About & Philosophy
Since 2009, my work has focused on exposing hidden fees and conflicts of interest in the 401(k) industry. The approach centers on analyzing retirement plans at a granular level across cost, services, and technology to understand how they actually function.
Over time, thousands of Form 5500 filings have been reviewed and organized into a proprietary database tracking fee levels across plans in the Chicago area. This research provides a clear view of what reasonable service provider compensation looks like in practice, and where it breaks down. That perspective helps plan sponsors and participants make more informed financial decisions based on evidence rather than assumptions.
In many cases, fees have little connection to the services being delivered, and the structure of the system makes them difficult to evaluate. Bringing visibility to those dynamics is the first step toward better outcomes.
The broader goal is straightforward: deliver clear, fairly priced advice, act as a true fiduciary, and push for a retirement system that better aligns with the people it is meant to serve.
My Philosophy as a Forensic Consultant
In the retirement plan industry, financial advisors typically charge asset-based fees and argue that they need to charge this way because they are “managing” the account, but they don’t actually do any managing. Instead, they typically choose a cookie cutter fund line-up, rarely if ever make any changes, and wait for participants to contact them.
They attempt to justify their fee structure and management services by misleadingly touting the value of selecting the investment options, acting as a fiduciary, and providing vendor search and benchmarking services. In reality, technology has commoditized their services, resulting in advisors often being significantly overcompensated at the participants’ expense which is rarely evident to either the participants or employers.
The real value lies in advisors taking the time to meet with participants and help them figure out how to determine an optimal retirement plan contribution level, create and monitor a budget, determine an investment risk level that makes sense, effectively allocate contributions between a Roth or traditional 401(k), and implement a debt repayment plan if applicable.
With regard to fiduciary services, simply having a fiduciary on the plan doesn’t mean much. The fiduciary needs to actually add value by taking actions such as constructing an investment policy statement, documenting plan sponsor and participant phone calls and meetings, and establishing an investment committee.
Just like any other service professional, the advisory fee should be based on time and value rather than a fee based on the value of the assets, which has no bearing on the value or level of services provided. Ideally, the employer should pay this fee, which has the advantages of being tax deductible, helping the employees save more for retirement, reducing fiduciary liability, and putting employers in a better position to assess the true value of the services and effectively compare to other providers.
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