Hello and welcome to this week's edition of 401k Real Talk. This is WealthManagement.com's Fred Barstein Omnichannel RPA Contributing Editor & CEO at TRAU, TPSU & 401kTV – I Review everything from the past week's stories and pick out the most relevant and interesting ones by offering an open, frank and honest discussion that you wouldn't get anyway. So let's get real!

Although not officially a critic, a NY Times contributing writer, Michael Steinberger, took issue just from the title of his recent article titled, “Was the 401(k) a mistake?“

Citing the trinity of recent critics, Theresa Ghilarducci of the New School, Alicia Munnell of Boston College, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Steinberger describes how a little-known and understood part of the IRC was used by private companies to shift liability onto employees. unsuspecting and unprepared. The results have been predictable with smarter, higher-income workers with access to personal advisors doing better even though the system was designed to promote equality.

The question raised in the column and by critics is whether lower-income workers would be better off in a federally mandated system and/or an expanded Social Security program. Ghilarducci claims that 401k's are “inadequate for lower-income workers” and that the mandatory discharge was a “betrayal of the social contract.”

The debate is especially important as 401k plans are projected to grow 50% in less than a decade to almost 1 million plans in part due to state mandates, tax credits and PEPs.

Is the RIA estate advisor planning a fiduciary duty? Mercer Advisors Vice Chairman and Director of M&A David Barton argues that under '40 Law §206, fiduciaries have a duty to provide clients with continuous and uninterrupted care, which he claims includes a written estate plan.

However, less than 30% of RIA firms have a formal plan, while 40% are expected to retire within the next decade.

The RPA's duty of care is even higher under ERISA not only to plan sponsors but also to the participants they advise. Raising the question of whether plans should ask their advisor if they have a succession plan and, even if they do, if there is a change, should the plan perform a CPP as they would when their data keeper is sold or leave.

With commitments from 14 plans with $25 billion and 500,000 employees, as well as three major record holders, BlackRock is making a big push into the in-plan retirement income market by using their tremendous influence to offer their TDF ETF with an option to purchase a lifetime income stream called “Lifetime Pay”.

Although setbacks from record holders have hampered the retirement income plan, the takeover of Fidelity, Voya and Bank of America is a good start not only for BlackRock, but for the entire industry. Institutional Investment Consultants such as AON and WatsonTowersWyatt as well as RPAs such as Lockton and Marsh Mac are also on board. The Bernstein Alliance recently announced that they are making their institutional income service available to more DC plans.

Although concerns about underlying annuity costs and transparency remain, experts believe consumers will get a better deal by leveraging BlackRock's leverage that currently uses annuities from Brighthouse and Equitable.

Stay tuned for more discussion at RPA's Retirement Income Roundtable in NYC on June 18-19, right before the P&I event on the topic for plan sponsors on how the industry should collaborate to democratize retirement income pension.

In what is a nightmare scenario for any media organization, 401kSpecialist printed a withdrawal about an article by guest columnist Ron Surz that claimed CITs understated their fees by not including underlying investment costs. The article was removed.

We all know to be skeptical about “fishy” stories on social media sites, but we expect reputable news outlets to at least verify what they publish. But as revenues dwindle, so do the staff and resources to result in Mr. Surz, who also issued an apology.

Not only does it damage the credibility of 401kSpecialist, it hurts us all as advisors and industry professionals need to be wary not only of “fishy” stories from thinly staffed publications, some increasingly relying on AI and writers less experienced in cutting costs, but also those owned by organizations that may have other agendas than reporting the news accurately and fairly without bias.

Adults learn differently than children or even college students, something most undergraduate executive education programs know and practice. However, financial services, particularly the 40(k) industry, have yet to learn these lessons.

Defined contribution plan sponsors and participants are uniquely challenged. Plan administrators step into their roles with little or no training. Plan participants are even more challenged to manage their personal retirement plan, which includes how much to save, where to invest, and regular rebalancing and adjustments.

Read my latest WealthManagement.com column about how the DC industry needs to completely rethink the way it trains administrators and plan participants to drive more engagement and take advantage of the convergence of wealth, retirement and benefits.

So those were the top stories from last week. I listed a few others that I thought were worth reading:

Please let me know if I missed anything or if you would like to comment. Otherwise, I look forward to talking with you next week on 401k Real Talk.