I was a kid who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s where people started to become a little more health-conscious by offering substitutes for well-known foods. There was this whole push to replace butter with margarine and there was certainly a difference in taste and I don’t know anyone who eats margarine today (other than for baking). There was a push with diet soda that had saccharin and later, Nutrasweet, as a healthier alternative to sugar. People swore up and down that saccharin caused cancer in laboratory animals and that Nutrasweet caused brain tumors, both of which have not been substantiated. 401(k) plan sponsors think they can substitute a part of their job with something else and as plan fiduciaries, they do so at their financial peril. This article is all about substitutions that as plan sponsors, you can’t afford to make.
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