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Money For the Rest of Us

Should Private Assets, Gold, and Crypto Be Investment Options in 401k and other Defined Contribution Plans?

Money For the Rest of Us

J. David Stein

Investing, Investing Podcast, Business, Economics, Economy

4.5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A new executive order could radically reshape retirement investing by allowing private equity, crypto, and gold in 401(k) plans. This episode examines the factors driving the demand for alternative assets in defined-contribution plans, the potential risks to everyday investors, and why fiduciary rules and financial literacy gaps still matter.

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Show Notes

Trump Executive Order to Help Open Up 401(k)s to Private Markets by Miriam Gottfried, Dylan Tokar, and Matt Wirz—The Wall Street Journal

Donald Trump set to open US retirement market to crypto investments by Antoine Gara, Jamie John, and Stephanie Stacey—The Financial Times

U.S. Labor Department Allows Private Equity in 401(k) Plans by Chris Cumming—The Wall Street Journal

U.S. Department of Labor Supplement Statement on Private Equity in Defined Contribution Plan Designated Investment Alternatives—U.S. Department of Labor

State Street New TDF Includes Private Assets by PSCA Net Staff—PSCA

The Power of Private Markets by Robert Crothers et al.—BlackRock

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT OPINION No. 22-16268

The Relentless Ask: Private Markets Are Eating the World by Michael Batnick—The Irrelevant Investor

Don’t Buy Into This Easy Fix for Stock-Market Craziness by Jason Zweig—The Wall Street Journal

The Private Equity Boom Is Leaving Midsize Players Behind by Preeti Singh and Laura Benitez—Bloomberg

401(k) Retirement Plans: Many Participants Do Not Understand Fee Information, but DOL Could Take Additional Steps to Help Them—U.S. Government Accountability Office

DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS AND THE CHALLENGE OF FINANCIAL ILLITERACY by Jill E. Fisch, Annamaria Lusardi, and Andrea Hasler—Cornell

On Endowments and Unintended Consequences by Paul Kedrosky—Paul Kedrosky

Related Episodes

509: How to Invest in Private Credit / Direct Lending?

497: How to Fix the Retirement Savings Crisis

490: Should You Invest in Private Equity?

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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:05.2

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of searching and several paid subscriptions.

0:34.6

Experience it yourself with a seven-day free trial at Assetcamp.com. That's

0:41.0

A-S-S-E-T-C-A-M-P.com. Welcome to Money for the rest of us. This is a personal finance show

0:48.8

on money, how it works, how to invest it, and how to live without worrying about it. I'm your host David Stein.

0:54.9

Today is episode 532. It's titled, Should private assets, gold, and crypto be investment options

1:03.2

in 401k and other defined contribution plans? Last week, both the Wall Street Journal and

1:09.6

Financial Times reported that President Trump

1:12.6

is expected to sign an executive order in the coming days that would allow more private market

1:20.0

investments in defined contribution plans in the U.S. The executive orders is expected to direct

1:27.0

the Labor Department and the Securities

1:29.7

and Exchange Commission to provide guidance to employers and plan administrators as to how

1:36.2

these type of private assets could be included. This could include private credit, private equity,

1:43.5

leverage buyout funds, venture capital, could include gold, cryptocurrency.

1:48.7

We're not exactly sure.

1:50.7

The White House, in a statement released at the Financial Times, said President Trump is committed to restoring prosperity for everyday Americans and safeguarding their economic future. No decisions should be

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