“They’ve done studies, you know. 60 percent of the time, it works every time.”
– Brian Fantana (Anchorman)
Welcome to the March Edition of Ryan’s Retirement Ramblings – The monthly newsletter that will bring you the latest developments from the qualified plan space & provide updates for the retirement team at Wheeler Retirement Plans.
On A Personal Note…
Happy March! In like a lion and out like a lamb? Is that the right phrase? Ha.
Thank you for reaching out last month regarding the loss of a Duluth legend. The “Hoagie’s Heroes” care team was able to get together to celebrate his legacy at his favorite spot…Sammy’s Pizza. Laughs ruled the night for sure.
Finally, my daughter Bailey and I snuck away to Tampa for a little Spring Break R&R. We spent time with my parents and took in the most perfect concert. Weather, venue and artist all top notch. Mr. Zach Bryan can certainly carry a tune and 70,000 people agreed.
How Are Plan Sponsors Measuring Participant Success?
The ultimate proof of retirement plan participant success is in the results: whether the participant achieves a financially secure retirement. In the meantime, plan sponsors can look at a variety of metrics to help evaluate and track plan outcomes. The 2025 PLANSPONSOR Defined Contribution Survey identified several of these metrics, summarized below. While not exhaustive, this overview illustrates the range of lenses sponsors use to gauge employee financial wellness and retirement readiness, beyond analysis of plan lineup investment options and performance.
https://www.plansponsor.com/surveys/2026-dc-survey-plan-benchmarking/
Employer-Supported Emergency Savings Features: Plan Sponsor Considerations
It’s been widely reported that the marriage rate among Americans has declined sharply in recent decades. Employees, particularly those early in their careers, are worried about their ability to handle major, unexpected expenses. According to a new CAPTRUST report, emergency savings is the top financial concern for workers aged 18-30 and ranks among the top three worries for older employees.
For employers, this finding highlights a broader business challenge, as employees’ financial stress can affect productivity.
Sources:
https://www.empower.com/the-currency/money/safety-net-emergency-savings-research
https://www.fidelityworkplace.com/s/emergency-savings
IRS Issues New Guidance on Plan Distribution Safe Harbors
When employees leave an organization, they face an important decision about their retirement savings. Do they leave them in their former employer’s plan? Roll them into an IRA or into their new employer’s plan? Or cash out? The decision a participant makes can have a lasting impact on their retirement savings trajectory.
Many participants, however, don’t fully understand their distribution options or the associated tax consequences. A 2024 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that more than half of participants surveyed didn’t know they could leave their savings in a former employer’s plan, and only 38% indicated they understood the tax implications of indirect rollovers.
Sources:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-26-13.pdf
https://www.irs.gov/irb/2026-06_IRB
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-107167
Participant Corner
401(k) Check-ins
Can Help You
Stay on Track
In many ways, saving through your employer-sponsored retirement plan has never been more convenient. Automatic enrollment, auto-escalating contributions, and target date funds can make saving feel almost effortless by quietly adjusting your contributions and investments over time.
Mr. C’s Movie (Show) Review
Meet Linda Liddle… She’s from Strategy & Planning
Send Help would technically be found in the horror section but it’s so much more. It was a funny survival thriller that thrives on awkward sexual tension, GREAT performances, and Sam Raimi’s unmistakable style. The setup is simple: two work colleagues—an overlooked wallflower employee that is deservingly in line for a raise and her smug, entitled boss—survive a plane crash and wind up stranded on a deserted island. Think Cast Away meets Lord of the Rings meets A Simple Plan. Intriguing to say the least.
Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle carries the movie. Linda is part of every company and that is what resonates with the movie audience watching her. She leans fully into a messy, cringy role and clearly enjoys getting weird, physical, and occasionally unhinged. A far cry from her Wedding Crashers days. Dylan O’Brien is equally committed, playing a nepotistic boss that we can all relate to in our working careers. He knows that he didn’t earn the position but he wields the power that is attached. The banter between McAdams and O’Brien is so captivating the audience is able to forget that the whole movie is shot in one location.
It’s the type of horror movie the whole family can enjoy. Raimi (Send Me to Hell and The Evil Dead) mixes bursts of gore, uncomfortable laughs, with the unpredictability of a “who done it” film.
On a scale of: “Like It”, “Love It”, or “Gotta Have It”; the Send Help is a “Love It“. The idiom of never judge a book by it’s cover is never so brutally true than watching Linda live out her best dream while stranded on the island. Jeff Probst would be proud. All in all; worth the 90 minutes.