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Dangers That As A 401(k) Provider You Need To Avoid.
In an instant, it can all be gone.
 It can take almost a lifetime to build a sterling reputation in the retirement plan industry as a plan provider and it can be destroyed in an instant. The retirement plan business is very competitive and you can't afford any problems that can negatively impact your business. There are dangers every day in the retirement plan business and you owe it to yourself and your employees in avoiding dangers that could lead you to exit the retirement plan business. This article is about the dangers to your retirement plan practice that you need to avoid.
To read the article, please click here.
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The worthless J.D. Power surveys.
They don't tell the whole story.
 I'm going to say something and that means J.D. Power will never sponsor one of my events, but those J.D. Power surveys on the best workplace plan providers are kind of worthless.
J.D. Power offered a study behind their annual rankings. The study rated the financial services companies that manage workplace retirement plans. This year, the ratings were based on the responses of some 8,300 workers who participate in such a plan.
The problem with these surveys isn't about who topped the rankings (Fidelity and Schwab are good people), it's the fact that these type of surveys are always stacked in favor of large, bundled providers. It seems that large unbundled providers such as my friends at Ascensus can't lead at the top nor can any other unbundled provider. Unbundled is still a great option for most plan sponsors and they're never represented at all in these surveys.
Just my two cents.
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Plan any events ahead and let the word get out.
Don't wait until the end to publicize.
 The genesis for That 401(k) Conference can be traced to two things: 1) my experience at other 401(k) events and 2) my experience of running events for my old synagogue.
I ended up as a Vice President of the synagogue and I ran several events without much help of the fundraising committee. Why? I'm a control freak and I wouldn't let my events die at the hands of the fundraising committee chairman.
Barry was a nice guy. But he was awful at advertising events. He'd wait until two weeks before the event to start advertising even though he had the event booked for the prior three months. Once I booked my comedian events, I'd start advertising it on our social media spots to let people know they should save the date. People are busy and if you want to build word of mouth, that takes time. So I did all the advertising for the events on my owned and I drove in triple-digit attendance at both events including a lot of people from the outside community.
For my 401(k) conference events, I'll announce dates and times once the events are booked and once I have my logo for the event done. You should never run your events as if they're surprise parties, you should let everyone know well in advance because people are busy. Whether it's a plan sponsor or plan provider related event, let them know well ahead of time.
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DOL should make e-disclosure the default.
Tim top bring required notices to the 21st century.
 It's 2019 and one area that the Department of Labor (DOL) could help both the retirement plan industry and plan sponsors out is making electronic disclosures and notices the default option and go with the times. Sure, the paper industry will lobby to stop this, but I think the DOL should allow everyone to handle disclosures and notices the way we deal with most things these days.
As long as participants who have no access to a computer or are computer-averse have protection, making e-disclosures the norm will save the industry money, which means less cost to both the plan providers and the plan sponsors. It's a win-win.
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If you build it, they may not come.
Communication to today's participants has to improve,
 I think the one place where the retirement plan industry has failed is in communication to plan participants. The industry has done better in fee transparency and communicating with plan participants, but has done a terrible job in communicating with participants.
The problem that I find is that the industry as a whole doesn't communicate well with participants because they don't talk on a level that participants may understand and there is a lack of a connection with a good chunk of the audience. As I always say, I don't think communication with participants has changed over the last 20 years even though the demographics of the participant audience. Communication that did well with baby boomers probably doesn't do as well with millennials.
I think the communication is a huge problem because it was the baby boomers that were the better savers and once they all start pulling out assets out of the 401(k) plan, you may see a negative outflow that might hurt the industry as a whole.
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Cleveland is next.
Registration for Foxborough and Disney is also open. New Jersey just announced.
That 401(k) Conference is the most fun 401(k) advisor out there with a price point that won't break your back.
$100 gets you 4 ho
urs of content to grow your advisory business, lunch, a stadium tour and a meet and greet with a baseball legend.
These events are so fun, we have advisors from around the country to fly in. The cost and the experience can not be beat.
 In September, we will be in Cleveland at Progressive Field on Friday, September 20th. Information on sponsorship can be found
here. You can sign up for the event
here,
 In October, we will be having our first football themed That 401(k) Conference with an event at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, home of the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots.
Information on sponsorship can be found
here
. Tickets to the event can be purchased
here
.
 In November, we come home, sort of. The events started a year and change ago at Citi Field and we will be close by in New Jersey at MetLife Stadium. While it's the home of the Giants and Jets, we will have a Giants themed event. Information will be available soon,
 To finish the year, we will be in Arlington Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys. That event at AT&T Staidum will be on Friday, December 13th. Information on the event can be found here.
For information on the events, as well as sponsorship opportunities, please email
me
.
 Don't forget, our national conference for March 2020. Family fun at Disney World with a conference that won't break your bank if you're a sponsor or attendee. Information on That 401(k) National Conference sponsorship and to sign up is
here.
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The Rosenbaum Law Firm Advisors Advantage, July 2019
Vol. 10 No. 7
The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.
734 Franklin Avenue, Suite 302
Garden City, New York 11530
516-594-1557
Fax 516-368-3780
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar results. Copyright 2019, The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C. All rights reserved.
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