Note sull'episodio
Private equity, private credit and other alternatives may start showing up on 401(k) menus. Before anyone decides whether that's a good idea, there's an earlier question: do you know what you're paying for the funds you already own? A 2021 Government Accountability Office report (GAO-21-357) found that 41 percent of participants incorrectly believe they don't pay any 401(k) plan fees. If private assets arrive in a plan, one route is inside a blended fund such as a target date fund, which means the cost and any restrictions can arrive there too, with no new line on the menu.
This video walks through the Department of Labor's proposed rule, announced March 30, 2026, with its comment period closed June 1, 2026. It is still a proposal, not a final rule. It would give plan fiduciaries a process-based safe harbor when selecting the funds on a menu, built on six factors: performance, fees, liquidity, valuation, a performance benchmark and complexity. It does not require any plan to add alternatives. Brad explains what liquidity and valuation mean for an account that is priced every business day, and why a safe harbor protects the fiduciaries' process rather than any participant's outcome.
It also covers where participants can find their plan's own fee disclosure, which 29 CFR 2550.404a-5 requires plans to provide (a comparison chart of the menu at least annually, and a quarterly statement of certain fees charged), and five questions worth asking a plan before alternatives land on it. Nothing in this video is a view on private equity or any specific fund.
Timestamps:
0:00 Private equity may be headed for your 401(k)
0:40 What the government is proposing
1:33 The fees you already pay
3:01 Where to find your fee information
3:33 Two things that change with private investments
4:50 Who's looking at the whole picture
5:38 Five questions to ask your plan
5:53 Next step
This is educational content only. It is not personalized investment, tax or legal advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy, hold or sell any investment.
What a 401(k) fee review looks at: https://www.bas-financial.com/401k-fee-review?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=weekly_2026-10-05&utm_content=wk_podcast_401k
To go through your own plan's disclosure, book a complimentary intro call: https://meetings.hubspot.com/bas-financial/bas-financial-intro-call
Also coming up: "How Much Is Enough?", a complimentary live webinar, Tuesday October 13, 2026, 12:00 to 1:00pm PT. Details are on the events page of the BAS Financial website.
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