Using 401(k)s as the bellwether for a new world driven by increased connectivity, noted author and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman writes that the DC system embodies a world in which each individual must take charge of his or her life. Gone are the institutional protections from big government, employers and unions, leaving individuals to fend for themselves. For some this can be very exciting, but for others it can be frightful. Sound like your participant base?
With hyperconnectivity tools like Facebook, Twitter, smartphones, mobile apps, 4g, broadband, big data and the cloud, individuals who invest in themselves and are not immobilized by fear can thrive on their own. For others, the new world is incredibility intimidating; they don’t know where or how to start.
Friedman notes, “We’re entering a world that increasingly rewards individual aspiration and persistence and can measure precisely who is contributing and who is not.” That new world is the definition of 401(k) plans, where there’s no hiding from inertia or bad choices like whether to participate, how much to defer and where to invest. Ready or not, we are all in a 401(k) world — in more ways than we had thought.
