401(k) Specialist Podcast

SWAY | LIVE, the retirement industry’s most unique annual conference—and the only one focused on helping retirement industry professionals build their personal brand—is coming to Boulder, Colorado Aug. 2-4. Event founder and organizer Sheri Fitts, the speaker, creator and catalyst at Sheri Fitts & Co., returns to the 401(k) Specialist Pod(k)ast to tell us what makes the event so unique, and ex...

The recently released 2026 Social Security Trustees Report once again shortened the timeline for when the trust funds paying out benefits to more than 75 million Americans will become insolvent unless lawmakers finally step in and do something about it. To find out what the new report really means for workplace retirement plan participants, 401(k) Specialist Editor-in-Chief Brian Anderson talks wi...

When retirement policymakers sought to incentivize small businesses to begin offering retirement plans in an effort to help close the coverage gap, they did so in part by creating greatly expanded federal tax credits that would offset their cost in providing those plans. But research has found fewer than 6% of eligible employers are properly claiming the tax credit—and that’s a problem that doesn’...

As part of 401(k) Specialist ’s Q2 Deep Dive on target-date funds, Editor-in-Chief Brian Anderson sits down with Mercer Director of Defined Contribution Strategic Research Teams Preet Prashar to discuss the rapidly evolving TDF landscape—from market concentration and glidepath design to passive investing, fiduciary concerns, lifetime income solutions, and private assets. Drawing from Mercer’s rece...

In this episode, Jessica Porter and Hayley Porter, financial planners at BPG Wealth Management, speak to 401(k) Specialist about the 401(k) Girls, a financial education platform aiming to make financial wellness accessible and exciting for professionals and their clients.   Jessica and Hayley, who were featured in 401(k) Specialist ’s Profiles in Participant Outcomes in 2025 , started the 401k Gir...

Advisor Insights Winning the Finalist Presentation: How offering a "Hope-based" engagement model like GigMatch differentiates you from advisors stuck in "Fear-based" messaging Reducing Financial Stress for Sponsors: Leveraging the $5/month subscription model as a low-cost, high-impact benefit recommendation for advisors. The "Lifetime Income" Complement: How to use th...

There’s a lot of increased attention about adding private markets investments to 401(k) plans in the wake of President Trump’s 2025 Executive Order on alternatives, and participants are starting to take notice. Invesco’s recent DC Participant Pulse Survey had some very interesting findings about participant perceptions of private markets, which we explore in this episode with Greg Jenkins, Managin...

Much of the technology infrastructure that powers the workplace retirement plan industry could use an update to improve on old legacy systems to better serve the needs of today’s 401(k) participants. To learn more about how and why it needs to evolve, we talk with techno-business leader Mahesh Natarajan, Chief Revenue Officer at Congruent Solutions , which has been a specialist technology solution...

In this special edition of the 401(k) Specialist Podcast —part of our Deep Dive series on “How Not to Get Sued”—Editor-in-Chief Brian Anderson sits down with legendary ERISA attorney Fred Reish to examine how fiduciary risk is evolving in today’s regulatory and litigation environment. Now serving as Director of Fiduciary and ERISA Practice at Prime Capital Retirement , Reish shares insights on the...

Eric Dyson, Executive Director of 90 North Consulting and one of the retirement industry’s more active ERISA expert witnesses, joins the 401(k) Specialist Podcast for a practical conversation on how plan sponsors and advisors can reduce fiduciary risk—and be better prepared if the Department of Labor comes calling. Drawing on his experience testifying in more than a dozen ERISA cases, Dyson shares...

As retirement planning strives to become more personalized, plan sponsors are under increasing pressure to offer solutions that meet participants where they are—not just by age or account balance, but by considering their full financial picture. That’s where workplace managed accounts can really make a difference. Lorianne Pannozzo, Senior Vice President, Personalized Planning & Advice at Fide...

In the first new 401(k) Specialist Pod(k)ast episode of 2026, Editor-in-Chief Brian Anderson sits down with Kelby Meyers, founder and CEO of Nestimate , to explore the evolving landscape of in-plan retirement income and the Nestimate Retirement Income Summit . Meyers discusses the upcoming second annual Nestimate Retirement Income Summit , shares insights on new initiatives at Nestimate—including...

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America’s latest white paper takes a deep look at how different retirement income strategies—and especially various types of annuity products—can shape participant outcomes in a world of longer lifespans and ongoing market uncertainty. In this episode of the 401(k) Specialist Pod(k)ast, Editor-in-Chief Brian Anderson sits down with Danielle Kelso, Senior Ins...

A recent survey from American Century Investments reveals some surprising disconnects between retirement plan sponsors and the workers participating in their 401(k) plans. The findings uncovered some sizable gaps in how each group views participant preparedness, risk tolerance, and even the basic functionality of common retirement products. To break down the results of the 12th Annual National Ret...

Retirement technology is rapidly transforming the way advisors and plan sponsors deliver planning advice. In this episode of the 401(k) Specialist Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Brian Anderson sits down with Michael Allen, Morningstar Retirement’s Global Head of Retirement Technology , to explore how innovation is making retirement advice more personalized, scalable, and impactful. Allen shares insights...

Technology is transforming the small-plan retirement market—and fast. In this episode of the 401(k) Specialist Podcast , we sit down with Sue Hardy , Head of Plan Operations at Sandy, Utah-based 401GO , and Cheryl Morrison Deutsch , the company’s Chief Experience Officer, to explore how modern automation, integration, and design thinking are helping small businesses launch and manage 401(k) plans...

Private markets are trying to make a move from the margins to the mainstream in workplace retirement plans—and the implications could be enormous. In this episode, we sit down with Greg Jenkins, CFA, Managing Director of Defined Contribution Solutions at Invesco to explore what this potential shift could mean for advisors, plan sponsors, and participants alike. Jenkins, who works with plan sponsor...

Automated plan features in 401(k)s such as auto-enrollment and auto-escalation have become essential tools for boosting employee participation and contribution levels. Marc Howell and Felix Okwaning, who are both Managing Directors—Enhanced Plan Design at Principal Financial GroupⓇ , share some compelling new research showing employees not only stay in auto features but increasingly expect them, e...

In this episode of the 401(k) Specialist Podcast , we dive into the complex world of Market Value Adjustments (MVAs)—what they are, when they’re triggered, how they’re calculated, and why they matter. Bill McLaren, Stable Value Business Leader for the Retirement Plan Services Business at Lincoln Financial, joins us to explain why MVAs can catch plan sponsors off guard—especially during a recordkee...

Even with regulatory barriers to including alternative assets such as private equity in defined contribution plans being removed by the Trump administration, many advisors, plan sponsors and fiduciaries are understandably hesitant to jump in. To get a better idea of what private equity investments can bring to the table, we speak with Maura Reilly Kennedy and Michelle Rappa of investment manager N...

Stable value funds are a staple in many 401(k) plans , offering principal protection and steady returns by investing in high-quality bonds. They’re particularly popular with participants nearing retirement who want to reduce market risk while still earning a competitive yield. But recent market conditions and interest rate changes have raised new considerations for these low-risk options. In this...

As retirement plan participants transition from the accumulation phase to decumulation, the focus moves from building wealth to ensuring sustainable income—what’s also known as "value creation." Danielle Kelso, Senior Institutional Solutions Consultant at Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America , joins the 401(k) Specialist Pod(k)ast to shed light on the changes and innovations s...

The third edition of the retirement industry’s least traditional conference is coming up Aug. 3–5 in Milwaukee, Wis. To get the low-down, we spoke with organizer Sheri Fitts, a well-known expert in personal branding for financial advisors and 401(k) marketing. Audio here  Sheri explains what sets the conference apart. It focuses on helping attendees strengthen their personal brand through storytel...

Recently the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration announced that it has rescinded its 2022 guidance that discouraged retirement plan fiduciaries from including cryptocurrency investments in 401(k) plans. The move is seen as a removal of a big regulatory roadblock that forced plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” before adding crypto to 401(k) investment menus...

One of the most promising—and rapidly evolving—segments of the retirement plan industry is the small- to medium-sized business (SMB) market. With a wave of government incentives and employee expectations for workplace benefits on the rise, the time is ripe for innovation and growth. To help unpack the challenges and opportunities in serving this critical market, we’re joined by Stan Smith, Chief o...