We've all participated in those family dinners. You know the ones I'm talking about. Everyone sits at the table. Animated conversation abounds. There's loud laughter as each member quickly tries to offer the next enthusiastic word. It's a lively time. It's a lovely time. It's a holiday time we all remember fondly.

Now contrast that to stark scene from the movie Citizen Kane where Charles Foster Kane eats breakfast with his wife in stone-cold silence. There's no engagement between the two characters. There's no passion between them. There's no longer a sustainable investment in their relationship. As a result, there is not future.

It makes sense, then, that plan sponsors are very happy when they see their employees engaged in their 401(k) (see “3 Reasons 401k Plan Sponsors are Smiling,” FiduciaryNews.com, December 11, 2018). Employees who are talking about their retirement are paying attention to it. Plan sponsors increasingly recognize the need to encourage employees to talk about their retirement and to keep them talking about it.

Oddly, one of the side effects of the Great Fiduciary Debate has been an invigorating discussion on retirement. It's easy to understand why. It was the DOL that vociferously promoted the fiduciary rule, and the DOL's jurisdiction is limited to retirement plans. Ergo, any mention of the fiduciary rule meant a mention of retirement, saving for retirement, and, ultimately, investing for retirement.

Another national policy topic that allows employees to face their own retirement is the continuing drama associated with Social Security. Will it be there when they retire? Should it be there at all? What will replace it? For many, these kinds of questions inspire people to take control of their own retirement. The best way to do this is through a retirement plan.

Meanwhile, we have a number of states also adding to the retirement dialog. Regardless of the merits (or dangers) of state-sponsored private retirement plans, it gets that table talk going. Retirement savers are wondering if this will help them, or if this will end up being another false promise like Social Security.

More likely, these plans face one of two end games. In one, since these plans are contribution plans, they'll succeed and replace corporate plans because plan sponsors see them as a way out of fiduciary liability. Alternatively, it will quickly become clear that, like the ill-fated myIRA, they don't provide the kind of added value that will justify their existence and they will die.

At the same time, the industry isn't sitting on its haunches. The rise of the robo-machines has found a home with millennials. The younger generation, raised on the ever-present hand-held device, find themselves quickly motivated by accessible content and internet-based tools. It's too early to tell if these cloud-based applications will take on the gamification characteristics of other forms of social media. But if it can keep the retirement conversation going, then that's a good sign.

So, if plan sponsors want to elevate the odds of employee engagement regarding retirement, there's a clear, low-cost, map to get there. Retirement policy proposals – whether from a state or the federal government – represent great fodder for chats… and education. They offer the compelling narrative of “pro and con” while also including important elements that help employees learn some of the fundamentals of retirement.

Mix into this another form of debate: which free phone app is the best. Now that will really start a conversation that engages. Just make sure there's no sharp utensils are the table when you start it.

Instant Insights /

Participant engagement makes 401(k) plan sponsors happy – Carosa

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