I got a double dose of information Tuesday that helped ring home the notion that retirement savings may not mean anything to you – unless it actually means something to you personally.

The first was a nice item for every retirement advisor to put on their year-end to-do list, as they gear up for those year-end reviews with their plan sponsor clients, courtesy of Bob Kaplan, ING U.S.'s decorated retirement guru: When discussing the esoteric notions of an employee retirement plan with an HR director, a CIO or a CFO, take a moment and get personal.

Ask them how their own actual retirement plan did over the last year. Did they make money? Did they increase the amount of money they're contributing? Would they anecdotally advise others to follow their same investment strategy, not necessarily in a fiduciary sense, but at least in a "hey, you know, this is actually a good idea" kind of way?