PLANADVISER - May/June 2021 - 2

publisher's note //
Look at the Frame
T
hroughout the last year, I've been thinking a
lot about the framing of information. Some
of that has come from trying to manage my
children of various ages and connecting with
them about the news, school, homework and,
well, life. It never ceases to amaze me how my
delivering the same information, slightly differently,
can produce such varied understanding
and results. If I'm not careful, there could end
up being many versions of " the truth. "
We've all seen a good amount of that over
the past year, as the pandemic has been experienced
so differently across America. I've been lucky: My job, as well as my
husband's, can be done remotely. Our children have remained healthy.
Further, we've kept our retirement savings going and stuck to our financial
plans; I know that many are in this position. If you've been in your at-home
bubble and working with clients who have been the same, it might be difficult
to remember how many Americans have experienced the opposite.
" Although some Americans have recovered from pandemic-related financial
hardships or gone through the pandemic without any, many others are still
trying to find new work or remain at a reduced income level, " a recent survey
report from Commonwealth says.
The survey reiterated findings that the economic hardship from the
pandemic has disproportionately fallen on women, people of color, and lowand
moderate-income (LMI) adults. Why was the quote of interest to me? The
report authors said these stories " may be buried by national averages about
increased savings and decreased unemployment rates. "
They're right-there have been many articles recently touting the " record
contributions to " or " record balances of " retirement plans. Yet, when one digs
in, it's clear we need to be cautious about the framing of the data. For every
story that notes, " one-third of 401(k) savers increased their savings rate, " let's
remember that means two-thirds did not. A great example of this was the
headline of Fidelity's third-quarter analysis: " Steady Contributions and Market
Performance Lead to Increased Balances; Ongoing Financial Uncertainty Also
Drove Withdrawals. "
Let's be frank, average balances reaching record levels generally means the
markets are going up-have you checked your retirement account lately? If you
remained invested, you've likely seen a healthy increase; the S&P 500 1-Year
return, as of April, was 43.56%!
As we evaluated the PLANSPONSOR Plan Sponsor of the Year entries this
year, we were struck by the dichotomies among plans of the same size. Some
employers enriched matches or made excess contributions to participants
because the company was doing well; others found ways to help contribute to
their furloughed or newly part-time employees while trying to stay afloat.
For all the folks with a climbing defined contribution (DC) plan account
balance, many are without. Some participants in your clients' plans might
have spouses or partners in that latter position. For all the good news we're
seeing,
it's imperative we remember that, along with this climbing market
that so many of us have benefited from, there have been growing lines at food
banks, rent and mortgage payments missed, and, of course, withdrawals from
plans after the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was
enacted. For all to be able to move forward, financial wellness and financial
literacy cannot just be buzzwords; for many, they've become a vital element in
our employer-sponsored plan world. -Alison Cooke Mintzer, Publisher
publisher: Alison Cooke Mintzer
Alison.Mintzer@issmediasolutions.com
creative director: SooJin Buzelli
SooJin.Buzelli@issmediasolutions.com
managing editor: Judy Faust Hartnett
Judy.FaustHartnett@issmediasolutions.com
managing editor, planadviser.com:
John Manganaro
John.Manganaro@issmediasolutions.com
editorial staff: Lee Barney, Rebecca Moore,
Michele Theodore, Amanda Umpierrez,
Karen Wittwer
contributors: Beth Braverman, John Keefe,
Judy Ward
surveys & research: Brian O'Keefe;
Angela Marinakis, Jackie Scott
design & production: Donna Bien-Aimé,
Alanna Jacobs, Joy Liu, Linda Liu
design contributor: Cherese Rambaldi
art contributors: James Albon, A. Richard Allen,
Tim Bower, Veronica Cerri, Marine Coutroutsios,
Gérard DuBois (cover), Siobhán Gallagher, Nurit
Gross, Wenting Li, Tilda Rose, Katherine Streeter,
Dalbert B. Vilarino, Gizem Vural
commercial director: Rob Reif
Robert.Reif@issmediasolutions.com
advertising sales: Katie Bacon; Christopher Janos,
Meighan McGowan, Bill Murray
sales operations manager: Anthony Groccia
reprints: Michelle Judkins
Michelle.Judkins@issmediasolutions.com
conferences: Carol Popkins; Katie Campbell,
Rebecca Fahey, Lucille Velander
accounting operations: Mayrillane Bahi,
Ruth Fissaha, Ricky Kostik
technology operations: Darrell Cheng, Bhakti Patel,
Jigar Patel, Dexter Reaves
PLANADVISER is owned by
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS)
president and ceo: Gary Retelny
cfo: Allen Heery
global communications/marketing: Nancy Adler
PLANADVISER (ISSN 1935-9098) is published
bimonthly (Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/Jun, Jul/Aug,
Sep/Oct, Nov/Dec) by Institutional Shareholder
Services Inc. (1177 Avenue of the Americas,
14th Floor, New York, NY 10036). Standard rate
postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional
mailing rate.
postmaster Send address changes to:
PLANADVISER, P.O. Box 88, Congers,
NY 10920-9916
reproduction policy PLANADVISER, Volume 15,
Issue 5. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form without
the publisher's permission. Authorization to
photocopy items for internal or personal use, or
the internal or personal use of specific clients, is
granted by ISS, provided that the appropriate fee
is paid directly to Copyright Clearance Center,
222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
Tel: 978-750-8400. Copyright. com ©2021.
Entire contents copyrighted.
2 | planadviser.com May-June 2021
http://www.PLANADVISER.COM http://www.Copyright.com http://www.fsc.org http://www.planadviser.com
PLANADVISER - May/June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANADVISER - May/June 2021
