Retirement

Are your clients prepared for a 401(k) plan audit? When the Employee Benefits Security Administration knocks on the door and starts requesting plan documents, financial records, account statements, contracts and more, it can be overwhelming. The best offense is a good defense, so be prepared. Take a glimpse into a recent audit and the laundry list of documents requested.

Commentary: Automatic features have all helped retirement plan participants, but what should employers and committees discuss this year as they plan for future improvements in their plans as a way to seek to improve the retirement outcomes for their participants?

Connecticut lawmakers are considering a new plan to offer individual retirement accounts to private sector employees in a need of future retirement assistance.

Employees are much more fearful of making bad investment decisions than they are of doing nothing and missing out on a potentially good investment, leading many to invest too conservatively in their 401(k) plans.

As someone who has reviewed hundreds of retirement-related studies, I admit to being quite jaded with respect to retirement statistics: Various versions of "people are not saving enough", with no one telling me what I do not already know. However, I have to admit these figures - excerpted from pbs.org - caught even me off guard. See if you are as shocked as I was by these five statistics:

Good news for baby-boomers! More employers are actively recruiting workers 50 and over; while fewer mature workers say they plan to put-off retirement, a CareerBuilder Survey shows.

A new TIAA-CREF survey of employee-sponsored retirement plan participants uncovers a divide in that Americans are either not familiar or dissatisfied with their investment options.

Recent behavioral finance studies have shown that most participants invest too conservatively. Helping employees understand and overcome ambiguity is a good first step toward making them better 401(k) investors.

401(k) and 403(b) plan sponsors – armed with a professional retirement plan adviser – are more likely to painlessly administer and achieve fiduciary needs for participants, according to a new study from the Retirement Advisor Council.

With a divide among employer populations, a new survey meant to kick off America Saves Week finds that savings challenges remain as employees struggle to save what they can, both for their immediate needs and their eventual retirement.