{"id":885786,"date":"2026-09-09T15:00:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/885786\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T15:00:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:00:17","slug":"401k-real-talk-episode-207-september-9-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/885786\/","title":{"rendered":"401(k) Real Talk Episode 207: September 9, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to this week\u2019s edition of 401(k) Real Talk, where Fred Barstein, contributing editor for Wealth Management\u2019s RPA channel, reviews all of last week\u2019s industry news and selects the five most important\/interesting stories.<\/p>\n

Worth Reading:<\/p>\n

Read the full raw transcript below:<\/p>\n

Greetings & a warm welcome to this week\u2019s edition of 401k Real Talk. This is Fred Barstein contributing editor at WealthManagement\u2019s RPA omnichannel and CEO at TRAU, TPSU & 401kTV – I review all of this week\u2019s stories and select the most important and interesting ones providing open honest and candid discussion you will not get anyway else. So let\u2019s get real!<\/p>\n

Related:401(k) Real Talk Episode 206: September 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

FIRST STORY<\/p>\n

The August job repot with 162,000 new positions added greatly exceeded all economists\u2019 expectations signaling a more robust economy than many had thought even though inflation remains high. Restaurants and bars led with 59,000 new jobs followed by 42,000 by local government and education accounting for 62% of the overall increase.<\/p>\n

The previous 2-month numbers were revised up.<\/p>\n

New jobs tilted towards lower wages, more manual positions with the WSJ reporting that it is becoming easier for those without a college degree to find a job perhaps because AI is replacing many white collar positions with those employees delaying retirement.<\/p>\n

Though there is less hiring and firing, the August job report indicates a competitive market for workers making benefits an important recruitment and retention tool even as healthcare costs continue to soar.<\/p>\n

Next story:<\/p>\n

Speaking of healthcare, a national MMA survey indicates that healthcare costs will increase 8.7% in 2027, the 5th consecutive year it has risen and the highest jump since 2003 – AON and WTW predict greater fee hikes. According to ParetoHealth, 79% of small and midsize businesses reported double-digit healthcare spending increases in the past year, including one in five that saw costs rise by 30% or more. GLP-1 alone will account for 1% of the increase.<\/p>\n

As a result, employers are looking to reduce costs offloading them to employees without which the increases will exceed 11%.<\/p>\n

Just as retirement plan sponsors transitioned from DB to DC plans to shift costs and liability to participants, more employers will follow with their benefits which, along with new laws, regs and lawsuits, will heighten fiduciary awareness and liability along with fee transparency.<\/p>\n

Related:401(k) Real Talk Episode 205: August 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

NEXT STORY<\/p>\n

Over 93% of DC plans use an advisor according to the 17th annual Fidelity investment survey with over 1300 plans. The theme of this year\u2019s survey is a greater awareness and reliance on advisors with the focus on improving outcomes.<\/p>\n

31% plan to conduct an advisor search, but just 3% expect to replace their current advisor. Though there was a significant increase in plans that think participants are saving enough, 30% do not believe that their plan is achieving its goals.<\/p>\n

41% of plans use a 338 advisor compared to 38% in 2025 – almost half want more participant advice followed by broader benefits consulting, employee education and managed accounts along with growing interest in retirement income.<\/p>\n

Adding new investments is a priority for 89% of plans focused on TDFs that have an annuities or stable value followed by managed accounts and active ETFs. 52% are considering replacing their TDF but Cerulli reports just 5% actually do.<\/p>\n

NEXT STORY<\/p>\n

Getting younger workers to care about retirement is a challenge but one TPSU alum may have found the key. She starts her enrollment and education meetings asking \u201cWho wants to be a millionaire?\u201d<\/p>\n

Related:401(k) Real Talk Episode 204: August 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Fidelity there are more 401k millionaires in their system than ever now totaling 769,000 which is a 19% increase. Perhaps the 15% recent S&P rise helps but regardless the results are encouraging.<\/p>\n

Is $1 million enough with rising debt, inflation and soaring healthcare costs? Maybe not but is a good start and perhaps a great motivator.<\/p>\n

FINALLY<\/p>\n

Vanguard remains a mystery to the greater DC industry with advisors wondering whether they are friends or foe. Will hiring outsiders like Salim Ramji from BlackRock in 2024 to lead the company and Harry Dalessio focused on the workplace change things along with the recent $4.3bn acquisition of Altruist?<\/p>\n

Read my recent WealthManagement.com\/RPA column about how that acquisition may signal changes at Vanguard which still remains an enigma to most of us.<\/p>\n

FINISH<\/p>\n

So those were the most important stories from the past week. I listed a few others I thought were worth reading covering:<\/p>\n

Gig workers struggle to save for retirement<\/p>\n

Why some employers are choosing PEPs<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to this week\u2019s edition of 401(k) Real Talk, where Fred Barstein, contributing editor for Wealth Management\u2019s RPA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[64,63,99,186,184,185],"class_list":["post-885786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=885786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}