Employee benefits

A program airing yesterday cited excessive fees and lack of clear guidance for the failure of the 401(k) to prepare Americans for a longer and more costly retirement.

When managing money, the large majority of Americans today are not looking for shortcuts or get-rich-quick strategies, according to Northwestern Mutual’s 2013 Planning & Progress Study.

The epilepsy drug was also tied to a three-fold increase of autism spectrum disorder, which includes Asperger syndrome and other developmental disorders, according to research published Tuesday.

Recently a number of market observers have suggested banning actively managed mutual funds from retirement plans as a way of increasing participant balances. Their logic is that actively managed funds don't beat market averages or benchmarks often enough to justify their higher fees. Also, it is said that actively managed funds tend to be recommended by advisers who profit from their sale and therefore aren't objective.

A $15 billion asset increase, paired with a $14 billion liability decrease, reduces the Milliman 100 PFI pension funded status deficit to $285 billion.

Study Reveals Financial Industry Not Meeting Women’s Needs. Three-fourths feel they earn better returns teaming with financial professional.

Fewer than half of Generation X and Generation Y investors have made saving for retirement their top priority and a majority have little understanding of financial products and services, according to LIMRA research.

There may be a slightly silver lining to the murky clouds of health care reform: ancillary benefits, which often include voluntary benefits, are expected to grow substantially in the coming years. Advisers may do well to leverage these offerings with clients, says EBA Blogger and UBA CEO Thom Mangan.

Social Security savings of $1.6 billion among reductions projected for 2014 and beyond

LIMRA research reveals that the majority of Generation X and Y consumers have little understanding of financial products and services and less than half make saving for retirement their top priority. Their situation improves, however, with the help of financial adivisers.

Non-qualified deferred compensations have been around even before the passage of ERISA in 1974.

Patient safety at U.S. hospitals is hampered by inadequate teamwork and communication, as well as a negative culture, according to a study by insurer American International Group Inc.

As most employers worry about whether to “pay or play” as of 2014 and whether or not certain employees will need to be counted as full-time for health care reform purposes, there is an elephant in the room: the approaching nondiscrimination rules that apply to all health plans that are not grandfathered.

Yahoo! President and CEO Marissa Mayer defended her controversial decision to terminate the company’s teleworking policy at the Great Place to Work conference in LA.

What happens if, during the course of the appeals process, the plan administrator comes across information that might impact the decision on appeal that makes the administrator want to grant the appeal?

An investment adviser will pay more than $120,000 to resolve U.S. regulatory claims that he lied to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and other clients.

UnitedHealth Group Inc., the biggest U.S. health insurer, reported a first-quarter profit decline that was less than analysts’ estimates as higher enrollment helped blunt the effect of increased medical costs.

Reducing surgical complications could cost hospitals money, according to a study that researchers say may help explain why the medical providers haven’t fully embraced quality improvement efforts.

The case raised the issue of whether a benefit plan administrator is entitled to full reimbursement for payments made to a plan participant injured in an accident where the participant sues and recovers damages from a third party.

About 232,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and an estimated 40,000 will die of the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute.