by Robert C. Lawton | Mar 17, 2018 | Employee Education, Plan Sponsor Insights
Many experts don’t believe that 401k employee education works. The challenges of educating adults, who may not be excited to learn more about their 401k plan, are sometimes difficult to overcome. What can plan sponsors do to make their 401k employee education...
by Robert C. Lawton | Nov 30, 2017 | Employee Education, Plan Sponsor Insights
We are often our own worst enemies. This certainly applies to how we manage our 401k plan accounts. Listed below are obstacles that 401k plan participants need to overcome to propel themselves successfully down the road to retirement readiness. Some of the obstacles...
by Robert C. Lawton | Oct 28, 2017 | Employee Education, Plan Sponsor Insights
Your 401k plan participants have developed bad habits and make many 401k investing mistakes. Dalbar calculates that for 2016 the average equity investor earned a little more than 7% while the S&P returned nearly 12%. Many of those investors are 401k plan...
by Robert C. Lawton | Sep 4, 2017 | Employee Education, Plan Sponsor Insights
With health care open enrollment season quickly approaching, 401k plan sponsors may want to spend some time educating participants on the use of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). If you offer a High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) to your employees, they probably have the...
by Robert C. Lawton | May 2, 2017 | Employee Education, Plan Sponsor Insights
Taking a 401k loan is such a bad investment choice that it should not be allowed in any 401k plan other than for hardship reasons. And yes, it is an investment because when plan participants take 401k loans, they become one of the investments in their accounts....
by Robert C. Lawton | Apr 18, 2017 | Employee Education, Plan Sponsor Insights
Are 401k plan loans double taxed? As outlined in the example below, it appears that the principal amounts of 401k loans that are distributed at retirement are taxed at a rate that is more than double that of a participant’s incremental tax rate. Example Loan...
by Robert C. Lawton | Apr 4, 2017 | Employee Education, Plan Sponsor Insights
Having worked as a 401k plan consultant for more than 30 years with some of the most prestigious companies in the world (e.g.; Apple, AT&T, IBM, John Deere, Northern Trust, Northwestern Mutual), I am always surprised by the simple but significant 401k...
by Robert C. Lawton | Jan 24, 2017 | Employee Education, Plan Sponsor Insights
The most frequent question I receive from 401k participants is, “How much should I contribute?” My answer is always the same, “As much as you possibly can.” That never seems to satisfy anyone, so I typically go on to explain the following. The...
by Robert C. Lawton | Sep 6, 2016 | Employee Education, Plan Sponsor Insights
Your employees have hopes and dreams about what their retirements will look like. Right now they are following a retirement planning path they hope will lead to a better way of life when they are no longer working. Unfortunately, there are many stumbling blocks and...
by Robert C. Lawton | Jul 26, 2016 | Employee Education, Plan Sponsor Insights
Every time we experience volatility in the markets, some of your 401k plan participants decide to sell out of equities (locking in losses) because they get scared. Others know they need to increase their contribution rate to capture your maximum company match, but...
