401(k) Real Talk Episode 198: June 24, 2026

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

Worth Reading:

Read the full raw transcript below:

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

Related:401(k) Real Talk Episode 197: June 17, 2026

FIRST STORY

The ICI Q1 report showed an over $1 trillion or 2.5% decline in retirement assets driven mostly by market conditions dropping from $48.8 tr at the end of 2025 to $47.6 tr. During that same period, the S&P fell 4.3%, Nasdaq 7% and Dow Jones 3.2%.

Participant directed IRAs and DC plans now account for 67% of all retirement assets and are up almost 300% and 223% respectively since 2007 while private DB plans now at $3 tr have gained just 19%. Government and federal DB plans at over $10 tr dropped only slightly.

401ks with almost $10 tr lost 2.7% while IRAs at $18.2 tr dropped 2.9%.

All of which shows why major asset managers along with a growing number of advisors like the resilient and sticky retirement plan market which will fare better than the private markets when the inevitable market correction occurs. 

Next story:

It’s hard to get a read on the giant indexer Vanguard so we left to read the tea leaves. After hiring their 1^st outside CEO, Salim Ramji from Blackrock over 2 years ago, they recently hired Harry Dalessio from Empower and previously Pru to head workplace strategy and product along with Scott Senseney from Fidelity to lead workplace sales. 

The latest news is that the workplace division of Vanguard along with advisor services will now report directly to Salim after the current head retires signaling a renewed focus on leveraging DC plans to gather more wealth assets following the leads of Morgan Stanley, Fidelity and Schwab with Empower fervently trying to catch up.

Related:401(k) Real Talk Episode 196: June 10, 2026

In 2020 Vanguard outsourced much of their internal record keeping to Infosys after previously partnering with Ascensus to provide sales and administration for smaller plans. Last year, Vanguard took over sales from Ascensus creating their own wholesaling force while recently pulling back some functions from Infosys.

The latest moves and hires indicate not only an increased focus on 401k plans and convergence but also a renewed emphasis on advisors.

NEXT STORY

While many have seen remote working as a panacea with a 3x increase from 2019 to 2024 eliminating commuting headaches and potentially increasing productivity, the NYTimes is reporting increased isolation and distress leading to serious mental health issues.

84% of remote workers report they are completely alone and do not replace the social interactions they got at work leading to increased mental health visits and anti-depressant prescriptions.

Companies are luring back workers through reorganized offices with many requiring them to return, at least part time. The issue is especially troublesome for younger, less experienced employees with some companies creating mentorship programs.

Along with physical and financial health, larger organizations are emphasizing emotional and digital health with the repercussions of the dramatic increase in remote work being carefully reviewed.

Related:401(k) Real Talk Episode 195: June 3, 2026

FINALLY

As internet start-ups threatened to disrupt brick and mortar companies like Amazon did to bookstores in the late 1990s and early 2000s, three venture back firms pronounced the demise of traditional 401(k) record keepers. Emplanet, GoldK and ExpertPlan, like many of the internet-based start-ups, failed miserably and did not survive the internet stock crash of 2001 while many of the traditional record keepers moved quickly to adopt and incorporate the new technology.

Read my recent WealthManagement.com/RPA column about how and why the 5 big fintech record keepers who together manage over 150,000 plans may actually succeed.

FINISH

So those were the most important stories from the past week. I listed a few others I thought were worth reading covering:

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.