What Do The Numbers Tell Us About 401(k) Behavior During The COVID-19 Pandemic?

Hard to believe, but the economic and financial market impact of COVID-19 first materialized about seven months ago. Since then, we have been seen record breaking market volatility, a spike in unemployment, a recession in the U.S. economy, and dramatic changes to daily life and routines. With all that said, how are retirement savers weathering this storm? To share some details, I am excited to welcome back Nathan Voris, a Managing Director of Business Strategy with Charles Schwab Retirement Plan Services. In his role, Nathan is responsible for leading the client experience, platform, and product development strategy to help retirement sponsors, consultants, and participants meet their goals. During our conversation, he pulls from his observations and conversations as well as a the recent 2020 401(k) Participant Survey they recently completed. We covered everything you would expect us to. Some things are you would expect, and others aren't. I f we missed anything please let me know. Shoot me an email to [email protected] or send me a note on LinkedIn.    That's it, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Nathan!   Guest Bio Nathan Voris joined Schwab Retirement Plan Services in 2016. He is responsible for leading the client experience platform and product development strategy to help retirement sponsors, consultants, and participants meet their goals. Mr. Voris previously worked at Morningstar, where he held several roles within Morningstar Investment Management, including portfolio management and asset allocation responsibilities. His most recent focus there was on product development and strategy for the retirement solutions, including wellness, advice and managed accounts, and target-date solutions. He was also previously a consultant with R.V. Kuhns & Associates, where he worked with defined contribution plan sponsors to help improve asset allocation and solve other needs of plan participants. In that role, Mr. Voris was responsible for all aspects of portfolio construction, including asset allocation and manager selection/duediligence for plan sponsors, retirement plan providers, and asset managers. He began his career working for defined contribution plans, including Wal-Mart and the Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System. Mr. Voris has earned a bachelor's in education from the Ohio State University.   401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 200 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!