401(k) Real Talk Episode 203: July 29, 2026
Welcome to this week’s edition of 401(k) Real Talk, where Fred Barstein, contributing editor for Wealth Management’s RPA channel, reviews all of last week’s industry news and selects the five most important/interesting stories.
Worth Reading:
Read the full raw transcript below:
Greetings & a warm welcome to this week’s edition of 401k Real Talk. This is Fred Barstein contributing editor at WealthManagement’s RPA omnichannel and CEO at TRAU, TPSU & 401kTV – I review all of this week’s stories and select the most important and interesting ones providing open honest and candid discussion you will not get anyway else. So let’s get real!
FIRST STORY
A Gusto economist analyzing payroll data from 500,000 employers shows that those that offer a 401k plans lose an average of 8% fewer workers in the 1st year – higher for some industries.
The numbers spiked in 2021 and 2022 during the war for talent but remain high from 2020 to 2025. Information and tech companies experienced over 15% lower turnover while food and hospitality were only 2.3%.
All of which shows that 401k plans can pay for themselves as replacement costs are estimated to be 1.3 times of the salary not to mention recruitment costs, lost productivity, and the time to onboard and train a replacement.
Next story:
Bank of America’s 2026 Workplace Benefits Reports indicates that 70% of workers name saving for retirement as their top financial goal ahead of paying for medical expenses, healthcare and home renovations.
Though wellness scores have increased, people are stressed about the economy, rising cost of living and inflation with 1/3 reducing contributions to their retirement plan. Younger workers are starting to save earlier with Gen Z beginning at 24 years old compared to Baby Boomers at 34.
NEXT STORY
Industry expert and guru Nevin Adams acknowledges that while the convergence of wealth and retirement at the workplace is real, there are some important nuances and caveats.
He notes it is different for record keepers focused on offering ancillary products, RPA aggregators buying up wealth firms and the individual advisor. RPAs, Nevin opines, don’t become wealth advisors and wealth advisors RPAs though firms will integrate them.
Citing the Fuse research that a majority of wealth advisors that manage a DC plan close at least 6% of participants while not noting that larger RIAs close 17% or more, he rightly points out that very few participants are attractive to the average financial planner and have to be serviced differently that high net worth or mass affluent clients.
Good discussion which needs to continue to move forward to provide participants with holistic advice.
NEXT STORY
Brilliant column by Joshua Dietch, partner at NMG Consulting, about how advisory practices that embrace both wealth and retirement have much higher margins than purists. He notes that wealth unlocks margin expansion more than scale alone by generating greater value from existing clients.
No doubt that advisors face challenges which Deitch says is an opportunity for record keepers which have developed tools and resources that are willing to partner with advisors.
FINALLY
After three TPSU for Healthcare Fiduciaries programs this summer with Adjunct Lecturer Jamie Greenleaf, a renowned retirement plan advisor who sold her practice to OneDigital, it’s clear to me that the abuses rampant in 401(k) and 403(b) plans 20 years ago are now coming to light in healthcare and benefits plans with one major difference – the stakes are higher because of the costs and immediate ramifications.
Read my WealthManagement.com/RPA column about why wealth and retirement advisors should care and the opportunities this tsunami presents to them and their clients.
FINISH
So those were the most important stories from the past week. I listed a few others I thought were worth reading covering:
Increased living expenses forcing workers to pull back on saving for retirement
Fidelity estimates that healthcare costs in retirement jumped to $185,500 and
Plan sponsors are interested in alternatives but need more education
Please let me know if I missed anything or if you would like to comment. Otherwise I look forward to speaking to you next week on 401k Real Talk.
