Episode Intro: The GAP with The 401k Girls

If you’re judging a 401(k) advisor only by fees and investment options, you’re probably missing the part that actually changes outcomes: whether employees understand the plan well enough to use it. We dig into what plan sponsors should demand from a retirement plan advisor, from fiduciary guidance and plan design decision support to evaluating service providers and removing unnecessary complexity that drives up costs without improving the participant experience.

Episode Description:

A big theme is visibility and education. We talk about why advisors cannot just “show up once a year,” and why the most important interview question for employers is simple: How do you plan to connect with our employees? From meeting employees where they are to using normal language, stories, and real questions as content, the goal is higher engagement, better participation, and stronger workplace retirement outcomes, especially for people whose 401(k) may be their only investment account.

We also zoom out to what makes us optimistic about the future of workplace retirement plans: automatic enrollment requirements that harness inertia, technology that reduces friction, and a growing push to make financial education accessible. Because financial guidance should not be reserved for people who already have money, and the people who could benefit most are often the least likely to get it.

If this conversation sparks a new idea for how you support employees or clients, subscribe, share the episode with a colleague, and leave a review so more people can find it.

Guest Bio:

The 401(k) Girls is a financial education platform founded by financial planners Jessica Porter and Hayley Porter to make retirement planning and investing simple, approachable, and fun for younger professionals and clients.

Connect with The 401(k) Girls:

The 401(k) Girls: LinkedIn
Jessica Porter: LinkedIn
Hayley Porter: LinkedIn

Securities and advisory services offered through Osaic Wealth, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Osaic Wealth is separately owned and other entities and/or marketing names, products or services referenced here are independent of Osaic Wealth.

Contact Our Host:

Shannon Edwards
President
TrisStar Pension Consulting
TriStarPension.com
LinkedIn

**NAPA Top Women Advisors – Rising Stars award issued by National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) on October 24, 2025 for the year 2025 was awarded to women making significant contributions to the retirement industry. Hayley Porter applied for the recognition. Nominees were asked to respond to a series of questions, both quantitative and qualitative, about their experience and practice. Those questionnaires were then reviewed on an anonymous basis by a panel of judges who, over the course of several weeks, selected the women honored. 103 were selected in the Rising Stars category; those with less than five years in the business and are either emerging team leaders or new producers. No fee was paid for the nomination, receipt, or promotion of the award. Third-party ratings are no guarantee of future investment success and do not ensure that a client or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance or results. These ratings should not be construed as an endorsement of the advisor by any client nor are they representative of any one client's evaluation.

Episode Intro: The GAP with Eric Dyson

Your retirement plan advisor can be the difference between a 401(k) that simply exists and a plan that actually changes employees’ lives. We sit down with Eric Dyson, executive director of 90 North Consulting and host of Be More Than a Fiduciary, to get brutally practical about how plan sponsors can evaluate an advisor, run a meaningful advisor search, and avoid getting fooled by the best presentation in the room.

Episode Description:

We start with the fundamentals that protect you as a fiduciary under ERISA: understanding your duties, defining what you need before you hire, and setting priorities that reflect the reality of your workplace. Eric shares what strong RFPs and competitive bids look like today, including how to spot copy-and-paste answers, why case studies and sample reports matter, and how great advisors tailor solutions to your plan demographics, participant behavior, and internal bandwidth.

Then we dig into what sponsors should expect as “table stakes” from a retirement plan advisor: recurring investment reviews, a usable investment policy statement, and ongoing fee and service benchmarking. We also get specific about participant education, how to measure whether it’s working with clear KPIs and employee feedback, and why culture fit and true partnership with your recordkeeper and TPA can make or break outcomes. If you’re a small business owner, CFO, or HR lead with no committee and no benefits department, you’ll leave with a simple roadmap to find the right advisor and an annual habit that strengthens your due diligence: reviewing your 408(b)(2) fee disclosure to understand what you pay, what you get, and whether your advisor is a fiduciary.

Subscribe, share this with a fellow plan sponsor, and leave a review with the #1 question you wish more advisors would answer.

Guest Bio: Eric Dyson
Eric Dyson is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. After graduation, he served for ten years as a highly decorated nuclear-trained submarine officer. Eric has been a professional in the financial services industry for over 30 years, serving ERISA plan sponsors for over 25 years. He is currently the Executive Director of 90 North Consulting, where he provides services including advisor and broker RFPs, fiduciary training, best practices audits, and adjunct committee membership. Eric is also the host of the Be More Than a Fiduciary Podcast and delivers keynotes focused on actionable lessons from ERISA litigation.

Contact Our Guest:

Eric Dyson
Executive Director
90 North Consulting
https://90northllc.com/
LinkedIn

Contact Our Host:

Shannon Edwards
President
TrisStar Pension Consulting
TriStarPension.com
LinkedIn