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Two key senators reintroduced legislation to provide greater flexibility for small businesses interested in offering SIMPLE plans as an option for saving for retirement.
Introduced Feb. 4 by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mark Warner (D-VA), the SIMPLE Plan Modernization Act (S. 322) would, among...
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The Senate Special Committee on Aging in a Feb. 6 hearing, “Financial Security in Retirement: Innovations and Best Practices to Promote Savings,” listened to ideas from a panel of experts on how to increase retirement savings and enhance Americans’ financial readiness to retire.
“As Americans live...
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Bills before the Oregon Senate would create a statutory responsibility for employers to indicate that they are exempt from participating in OregonSaves, and a penalty for not participating if they are eligible to do so.
SB 165 would direct employers to indicate on annual state tax withholding...
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Much attention rightfully has been placed on the gap between what Americans need in order to finance their retirements, and what they have and/or are projected to amass. But recent studies uncover another gap relevant to retirement security — that between what they should know and what they...
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The Oregon State Treasury reports that OregonSaves, the state-run auto-IRA program for private-sector employees whose employers do not offer a retirement plan, continues to grow in registrations and assets.
According to the Treasury, the number of employers registered with OregonSaves and the...
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Fourth quarter volatility pushed average 401(k) account balances down from earlier record highs, but investors apparently didn’t panic, data from Fidelity Investment indicates.
The firm notes in its quarterly analysis of retirement savings trends that the average 401(k) balance experienced a 10%...
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Five years ago, employers were just starting to provide workers with financial benefits beyond their retirement plan, but now financial wellness appears to be firmly entrenched in the benefits space, according to a recent report.
Nearly two-thirds of employers say they are very likely to take...
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We have more access — and easier access — to information than at any time in human history. And a good fiduciary can identify which of it will most affect clients and their accounts, argues a recent blog entry.
In “A Fiduciary Must Separate the Wheat from the Hype,” Christopher Carosa argues that...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has updated its Staff Responses to Practitioner Questions webpage to include additional information about guaranteed benefits, reportable events and standard terminations. The page provides a useful look at the PBGC’s take on particular situations...
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The “January effect” looks to be in full force for the average 401(k) balance.
That effect is a seasonal increase in stock prices during the month of January, which has been attributed to a number of things, generally a rebound from tax-loss related stock sales in December.
And if December’s...
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It’s been said that Millennials, whose influence grows daily, generally don’t like the name their generation has been given. And while much has been written about them, Millennials do share undeniable characteristics — some of which have important implications for the retirement industry.
Speaking...
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House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richie Neal (D-MA) announced Jan. 30 that the committee will hold a hearing on Feb. 6 on improving retirement security for America’s workers.
It is anticipated that the hearing will be the first of many focusing on retirement security issues, eventually...
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The political climate has changed and this necessitates some new approaches, American Retirement Association (ARA) CEO Brian Graff indicated in remarks at a Jan. 28 session at the 2019 30th Anniversary NTSA Summit held in Tampa, FL.
Graff attributed the results of the November 2018 elections not...
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A managed account provider and a recordkeeper platform have been sued for conspiring to direct participant savings to expensive, affiliated funds.
Plaintiff Kimberly Davis worked for Palace Entertainment in Greensboro, NC and Riverhead, NY, and participated in its 401(k) retirement plan that...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has announced that its mediation program is now permanent. In addition, it reports, it has expanded the program. The PBGC launched a pilot mediation program in October 2017.
The program originally offered mediation with certain termination liability...
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Pension de-risking occurred at a brisk pace in 2018. In fact, it was so robust, says a recent study, that if trends continue, a “significant portion” of the $3 trillion-plus of pension plan liabilities that have not been de-risked will be transferred in the next 10 years.
A variety of factors are...
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The threat of being sued continues to dominate plan sponsor reluctance of being too innovative with their defined contribution plans, a recent study finds.
According to Alight Solution’s 2019 Hot Topics in Retirement and Financial Wellbeing report, “Building on the past, working toward the future...
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When it comes to participant communications, a new white paper suggests that some retirement plan terms have meanings that are completely out of step with the definitions most people associate with them.
In “Boosting the effectiveness of retirement plan communications,” the Empower Institute...
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In order to serve a client effectively — and fulfill fiduciary duties, BTW — a fiduciary of course must know their client. And one also must pursue the client’s best interest. But it’s possible that those goals may not always be congruent; in fact, they may even be mutually exclusive, argues a...
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A fiduciary must be prudent. But what exactly is prudence? A recent blog entry broaches the subject.
In “Dear Prudence,” an entry in the blog The Research Puzzle, Tom Brakke writes that “at the core” of laws and regulations that guide those who assist others in managing their assets “is the...
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