Paula Aven Gladych

The majority of investors still believe in the American dream but many workers do not have a written financial plan to help them achieve their retirement goals.

While they have become a standard option in most employer-sponsored retirement programs, how much do participants really know about glide paths and real TDF performance?

There are a few factors holding plan sponsors back from offering many of the tools that have been shown to increase retirement plan participation and outcomes.

Market timing and frequent trades within 401(k) plan mutual funds seem to be a thing of the past, according to the Government Accountability Office.

When employers are talking to employees about retirement readiness, Social Security benefits should figure into the conversation, particularly for those nearing retirement.

Participation in employer-sponsored 401(k) plans has slowly crept up over the past decade, in large part because of actions taken by plan sponsors.

Small businesses will pay a big price if the Department of Labor’s proposed changes to the fiduciary rules go into effect, says the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Expanding the electronic options for delivering required financial information to 401(k) plan participants could benefit both employers and employees, but Department of Labor and IRS rules often conflict about when employers can use electronic communication for their retirement plans.

While employers may recognize that the amount of time employees will spend in retirement is growing, people around the world fail to reflect this trend in their long-term financial planning.

Women tend to stress out more than men when it comes to retirement, but they also report more positive experiences in retirement.

Educational programs around retirement have become more robust over the years but retirement plan participants are still not sure what to do with their accumulated wealth once they can access it.

Many assume that a wealthy upbringing is essential for an early retirement, but recent studies show those who plan to retire early were no more likely to describe their family growing up as wealthy/affluent, or financially comfortable, than people who planned to stay in the workforce longer.

In Tibble v. Edison, the Supreme Court did not expound on what a retirement plan fiduciary's duty to monitor entails, which is a bone of contention for ERISA attorneys and 401(k) plan sponsors.

Although 401(k) plan participation is increasing, employees are not actively managing their accounts.

In the past two years, the corporate pension buy-out market has surged with more than $49 billion in transactions, and that trend should continue unabated as large employers try to shift pension debt off their books.

May 29 is 529 Day, a national observance that acknowledges the importance of the college savings tool, but 66% of Americans still don’t understand what 529 plans are.

If your retirement plan provider hasn’t yet entered the mobile app market, you could be missing out on an important opportunity to educate your 401(k) plan members.

To avoid breach of fiduciary duty claims in the future, retirement plan sponsors need to reexamine the investment policy statement for their 401(k) plans to make sure they are doing enough to make sure workers’ retirement funds are invested in the lowest fee and best investments possible.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision Monday that could have far-reaching implications for how long a retirement plan participant has to sue an employer for breach of fiduciary duty in a 401(k) plan.

A bipartisan bill recently introduced in the House and Senate would require employer-sponsored retirement plans to provide participants with an estimate of how much lifetime income they could expect from their current savings.