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Just under an hour ago, the DOL-SEC hearing on target-date funds got underway. (No need to miss out on the events! Click here for a list of today's speakers and link to the live webcast.) Scheduled to testify today is Jeff Coons, co-director of research at Manning & Napier Advisors. The firm's primary gig is managing lifecycle investments for employer clients to the tune of about $16 billion. I spoke with Coons yesterday to get
June 18
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With barely one generation of retirees under its belt, I think it's premature to say this, but here's a report (and accompanying video) from Fortune allt he same with a screaming headline: 'Has the 401(k) failed?' Granted, the economic collapse of last fall showed the biggest flaw of the 401(k) is that it has fast become workers' last best chance at securing their retirement, yet is vulnerable to the swings of the stock market. No,
June 18 -
We're entering the thick of baseball season; you can tell because the fastballs flying at you from Capitol Hill are coming fast and furious. From COBRA to HIPAA to health care reform, you need to keep your eye on the fastballs. Otherwise, as EBN Contributing Editor Nancy L. Bolton says, "they'll pop us on the head."
June 17 -
According to new research from investment advisory firm Financial Engines, although most 401(k) plan participants suffered significant losses in last year's economic collapse, with the right planning 'most people can recover, if they don't panic and were on a good track to start,' says Wei-Yin Hu, the firm's director of investment analysis and research.
June 17 -
Claims recovery services are supposed to work for you, but does it at times feel a bit more like a game of three-card monty? If so, this month's 'View from the Andes' column might help. Contributing Editor Karrie Andes voices her frustration with such vendors and offers her first-hand experience on how to beat them at their own game, so to speak. Click here to read how to beat the bamboozler.
June 16 -
Although I'm pleased as punch that you're reading the Daily Diversion today and sincerely hope you're also following EBN's updates on Facebook and Twitter, your manager might be much less thrilled. In a recent report on BenefitNews.com, Associate Editor Lydell C. Bridgeford relays details from a recent Deloitte survey that finds 60% of employers say they're will within their rights to monitor your social media interactions, and 17% in fact have programs in place to
June 16 -
Speaking today before attendees at the American Medical Association's annual meeting, President Obama called the current state of the nation's health care system a "ticking time bomb," saying, "If we don't fix health care, America may go the way of GM: Paying more, getting less and going broke."Reminding the physicians in attendance that to most Americans -- including the first family -- "you are the health care system; we just do what you tell us
June 15 -
We've all done it: Sent out an RFP for a new vendor/service provider and been rewarded with reams of paper that takes weeks to read through and in the end, may or may not contain the information we need to make an informed decision. If you've thought, 'There's gotta be a better way,' EBN contributor Patrick Haraden agrees, and offers his 10 tips on streamlining the RFP process to save you both time and
June 15 -
If there's a silver lining to this year's swine flu outbreak, it's that more attention is being paid to the issue of mandatory paid sick leave, say the powers that be at the National Partnership of Women and Families. The org's president Debra Ness said recently: 'The recent scare over swine flu should have taught us that urging workers to stay home when they are sick is not effective if workers have to forfeit
June 15 -
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) Tuesday released his version of health care reform, the Affordable Health Choices Act. Notably absent from the bill, however, are the two main hot buttons of the reform debate an employer mandate and a public plan. Coincidence? I think not. However, what is in the bill is an individual mandate to buy health coverage that's on par with the benefits offered to government employees, and subsidies for small employers
June 10