Is Your 401(k) a Savings Plan or a Retirement Plan?

Ok, so you offer a 401(k) plan for your employees, you review participation and contribution rates, analyze your investments and negotiate plan fees. You should feel good that you have taken many of the steps to be a diligent retirement plan fiduciary. But, if you truly want to provide your employees with a 401(k) that is more than a just a savings plan, if you want to develop a benefit that both your employees and company will value, there is more work to be done to make that leap to provide a true retirement plan. As you will hear, my guest Glenn Dial, Managing Director and Head of Retirement Strategy at Allianz Global Investors has given this transformational concept a lot of thought and has some great insights to share with our listeners. We hit a few thought provoking questions such as is it wrong to focus on promoting a 401(k) savings plan which uses high average participant account balances as the measurement of success? We also delve into strategies on how to move and measure your progress of transitioning from a 401(k) savings plan to a retirement plan. Glenn also shares thoughts on how to address and answer questions around measuring the return on investment from employer contributions. On that note, we also discuss if you want to develop more of a retirement plan, should that employer contribution be a match or profit sharing contribution, and how does an increasingly more mobile workforce factor into this conversation?

Remember, many episodes of the podcast have been submitted or pre-approved for both SHRM and HRCI recertification credits. Check it out at 401kfridays.com/ce to see how you can listen, learn and earn!

Guest Bio

Mr. Glenn Dial is a managing director with Allianz Global Investors, which he joined in 2011 as Head of Retirement Strategy. Mr. Dial has more than 20 years of retirement-industry experience. He previously held senior-management positions with JPMorgan and Ceridian. Mr. Dial holds three patents as the co-inventor of the “method and system for evaluating target-date funds” and is also credited with developing the target-date fund category system commonly referred to as “To versus Through.” He is the author of a monthly newsletter titled, “Dialed In to Retirement.”

Glenn is one of the 100 Most Influential People in the Defined Contribution industry according to the 401kWire.com survey in 2015, 2014, 2013.

He has a B.S. /B.A. in finance from the University of Central Florida and an M.B.A. from Rollins College.

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

Helps employers navigate the evolving retirement benefits landscape through weekly engaging interviews with industry leaders, subject matter experts and progressive employers with unique viewpoints. The diverse in-depth perspectives and relevant topics help employers make more informed decisions about their retirement benefit programs which will positively impact their employees and business.

We are quickly approaching our 50th podcast episode! To explore our growing library of content, if you are subscribed to the podcast, scroll through your podcast app and pick a few episodes that catch your interest, or go to 401kfridays.com/podcasts to find prior episode descriptions, guest bios bonus information and more!