Recently, I had a pharmacy owner ask me what he could do to improve the specific financial/retirement outcomes for the employees in his company sponsored retirement plan. He asked because he really cares about his employees being successful and he wants to offer them a benefit he feels they will not be able to get somewhere else.

This led to a discussion amongst our team members about the services we provide and a personal journey to determine what retirement plan participants want for service and advice. The following are things that we decided pharmacy 401k plan participants (or retirement plan participants if you don't have a 401k) want in the service and solutions provided in a retirement program. We have decided recently that we are going to start offering all these services to all Waypoint 401k and Pharmacy 401k plans.

I want to start this post by having you close your eyes and imagining the following scenario. Imagine you go to your mechanic to get your oil changed and tires rotated. You go in and grab a cup of coffee, check your emails, make a few phone calls, and whatever else you do while you are waiting for your car. The next thing you know the mechanic is bringing you your keys so you can go to the counter and pay for the services. You then begin your journey back to work or home. All of a sudden a car slams on its brakes in front of you and you go to hit your brakes and they don’t work. After the accident, you are very thankful to be alive and at the same time very upset at your mechanic for not telling you the brake lines were cut.

In a recent blog on the Forbes website titled, Why 401ks Have Failed, the author mentions that 401ks were never meant to be mainstream retirement plans and really shouldn't be necessary. He insinuates they are simply a way for employers to feel good about themselves while employees essentially get shafted.  The reality of 401ks is that if implemented the correct way, they can be a great tool to help employees retire.

Welcome to the second to last installment of our pharmacy 401k fiduciary responsibility series. We hope you have enjoyed the journey so far and have learned what it means to be a fiduciary. Our next blog will summarize the series and give you some specific action steps you can use moving forward to improve your pharmacy 401k plan and satisy your fiduciary responsibility. 

Welcome to the third installment of our most recent series for pharmacy owners on 401k fiduciary responsibility. The first installment gave you a brief overview on what it means to be a fiduciary for a pharmacy 401k plan. The second installment discussed the duty of exclusive purpose.  This installment will focus on the duty you have to the plan participants to be prudent with your choices. 

Welcome to the second installment of our new series for pharmacy owners on 401k fiduciary resposibility. The first installment gave you a brief overview on what it means to be a fiduciary for a pharmacy 401k plan. This installment will focus on the duty you have to your employees in helping them use your plan to successfully save for retirement.  So, let's get started.

I recently had a conversation with a pharmacy owner and I asked him the question, "Is your pharmacy 401k perceived by your employees as a benefit?"  He responded like most pharmacy owners would and said that the 401k is part of a comprehensive benefit package for his full time employees.  I then followed up with another question.  Do your employees understand how to use your retirement plan to achieve their retirement goals? He responded by saying, "I have no idea, but I need that to be a resounding yes."

Being an American has different meanings in different cultures.  For example, some foreigners think Americans are fat and lazy. Others look to our education system and think we aren't very intelligent.  I had a person from another country recently tell me that Americans are financial bampots.  I will let you look up what this means (hint: it was a British person that told me this).  This was the first I had heard this and I had to research what it meant.  I think in some respects that this gentleman was right in his diagnosis because there has been a substantial lack of education in this area starting from childhood.