PLANADVISER - July/August 2020 - 29

them understand their separation agreement, talking them
through Medicare and Social Security. It underlined the
importance of achieving workplace wellness.
Rita Fiumara: Sadly, we all know people who have lost their
jobs, been furloughed or experiencing financial hardship
due to the pandemic. Participants have become interested
in learning more about emergency savings and cash-flow
planning. Consequently, financial wellness is proving to
be increasingly important to participants of all ages and
income levels. In fact, we've seen the employee demand for
our financial wellness services triple and employer demand
for
financial wellness grow 700% since March. Helping
employees better manage their finances is the single
greatest benefit employers can offer. A workforce that has
more control of its financial life is more engaged and has the
mental energy to tackle the business's challenges.
Ideally, a financial wellness program provides both digital
and human-delivered guidance for participants
PA: What's been the most significant change since you
became a Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year?
Bryant: The words " financial wellness " did not become part
of our everyday vernacular until 2015.
The consensus is that was the year that phrase stopped
being a throwaway differentiator and started having a real
meaning. And it also evolved from being solely about education
to more outcome-based strategies. Prior to 2015, we had
only pieces of the puzzle, as some of the financial wellness
details were still missing. That was partly due to the Pension
Protection Act [PPA] and the fiduciary legislative changes that
sucked the oxygen out of our client conversations. It wasn't
until 2015, when the true understanding of how financial
wellness could improve financial, health and life outcomes
for our clients and their participants became widespread.
That's what's been fascinating over these five years as
to stay
engaged so they can build positive financial habits. This is
even more relevant for female employees, as more than half
don't feel confident or don't want to deal with financial decisions,
which makes them even less prepared for the future.
If an employer doesn't offer a formal financial wellness
benefit, retirement plan advisers need to educate participants
on basic financial habits, such as budgeting, paying
down debt and saving for emergencies.
Then there are conversations about the CARES [Coronavirus
Aid, Relief and Economic Security] Act. That legislation
allows individuals an increased ability to access funds
from their retirement plan to meet financial emergencies
that have resulted from the pandemic. The consequences
of these withdrawals haven't been clear. A distribution of
$50,000 from an individual's retirement plan that is not
repaid can have a detrimental effect on current savings, for
which taxes will be owed. In addition, it will create a big
dent in his accumulated wealth, with the individual losing
out on investment returns and the compounding of returns
10 to 20 years from now.
Rick Wedge: When the CARES Act became law, we offered
clients educational meetings to explain what their options
and participants' options were-many took us up on that.
We wanted everyone to understand that participants can
take up to $100,000 from their plan, their 401(k), if they've
been affected by COVID, plus have additional flexibility with
their plan. The good news is we've seen very little uptake
on those benefits. If you need it, you need it. But we try to
get people to avoid breaking the glass with the 401(k). Let's
leave that money invested if we can.
Video conferencing with Zoom, for instance, is much
harder than having meetings in person. We really like to do
one-on-one education meetings. We've seen a big drop off in
those. Partly that's the pandemic; plus, in the summertime
it's always a little tougher to get people to engage. As people
get used to this new normal, we'll likely see a pickup in oneon-one
meetings, come fall.
we've gotten knee deep into the financial wellness narrative.
We are trying to help employees make better financial
decisions so they can retire on their own terms. That's
what committees at companies have really embraced: It's
all about the employees and helping them be able to retire.
We've had companies where the dynamic between the
employer and employee has changed because the company
realized it's in their best interest for employees to retire
on time. It's the right thing to listen to the needs of your
employees and to embrace empathetic
leadership, but it's
also right from a profitability standpoint [to help them retire].
The second change is the maturing of the Millennial
demographic. Some are turning 40. Just five years ago, the
stereotypes may not have been incredibly favorable as they
2015 PLANSPONSOR Multioffice
Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year
Daniel Bryant is president, retirement and
private wealth, of Sheridan Road Financial.
The company was purchased by Hub International
in 2018. He develops and sets the
vision for the firm, and manages the regional
offices.
2015 PLANSPONSOR Individual
Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year
Rita Fiumara is senior institutional consultant at
UBS. Fiumara's team works closely with human
resources, finance, senior management and
rank-and-file employees. Her firm offers the
attention of a boutique practice and the security
and expertise of a global wealth manager.
2010 PLANSPONSOR Individual
Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year
Rick Wedge is managing director of the
Pensionmark Retirement Group and president
and CEO of Wedgeworld Retirement. He was
president of Northgate Benefits. He has spent
25 years helping employees retire with enough
income to fulfill their post-employment dreams.
planadviser.com July-August 2020 | 29
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PLANADVISER - July/August 2020

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