Imagine a business owner offers a 401(k) plan with a solid employer match. A year later, participation rates are underwhelming, a significant portion of employees haven’t enrolled, and many who have are contributing only enough to capture the match.  While you’d think one would lead to the other, offering a retirement plan and having employees […]

Retirement plans are built around assumptions you can model: spending, withdrawals, investment returns, inflation, Social Security, and longevity. Do you know what variable models struggle to account for?  Family.  Specifically, unplanned obligations. An adult child who needs a financial bridge after a divorce. A parent whose Social Security no longer covers assisted living. A care […]

The past always looks simpler in hindsight.   Time smooths out complexity until a few themes summarize entire decades. The 1980s become the taming of inflation, deregulation, and the rise of Wall Street. The 1990s become the dot-com boom, the end of the Cold War, and globalization. The 2000s become 9/11, the housing bubble, and the […]