Whenever I sit with a retirement plan committee, I can’t help but be reminded of my experiences with nonprofit boards — both as a member and as legal counsel. The dynamics are eerily similar. On paper, everyone is there for the same noble reason: to serve the greater good. In reality, people bring their own baggage to the table.
Most committee members genuinely want to do right by the participants. They volunteer their time, they review reports, they ask questions, and they take the fiduciary role seriously. These are the people you want in the room — the ones who understand that overseeing a retirement plan isn’t glamorous, but it’s critically important to the lives of employees who are counting on those benefits when they retire.
But then, there are the others. You know them. They join the committee because they like the sound of a title, or because they see it as a platform for power inside the organization. Sometimes they use meetings to grandstand, or to score points with leadership. The problem is, fiduciary duty is not about ego. It’s about loyalty, prudence, and putting participant interests ahead of your own. When personal agendas creep into the room, the committee loses focus — and participants can pay the price.
As an ERISA attorney, I’ve seen how messy things get when committees don’t function properly. Distractions multiply, critical questions don’t get asked, and decisions are made for the wrong reasons. That’s when plan sponsors end up in lawsuits, or on the wrong side of a DOL investigation.
The lesson? Make sure your retirement plan committee is populated with people who understand the responsibility and want to be there for the right reasons. Give them training. Keep minutes. Have clear policies. And don’t be afraid to rotate out members who treat it like a vanity project.
Serving on a retirement plan committee isn’t about prestige. It’s about stewardship. At the end of the day, it’s not your ego that’s at stake — it’s the financial future of every employee who relies on the plan.
