Ted Benna, the financial executive known as the "Father of the 401(k)," has co-created a new employer-funded retirement plan called Radish [1].
The new system addresses a critical gap in modern workforce stability by allowing employees to access funds for immediate needs without relying on paycheck deductions. This shift acknowledges that many current workers lack the disposable income required to contribute to traditional savings plans while managing daily costs.
Benna, who is 84 years old [1], introduced the concept during a July 2026 feature and appearance on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg This Weekend" [1, 2]. Under the Radish model, employers fund the plan, and workers can withdraw money to cover urgent expenses such as medical bills, or car repairs [1, 2].
This approach differs from the original 401(k) structure, which Benna said helped turn workers into savers. However, he said that the current economic environment prevents many employees from affording those contributions [1]. By providing a mechanism for immediate flexibility, Radish aims to help workers build long-term retirement security without sacrificing their current financial solvency.
The plan is designed to provide a safety net that does not penalize the worker's take-home pay. Instead of deducting from a salary that may already be stretched thin, the employer-funded nature of the plan allows the assets to grow while remaining accessible for emergencies [1, 2].
Benna's latest venture represents a pivot from the individual-contribution model he pioneered decades ago. The new plan seeks to balance the necessity of long-term saving with the reality of short-term financial volatility facing the U.S. workforce [1].
“Radish is meant to give workers immediate financial flexibility while still building retirement savings.”
The introduction of Radish signals a shift in retirement philosophy from strict long-term accumulation to a hybrid model of liquidity and saving. By moving the funding burden to the employer and allowing emergency withdrawals, the plan attempts to solve the 'participation gap' where low-income workers cannot afford to save for the future because they are struggling to survive the present.
