Vol. 1, No. 5Tuesday, October 20, 2026Not a real newspaper

The 401(k) Liar

America's Least Trusted Source for Retirement Plan News

Fiduciary Edition

Breaking · Fiduciary Services

Advisor Offers to Put Client’s Interests First for Additional 15 Basis Points

Sponsor reviewing service proposal asks what the current fee has been for.

By Staff Fabricator · Business Desk

An advisor presents Fiduciary-ish and Fiduciary Plus packages to a skeptical business owner. Your interests first has a checkmark only under Fiduciary Plus, beside +0.15%.
Vale explains which column Gessler has been in for the past eight years.AI-generated satirical photo illustration

Dayton, Ohio — A routine review of the Gessler Heating & Air 401(k) plan stalled Tuesday when advisor Martin Vale offered to begin putting participants’ interests first for an additional 15 basis points, prompting owner Ron Gessler to ask whose interests had been first for the previous eight years.

Vale said he would need to check the original agreement.

The proposal lists investment reviews, participant education and phone support under both “Fiduciary-ish” and “Fiduciary Plus™.” “Your interests first” appears only in the right-hand column, beneath a gold star.

“I thought that was what the phone support was about,” Gessler said.

Vale explained that Gessler had always received excellent service. The upgrade would provide excellent service with a formal commitment about who it was for. “You’ve always been important to us, Ron,” he said. “This would establish an order.”

“You’ve always been important to us, Ron. This would establish an order.”

Gessler asked what would change. Vale said the fund lineup would stay the same, as would the recordkeeper, the quarterly reports and the person answering the phone. Gessler asked whether that meant the current recommendations were already in his best interest. “That’s exactly the kind of assurance the new package provides,” Vale said.

Office manager Elaine Porter asked whether declining would affect the advice the company received. Vale said absolutely not, then returned to the slide explaining why the upgrade was essential. Porter took a screenshot of both slides.

Gessler’s TPA, Marcy Feldkamp, asked for a description of what Vale would do differently. Vale sent the brochure. Feldkamp asked again. Vale sent it in a higher resolution.

By late afternoon, Gessler had agreed to the upgrade. He said he still did not understand the distinction but no longer wanted to be on the other side of it.

At press time, Vale had documented the fee increase as the first recommendation made under the plan’s new best-interest arrangement.

The Interview · Best Interest

“I Put Myself in the Participant's Shoes”: Brent Kessling on the Fiduciary Standard, Reasonable Compensation, and a Participant Named Brent

The Liar sat down with the Scottsdale advisor, who serves 41 plans and is a fiduciary on “most of them, I'd have to check,” to ask what acting in a client's best interest looks like from the inside.

Interview by Staff Fabricator · Lightly edited for length. Kessling asked that his fee not be printed; we had not asked.

You describe yourself as a fiduciary. What does that mean day to day?
It means the client comes first. Every decision, I put myself in the participant's shoes. I close my eyes. I'm a participant. I've got a balance, I've got a target-date fund, and I ask: what do I want from my advisor?
And what do you want?
I want him making as much revenue as possible. Honestly. If I'm a participant in that plan, I want my advisor financially secure. I want him focused. I don't want him worrying about money, because that's a distraction, and the distraction comes out of my retirement.
Has the participant ever wanted anything else?
Once. He asked about the fee. I explained it, and he was fine with it. He's a reasonable guy. His name is Brent.
How do you know your compensation is reasonable?
I benchmark it against what I'd want to be paid, and it comes in right on the number. Every year. It's uncanny.
Did you consider a platform that paid you less?
Yes. We needed something for the comparison column.
Has a client ever pushed back?
One sponsor asked me to walk him through it. So I did the shoes thing out loud. I said, “Ron, picture you're a participant.” He said, “I am a participant.” I said, “Great, so you understand.” He said he didn't. I think he's coming around. He's stopped asking.
The fiduciary standard in one sentence?
Put the client first, and then stand right behind him so you're both facing the same direction.

Around the Industry

Advisor Rediscovers Plan He Sold in 2019 After Sponsor Calls With Question

By Staff Fabricator

Scottsdale, Ariz. — Financial advisor Brent Kessling located a 401(k) plan in his client roster Monday after its sponsor called to ask about a loan provision. The plan was found in a folder labeled “Closed-Won.”

“I remember the signing,” Kessling said. “Great lunch.”

Kessling's 2019 proposal had promised ongoing monitoring. He has since scheduled an “annual review” and asked the plan's TPA what an annual review “usually has in it.” The sponsor said she was grateful someone called back.

Kessling has added the plan to his quarterly touch list and asked what quarter it is.

ERISA’s Prudent Man Found; Would Like to See What Else You Looked At

By Staff Fabricator

Wilmington, Del. — The prudent man against whom every fiduciary decision in America is measured was located Monday in a two-bedroom ranch house outside Wilmington, where he has lived since 1974 and has never made a decision in fewer than two meetings.

“He asked for three bids on the sandwich,” a neighbor said. “He went with the second one. He documented why.”

Investment committees have begun arriving at his door with binders. He receives them on the porch, listens, and asks each the same question: “What else did you look at?” Most leave. Several have come back with a second binder.

Asked whether he would comment for this story, the prudent man said he would like to review some alternatives and get back to us at a reasonable interval. He has not.

TPA Owner Sells Firm, Buys It Back at a Quarter of the Price, Sells It Again for Double

By Staff Fabricator

Overland Park, Kan. — Doug Ostrowski completed his third transaction involving Tri-County Pension Services on Monday, selling the firm he founded, sold, and repurchased.

“The first buyer wanted scale,” Ostrowski said. “The second buyer wanted a turnaround. I was the turnaround.”

The firm's staff, clients, and coffee machine have remained unchanged through all three transactions. Marcy Feldkamp, a senior administrator, said she learned of each sale “from the letterhead.”

Ostrowski has scheduled a fourth transaction for 2029 and asked the buyer to plan ahead.

Advisor Honoring Exclusive Benefit Rule Declines Own Birthday Cake, Divides It Among 212 Participants

By Staff Fabricator

Tulsa, Okla. — Citing ERISA's requirement that plan assets be used for the exclusive benefit of participants, advisor Denise Okafor declined a birthday cake brought to her office by a plan sponsor Monday and divided it among the plan's 212 participants.

Each participant received one 212th of the cake, a disclosure describing the portion, and a notice that the portion was not a contribution.

“I can't rule out that it's a plan asset, and I don't have time to find out,” Okafor said. The sponsor pointed out that he had paid for the cake personally. Okafor asked him to confirm that in writing and divided the receipt.

Participants described the portions as “fine.” One asked whether it vested.