I’ve walked into more companies than I can count where the 401(k) plan gets the same level of attention as the office copier—nobody thinks about it until it breaks. The copier jams, people complain, someone calls the vendor, and life moves on. Too many employers manage their retirement plan the exact same way: ignore it for years, then scramble when a participant gets confused, a fee looks high, or a lawsuit hits the news.
A 401(k) isn’t a piece of equipment. It’s the largest financial asset most of your employees will ever own. Yet sponsors often delegate everything to a provider and hope for the best. Hope isn’t a fiduciary process. ERISA doesn’t ask whether you meant well; it asks whether you were prudent.
Treating the plan like a copier shows up in small, dangerous ways. No committee meetings. No fee benchmarking. An investment lineup that hasn’t changed since flip phones were cool. Advisors who appear once a year with a glossy report and disappear before anyone asks a real question. That’s not management—that’s neglect with a service agreement.
The irony is that doing it right doesn’t require heroics. It requires paying attention. Meet twice a year. Read the fee disclosures. Ask why a fund is on the menu. Make sure new employees actually understand what a 401(k) is. Those simple steps separate a responsible sponsor from one waiting for a problem.
Your business depends on people who trade today’s paycheck for tomorrow’s security. The plan is part of your compensation promise, not background noise next to the coffee machine. When sponsors treat the 401(k) with the same seriousness they give revenue, safety, and customer relationships, participation rises, complaints fall, and employees notice.
So the next time someone says, “The provider handles all that,” remember: vendors manage copiers. Fiduciaries manage retirement futures.
