
We have talked about Regulation BI and the DOL’s Fiduciary Rule before on the podcast, however, it has been a while. Reg BI is now live and the DOL’s Fiduciary Rule has been revamped after its prior version was vacated a while back. To share an overview of what each are, the impact on plan sponsors, participants and industry I am happy to welcome Chris Giorgi and Carrol Waddel, both with Empower Retirement to the podcast. Chris provides great background and perspective on the legal front as Asso...
Jul 24, 2020•53 min
