IBM sent shockwaves through the retirement industry recently when it was revealed that the tech and computing giant is halting its 5% 401(k) match in favor of a 5% contribution to a new, portable, immediate-vesting pension called a “Retirement Benefit Account.”

Joining us to discuss this move and its wider implications within the retirement industry is someone who knows the defined benefit market very well in Brian McDonnell, Head of the Global Pension Practice at Cambridge Associates. There he oversees the firm’s work with more than 150 plan sponsors, and also works directly with clients as their OCIO.

He'll explain why the move happened, whether (and why) other plan sponsors might be considering it, and key trends he sees impacting the defined benefit space in the coming year.

2024 SECURE 2.0 Insights with Principal’s Lance Schoening

As we head toward 2024, more and more provisions of the landmark SECURE 2.0 retirement reform legislation package are coming online, including some provisions that have lots of people in the industry really excited.

One of those people is Lance Schoening, Director of Policy at Principal, the sponsor of today’s podcast. As the person responsible for the company’s analysis of retirement legislation, he’s well-versed in all things SECURE 2.0, and shares insights on a number of new provisions.

He’ll also explain why he’s excited about the start-up tax credits, and why retirement plan advisors might want to take another look at the small plan market because of them.

Talking DOL Retirement Saving Priorities with EBSA Head Lisa Gomez

It’s been about a year since the Honorable Lisa M. Gomez was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of Labor, and quite a busy year it’s been for the head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, which is responsible for administering, regulating and enforcing provisions of ERISA.

She joins the 401(k) Specialist Pod(k)ast to talk about topics including the high-profile rewrite of the conflict of interest rule, SECURE 2.0 and its ability to address the workplace retirement plan coverage gap, and what EBSA can do to help plan advisors, plan sponsors and participants make the most of 401(k) plans to save for retirement.

When you want to gain insight about what’s going on in the retirement industry, you want to talk to someone who’s in the loop and immersed in the business. We can’t think of someone who fits that description better than Jania Stout.

401(k) Specialist’s “Top Advisor by Participant Outcomes” in 2020 is now the Senior Vice President, Retirement + Wealth, at OneDigital, where she brings over 22 years of experience in ERISA plan consulting to her role as Practice Leader.

She fills us in on the latest when it comes to helping participants tackle the difficult task of paying down debt while still saving for emergencies and retirement, momentum building for in-plan guaranteed income solutions, and how artificial intelligence can complement—and not compete with—advisors.

Capitol Hill Retirement Reform Update with Invesco’s Jennifer Flitton

With 2024 quickly approaching, it’s a good time to check in on the status of retirement reform efforts and progress in Washington D.C.—particularly as the industry prepares for a variety of SECURE 2.0 provisions scheduled to kick in come January.

To learn where things stand on a variety of key retirement issues, this episode of the 401(k) Specialist Pod(k)ast is proud to feature a true Capitol Hill insider in Jennifer Flitton, Head of US Government Affairs at Invesco. In her 15 years in Washington, Flitton has developed a deep understanding of how things work behind the scenes and an uncanny knack for knowing when things will pass, not pass or get delayed.

We’ll ask her about the SECURE 2.0 technical fixes, whether there’s any movement on CITs in 403(b)s, who will become the next congressional champions of retirement reform, and finally, whether the federal government is poised to allow alternative investments greater access to defined contribution plans.

Andrew Biggs Explains Why There is Really Is No Retirement Crisis

In an environment where Americans are repeatedly told by mainstream media that they are facing a serious retirement savings crisis because they aren’t saving enough, there’s one person who repeatedly stands up to refute these claims.

Andrew Biggs, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, explains why he thinks most Americans probably are indeed saving enough for retirement, and how what he says are “flawed” calculations exaggerate the shortfall of Social Security’s retirement income replacement rate.

SEE ALSO:

• Biggs: Social Security Exaggerates Shortfall of Retirement Income Replacement Rate

Building Client Relationships with Advisor Derek Fiorenza

Derek Fiorenza, C(K)P, CPFA, AIF, PPC, MSBA, is wired a little differently than the typical retirement plan advisor. He joins us to explain the somewhat unique approach he has to building client and participant relationships.

Fiorenza, who serves as the Vice President, COO and CCO of Summit Group Retirement Planners in the Philadelphia area—a firm he co-founded with his father Anthony Fiorenza in 2013—has earned several accolades as a “top advisor under 40” and the company has been named a top DC advisor team by NAPA multiple times.

He also talks about why he regularly attends the NAPA Fly-In Forum in Washington D.C., addresses the retirement industry’s coverage gap, and tells us about a passion profit in the form of a non-profit he founded to help feed the hungry.

Allianz Life’s Joe Hendrickson and AmericanTCS’ Brian Lenz Discuss Market Momentum

In-plan guaranteed lifetime income solutions, such as annuities, have received plenty of attention in the wake of the SECURE Act of 2019 and 2022’s SECURE 2.0 legislation, which made it significantly easier to add these types of solutions into 401(k) plans.

Here to talk about how these solutions are being adapted for defined contribution plans – and how they are being presented in the real world to 401(k) participants – we have Joe Hendrickson, Vice President of Strategy & Relationship Management at Minneapolis-based Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz) and Brian Lenz, Chief Sales Officer at AmericanTCS, an early adopter bringing lifetime income options to plans sponsors and participants.

The discussion includes how the market is changing, how the solutions are being implemented at the plan-level, the challenges being faced in bringing these solutions to participants, and how to help them understand the products and the 5-year outlook for lifetime income solution adoption in the employer-sponsored retirement plan market.

Fred Reish’s DOL Fiduciary Rule Update

The retirement industry will be keeping a close eye on the Department of Labor in August in anticipation of proposed regulation regarding its fiduciary rule, and whether or not a retirement plan-to-IRA rollover recommendation made by an advisor who is a fiduciary to a plan or participant constitutes a fiduciary act, necessitating the use of Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02.

To help us sort out what’s going on with the DOL’s fiduciary rule, we can think of no better source than noted ERISA expert and Faegre Drinker Partner Fred Reish.

In this edition of the 401(k) Specialist Pod(k)ast, Reish provides an overview of the issue, what approach he thinks the DOL may take, provides a timeline for the regulation and some key thoughts on what this all means for retirement plan advisors.