If I had a dollar for every time a plan sponsor told me, “We’ve always done it that way,” I’d have a retirement plan without recordkeeping fees. Tradition might be great for Thanksgiving recipes, but it’s a disaster for plan administration.
Most operational failures start with routines no one has questioned in years. Eligibility rules that no one updates. Payroll codes no one checks. Service agreements everyone assumes say something they don’t. “Always” is not a compliance strategy, it’s a liability.
The 401(k) world changes constantly: regulations shift, workplace demographics evolve, and technologies improve. If your internal processes haven’t changed since the Bush administration (pick your Bush), it’s time to rethink your approach.
Good fiduciaries challenge habits. They don’t assume last year’s process fits this year’s workforce. They ask questions, update procedures, and document every improvement. “We’ve always done it that way” is a sentence that belongs in a museum. A plan sponsor’s job is to retire it.
