There may be a place where alternative facts meet alternative investments.

Members of Congress are calling for an investigation into thousands of public comments made in support of the Department of Labor’s proposal allowing 401(k) plans to more easily offer alternative investments, including private equity and cryptocurrency.

Last week, Reps. Bobby Scott and Jamie Raskin and Sen. Bernie Sanders asked the Justice Department and FBI to investigate nearly 12,000 comments that show signs of being manufactured. In some cases, people whose names were attached to comments said they never submitted them; in others, the names belonged to people who had died, per Bloomberg. The supportive comments also generally lacked identifying information included in many of the more than 30,000 comments opposing the proposal.

The lawmakers’ request raises a broader question: How much genuine demand is there among workers for these investments, and how much of the push is coming from the industry? “Let’s be serious. There is hardly anyone in the 401(k) investing public who is interested in or knowledgeable enough about alts to clamor for them, or for that matter, to oppose them,” said Chris Chen, owner of Insight Financial Strategist. “So 12,000 fake comments? The opposite would be surprising.”

Cost of Freedom

The Trump administration has promoted greater access to alternative investments as a matter of investor choice. But private assets can also have higher fees, limited liquidity and less transparency than public-market investments.

“My concern is that the average 401(k) investor wouldn’t have the resources or experience to properly evaluate them,” said William Lofley, a CFP with HBKS Wealth Advisors. “It would be difficult for an individual investor to discern between a genuine opportunity and simply being the ‘exit liquidity’ for an investment that institutional investors no longer want.”

Asset managers have found mixed interest:

• Invesco’s 2026 survey of 517 defined-contribution plan participants found private equity was the private-market strategy participants expressed the most interest in, but 40% reported neutral, confused, intimidated or negative reactions.
• Meanwhile, DC consultants and advisors expect private assets to gain ground in 401(k)s, according to a recent T. Rowe Price study. Outside of hedge funds, respondents expect broad use of alternative investments over the next two years, with private credit and private equity leading the way.

Follow the Money. At the end of June, private equity firms held 33,575 unsold portfolio companies, according to PitchBook. That backlog could create an incentive for private equity firms to seek new sources of capital, said JP Geisbauer, founder of Centerpoint Financial Management. “Offering these alts in 401(k) plans gives these PE companies access to capital that they would not otherwise have,” he said.

Time for a family meeting.

Having a written financial plan can boost clients’ confidence around saving for retirement, healthcare costs and transferring funds to younger generations. But trust in the plan only goes so far: Only 37% of American adults, many of whom have financial plans, said they have strong peace of mind about their futures, according to a recent Fidelity study. There is an answer: Talk about it. Parents who communicate completed financial plans to family are more than three times as likely to have confidence in their planning, the company found.

Regular family discussions can also benefit advisors by improving the likelihood that assets stay in-house when transferred to clients’ children. “You’re doing the right thing as a fiduciary, but secondly, it’s a no-brainer to tag in the next generation,” said Ryan Mumy, CEO of Sollinda Wealth. He tells his team to invite clients’ adult children to events, whether it’s a ball game or a big dinner, just something to put a face to the name.

Can’t We Discuss This Later?

Money talk is traditionally seen as taboo. Josh Norris, founder of LeFleur Financial, said a client once asked whether it was awkward talking to people about their finances every day. “She was a nurse who sees naked patients on a regular basis,” he said. “People just find discussing their financial lives to be difficult, even when they have a lot of money.”

One of the biggest challenges is that parents don’t want their kids to see how much money they have, said Michael Lockwood, founder of Oakwood Wealth Partners. “The parents are so afraid of creating trust-fund babies,” he said. “They want them to still be motivated and incentivized to find a career suited for them versus hopping around job to job because they know they have money coming to them.”

The Fidelity report also found:

• More than a third of parents who have experienced a major health event have never had an open dialogue with their adult children about financial and healthcare plans.
• Concerning estate, healthcare and retirement planning, one-third of parents say they’ve never talked to their children, while only 20% have had many discussions.

Let’s Talk, Turkey. Many parents say they don’t know how to start the conversation. At the very least, they should tell their children where important financial documents are, Mumy said. “Beyond the grief of dealing with sickness, disability, hospital stay or death is, ‘Oh, what about the money?’” he said. “It piles on that anxiety.”

But advisors should help clients discuss more than numbers, said Joy Slabaugh, founder of the Wealth Alignment Institute. “Understanding the family’s values and intentions around wealth can be just as important as knowing what they may eventually inherit,” she said, adding that the hardest conversations often involve inheritance, unequal distributions and family businesses.

The US just weathered its hottest summer on record. Storms in the Midwest caused a blackout in Gary, Indiana, that left residents without power for 14 days. Texas battled flash flooding after its second 1,000-year rainfall event in two years. Advisors should be talking with clients about protecting their finances against worst-case scenarios.

“Having a written plan and reviewing it regularly, I think that’s a critical step,” said Andrew Crowell, vice chairman of wealth management at D.A. Davidson. “Too many people start taking vitamins after they already have a sore throat.”

Today’s Preparation Is Tomorrow’s Success

Crowell breaks down preparation into four buckets: financial, practical (the plan in the event of an emergency), communication (in case there’s no cell service) and emotional support.

On the financial side, making sure that insurance is comprehensive and up to date is one of the biggest ways for clients to be prepared. Many homeowners haven’t kept track of the rising prices of materials that they would need to rebuild their home, and the insurance they bought 10 years ago may no longer cover the actual rebuild cost. “It’s critical that people do an insurance review annually, the same way you get an annual physical,” Crowell said.

A few other suggestions:

• Digitizing: Clients should make copies of important paperwork and take a video inventory of their possessions to prevent insurance headaches afterward.
• If possible, people should avoid making big financial decisions in the first 30 days after a disaster, since it’s hard to think clearly.
• With rising insurance rates, sometimes the only answer is moving. Peter Krull, director of sustainable investing at Earth Equity Advisors, encourages clients in flood-prone areas to consider relocating somewhere with lower risks.

Haven Help Us. Even those who don’t live in areas that are typically prone to climate disasters can find themselves dealing with extreme weather events. Krull lives in Asheville, North Carolina, which was largely considered to be a “climate haven” before Hurricane Helene struck the city in 2024. “We learned that there is no such thing as a climate haven anymore,” he said. “It may not be a hurricane. But it might be a drought, or it might be different weather patterns but no place is immune … There ultimately isn’t a lot you can do other than to determine, ‘Where am I living, and what are my risks here?’”