Consolidating multi-vendor retirement plans, a how-to guide

EBA Financial Fitness Challenge helps remake retirement benefits for six Indiana school districts

Craig Davidson on three good reasons to think about selling voluntary.

New EBA retirement columnist John Ludwig on deferral rates for auto enrollment

NBC Universal’s medical director voices concern about the lack of education for high-deductible health plans, particularly as exchanges come online.

Representatives from private health insurance exchanges assert that exchanges are hitting the ground running and that they are well-equipped to help employers meet the diverse health needs of employees.

One study yields mixed results on telemedicine, finding that physician e-visits are cheaper but result in more prescriptions.

Random acts of kindness in the workplace make for a rousing and engaging culture at The Online 401(k).

Tips for using Twitter and other social media for business communication, including benefits information.

Random acts of workplace kindness boost employee satisfaction and engagement levels at The Online 401(k). Maybe everyone should RAWK out more.

Nonqualified deferred compensation plans are on the upswing.

The use of online calculators and retirement advisers has been linked to higher levels of retirement confidence.

On the second day of arguments over one of the country’s most polarizing issues, the court’s majority suggested the federal government overstepped its authority with the Defense of Marriage Act, which limits the benefits available to gay couples.

Eighty-three percent of 800 large and mid-size American employers — representing more than 7 million workers — now use some form of incentive to get employees more aware of their health status, Aon Hewitt polls show.

Humana Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. rose after congressional researchers said the U.S. Medicare program has the authority to raise payments to insurers.

In a recent letter to Acting Secretary of Labor Seth Harris, six members of the Congressional Black Caucus warned that if the DOL’s 2010 fiduciary proposal is re-proposed this year without significant changes, the rule “could disparately impact retirement savers and investment representatives in the African-American community,” according to the letter.

On the last day of 2012 the IRS updated the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), published as Rev. Proc 2013-12. The program allows plan sponsors to declare, fix and pay penalties (where applicable) for certain operational or demographic missteps under the “voluntary correction program” (VCP)

Apparently some plan sponsors and even advisers overlook a basic resource when conducting 401(k) enrollment and education sessions: The TPA. “Advisers are sometimes surprised to see a TPA at the meeting,” says Beth Harrington, president of Benefit Resources Inc. in Sacramento. “That shocks me.”

T. Rowe Price, the mutual fund giant, recently completed a study which showed that participants should average 15% in contributions into their 401(k) plan accounts each year to achieve retirement readiness. Approximately three years ago, Alliance Bernstein conducted a similar study which came to basically the same conclusion.

Hearing arguments this week in Washington, the justices voiced skepticism about the so-called pay-for-delay agreements, which the Federal Trade Commission says cost buyers as much as $3.5 billion a year.