Financial planning

Commentary: With employees fighting back and winning against high fees and a new fiduciary standard on the way, we’re on the cusp of some radical changes to the corporate retirement landscape.

The Plan Sponsor Council of America outlines its concerns over the DOL’s proposal to impose fiduciary requirements on retirement advisers.

Despite a growing optimism about their financial situations, African-Americans still participate in their employer-sponsored retirement plans at lower rates than the general population, indicating a continued need for employers to focus on retirement plan education.

Employers are realizing that employees really respond when they not only promote their company retirement plan, but contribute to it.

Next-generation total compensation statements meet employees’ demands for real-time benefits information and can offer employers a powerful recruiting tool.

Employees may express interest in annuities, yet few retirement plan sponsors are rushing to offer them within their 401(k) plans.

Significant amounts of participant balances are leaking out of 401(k) plans and not being replenished, with potentially disastrous results.

Some baby boomers are carrying too much risk in their retirement portfolios because of the stock market’s rapid rise over the past five years.

While states are starting to realize they need to step up and help private sector employers better prepare their employees for retirement, Americans continue to fall short in meeting their economic needs in retirement.

Employee financial stress can often be overlooked by the C-suite. Yet, some industry experts say it can have a major impact on the company’s productivity and profitability. Financial education should be considered a pivotal component of any employer’s wellness program.

When does it make sense to choose a custom target-date strategy instead of an off-the-shelf menu? It’s a complicated question with no easy answer.

Workplace benefit plans are key part of employees’ future financial success but the majority of employers don’t think their employees value the benefits that are offered.

While a majority of both public and private employees have access to retirement plans, new research points to major differences in the number of those who actually participate.

U.S. working adults who seek the help of an adviser are more likely to describe themselves as savers and have less debt than those without an adviser.

More and more employers are looking to ensure the retirement readiness and financial wellbeing of their employees, as financial stress has shown to make a significant impact on both the physical well-being of employees and their workplace productivity.

Fee disclosure rules may have helped bring 401(k) fees down, but plan sponsors can still do more to ensure they – and their employees – aren’t paying too much.

Commentary: Many safe harbor IRAs don’t live up to their name and could leave sponsors with unexpected fiduciary liability.

Many believe the DOL has gone about its fiduciary rule-making in the wrong way and fear the rules, as proposed, will do more harm than good.

Traditional IRA investors showed little reaction to the economic downturn in 2007.

Higher PBGC premiums and a volatile market are catalysts for risk management in DB plans.