The Journal. Private Equity and Crypto Could Be Coming for Your 401k
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Aug 21, 2025 Join WSJ journalist Anne Targesen as she delves into the evolving landscape of 401ks. With President Trump's recent executive order, she discusses the potential for everyday Americans to invest in private equity and cryptocurrencies. Targesen weighs the risks and rewards of these high-risk assets against traditional investment strategies. Explore how the shift from pensions to 401k plans has opened new doors for diversification, while highlighting the excitement and concerns surrounding these changes in retirement savings.
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Personal Memory Of A Traditional Pension
- Pensions once guaranteed retiree income if employees stayed at a company for their career.
- Anne Targesen recounts her grandfather's steady IBM pension as an example of that system.
How 401(k)s Replaced Pensions
- 401(k)s replaced pensions by shifting risk and portability to employees and making plans portable across jobs.
- That portability and tax advantage drove broad adoption even though plans were originally aimed at executives.
Target Date Funds Make Saving Passive
- Target date funds let employers auto-enroll employees into age-based portfolios that grow more conservative over time.
- They enable passive investing for many workers who are otherwise hands-off about allocations.