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Last week the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached record highs. Many expect the Standard & Poor's 500, a broader market index, to follow the Dow's lead soon. Is this a time to consider committing significantly to U.S. equities, or a time to take profits?

A suite of the nation’s most powerful benefits-related branding assets is available for sale or licensure — the related federally registered trademark and four web domains associated with benefits.com. Where should the bidding start?

The number of employers offering a sponsored retirement plan slightly increased in 2012 from four years prior, while matches and employer contributions remained near constant, according to a survey released today by WorldatWork and the American Benefits Institute.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission may launch an investigation into pay discrimination, one legal expert warns — even before formal charges are filed. The agency, as part of the president’s task force on pay enforcement, already is implementing pilot projects to audit employers near New York, Chicago and Phoenix.

The increased accounts and balances were expected in a recent EBRI/MGA survey, but other analysts’ predictions are being confounded. For example, no real correlation was found between account balance and healthy behaviors.

More than 1,400 retirement plan advisers enjoyed three days of insights from their colleagues and leading retirement plan providers at the 2013 National Association of Plan Advisors/American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries 401(k) Summit. Here are some highlights. [Photos: © James Tkatch, 2013]

Plan fiduciaries are more vulnerable than ever on a lot of legal and regulatory fronts, including the financial statements included with their 5500 filings. In an era when 5500 forms and their attachments quickly enter the public domain online via E-fast 2, available to anyone -- including an enlarged army of DOL inspectors hunting for anomalies, “fiduciaries need to be on the top of their game,” warns Dave Dacey, CPA, a partner with the WithumSmith+Brown and leader of the firm’s Employee Benefit & Pension Plans Group.

New Jersey’s public pension deficit swelled 13% to $47.2 billion in fiscal 2012 as the state continued to make partial contributions to its retirement plans.

The number of employers offering a sponsored retirement plan slightly increased in 2012 from four years prior, while matches and employer contributions remained near constant, according to a survey released today by WorldatWork and the American Benefits Institute.

Older U.S. adults may get too many colonoscopies, costing Medicare an estimated $500 million a year and putting patients at an increased risk of side effects such as bleeding, researchers found.