Benefit plan design

The right employee benefits consultant partners with you to remove obstacles and help simplify today’s complex benefit issues so that you can focus your core business objectives. The time you invest up front can pay off enormously if you find a consultant who understands your needs and can help you build a strategy around them.

Generations X and Y prefer an adviser to give retirement information face-to-face rather than searching online, survey finds.

There may be a convergence of public and private exchanges and if that happens carriers need to adopt a more holistic approach and consider multiple retail channels to distribute their products as part of a multi-carrier approach or alliances such as those seen within the CO-OP market.

The past year was not a good one for the top 100 corporate pensions, according to research by Towers Watson. Falling interest rates and increased liabilities from updated mortality assumptions combined in 2014 to eradicate most of the gains from the previous year, Towers Watson found. The average funded status of the Towers Watson Pension 100 fell from 89% to 81% in 2014, even though plan assets gained in value. One bright note was that plan sponsors…

The much-anticipated rule that provides a new definition of who is a fiduciary was released by DOL this week to much fanfare. And while most people agree there won’t be much impact on plan sponsors, there are passionate groups on both sides of the aisle fighting for or against this new proposal.

Although interest in private exchanges is growing slowly among large employers, many still have reservations about whether exchanges will offer more value than the plans they already offer. So, how does a large employer determine if a private exchange is the right move?

It’s not often a company finds itself in a market position where it has the flexibility and agility of a newcomer, along with a storied history that provides name recognition and a solid base of existing expertise. Global financial services giant AXA is in this sweet spot as it enters the U.S. employee benefit business for the first time.

Anyone who works with people knows the positive effect offering high-quality employee benefits can have on a workforce. They attract the best potential candidates for new jobs and foster a sense of loyalty and support among current staff, in addition to other things.

Employees say nothing in their total rewards package stands out, and this perceived lack of differentiation could be damaging employers’ attraction and retention efforts.

Even when using a TPA, plan sponsors must retain documentation for loans and hardship withdrawals, IRS says.

Top- rated states and localities have shortchanged payments to retirement plans as rallying stocks ease the funding pressure while services such as schools and crumbling infrastructure scream for resources.

Modestly higher equity markets in the first quarter of 2015 were not enough to offset the effects of lower interest rates, resulting in lower pension funding ratios among U.S. defined benefit plans.

Employees of all ages want disability coverage, but rising health care costs, stagnant wages and cost-shifting keep participation rates low.

Commentary: Additional benefits or coverages that adapt to an employer’s needs can create a niche offering that often can help employers think holistically about their employees’ financial future, says The Standard’s Breanna Scott.

Avoiding the Affordable Care Act's excise tax, set to take effect in 2018, is front-of-mind for many benefits decision-makers.

Commentary: Yes, employers can distribute plan documents electronically, but they must follow the rules, and don’t assume intranet posting is enough — because it is not.

The federal government has delayed implementing proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act’s Summary of Benefits and Coverage until January 2016.

Defined contribution plans have become one of the fastest-growing segments of the retirement industry, representing $7 trillion of the $24 trillion in retirement system assets in 2014, and while private companies have been at the forefront of the change, but government entities are following suit, which means DC plans will become even more important in the years ahead.

Commentary: Three reasons Individual contracts are incompatible with ERISA plans and how to handle it, according to The Principal’s Aaron Friedman.

Commentary: In response to confusion over the IRS’s role in verifying employers are meeting minimum essential coverage and employer shared responsibility requirements, dozens of ACA reporting have entered the market in the last two years. EmployeeTech’s Michael Weiskirch shares how to find the right tracking solution for your clients.