| | | | ✅ Today's Checklist: What your 401(k) is actually invested in How to keep long-term employees motivated for the long haul Why you need a personal board of directors
🤔 Riddle me this: I'm carried by everyone, but owned by no one. I can be shared without shrinking and copied without being taken. What am I? (Find the answer on the bottom). |
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| | | | | | | | Before You Open Another Tab, Open Your 401(k) |
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| There's a very specific kind of confidence that comes from contributing to your 401(k) every paycheck. It feels responsible, adulting at its finest, and financially stable-adjacent.
And then someone asks what it's actually invested in.
That's usually where the conversation ends.
The part that gets overlooked is this: contributing is step one. What you're invested in (and what you're paying) is what determines whether that money quietly compounds or quietly underperforms for the next 30 years.
In her latest Substack, Tess Waresmith, Accredited Financial Counselor®, walks through three things worth checking the next time you log in.
The target date fund question
Target date funds are often the default, which makes them convenient, but they're not identical across providers. Some shift into conservative allocations earlier than you'd expect. Some carry higher expense ratios than similar options. Some assume a retirement age that doesn't match your actual plan.
If you selected one years ago and haven't revisited it since, it's worth a second look.
The fee situation
Fees are subtle. They don't announce themselves. You won't get a push notification that says, "Hey, this is costing you six figures over time."
A half-percent to one-percent difference sounds negligible in the short term. Over decades of compounding, it is not negligible. It is math doing what math does.
The stock-to-bond mix
Allocation should reflect your timeline, not your fear level on a random Tuesday.
Too much in bonds early in your career can dampen long-term growth. Too aggressive later on can introduce volatility you may not want. The right mix depends on when you'll need the money and how much fluctuation you're comfortable seeing along the way.
None of this requires becoming an investing expert.
It requires logging in, looking at what you own, and confirming that it aligns with the life you're building, not the default settings you clicked through during onboarding.
You can read Tess's full breakdown here, or you can join us for a live 401(k) workshop, designed for anyone who would rather understand this once and move on, than continue half-guessing forever.
Inside the free session, she'll cover: What actually matters when evaluating your 401(k) How to assess what you're currently invested in Straightforward ways to choose investments, even if you don't follow the markets
Your 401(k) is one of the few financial tools designed to compound in the background for decades.
It deserves at least one intentional look.
Save your seat here. |
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| | | | How The Most Effective People Structure Their Days |
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| A full calendar doesn't automatically translate into meaningful progress. Between inbox time (which averages 13 hours a week for many professionals), Slack notifications, and constant context switching, entire afternoons disappear into maintenance work.
HubSpot just dropped this free guide paired with four practical templates designed to improve time management and reduce distraction at the structural level.
The kit walks through identifying your biggest productivity drains, building sustainable daily habits, prioritizing projects more effectively, and tracking progress against real goals, whether you're in-office or remote.
You can download the full guide and templates here. |
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| | | | Keeping Long-Tenured Employees Engaged |
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| Leaders often assume tenure equals stability. In reality, long-tenured employees are the most likely to reassess their relationship with work.
After five, ten, or fifteen years, the job may be familiar. Sometimes too familiar. Responsibilities that once felt ambitious can start to feel routine. Outside of work, life rarely stands still. Priorities shift, family structures change, financial pressures evolve, and energy fluctuates.
When leadership continues managing someone as if they are the same person who joined years ago, disengagement is predictable.
Start with relevance
The most useful question isn't "How do I motivate them?" It's "What does this role mean to them right now?"
A 30-year-old building a career and a 58-year-old approaching retirement may sit in the same department, but their relationship to work is fundamentally different. One may want acceleration. The other may want autonomy, impact, or flexibility.
Motivation tied to promotion and compensation works for some life stages. For others, purpose, stability, flexibility, or legacy matter more.
Leaders who keep tenured employees engaged update their assumptions.
Understand the life context
Long-term employees are often managing more complexity outside the office than they were a decade ago. That can include caregiving for children and aging parents, health changes, financial planning for retirement, or simply a reassessment of what success looks like.
Instead of guessing, ask directly: What feels important to you right now—professionally and personally? What would make the next five years here meaningful? Are there responsibilities outside of work that are shaping what you need from your role?
These conversations should not feel like performance reviews. They are recalibration sessions.
Adjust the levers
Engagement strategies should match the stage.
Employees nearing retirement often respond to opportunities that acknowledge impact like mentoring younger colleagues, leading special projects, documenting institutional knowledge, or contributing to long-term strategy. Public recognition of legacy can matter more than incremental pay increases.
Mid-career employees with growing families may prioritize flexibility, predictable schedules, and meaningful development paths over title changes. Access to leadership training or stretch projects can reintroduce challenge without requiring constant upward movement.
Employees navigating caregiving responsibilities frequently need structural support: flexible hours, remote work options, and policies that reflect modern family realities. These are operational decisions, not perks.
Empty nesters or seasoned contributors may want new terrain entirely—cross-functional work, advisory roles, travel assignments, or phased retirement structures that allow them to reduce hours without disengaging completely.
Loyalty follows alignment
Long-tenured employees stay when their role continues to align with their evolving priorities. They leave when the organization assumes their motivations are frozen in time.
The work of retention at this stage is less about incentives and more about relevance. It requires listening without immediately converting feedback into a transactional exchange.
When employees feel understood in context, not just evaluated for output, they tend to reciprocate with steadier commitment.
Sustaining engagement over decades is less about keeping people "energized" and more about ensuring their work continues to fit the life they are actually living.
That adjustment, repeated over time, is what keeps experience in the building. |
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| | | | Free Event in TWO Days: The AI ROI Conference (March 5) |
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| One day. Ten sessions. The best strategies for driving AI ROI in 2026.
Getting AI right is not about being first, it's about being smart. So instead of gambling on unproven ideas, "fast follow" on strategies that work today for real enterprise leaders.
Join Section for their free, bi-annual AI:ROI Conference: the leading virtual event for heads of AI looking to get real business value from their AI investment.
No gatekeeping, no pitching, no BS. Just high-calorie insights from leaders who have earned them the hard way.
Register here for free. |
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| | | Stuff We're Loving This Week |
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| 🎉 Birthday, baby or wedding at the office? GroupTogether makes it fun for the whole team to sign a card online. |
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| 💋 Thania cannot shut up about the pomegranate peach flavor in this lip mask. |
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🗓️ Upcoming Events
* Smart Girl Society is our private community for women who want deeper conversations, accountability, and tools that actually make life easier. Join the waitlist to get in the next round.
👑 Work Wisdom of the Week:
"Build a Personal Board of Directors and meet with them regularly:
2-3 family or friends who will hold you accountable. Someone in your field. Someone who is in or has been in your circumstance. Someone who is one of your greatest cheerleaders. Someone who has and is ready to critique you. Someone who is a leader in the area in which you aspire to grow or succeed. Someone of another generation. Someone who can introduce you to others.
EVERY position I have had over the past 25 years came directly from my PBoD." — Alysia Green (Senior HRBP) |
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