Toland Consulting / 401(k) Annuity Hub

Scale is the name of the game for fintech for 401(k)s. It was a common theme both to ?? reach more participants & ?? serve smaller plans cost effectively We need to overcome the challenge of access to services in the division between "the hunted and the ignored," according to moderator Yaqub Ahmed. All the panelists mentioned the importance of technology to provide scale (in various ways) at the Employee Benefit Research Institute-Milken Institute Retirement Symposium. You have to make direct engagement fast ??: expect no more than 30 to 60 seconds of attention ?? from participants, Sunil Gangwani of Plootus added. #FinTech #RetireTech #innovation #401k #retirement Tamiko Toland Franklin Templeton Ana Mahony Addition Wealth Cash Lafferty PandoAlts Dan Beck 401GO

Your thoughts on the best next steps to advance ?? lifetime income within retirement plans? We believe that safe harbors ? have played a crucial role in the rise of target date funds. The trick is defining guidance that adds confidence to plan fiduciaries without excluding product features or categories (or hindering innovation!). ?? So often, legislation takes a number of course corrections to hit the desired outcome (see CITs in 403(b) plans!). #default #401k #SafeHarbor #innovation #PublicPolicy #401kAnnuityHub Tamiko Toland

Is cash king ?? or an investing black hole? Definitely the latter when it's not intentional. Fiona Greig shared the Vanguard statistic that more than 1/4 rollovers (28%) remain in cash for 7 or more years ?? during her presentation at The American College of Financial Services's inaugural Horizons event. This statistic is a timely reminder of why the shift to target date funds as the qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) has been critical in an era of greater reliance on defaults: to save workers from the unintentional loss of retirement savings growth. By the same token, we need to consider how defaults can be updated to further improve worker wellbeing in retirement. This means encouraging employers to link ??? default savings rates to worker age and/or salary level and implementing annual automatic reenrollment. ?? It also means considering the integration of lifetime income options that will help workers achieve their goals, even those who aren't keeping an eagle eye on their plans (or, more realistically, looking at all ??). #Horizons2025 #LifetimeIncome #RetirementIncome #401kAnnuityHub #AnnuityYoda Tamiko Toland

What should you do to maximize your Social Security benefit? Jason Fichtner, Ph.D. ("it's going to be thiiiiis big") and Andrew Biggs offered practical tips for those who are concerned about their benefits--this is something advisors can sit down and help their clients with. ? Access your account at SocialSecurity.gov ? Get your Social Security statement ? Review the wage history in the statement for accuracy ? If you have any doubts, get full reported wage details from the IRS Both cautioned individuals from claiming early due to concerns about future benefits, as they said the changes are unlikely to affect near-retirees. Thanks to The American College of Financial Services for putting together this fantastic panel at Horizons that Michael Finke moderated and included insights from Brandon Buckingham, JD, LLM. #SocialSecurity #RetirementIncomeInstitute #RetirementPlanning #PersonalFinance #Horizons2025 Tamiko Toland Alliance for Lifetime Income American Enterprise Institute

Private equity in 401(k)s? "It's going to happen" (and Empower has a solution in the works). CEO Ed Murphy explained, "in terms of the concept we're working on, there's a liquidity sleeve inside the framework," during a fireside chat with Stephanie Dhue (of CNBC) at the Employee Benefit Research Institute-Milken Institute Retirement Symposium. He mentioned that it's important to limit illiquid investments to say 10%-15% of assets and an investor can use the remaining portion for short-term cash needs. ??? Ultimately, it's going to take litigation reform to break the dam of private equity in plans but it's necessary due to the structural shift in the market away from public to private capital. #retirement #PrivateEquity #alternatives #innovation #401k Tamiko Toland

??? "Biggest Ponzi scheme ever"? Social Security is critical as one of the three pillars of retirement income. And people have questions. ?? Fortunately, two insiders who are real experts on the topic weighed in during a breakout at Horizons, The American College of Financial Services's inaugural event. ?? Are 14 million dead people getting Social Security checks? Andrew Biggs, who served as Deputy Director of the Social Security Administration under George (W) Bush, said flat-out no. "There are some dead people getting checks... but it's unusual." He joked that some people go to the trouble of having a "home funeral" ?? for grandma, but it's kind of weird and, if you're up for that, maybe you deserve a little extra ??. ?? Is the government going to stop issuing checks in a few months? And will new retirees be unable to start claiming benefits? Jason Fichtner, Ph.D., who also filled the role of Deputy Director, explained that the system of getting payments out is automated and therefore robust, even in the face of significant staffing reduction (both terminations and early retirements of knowledgeable staffers) that will be disruptive to the organization. ?? However, if you need help from a person on the 800 line, expect a long wait. And it may take a while to get an in-person appointment. Michael Finke moderated this discussion to debunk myths about "the biggest Ponzi scheme ever" that kept a packed room on the edge of its seats and Brandon Buckingham, JD, LLM contributed helpful color on bridging strategies and how to talk to clients about uncertainty. The Alliance for Lifetime Income was well represented in the panel, with the Retirement Income Institute's Executive Director (Fichtner), a Scholars Advisor (Biggs), and Research Fellow (Finke). It should come as no surprise as Social Security is America's favorite annuity. #PonziScheme #SocialSecurity #LifetimeIncome #AnnuityYoda American Enterprise Institute Prudential Financial Tamiko Toland IncomePath

Thoughts? Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) is taking in feedback as part of a project for the Retirement Income Committee to help update the retirement income glossary. Thanks to David Blanchett for sharing his perspective, particularly that non-guaranteed lifetime income should be part of the lifetime income sub-category of retirement income. For a lot of us, that's confusing if not controversial. As Tamiko Toland has pointed out, it's a footnote on lifetime income more than it is a well-populated category. Is it simpler to define lifetime income as only guaranteed options? Or only insurance-guaranteed (this could put contemporary tontines and immediate variable annuities on different sides of the line)? #AnnuityYoda #401kAnnuityHub #LifetimeIncome #WordsMatter Elizabeth Heffernan (she, her, hers)

Want the down-low on defaults and lifetime income in DC plans? (And some ideas ?? about how to increase adoption...) ?? Here's a great summary from Plootus of this research article by #401kAnnuityHub Founder Tamiko Toland and Michael Finke of The American College of Financial Services (and both Fellows for the Alliance for Lifetime Income). #AnnuityYoda #LifetimeIncome #InPlanAnnuities #research IncomePath

?? Congrats to Empower for adding lifetime income solutions from Allianz and TIAA/Nuveen, a TIAA company to its platform. The limited availability of solution is a common objection to in-plan annuities, but... ?? Recordkeepers are stepping up! We're looking forward to seeing more partnerships and more ways to make retirement security through annuities available to participants. https://lnkd.in/eNmhv-aq #innovation #progress #401kAnnuityHub #AnnuityYoda #coopetition T. Rowe Price Putnam Investments Tamiko Toland

? Quiz time! Who said this at the Alliance for Lifetime Income's 2024 Protected Retirement Summit: "Auto-enrollment is great, but a lot of people don't even know they have an account." ?? 1. Retirement Income Institute Executive Director, Jason Fichtner, Ph.D. 2. Retirement Income Institute Education Fellow, Tamiko Toland 3. Retirement Income Institute Research Fellow, David Blanchett 4. Retiree, Margaret ?? We're certain candidates 1-3 have said it elsewhere, but it was both startling ? and validating to hear it from a consumer. To be fair, she worked in employee benefits, so she understands the plight of typical workers and wasn't just reflecting her own experience. The lack of awareness and engagement among many participants, particularly in the era of auto features, means it's crucial that employers offer options that people want and need for retirement security. ?? We've made it easier for people to save for retirement. Now, we need to make it easier for people to live in retirement. #ALISummit24 #401kAnnuityHub #AnnuityYoda #education #LifetimeIncome #ProtectedIncome IncomePath