As we continue to revamp defined contribution plans to replace ever-declining defined benefits, the roles of service providers and money managers, but especially advisors, must change as well. Plan sponsors can no longer offer a menu of vetted funds and expect employees to enroll, contribute enough, and make wise investment decisions, expecting them to prepare for retirement.

Advisors and consultants play a critical role. Unlike DB plans, the in-house professionals who oversee their organization's 401(k) or 403(b) are poorly trained or equipped to handle the plan properly. In a sense, this responsibility has been transferred to retirement plan advisors, who must take a leadership role rather than by simply checking the three Triple F boxes.

Although subtle, the shift from DB to DC plans has forced everyone to manage their own personal retirement plan, leaving them, their families or the government to hold the bag if the plan is not properly funded. Like a DB manager, advisors must not only select funds, keep fees reasonable and limit liability—they must also ensure there is enough money in the plan to last a lifetime for each participant, creating a steady stream of income.

Most RPAs are not equipped or even aware.

Ironically, wealth advisors can be better positioned as they prepare and even manage their clients' personal retirement plans. The point is that most DC participants don't have enough money to warrant the time and resources needed.

The DC industry itself has evolved starting with the vehicle plan, which led to the rise in popularity of professionally managed money, such as target dates and definitively managed accounts. And, even if we help people consolidate accounts and help them accumulate enough assets, they are largely independent to create a guaranteed lifetime income. It's like helping a novice climber reach the top of Mount Everest and then letting them descend on their own. They may have enough oxygen and equipment, but they are not ready, especially if they fall mentally.

Annuities are a good answer by pooling risk, but there's little sympathy for insurers who claim they get a bad rap. Many of the products are murky, and prices have been and can be outrageously regulated by a variety of state agencies, with some still using predatory and indefensible practices like in non-ERISA K-12 plans. It's getting much better as pension providers create products for RIAs and try to integrate retirement income solutions within DC plans, but they've made their bed. Hopefully some may emerge because we need unified solutions, perhaps through PEPs.

Cynics argue that the convergence of wealth and retirement at work is a pipe dream— they may be right given the current system, which is why critics are calling for reallocating DC's tax deferral to Social Security, one of the best options for many, or putting everyone on the Plan of Savings Savings. If these cynics are right, then turning what started out as incremental savings plans into sustainable personal pension plans is impossible, which will only prompts the critics' arguments.

Instead of building a faster horse, as Henry Ford once said his customers would demand, can we do better for the masses? The auto plan and professionally managed money, along with the PEPs, were great starts, but they are only the beginning. As the gig economy and small plan market explodes, new and innovative solutions must be explored.

Helping people create and manage a personal retirement plan, as wealth advisors do for the wealthiest clients on the scale, will be like going from horse to horse to Tesla. But the technology is there along with artificial intelligence like ChatGPT and the willingness to meet remotely in a digital world. Most importantly, plan sponsors see the strategic importance of DC plans to help recruit and retain talent, and although the war for talent will eventually fade, retaining good workers and figuring out how to leverage the older workers they have exceptional wisdom and relationships will always be important.

Sometimes, we have to create a vision of what we want before it happens; otherwise, we may miss the obvious opportunities presented to us and become stuck in the old world. So perhaps advisors should imagine themselves as either the grown children of elderly parents who need help or the parents helping their children prepare for retirement or, better yet, financial freedom. It is something that cannot be fixed or imposed. It is a journey that must be personally motivated and free from self-interest, just like the evolution from believer to steward.