My favorite hour of my job is the hour when we do the 401(k) onboarding presentation to company employees.
It's the time after Tavis Boise has walked the HR team through plan design, after we've set up payroll so it runs smoothly for HR, after we've made the investment decisions, when the employees get access to their new logins...
The 401(k) onboarding presentation is the hour when I get to help employees understand the financial system that they live in, and their investment options.
Without fail, there's always the lightbulb moments where a few employees finally connect the dots on investing, they thank the HR leaders for setting up the retirement plan, and there is a feeling of meaningful delight.
That their company and HR leaders have gone through the effort to help them.
Many times the delight is from no longer fearing investing. Sometimes it's of knowing they have people who are more than there to help, but excited to help.
I guess this goes back to my financial literacy nerd mom, but I love these moments.
401(k)s and retirement investing can feel so distant and vague, but in those moments it breaks through.
And there is even a cherry on top moment, where I get people who start to hear about all the companies building solutions to climate change. Not in the future, but now. And they get excited about what is possible.
After all, investing is a story about the future.