This doesn’t mean you shoot haphazardly for the stars when you can have the moon. After all, you’ve got to know your limitations. Seeking unreachable goals will only make your retirement seem hollow and pointless.
Education
When it comes to retirement anxiety, it’s best to set aside all those matters that fall outside your ability to manage. You can’t change everything. Focus instead on what you can change.
Therein lies the twist to this tale. Once you cross the threshold of retirement, the anxiety quickly melts away. How can this be?
Right now, those nearing or in retirement must confront the twin troubles of inflation and falling markets. One of these events, however, is worse than the other.
It’s been around for a while, but NetFlix et al have made ‘binge-watching’ a social norm. Is this habit about to trickle down into 401k education and financial literacy in general?
Today, more and more plan providers are thinking “inside the box,” trying to spice up employee meetings by throwing a good dose of entertainment in with the education.
There’s a perverse incentive working here, however. The more aggressive a plan sponsor gets in terms of promoting “financial wellness,” the more likely that plan sponsor will accidentally cross some compliance line.
“Honest Abe” earned his nickname very early in life. In fact, perhaps the most famous narrative defines the very nature of fiduciary loyalty. And, of course, it deals with the flow of and caretaking of pecuniary assets. In this manner, Lincoln, more than Washington, better represents the modern ERISA fiduciary.
What would it take to realize the fiduciary liability of overtly using “risk tolerance” metrics? And what can 401k plan sponsors do about it?
It’s not necessarily something that can be done at the flick of a switch, but it can be baked into the process.
