Common mistakes. Non-believing 401k plan sponsors. How many of these have you seen? What have you done to address the dilemma of what to do when the client isn’t always right?
Tag "fiduciary"
But this rookie mistake doesn’t bypass veteran plan sponsors. If they’ve grown too complacent with their plan, they may wake up one day to find out they’ve got a dinosaur on their hands.
Retirees should think for themselves and what alternatives they have regarding their retirement assets. These aren’t the same as they were when they were working.
As with many things, hands-on instruction is generally the best way to achieve this, especially if you make it into an engaging workshop that’s all about the employee and the employee’s dreams, not about the plan.
There’s a fear that those rushing to promote their own PEPs are merely trying to return to the bundle service provider environment the industry evolved away from more than a decade ago. This makes due diligence all the more important.
Just as these changes come bearing down, so, too, does a need for greater hand holding. Pressures within the provider industry, however, appear to be reducing the number of available hands.
There’s not a sin in listening to radio shows sponsored by those selling gold and silver. It’s quite another thing to actually act on their “recommendation.”
Should the platform offer ESG doesn’t necessarily mean good news for the 401k plan sponsor. Including ESG funds might introduce other risks.
Normally, interest rates rise with inflation. In turn, bond rates rise with interest rates. But that hasn’t happened. In fact, short rates remain at historic lows. This means folks sitting in money markets or “safe” government bonds (and bond funds) are seeing their retirement savings eroded away.
If you’re a fiduciary of the acquiring plan, you want to make sure you’re not burdened with any unknown liabilities. If you’re a fiduciary of the acquired plan, you want to make sure the merger process doesn’t introduce new liabilities.
