Your Childhood Trauma Score Now Determines Your Retirement Plan Fee Structure
As of January 2026, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) has mandated that all retirement plan administrators must implement the newly launched Childhood Trauma Assessment™ (CTA™) protocol. Yes, you read that correctly: Your 401(k)’s annual expense ratio is now partially determined by how much you endured during your formative years.
The system works like this: During your initial retirement plan enrollment, you’re required to complete a 27-question CTA™ survey that asks probing questions like “Describe the worst day of your childhood in three paragraphs” and “Rate your earliest memory of parental absence on a 1-10 trauma scale.” Your answers are processed through a proprietary algorithm that assigns you one of five trauma classifications, each with a corresponding fee multiplier.