Retirement

Laurence D. Fink thinks U.S. employers should be required to put money aside for their employees’ retirement, similar to Australia’s superannuation system.

The Fidelity Investments findings show that average balances in small business retirement savings plans increased 20% since 2007, and jumped an average of 64% over 2008 when balances were generally at their lowest point.

Nearly three out of five retirees say they retired earlier than they expected, according to a survey of retirees and pre-retirees conducted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Just one in nine pre-retirees, meanwhile, is completely confident in their ability to pay for their health care retirement expenses.

The Illinois House of Representatives approved a bill designed to repair the nation’s worst-funded pension system by raising contribution levels for state employees and delaying the retirement age.

Less than half (42%) were aware that that their take-home pay would decline this year due to the recent elimination of the payroll tax holiday by Congress. The awareness was greater among men.

According to this week’s 401(k) Performance Survey, approximately 5% of 401(k) plans, or 13,811 plans, stopped matching in 2010, and an additional 2% halted the employer match in 2011.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. climbed in New York trading yesterday after profit beat estimates and the insurer’s margins widened.

Studying a plan sponsor with 200,000 participants and a 25% annual turnover rate, BRG found that departing employees with personalized start-to-finish help from impartial counselors cut cashout rates in half and saved an estimated $6 million in costs.

INTEGRATING 401(k) PLAN ADMIN, PAYROLL

Transamerica’s Stig Nybo author of Transform Tomorrow: Awakening the Super Saver in Pursuit of Retirement Readiness on how building a proper retirement nest egg is a big social crisis.