Retirement

In case you have not noticed, there has been a flurry of regulatory activity surrounding defined contribution plans and DC advisers in particular. While there will be greater disclosure requirements, more advisers will be considered a fiduciary and it will be harder for advisers to represent a DC plan and the participants at the same time. Experienced DC advisers can use this activity to further distinguish themselves and grow their businesses.

The majority of employers want to prepare employees for a financially secure retirement, but have found educational campaigns unlikely to result in substantial changes in behavior. Employers walk a fine line when they implement automatic features; some argue that they enable lax saving habits and investment ignorance by funneling participants into plans automatically. On the other hand, Steve Utkus, director of Vanguard's Center for Retirement Research, recommends that employers use "participant inertia to their benefit and do it exclusively with plan design."

Investment strategist says debt ceiling deadline presents no real cause for concern for investors.

The Department of Labor has slightly delayed the deadlines on significant new affirmative obligations for fiduciaries of retirement plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Lincoln Trust Company has introduced the Personalized Expense Ratio for the 401(k) plans that it administers. The ratio is designed for participants, plan sponsors and advisers to see the actual cost of their plans without having to perform calculations themselves.

Employers are feeling confident about their financial futures and that means more new hires, fewer layoffs, and an increase in retirement benefits and reinstatements of certain benefits, according to the 12th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey released Tuesday.

Americans are expecting to retire later and work throughout it, according to a study sponsored by SunAmerica Financial Group in collaboration with Age Wave.

When Americans think about retirement one of the main obligations they feel is the need to offer financial assistance to their adult children. More than 60% of respondents to a July 12 SunAmerica Financial Group survey expect that they will be helping their adult children as well as their spouse, grandchildren and siblings.

American workers lapsed into investing inertia after the market collapsed in 2008, but standing still actually benefited many and helped their workplace retirement plan balances rebound by 31% between 2007 and 2010, Vanguard said this week.

When individuals are faced with too many options they become paralyzed and don’t make the best decisions — even when it comes to 401(k) options, according to a new study co-authored by Columbia Business School and University of Chicago Booth School of Business.