April 16th wasn’t your typical day at Wrigley Field. No ivy drama, no late-inning heroics—just a room full of retirement plan advisors talking about the stuff that actually breaks plans. And it worked.
That 401(k) Conference has always been about cutting through the noise, but putting it at Wrigley changes the entire feel. You take advisors out of the usual hotel ballroom and drop them into something iconic, and suddenly the conversations get better. Less posturing, more honesty. People actually say what they deal with—messy conversions, bad data, payroll issues that never quite reconcile, and clients who don’t realize there’s a problem until there really is one.
What stood out most was how real the dialogue felt. No fluff about “best practices” without context. This was about what happens when things go wrong—and how to fix them before they get expensive. That’s the kind of conversation advisors don’t always get, and it’s why events like this matter.
And then you add in a great guest like Ron Coomer, and it elevates the whole experience. Coomer brought that old-school baseball perspective—professionalism, preparation, understanding your role—that oddly mirrors this business more than people think. Plans don’t fail because of one big moment; they fail because of small mistakes over time. Same idea.
It wasn’t just a good time—though it absolutely was. It was a reminder that when you mix the right people, honest conversations, and a setting like Wrigley, you get something advisors actually take with them.
Not just another conference. One worth remembering.
