Financial planning

Commentary: With all the controversy around the new fiduciary definition, blogger Jerry Kalish reminds benefit advisers and brokers that there’s on fiduciary protection that is not in question — the support from the retirement plan.

Will virtual currencies supplant the dollar as the currency of choice for international transactions? Probably not any time soon. Recently the Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Internal Revenue Service issued statements designed to strongly discourage the use of virtual currencies.

Find out the true risk discussion one adviser and financial planning expert says other advisers should be having with employers and their employees.

Employee benefit advisers and employers will have to wait longer than anticipated for the DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary, as the agency has delayed the issuance of its proposal until January 2015.

Commentary: Columnist John Ludwig says employers and their benefit advisers still have a long way to go to help workers be retirement-ready.

Each year Brightscope, a company that aggregates retirement plan data, releases a list of what it believes are the best large 401(k) plans. Here are the six plan features Brightscope says result in a 401(k) plan receiving a high ranking on its list.

Advisers are key to crafting retirement plan communications and educational materials that their employer clients can use to increase plan participation.

Social Security will still be around when your employees retire, it just might look a little different. Here are five changes to expect in the coming years.

With interest rates near record lows, employers are increasingly seeking new retirement investment options for their employee participants. Advisers should be prepared to discuss absolute return assets, industry experts say.

Public sector employers in Oklahoma are one step closer to creating a defined contribution retirement plan for workers with the passage of House Bill 2630, also known as the Retirement Freedom Act. The bill was approved this week by a majority in the state’s House of Representatives.

A recent revenue ruling from the Treasury Department and the IRS eases the administrative burden for 401(k) plan sponsors wanting to accept rollovers from other employers’ plans, but the fiduciary risk posed by inactive accounts still remains.

The life insurance and annuities market continues to grow, but advisers hoping to capitalize on that will first need to meet the challenges of a diversifying U.S. population.

Recently Senator Marco Rubio, a 2016 Republican presidential hopeful, shared his thoughts on reforming America's retirement system. Blogger Robert C. Lawton rates Rubio's proposals on a scale of one to five.

A speech from the senator has drawn fire from one industry group that says it's a threat to retirement advisers and the American people.

Commentary: Columnist John Ludwig says there's no "silver bullet" to solving all employers' financial wellness problems, but looking at certain demographic factors of your group is a good place to start.

Connecticut legislators have approved the creation of a new board to study the feasibility of creating of a public retirement plan for private sector workers in the state who don’t have access to an employer-sponsored plan.

Females are more empowered than ever to steer families financially, but there’s still catch-up work for advisers to do in getting them to save for their later years.

American workers are increasingly satisfied with their retirement plans and interested in investing in them, a trend advisers and employers use in their favor.

Start by constructing an employee education policy statement for your 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Many plan sponsors never put together this document and, as a result, have no idea if they are achieving any worthwhile education objectives.

If errors occur with these retirement savings tactics, it could be very costly to your employer clients.