Retirement Lessons I Learned from My 1 Year Old

Those who know me know I spend a lot of time talking about financial wellness, fiduciary rules, regs, etc. But sometimes, you have to look through the eyes of a child to learn some of the most basic lessons.

This week, my 18 month old daughter decided that she no longer needed to WAIT to get out of her crib.

Looking at the monitor, we saw she was awake from her nap. But as usual, she was jabbering away and just having the best time talking and playing with her blanket, her toy tiger, etc. My wife and I both figured, she’s happy so we can tie up one more thing and then one of us will go up and get her.

The next thing we hear is THUMP. I don’t know about you, but when I hear THUMP with my daughter, an innate fear goes through me.

We both run upstairs and find that our daughter has officially announced that she’s tired of being stuck in her crib and can now get out on her own (like it or not). I laughed so hard I cried looking at her disheveled hair, her PJs that she’s largely pulled off on her own and her thrill that she’d reached her toys. All while we’re both frantically checking every inch of her body to make sure she wasn’t hurt from climbing (well, dropping!) out of her crib.

As I was thinking back (and chuckling yet again) on this moment today, oddly enough it actually reminded me of how participants must feel sometimes when faced with the prospect of saving in their 401(k) or 403(b). Why? Well first, participants must feel a lot like my daughter in her crib… trapped. Imagine being stuck right where you are. You can see what you want, but you can’t go anywhere without help. You know you want to get out, but how?

I’ve always known that saving money can be a real challenge for people. But, I had never thought of how truly helpless many of our employees must feel. My daughter sleeps in a crib for her safety. But our employees feel just as trapped. They may want to save money, but they really don’t know how. Yes, we talk to them about contributing, employer matching, investing, saving for the long-term, etc. However, that’s a lot of new information in one sitting isn’t it? It must seem overwhelming. This isn’t an area most employees are educated about, so I imagine they feel confused and trapped, waiting for someone to come help them out of their investment crib. But here’s where the comparison ends. While my wife and I will always be there for our daughter, most of the time, no one is coming to help your employees. They are largely on their own. So, while my daughter inevitably will grow and climb out of the crib (gulp), the majority of your employees won’t (sigh).

The lesson is that, it’s important to recognize that your employees need help from educated professionals who can coach them on how to set financial goals, how much to save and where, how to prepare for emergencies, how to invest their money and finally, how to spend it thoughtfully and carefully. We want them to climb out of the crib safely, not fall out and go THUMP like my daughter.

In case you’re wondering, she’s fine by the way! I however aged 5 years in an instant.