Nevin's Data "Points"

There are few things more disruptive to the peace or clarity of a 401(k) plan than a switch in recordkeepers. Let’s face it—change—even change for the better—is frequently disruptive to the human psyche. Most of us tend to drift into comfortable “ruts” of pattern, or perhaps habit—places where we know what to expect and, roughly anyway, when to expect it. And, at least in my experience, the more frazzled your existence, the more one pines for these oases of quiet and relative clarity. That’s true, of course, even when the change is instigated by a regular, thoughtful, focused evaluation of the alternatives; and certainly when that change is the product of a desperate quest driven by a truly awful service relationship. But it is perhaps particularly disruptive when the change is thrust on the plan by forces outside of its control or instigation—and for the thousands of plans that have recently or are in the process of a change in recordkeepers due to industry consolidat...

We really hadn’t been focused on making a change, though the subject had come up from time to time.  In fact, considering how long we had been thinking about making a change without actually doing anything about it, the change itself felt almost accidental in its suddenness. So sudden, in fact, that, in hindsight, I found myself wondering if we were “hasty” – perhaps too hasty. Make no mistake – we had been happy enough with our current provider, certainly at first. In fact, we had been with them for a number of years and had, over time, expanded that relationship to include a fully bundled package of services. That made certain aspects simpler, of course – though we discovered pretty quickly that the “bundle” was presented as being more seamless than it actually was. Still, net/net, we were ahead of the game financially, and certainly no worse on the delivery side; we were just a bit disappointed in the disconnect between the sale and the service levels. And...