Episode Intro: The GAP with Stephen M. Welch and Cindy Hounsell

Retirement doesn’t begin at retirement, and for many women, the biggest risks show up decades earlier in quiet ways. Money messages that discourage questions, lower pay over time, career pauses for caregiving, and missed access to a workplace 401(k) can all stack up into a retirement savings gap that feels impossible to catch. We created Women’s Retirement Security Day to name that reality and to focus on what actually helps.

Episode Description:

We’re joined by Cindy Hansel, founder of WISER (Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement), and Steven Welch, managing partner of Crown Mark Wealth Advisors. Cindy shares how a pension freeze nobody could explain turned into a lifelong mission to make retirement rules and resources understandable. Steven tells the story of losing a large chunk of savings after concentrating his 401(k) in company stock and how that pain shaped his commitment to education, better plan design, and real guidance for everyday workers.

Together, we dig into the drivers that compound fastest, including longevity, caregiving, and gaps in participation, and we challenge the lazy advice to “just save more.” We talk about retirement planning in plain English, why retirement is a financial condition not an age, and the practical basics that prevent heartbreak, like keeping beneficiary forms updated and getting one-on-one support. We also highlight what plan sponsors and advisors can improve now, including automatic enrollment, auto-increase features, and communication that meets people where they are.

If you want a clearer path to women’s retirement security, listen, share this with someone you care about, and subscribe so you don’t miss what we publish next. After you listen, will you leave a review and tell us the biggest retirement question you want answered?

Guest Bio:  Stephen M. Welch
 
Stephen M. Welch is the Managing Partner of Crownmark Wealth Advisors, launched in 2025, and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. With a proven track record of excellence in retirement planning and corporate financial strategies, Stephen specializes in empowering individuals and businesses to achieve their financial goals through comprehensive, tailored solutions.

During his successful tenure at Morgan Stanley, Stephen served as a Retirement Plan Advisor and Corporate Retirement Director, guiding businesses in optimizing their retirement plans to attract and retain top talent while ensuring compliance and sustainability. His designation as a Financial Planning Specialist underscores his ability to approach each client’s financial journey holistically, incorporating investment strategies, retirement planning, and estate planning to deliver growth and stability across life stages.

Stephen’s approach is defined by his commitment to building strong, personalized relationships with clients. Leveraging cutting-edge technology and a deep understanding of the financial landscape, he transforms challenges into opportunities, ensuring that every financial decision aligns with his clients’ long-term objectives.

As a co-founder of Crownmark Wealth Advisors alongside Sean Foote, Stephen brings a shared vision of providing a boutique wealth management experience that prioritizes client success. Together, they offer a comprehensive range of services for high-net-worth individuals, business owners, and corporate executives.

Stephen’s dedication to his clients’ financial well-being ensures that they are not just planning for the future but thriving in it. Whether optimizing retirement strategies or navigating complex financial decisions, Stephen delivers the expertise and guidance clients need to secure their financial legacy.

Guest Bio: Cindy Hounsell

Cindy Hounsell is the Founder and President of the Washington D.C. based Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER), a nonprofit organization founded in 1996 to improve opportunities for women to secure retirement income and to educate the public about the inequities that disadvantage women in retirement.

An attorney and retirement expert, Ms. Hounsell has been widely quoted in various media and publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes/PBS Next Avenue, Barrons, U.S. News and World Report, CNN, CNBC and NPR’s 1A, All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Marketplace.

Ms. Hounsell also serves as Director of the National Resource Center on Women and Retirement; the Center WISER operates in partnership with the U.S. Administration on Aging. Through the Center, Ms. Hounsell provides technical assistance to national organizations and trains leaders and grassroots advocates across the country.

 Ms. Hounsell has testified before Congress and has served as a delegate for a number of White House summits and conferences.  She has authored many chapters, columns, articles, op-eds, papers and booklets focused on women’s retirement issues.

In 2018, Ms. Hounsell was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Plan Sponsor Council of America. Ms. Hounsell was also named a 2015 Influencer in Aging by PBS- Next Avenue. The Influencers in Aging list highlights 50 thought leaders, researchers, experts, executives and everyday people who are redefining what it means to grow older in America. Ms. Hounsell was named by Women’s eNews as one of 21 Leaders for the 21st Century, and Money magazine named her one of its 40 Money Heroes for helping women secure their financial futures.

Contact Our Guests:

Stephen M. Welch
Managing Partner
Crownmark Wealth Advisors
CrownmarkWealth.com

Cindy Hounsell, JD
Founder and President
WISER
WiserWomen.org

Contact Our Host:

Shannon Edwards
President
TrisStar Pension Consulting
TriStarPension.com
LinkedIn

Episode Intro: The GAP with Erika Goodwin and Madison Oakley

Women retire later, live longer, and often try to do it with less money and less margin for error. That isn’t a personal failure, it’s a system of pay gaps, caregiving interruptions, and uneven access to workplace retirement plans colliding over decades. We sit down with Erika Goodwin and Madison Oakley from the American Retirement Association to introduce the first annual National Women’s Retirement Security Day and explain why it’s designed as a call to action, not just another date on the calendar.

Episode Description:

We dig into the stats that should make plan sponsors and advisors pay attention, including how women’s 401(k) balances can be dramatically lower than men’s and how small differences in contribution rates turn into thousands of dollars when income is lower. We also talk about the practical fixes that already work in the private retirement system, like expanding access to employer-sponsored retirement plans, automatic enrollment, and automatic escalation, plus what recent retirement legislation has unlocked for small employers and savers juggling student loans and long-term goals.

Then we get tactical. We share how RaiseHER gives communities a ready-to-use financial literacy program, what success looks like in year one, and the simplest actions anyone can take right now: log into your account, reset your password, check your contribution rate, confirm beneficiaries, and ask HR who you can call for help. We also talk about the added hurdles women of color face, and why the most powerful form of advocacy can start with one conversation at a cookout or dinner table.

If you want clearer next steps, better language to talk about retirement, and resources you can trust, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend or colleague, and leave a review so more people can find Women’s Retirement Security Day and join the movement.

Guest Bio: Madison Oakley

Madison is the Advocacy Engagement Manager for the American Retirement Association (ARA). In this role, she executes strategies aimed at enhancing member engagement in advocacy initiatives, including D.C. Fly-in meetings for constituents, grassroots advocacy campaigns, and the Political Action Committee. She also facilitates volunteer committee activities for ARA members, including the Thrive Mentoring Program for women, Third Thursdays with Women in Retirement, and the ASPPA and NAPA Government Affairs Committees. 

Madison has a background in political fundraising. Prior to joining ARA, she spent four years Molly Allen Associates LLC where she was responsible for PAC fundraising strategies for several Members of Congress and candidates. Previously, she was Deputy Finance Director for a congressional campaign in Nevada and interned for a Senate campaign in Wisconsin. Madison has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Critical Identity Studies from Beloit College, and a Certificate in PAC and Grassroots Management.

Madison lives in Arlington, VA with her husband and two cats. In her spare time, she enjoys knitting, crocheting, reading, and spending time with friends.

Guest Bio: Erika Goodwin

Erika Goodwin is the Director of Advocacy Engagement at the American Retirement Association (ARA), where she leads select advocacy engagement strategy at the federal level and grass top engagement to advance retirement security solutions.

Erika leads Women's Retirement Security Day, a national initiative focused on raising awareness of the challenges women face in preparing for retirement and bringing together advocates, policymakers, and industry leaders around solutions. She has also led several initiatives to advance women and expand opportunity within the retirement industry, including the Women in Retirement Conference (WiRC), the Nourishing Our Wealth and Thrive mentoring programs, the ARA Council for Women, and efforts to create pathways for HBCU students to earn ARA professional certificates.

A graduate of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, Erika holds Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designations. Outside of work, she is an urban farmer and a Caribbean carnival enthusiast.

Contact Our Guests:

Madison Oakley
Advocacy Engagement Manager
American Retirement Association
[email protected]
703-516-9300

Erika Goodwin
Director of Advocacy Engagement
American Retirement Association
[email protected]
703-516-9300

Website: https://www.usaretirement.org

Episode Intro: The GAP with Grant Ellis

Your 401(k) plan might be “working” on paper, but are your people actually getting clearer, calmer, and more confident about retirement? We sit down with Grant Ellis, founder of Ellis Retirement Services, to talk about what plan sponsors are up against right now: nonstop vendor outreach, confusing regulatory updates, payroll integrations that break, and a flood of tools that often adds friction instead of results.

Episode Description:

We get practical about what helps sponsors cut through the noise. Grant shares why independence matters in the retirement plan advisory space, especially for fiduciary decisions like recordkeeper selection, fee benchmarking, and building a defensible investment process. We also make the case for the often-underappreciated “engine” of the system: the third-party administrator. When a specialist advisor and a strong TPA work as true partners, sponsors get better plan operations, smarter plan design, and real checks and balances that reduce risk.

Then we zoom in on the end user: the participant. Grant argues that participant education and financial wellness are where the industry too often mails it in, swapping human conversations for another app. We talk about what actually moves the needle, including simple explanations, live Q and A, thoughtful plan design tweaks, and when auto enrollment can help close the retirement coverage gap without making employees feel tricked.

Subscribe for more candid conversations about retirement readiness, share this with a plan sponsor who feels overwhelmed, and leave a review to help more employers find the playbook for better 401(k) outcomes.

Guest Bio: Grant Ellis

Grant Ellis began his retirement planning career in 2005 and has been serving the needs of his clients ever since. As an analytical person and a student of the industry, Grant loves the complexities involved with 401(k)’s and retirement planning. More than that, however, he loves that he gets to take those complex subjects and connect them to his clients’ needs and desires. Whether he’s working with a CFO, HR team, or an individual prepping for retirement, his goals are the same…helping them define goals and create a plan to achieve them.

When he isn’t serving his clients, Grant likes to live as full a life as possible. He plays guitar and sings at his church (he even got to sing with Garth Brooks once!). He used to own a peanut butter company, wrote a book, guest lectures at Universities, and plays a little golf every now and then.

More than anything though, Grant values the time he spends with his family. He and his wife Cara live in Eads, Tennessee with their two kids. Walker is nine and loves to play baseball, and Callan is eleven and loves to sing like her daddy.

Contact:

Grant Ellis
901-519-7734
[email protected]

Website: https://ellisretirement.com/

Episode Introduction - The Gap with Lisa Gomez 

A retirement plan can look like a line item on a pay stub until you’re the person without one. That’s where this conversation starts, and why it gets so real so fast. I’m joined by Lisa Gomez, a nationally recognized employee benefits leader and the former head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor, the agency responsible for protecting the workplace benefits of more than 150 million Americans.

Episode Description

We sit down with Lisa Gomez to talk about what the retirement industry gets right, where the real breakdowns still happen, and how we can close the retirement savings gap and coverage gap without falling into defeatism or victory laps.

We dig into the practical reasons people don’t participate even when they have access to a 401(k) or workplace retirement plan: confusing communication, benefits that look good on paper but don’t solve day-to-day needs, and the emotional reality that money stress and mental health are tightly linked. Lisa pushes us to get out of the echo chamber and talk directly with workers and employers, especially the demographics that keep getting left behind, so we can design solutions that actually change behavior.

We also explore what financial advisors can do best when they serve as a whole-person guide, not just an account manager. From there we zoom out to policy and infrastructure: responsible financial data sharing that supports holistic planning, clearer and more consistent ERISA fiduciary expectations across shifting investment debates, and the opportunity for small employers through PEPs, state programs, and underused tax credits. We close with a challenge to plan sponsors and advisors: schedule real plan design reviews, strengthen governance, and keep asking whether the plan is truly helping people build retirement security.

If you found this helpful, subscribe, share it with a plan sponsor or advisor, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s the biggest obstacle you see to improving retirement readiness?

Guest Bio:

Lisa is the founding member of LMG Collaborative Consulting Solutions, a firm providing comprehensive public policy and other consulting services in all aspects of employee benefits, including compliance, plan administration, plan design, advocacy, communications, government agency engagement, and strategic planning. In this new chapter, Lisa seeks to partner with employers and other plan sponsors and administrators, labor organizations, service providers, and worker advocates and use her experience and voice to help them successfully achieve their goals. Lisa can also serve as a professional trustee or independent fiduciary, expert witness, arbitrator, or mediator. 

Lisa was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits Security for the U.S. Department of Labor in July 2021 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in September 2022. She was sworn in by Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh on October 11, 2022, and served in that position until January 20, 2025. Previously, Lisa was a long-standing partner with the law firm Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP, representing labor organizations and employee benefit plan sponsors and administrators, and the chair of the firm’s management committee. 

Contact Lisa M. Gomez:

LMG Collaborative Consulting Solutions
https://lmg-ccs.com
[email protected]
917-757-5100

LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gomezlisam/

Episode Introduction - The Gap with Lisa Gomez 

A retirement plan can look like a line item on a pay stub until you’re the person without one. That’s where this conversation starts, and why it gets so real so fast. I’m joined by Lisa Gomez, a nationally recognized employee benefits leader and the former head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor, the agency responsible for protecting the workplace benefits of more than 150 million Americans.

Episode Description

Lisa takes us through her journey from a working-class upbringing with limited access to employer benefits to nearly three decades as an ERISA and employee benefits attorney. We talk about what she learned advising plan sponsors across every kind of industry, and why that on-the-ground experience matters when regulators write retirement policy that has to work in the real world. If you care about retirement security, 401(k) access, fiduciary responsibility, and what it actually takes to help workers retire with dignity, her perspective is hard to beat.

We also get into the moment she stepped into EBSA leadership during a period of major retirement policy evolution. Secure 2.0, ESG debates, lifetime income questions, and a constant drumbeat of stakeholder pressure all collided at once. Lisa explains how she thinks about collaboration versus enforcement, why “good actors” need support as much as bad actors need consequences, and what she’s most proud of that most people never notice.

One of the biggest practical takeaways is communication: disclosures only matter if people can read them, understand them, and use them. We discuss why clearer disclosures can improve participant outcomes, strengthen accountability, and help close the retirement savings gap and retirement coverage gap over time.

If Part 1 sparks questions for you, share it with a colleague and tell me what you want answered in Part 2. Subscribe, leave a review, and send this episode to someone who needs a clearer path to retirement security.

Guest Bio:

Lisa is the founding member of LMG Collaborative Consulting Solutions, a firm providing comprehensive public policy and other consulting services in all aspects of employee benefits, including compliance, plan administration, plan design, advocacy, communications, government agency engagement, and strategic planning. In this new chapter, Lisa seeks to partner with employers and other plan sponsors and administrators, labor organizations, service providers, and worker advocates and use her experience and voice to help them successfully achieve their goals. Lisa can also serve as a professional trustee or independent fiduciary, expert witness, arbitrator, or mediator. 

Lisa was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits Security for the U.S. Department of Labor in July 2021 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in September 2022. She was sworn in by Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh on October 11, 2022, and served in that position until January 20, 2025. Previously, Lisa was a long-standing partner with the law firm Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP, representing labor organizations and employee benefit plan sponsors and administrators, and the chair of the firm’s management committee. 

Contact Lisa M. Gomez:

LMG Collaborative Consulting Solutions
https://lmg-ccs.com
[email protected]
917-757-5100

LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gomezlisam/

Episode Introduction - The Gap with Toni Whaley

Today's episode of The Gap is one I've been really excited to record. If you listen to this podcast regularly, you know that while we spend a lot of time talking about the retirement savings gap and the coverage gap in America, we also make a point to recognize something that doesn't get enough attention. The private retirement system works and it has made a meaningful difference in millions of American lives. American workers are far more likely to save for retirement when they have access to a workplace plan and when education, confidence, and guidance are layered on top of that access, the impact can be life-changing.

That's why I am thrilled to welcome today's guest, Toni Whaley. Toni is the co-founder and CEO of Paladin Advisor Group , a plan member financial center serving more than 3,500 clients across the greater Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area. With more than 20 years as a financial professional, Tony has dedicated her career to helping people, especially those who serve others, gain confidence, clarity, and peace of mind around their financial futures. 

Episode Description

We trace Toni’s path from early uncertainty to leadership, uncovering the moments that reshaped her philosophy—like the day a client reframed “mad money” as real retirement money. That mindset shift powers Paladin’s education-first approach across educators, federal employees, nonprofits, and small businesses. Toni explains why adults learn best through relevant stories, bite-size concepts, and visible progress, and how that approach outperforms generic content and market noise. The takeaway: confidence and clarity are as valuable as any fund lineup.

We also dive into Raise Her, a bold five-year movement to empower one million women with practical tools and a clear plan for every stage: early learning, informed decisions, consistent saving, and smart retirement spending. Toni shares how Raise Her removes barriers—student debt stress, time scarcity, fear of asking—and invites action through social settings and ready-to-use materials. 

Guest Bio: Toni Whaley

2024 NTSA President and 2024 Marquis Who's Who Honoree, Toni E. Whaley is Co-Founder and CEO of Paladin Advisor Group, A PlanMember Financial Center. She has been a financial planner for over 20 years. Together with her husband Mike, she has grown Paladin Advisor Group to nine associate financial professionals, servicing several counties in the greater Baltimore and Washington DC area. Paladin services over 3,500 clients and manages over $290 million in client assets. Toni currently holds series 6, 65, 63 and life and health licenses; and a CRES – Certified Retired Education Specialist designation.  As a financial professional, Toni focuses on helping those who make it their mission to serve others. Her clients include education professionals and their spouses, Federal employees, and employees of for-profit and non-profit organizations as well as Small Business.  Helping people discover who they are, who they want to become and plan for their future is a major focus for Toni.  Toni belongs to the Howard County Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Professional Women, the Financial Services Institute, and the Howard County Estate Planning Council. Paladin Advisor Group is listed as an A+ accredited company with the Better Business Bureau.

Contact Toni:

Here is the link for Rai$e Her: https://www.ntsa-net.org/education/rai$e-her/

Toni Whaley: [email protected]

Episode Introduction - The Gap with Bonnie Treichel

Today on The Gap, I'm excited to welcome Bonnie Treichel, a true leader and innovator in the retirement plan industry. Bonnie is the founder and chief solutions officer of Endeavor Retirement, where she focuses on simplifying retirement plan governance so advisors and plan sponsors can spend less time navigating complexity and more time helping participants save successfully for retirement. She is also a partner at Endeavor Law and brings a unique perspective as an ERISA attorney, former advisor, and plan sponsor. Bonnie is widely recognized for her thoughtful leadership on fiduciary responsibility and retirement plan governance. 

Episode Description

Governance isn’t glamorous, but it’s the difference between a plan that hums and a plan that hijacks your week. We sit down with Bonnie Treichel —ERISA attorney, former advisor, and founder of Endeavor Retirement—to translate fiduciary responsibility into a simple, repeatable system you can actually run. From future‑proofing your investment policy statement to building a one‑page map of duties, Bonnie shows how clear roles, documentation, and cadence stop finger pointing and free up time to help participants save more.

We dig into the risk spectrum behind real-world corrections, where legal black and white meets the gray of business judgment. You’ll hear how to right‑size best practices for a five‑person plan versus a 5,000‑person plan, what truly belongs in a committee charter, and why actionable education beats dense white papers. We also tackle today’s biggest pressure points—cybersecurity, privacy, missing participants, fee confusion—and outline practical steps for data mapping, vendor oversight, and secure workflows that meet DOL expectations without overwhelming your team. 

Training advisors to train sponsors scales good governance and raises outcomes across the system. With steady process in place, you can shift attention to participant engagement—re‑enrollment, smart defaults, timely nudges—and keep people invested through market noise. Bonnie also shares optimism about bipartisan momentum on coverage and the growing pipeline of next‑gen talent, plus a preview of her new book, Your Retirement Sketchbook, designed to make planning approachable and fun.

Guest Bio Bonnie Treichel:

Bonnie Treichel is the Founder and Chief Solutions Officer of Endeavor Retirement, a consulting firm dedicated to solving problems for plan sponsors, advisors and service providers in the retirement plan industry. Her unique experience as an ERISA attorney and advisor helps her bring governance solutions for day-to-day issues that are an inevitable part of running a successful retirement plan. Bonnie is also a Partner at Endeavor Law, a firm dedicated to supporting the ecosystem of financial services with their retirement plan-related decisions, documentation, compliance, regulation and litigation. As a thought leader on retirement plan governance issues, Bonnie has been quoted in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, InvestmentNews, 401(k) Specialist, Ignites, PlanAdviser, NAPA Net Daily, and Journal of Pension Benefits. She is an active member of the American Retirement Association and has served in various leadership
roles as well as the American Bar Association’s Tax Division where she is on the Lifetime Income Committee.  When she isn’t working on retirement plan issues, Bonnie enjoys traveling, spending time with her golden retrievers, Sadie and Sunny, running, riding her bike and volunteering for Make a Wish.

Contact Bonnie:
[email protected]
https://endeavor-retirement.com
816-284-2180
@btreichelesq

Episode Introduction - The Gap with Rachel Fox

Today’s conversation is one I am really excited about, because it goes straight to the heart of what The Gap is all about—not just saving for retirement someday, but helping working Americans stay financially stable today so they can actually get there.

I’m thrilled to welcome Rachel Fox to the podcast.

Rachel is a seasoned leader in the employee benefits space with more than 23 years of experience helping employers support their workforce in meaningful, practical ways. For the past four years, she has led sales and partnerships at Sunny Day Fund, an out-of-plan Emergency Savings Account—or ESA—provider that helps employers turn financial wellness from a concept into something employees can actually use when life happens.

Before joining Sunny Day Fund, Rachel spent nearly two decades running her own Aflac agency, where she consistently ranked among the top five district sales coordinators nationally—an achievement that speaks volumes about her leadership, her ability to build strong teams, and her deep understanding of what employees really need from their benefits. She also worked as a health broker, guiding employers through an increasingly complex benefits landscape and helping them make smart, people-focused decisions.

What I love about Rachel—and what you’ll hear loud and clear today—is her passion. She truly believes that emergency savings are a missing link in closing both the financial stress gap and the retirement savings gap. Because when employees don’t have a cushion for unexpected expenses, retirement savings is often the first thing to suffer.

Episode Description

A stronger retirement starts with steadier today money. That’s the core of our conversation with Rachel Fox, a veteran benefits leader who’s helping employers turn “financial wellness” into a real system: automated emergency savings that keep workers from raiding their 401(k)s when life hits. We dig into the data behind out-of-plan ESAs, why they reduce loans and hardships, and how smart design—balance-based incentives, payroll automation, and clear, inclusive communication—builds a durable first line of defense.

Rachel traces the human stories behind the metrics: employees one event away from catastrophe, HR teams overwhelmed by loan requests, and the relief that comes when a car repair or deposit is covered without penalties or taxes. She explains why ESAs act as an on-ramp to retirement, increasing participation and contributions by making long-term saving feel possible. We also unpack the limits of PLESAs under SECURE 2.0 and why employers prefer out-of-plan flexibility that avoids ERISA complexity and allows meaningful employer contributions.

Beyond the ledger, we connect financial stress to safety, focus, and retention. Rachel highlights a study of short-haul truckers showing an 87% drop in citations among ESA participants and shares how employers repurpose bonuses and underused budgets into savings multipliers. The takeaway is practical and hopeful: lead with systems, not lectures; make saving effortless; and let people save for both emergencies and aspirations so behavior sticks.

If you care about reducing 401(k) leakage, improving benefits ROI, and helping workers move from survival to stability to growth, this conversation maps the path. Subscribe, share with a colleague who owns benefits strategy, and leave a review with one change you’d make to your company’s savings design.

Guest Bio: Rachel Fox

Rachel Fox is a leader in the employee benefits space with 23 years of experience. For the past four years, she has led sales and partnerships at Sunny Day Fund, an out-of-plan Emergency Savings Account (ESA) provider that operationalizes financial wellness initiatives for workforces. Before joining Sunny Day Fund, Rachel spent nearly two decades running her own Aflac agency, where she consistently ranked a

What if the secret to building a truly successful retirement plan wasn’t about plan features at all—but about culture, intention, and the belief that employees deserve more than the bare minimum? In this episode of The Gap, host Shannon Edwards sits down with Nathan Helms, Controller at Balon Corporation, to explore what happens when a company decides that taking care of people is non-negotiable. With over sixty years of employee-first leadership behind them, Balon has created a retirement plan that has grown from 165 participants to more than 1,100—and Nathan shares firsthand how that transformation was built from the inside out.

Whether you're an employer, advisor, or benefits manager, this conversation gives you an inspiring, practical look at what it means to create real retirement readiness for real people. You’ll hear how intentional design, thoughtful communication, and a deep respect for a diverse workforce can change not only participation rates, but lives. This episode will challenge you, motivate you, and remind you exactly why your role in closing the retirement savings gap matters more than ever. Tune in—because this is what it looks like when an employer gets it right. 

In this episode, Shannon and Nathan Helms discuss: 

• Strategic plan design decisions that drive long-term employee retirement readiness
• Approaches employers use to boost participation and keep employees engaged
• Communication challenges in supporting diverse and multilingual workforces
• Policy and compliance barriers that impact employers’ ability to strengthen retirement benefits

Key Takeaways:

• Implementing automatic enrollment alongside consistent, in-person education sessions significantly increases participation and helps employees understand how to build long-term financial security.
• Designing a plan that combines open-architecture investments, a supportive match structure, and thoughtful guardrails reduces leakage, encourages higher contribution rates, and protects employees from self-sabotage.
• Providing multilingual materials and trusted, in-house translators ensures employees from diverse backgrounds fully understand the plan, leading to stronger engagement and remarkable individual success stories.
• Simplifying compliance correction processes and increasing safe harbor match flexibility would empower more employers to offer meaningful retirement benefits without being overwhelmed by regulatory complexity. 

"Do right by the employee, and they’ll do right by you. You’ll see a lot of success." — Nathan Helms

Connect with Nathan Helms:  

Website: https://www.balo

What if helping your employees achieve true retirement security came down to communication, clarity, and the courage to simplify? In this episode of The Gap, Shannon Edwards sits down with Marjorie Mann, Senior Counsel at NextEra Energy and current President of the American Retirement Association, for a candid conversation about what’s really working—and what still needs fixing—in America’s private retirement system. With decades of hands-on experience guiding one of the nation’s largest employers through complex plan design, compliance, and fiduciary oversight, Marjorie brings a unique, sponsor-side perspective that every advisor, benefits manager, and business owner can learn from.

If you’ve ever wondered how leading employers are navigating SECURE 2.0, boosting participation, and keeping employees engaged in their financial future, this episode will give you a front-row view. You’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of how policy meets practice—and what steps you can take to help your organization close the retirement savings gap once and for all. Because when employers lead with clarity and purpose, everyone wins.

In this episode, Shannon and Marjorie Mann discuss: 

• Evolving responsibilities of employers in strengthening retirement readiness
• Communication challenges in engaging diverse employee populations
• Legislative and regulatory changes shaping plan design and administration
• Collaboration across the retirement industry to drive education and innovation

Key Takeaways:

• Implementing automatic enrollment and simplified investment options, such as target-date funds, can significantly increase participation and improve long-term retirement outcomes for employees.
• Clear, consistent, and targeted communication across different employee demographics helps build trust, increase plan engagement, and prevent confusion about benefits.
• Reducing legislative and regulatory complexity is essential to encourage more small and midsize employers to adopt and maintain retirement plans.
• Collaboration between plan sponsors, advisors, and industry associations fosters shared learning, stronger advocacy, and better tools to close both the coverage and savings gaps. 

"Communication is what’s really important; if you become a trusted voice with employees, that goes a long way toward helping them recognize the opportunities that they have." — Marjorie Mann

Connect with Marjorie Mann:  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marjorie-mann-26803b1/

Connect with Sh