Access to a Financial Advisor as Part of a Workplace Retirement Plan

Does your 401(k) or other retirement plan also offer the chance to speak with a financial advisor as part of the plan?

I was listening to NPR this weekend and they mentioned that virtually no employers include the option to periodically consult with financial planners free of charge as part of their retirement plans; the commentator's opinion was that virtually no employers offer this benefit because of the liability this would open the employer up to if the recommended investment does not pan out as well as the investor would have hoped for.

I could see his point, as it is quite common to see class action litigation by a disappointed investor (supposedly on behalf of all investors) when a stock drops or someone makes a recommendation and it doesn't pan out (financial advisers have gotten sued over this and some banks have based similarly been sued based upon the ratings their analysts give stocks that end up under performing those ratings.).  I am not aware of cases where a disappointed investor or group of investors has sued a mutual fund based on bad stock picks but I am sure it has happened.  And just from a legal perspective an employer in this scenario might have an even harder time defending itself because most retirement plans offer a limited variety of mutual funds, etc. to choose from, so the investor might have an even easier time arguing the options are all improper, including whichever one the financial advisor recommended.

It saddens me that this (in my view) unnecessary litigation means people don't get the benefit of professional assistance with probably the most important financial challenge we will all face in our lifetimes-saving for retirement.  

My wife works for the state government and does have access to consult with a financial advisor for free as part of the state retirement plan (although we have yet to use that service).  That made me want to do so, even if only to make sure we are on the right track.