Nevin's Data "Points"

A recent MarketWatch article poses the intriguing question: “Why does TikTok hate the 401(k) so much?” Now, as social media platforms go, I’ve pretty much avoided TikTok. Oh, I’ve swung by it from time to time just to see what the “fuss” is, but generally speaking (and even in “retirement”), I’ve better ways to spend my day than scrolling through two-minute videos of—well, to my eyes, pretty insipid stuff. On the other hand, I’ve long “dabbled” in social media platforms, and by dabbled, I mean I have established accounts, moseyed around, and ultimately “engaged” (some of you may (hopefully) even have noticed that I’ve been doing two-minute videos on LinkedIn for the past several months)—it’s just never been my “day job.” I’ve been on Twitter since 2008—LinkedIn even longer. Facebook (yes, I AM a Boomer, after all) since my kids got on it, and Instagram once Mr. Zuckerberg shackled that app to Facebook. I’ve read books on the subject of social media, attended conference...

Back in the middle of the pandemic, my then 91-year-old mother was presented with two options—one a specialist recommended, the other favored by her trusted general practice physician. And of course, it was to be…her decision. This kind of thing happens all the time in the medical field where such things often seem as much art as science, with a myriad of factors to consider, not the least of which is the skill and experience of the medical professionals putting forth their recommendations. Not that it’s limited to life-and-death decisions. Indeed, it’s the kind of decision with which we’re often presented; when that annual auto inspection detects a hitherto undetected major repair need, when that leaky toilet repair uncovers some long-standing, but unobserved water damage, when that last minute call to fix a water heater or air conditioner reveals that it might—but might not—last the season. Those things routinely involve experts of one sort or another turning to us re...

 Most of the attempts to affix a value to having an advisor tend to focus on investment returns or cost savings. Both are valid, objective measures that can have a real, substantive impact on retirement security—but, at least with the best advisors—there’s usually more. Indeed, years ago as a fiduciary of another firm’s 401(k) plan, and while I had always felt comfortable with the decisions the plan committee had made, as our little company grew to be less little, I was increasingly aware of the personal liability associated with my role, and the small amount of time I was able to dedicate to the task alongside my “day job.”  That advisor delivered in all the ways I had hoped he would—but there was value well beyond that in terms of the structure he brought not only to our discussions, but to our process. Things like: The Discipline to Meet Internally driven committee meetings are frequently a casualty of whatever crisis emerges on any particular day. As huma...

 Life has many lessons to teach us, some more painful than others—and some we’d just as soon be spared. But the graduates of 2021—well, they’ve been through a lot, arguably more than most—but with any luck at all, the days and years ahead will be brighter.  Regardless, if you have a graduate—or if you  are  a graduate, here are some insights I’ve picked up along the way…    ASAP is never as soon as people think. Even those who work for themselves have bosses (they’re called “clients”). Emails (generally) don’t have to be answered right this minute. Bad news doesn’t improve with age. Your first job can be like your first love—it will either bring a smile for years to come—or it can break your heart. And sometimes both.   Don’t expect your job to respect personal boundaries without some “help.” Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone. If the only time your boss hears from you is when there’s trouble, don’t be surprised if the...

April is, of course, National Financial Literacy Month—and for as long as I can remember, the retirement industry has been talking about the need for some kind of personal finance education in public schools—there’s just one problem. First off, there actually  are  such programs already in existence at the moment. Half the country (25 states) now requires  high school students to take a course in economics, and 21 states now require high school students to take a course in personal finance. Granted, they may still be too well dispersed to show up on your normal “radar”—but they’re growing in number and dispersion.  Those efforts [i]  notwithstanding—and while there’s some anecdotal evidence that this has helped (some) with regard to better decisions with regard to college financing—I’ve little sense that it’s moved the needle much with regard to participant knowledge or financial decision making (feel free to disagree in the comments below, if you...