Jared Shaft
Managing Director,
Accelerate Retirement

FINALIST

Business at a Glance as of 12/31/24

Location: Aliso Viejo, California
How many retirement plan assets do you have under advisement? $31.9M
What is your median plan size (in assets)? $862,000
How many plans do you have under administration? 37
How many participants in total do you serve? 1,180
Parent firm: Not applicable

PLANADVISER: How is your team unique in the marketplace? How do you differentiate yourself from others?

Shaft: I hang my hat on employee education and driving high contribution rates—especially in startup plans. My approach is designed to meet employees where they are, combining simplicity, personalization and results. I use a three-layer strategy to maximize engagement and retirement readiness:

Group Education: I kick things off with an in-person group meeting to introduce the plan and its benefits.
One-on-One Enrollment: I then meet individually with employees, tablet in hand, to walk them through enrollment. My goal is a combined 15% contribution rate between employee and employer—setting the foundation for meaningful outcomes.
Individualized Financial Plans: Interested employees sign up for a personalized plan. Using payroll data, plan contribution info, date of birth and current investments, we project their retirement income. We also provide contribution scenarios (+/- 3%) to illustrate the impact of small changes. Plans are delivered with an option to include outside assets for a more complete financial picture.

This hands-on, data-driven model doesn’t just educate—it inspires action. It’s a scalable, impactful way to bring real financial planning to employees who’ve often never had access to it.

PLANADVISER: What challenges do you think the retirement plan industry faces, and what role do you have in addressing and confronting those challenges?

Shaft: One of the biggest hurdles I see is low contribution rates. As a country, we’re significantly behind on retirement savings. Too often, employees contribute just enough to receive the full match—mistaking that for “maxing out,” when it’s really just the minimum.

That’s where personalized education makes all the difference. When an adviser sits face-to-face with an employee, explains the impact of a 15% contribution rate, and helps them adjust their deferral on the spot, it changes outcomes. This kind of human connection turns education into action.

Looking ahead, I believe every employer should be required to offer a retirement plan. And both advisers and plan sponsors should be empowered to implement automatic enrollment at realistic contribution levels—10% or more—to set participants on the path to retirement success. Of course, every employee’s situation is unique and based off their own goals; this could include an analysis of current cash flow and debt. We would suggest overall and comprehensive financial planning to assess the employee’s needs and long-term objectives to determine if something like a 10% contribution rate is feasible.

The challenge? Technology. We need seamless, 360-degree payroll integration to accurately track eligibility and ensure contributions are executed correctly. Until that becomes standard, it’s a major bottleneck holding the industry back from reaching its full potential.

PLANADVISER: What are the biggest stumbling blocks to adding more tax-advantaged retirement savings opportunities in the workforce? What are you doing to try and overcome them?

Shaft: Two of the biggest hurdles are awareness and education. Most business owners and key employees don’t know how much more they could be saving—or how much they’re leaving on the table in unnecessary taxes. They’re often maxing out a 401(k) and thinking that’s the ceiling, when in reality, there are tools like cash balance plans or mega-backdoor Roths that can significantly increase savings and tax efficiency.

Another major obstacle is complexity. The more advanced the strategy, the more moving parts there are—plan design, compliance, contribution calculations and integration with payroll. That can make even a motivated business owner hesitate if they don’t have the right support team.

Lastly, there’s inertia. Most people simply stick with what’s already in place. Unless someone shows them a compelling reason to change, they won’t.

PLANADVISER: What are the biggest challenges to getting small businesses or startups to start a defined contribution plan?

Shaft: Two major obstacles continue to hinder small business adoption of 401(k) plans: administrative complexity and startup costs. For first-time plan sponsors, navigating ERISA compliance can feel daunting. While technology has improved the experience, lack of payroll integration—especially for businesses using smaller or in-house systems—can still create significant friction.

We’ve identified opportunities for innovation that could dramatically improve plan accessibility. For instance, most recordkeepers require a $250,000 asset threshold before allowing plan fees to be paid from assets—placing a heavy upfront cost burden on employers with at least 50 employees. Although tax credits exist, they often take up to 12 months to realize. Imagine the impact of a system in which credits are applied instantly, via direct coordination between the recordkeeper and the IRS—transforming cash flow and removing a key adoption hurdle.

Another area ripe for innovation is in plan design flexibility. Current safe harbor match requirements can be financially restrictive, especially when nondiscrimination testing fails and owners see little personal benefit. A streamlined pathway for business owners to bypass ADP/ACP testing and fully utilize salary deferrals—without requiring a match—could be the breakthrough the industry needs to accelerate retirement plan adoption across the small business landscape.

PLANADVISER: What’s your favorite book or podcast?

Shaft: I’d have to go with the Michael Kitces Financial Advisor Success podcast. At the risk of sounding cheesy, this podcast has absolutely changed my life when it comes to bringing both energy and creativity to my practice. He has hundreds of podcasts in which he interviews successful advisers about their practices and members of leading service firms for the wealth management industry. Whether I’m in the car headed to a client meeting or to meet up with friends, this podcast lets you contemplate what other successful advisers have done to make their practice unique. Toward the end of each episode, he asks every adviser, “How do you define success?” Everyone has a different answer, and I think that’s beautiful.