It's amazing what you learn at networking events. I was at one the other evening. As others imbibed their adult beverages, I stood, as usual, alone, sipping my Diet Pepsi. An industry friend spies me and walks on over, keen for some shop talk. I tell him about some of the newer things I'm doing and he, well, he was loaded for bear. He had to get something off his chest, but, in a room full of realtors, placement firm recruiters and the usual cadre of small mom & pop business owners, he needed to find someone "in the biz," someone who could empathize with his dilemma. After only a few words, I knew where he was going.
The fellow services 401k plans. He's a plan fiduciary, a good guy. He's mainly working the 3(38) side of things. He had just come from a client meeting and the CEO was livid. Like most CEOs, he engages his own private investment adviser. He was quite surprised to learn he was paying such a "large" amount for "investment advice" in his 401k account. The CEO rightfully claimed he neither was receiving nor wanted to receive any investment advice. He was happy with his private investment adviser, thank you very much.
Understand my friend's quandary. He had just shaved 25% off of the plan's expenses, yet the CEO was complaining about fees for a service not provided by the plan. The CEO recognized the savings, but insisted he was paying for investment advice he didn't want. And the CEO was demanding the fees be eliminated.
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Christopher Carosa
Chris Carosa has been writing a weekly article and monthly column for BenefitsPRO online and BenefitsPRO Magazine since 2011 and is a nationally recognized award-winning writer, researcher and speaker. He’s written seven books, including From Cradle to Retire: The Child IRA; Hey! What’s My Number? – How to Increase the Odds You Will Retire in Comfort; A Pizza The Action: Everything I Ever Learned About Business I Learned By Working in a Pizza Stand at the Erie County Fair; and the widely acclaimed 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions. Carosa is also Chief Contributing Editor of the authoritative trade journal FiduciaryNews.com and publisher of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, a weekly community newspaper he founded in 1989. Currently serving as President of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and with more than 1,000 articles published in various publications, he appears regularly in the national media. A “parallel” entrepreneur, he actively runs a handful of businesses, including a small boutique investment adviser, providing hands-on experience for his writing. A trained astrophysicist, he also holds an MBA and has been designated a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor. Share your thoughts and story ideas with him through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christophercarosa/)and Twitter (https://twitter.com/ChrisCarosa).
