Meet with PWL Capital: https://pages.pwlcapital.com/en-ca/contact-us?utm_source=content&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=rationalreminder_yt Avoid Online Scams https://pwlcapital.com/stay-safe-online/ Ben Felix or any PWL employee will never reach out to you on social media platforms or WhatsApp to give financial advice. These are scammers trying to commit fraud. In this episode, we’re joined by David C. Brown, Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Arizona, for a deep dive into the mechanics, performance, and pitfalls of target date funds (TDFs)—the most common investment vehicle in U.S. retirement accounts. David has spent years researching glide paths, benchmarking methods, and industry practices to uncover whether these “set it and forget it” funds actually serve investors well. We unpack why benchmarking TDFs is so difficult, what really drives their underperformance, and how tactical deviations from strategic glide paths often harm investors. David explains how fees, active management, and fund structure combine to create persistent drag—and why dispersion across TDF providers is shockingly wide. We also discuss behavioral challenges, the influence of glide path design, and whether innovations like “indexing the indexers” could improve outcomes. David also shares insights on his side project, the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge, where students compete in gamified problem-solving competitions (yes, Excel on ESPN!), and reflects on his own definition of success. This conversation sheds light on a massively important—but often misunderstood—corner of the retirement landscape, giving investors and plan sponsors practical tools to demand better. Timestamps: 0:00:00 Intro 0:06:00 David explains what a QDIA is 0:06:34 David explains what a Target Date Fund is 0:09:00 Why it's difficult to benchmark or compare target date funds 0:11:48 How Davide approaches benchmarking target date funds in his research 0:16:55 How target date funds perform relative to their replicating benchmarks 0:24:02 Whether any evidence that investors or plan sponsors are aware of how their target date funds are performing has been found 0:30:36 In designing an alternative solution, how David would address the dispersion in glide paths across target date fund families 0:34:35 How David measures the intended glidepath of a fund family 0:36:55 The effect increasingly active tactical glidepath changes has on target date fund returns 0:41:25 How David knows that he's not just observing incomplete rebalancing at his sampling intervals 0:44:00 David's views on the state of target date funds, based on his research 0:48:14 David's opinion of Scott Cederberg's 100% equity lifecycle portfolio research 0:53:55 What David hopes individuals and plan sponsors will do with his research 0:59:50 David defines success in his life Links From Today’s Episode: Glide Path Financial: https://glidepathfinancial.com Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582. Rational Reminder Website — https://rationalreminder.ca/ Rational Reminder on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/rationalreminder/ Rational Reminder on X — https://x.com/RationalRemind Rational Reminder on TikTok — www.tiktok.com/@rationalreminder Rational Reminder on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/ Rational Reminder Email — info@rationalreminder.ca Benjamin Felix — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/ Benjamin on X — https://x.com/benjaminwfelix Benjamin on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminwfelix/ Cameron Passmore — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/ Cameron on X — https://x.com/CameronPassmore Cameron on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronpassmore/