401(k) Real Talk Episode 183: March 11, 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/listening/noting:
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.com’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
Though it is only one month, the distressing February report with 92,000 jobs lost is sure to cause even more uncertainty among employers combined with rising prices, tariffs, and the immigration policies.
The unemployment rate was also up but only marginally and the January job report was surprisingly positive.
If the war continues, oil prices will rise which affects many other goods and will further entrench employers not just unwilling to expand but likely to contract retirement benefits causing some to lower their match or not institute auto-enrollment while hardship withdrawals continue to spike.
Next story:
The debate over the wisdom of including private assets in DC plans spurred by an executive order and expected new DOL guidelines continues. A recent report by Mesirow indicates that these investments can improve TDFs but only with disciplined fiduciary guardrails.
Economists at independent Mesirow call for modest allocations of PE, private credit and real estate which it claims is less volatile than other assets. They advocate for improved liquidity, daily or periodic valuations, more transparency and strict governance standards.
To that aim, the ICI and the DC Alternatives Association announced a strategic collaboration to advance education, research and public policy around private investments.
Next story:
Many have been predicting that the 2021 CAA would cause healthcare and benefit plans to act more like DC fiduciaries. That predictions may be finally coming true as Encore Fiduciary reports that 22% of ERISA lawsuits and growing have been brought against healthcare and benefits plans.
These lawsuits have targeted voluntary benefits, plans that discriminate against tobacco users and excessive prescription drug cost with the DOL set to promulgate their pharmacy benefit manager fee disclosure rule.
Meanwhile, Marsh McLennan announced a healthcare pricing tool to enable plans to compare and benchmark pricing.
All of which is following the pattern of DC plans and their fiduciary advisors.
Next story:
The global head of retirement solutions at BlackRock details the 5 key trends that seem to be resonating in the DC world which include:
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Efforts to turn DC plans into income
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Personalized education using data and digital tools to create greater engagement
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Convergence of wealth and retirement
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Increased policy and regulatory guidelines around retirement income, private investments and state mandates
Seems right to me.
FINALLY
DC plans have evolved to replace DB plans using auto features. A bold new whitepaper by the Retirement Clearinghouse, founder of the Auto Portability Network, suggests a radical system intervention which would include an industry wide clearinghouse that can cover IRA rollovers.
Read my recent WealthManagement.com/RPA column about how the DC industry needs to adopt new operational standards to accommodate a mobile workforce and why the new proposed clearinghouse is timely.
FINISH
So those were the most important stories from the past week. I listed a few others I thought were worth reading covering:
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Savant Wealth details what plan sponsors should expect from their providers
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Lawsuit claims plan sponsor did not protect participants from climate-related financial risk
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How the savers match works
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Vanguard is reporting a spike in hardship withdrawals
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DOL outlines 2026 enforcement priorities
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.