The 401(k) has been around for nearly 50 years. It’s not some new or untested concept—it’s the primary way millions of Americans save for retirement. The problem isn’t with the tool itself, but with how it’s being managed.
Most plans simply aren’t run with the same discipline or rigor we bring to other areas of the business. Instead, the 401(k) is often treated as a passive, optional benefit—something that’s offered, but not actively managed toward a specific goal.
Rather than being guided by a clear objective, many plans are designed just to check the box: offer a benefit, stay compliant, avoid legal trouble. But “Let’s not get sued” isn’t the same as “Let’s help our people retire.” And that’s the core issue: most plans don’t have retirement readiness as the goal.
Then there’s the accountability gap. No one is truly responsible for ensuring employees are on track to retire. Executive leadership, HR, finance, advisers, and recordkeepers all play a role, but no one has to own that outcome. Responsibility is shared, but accountability is missing. Even if retirement readiness is the stated goal, if no one is held accountable for achieving it, then that goal remains out of reach. Without clear ownership and accountability, meaningful progress stalls, and employees continue to fall behind.
And, it’s not just the lack of a clear goal or accountability. The KPIs, or the industry’s standard success metrics, are all over the place. Plan fiduciaries get plenty of data and reports, but there clearly is not enough progress. How do we know if the plan is actually getting people on track—or not? And what metrics truly drive retirement readiness?
With so many reports, it can be overwhelming to know what really matters. Participation rates, education attendance, and positive survey responses may feel like wins, but they don’t answer the essential questions: Are people saving enough? Are their investments growing? Are their fees low enough to preserve their savings?
Those are the metrics that matter. But too often, they’re not the ones committees are being shown. And without a clear goal guiding the plan, it’s easy to mistake activity for progress. As management expert Peter F. Drucker famously said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” In our experience, if we’re not measuring whether employees are actually on track to retire, then we’re not really managing the plan. We’re just maintaining it. And when that’s the standard, it’s no surprise that outcomes fall short, and workers are left to carry the consequences.
